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Saturday, September 5: Racing got underway this morning in Vichy, France for the final round of the UIM-ABP European Continental Championship. Various categories had their Moto 1 races, where unexpected winners triumphed and title races that had looked settled were suddenly thrown wide open.
After an unassuming set of results this season, Pierre-Marie Matelli made the most of the homefield advantage yesterday to claim pole in Runabout GP2 and set himself up for his best result of 2026. He managed to replicate his fast pace from qualifying in Moto 1, claiming the holeshot, but then proving unable to stave off the challenge of Championship leader Karl Keskula. Once in the lead, Keskula continued to have Matelli breathing closely down his back, but the Frenchman was unable to reclaim the lead and ended up crossing the finish line 2.06 seconds behind Keskula. Coming into Vichy just five points behind Keskula in the standings, Mattias Siimann needed a strong finish to keep his title hopes alive and close the points gap. He managed to cross the finish line in third place, but a two-lap penalty for missing a safety demarcation buoy cost him dearly and saw him finish the race in tenth place, giving him an almighty battle to make up the points deficit with Keskula in the final two Motos of the season.
Karl Joosep Steinberg was unable to exploit his pole position in Ski GP2, and his slow start saw him slide down to fourth place in Moto 1. Daan Hoeke took full advantage, slotting into first place, and then leading the race comfortably and calmly from there, ultimately finishing with a considerable 17.40 second lead over Robin Sylvester, who finished in second behind him. With his win, Hoeke has cut down Sylvester’s lead in the standings to just five points, setting up two crucial Motos in Vichy with a Ski GP2 title race that looks set to go right to the wire.
Bram Hoeke took full advantage of his pole position start in the Ski GP3/Ski Junior GP3.3 Moto 1, as the Dutchman led the race from start to finish to claim his first win of the season. In doing so, he brought an end to the dominance of Leo Kete, who had won every Moto of the season so far, but was uncharacteristically slow in Vichy. Kete qualified in sixth place yesterday, and was able to execute a few overtakes in Moto 1 to finish in third place, but well behind Hoeke by a 29.23 second margin. Michael Van Reybroeck was able to put pressure on Hoeke throughout the race, but could not find the necessary pace to go all the way and move into first place, finishing in second just 1.91 seconds behind Hoeke.
Having cruised to victory in all this season’s Grand Prix, Csongor Jászai looked set to do so again after claiming the Ski GP4 pole position yesterday. But in a shock that suddenly opens up the race for the Ski GP4 title race, it proved not to be for the young Hungarian, who struggled to find his usual pace and was overtaken by closest rival Daniils Potrivailo, and then Maxime Arthebise and Tomaz Kete to finish the race in fourth place, crossing the finish line over a full minute behind winner Potrivailo. Suddenly, the Championship race has tightened, with two Motos left and 20 points separating Jászai and Potrivailo.
There was once again no stopping Jose Vainio in Runabout GP4, as the young Finn made full use of his pole position to take the holeshot and then maintain his lead until the end of the race, finishing a comfortable 13.73 seconds ahead of closest challenger Arti Molter. Vainio therefore gained valuable points over Molter, extending his lead in the standings to 13 points with two Motos left.
Alizée Vanden-Blecken had thus far dominated in Runabout Ladies GP4, winning all the year’s Motos and always looking a cut above the rest of her competitors. But, on the Frenchwoman’s home soil, things seemed to suddenly go wrong in Vichy, as she qualified in fifth yesterday and was unable to move from that position throughout Moto 1, therefore recording her worst result of the season by far with a fifth-placed finish. Michelle Dimov, currently second in the standings, had looked set to take advantage of Vanden-Blecken’s troubles after securing pole yesterday, but she too was slower than her usual self in Moto 1, ceding multiple positions to finish in fourth place. This allowed an aggressive Nikola Dryjakova to take the lead and then claim her first Runabout Ladies GP4 Moto win of the season.