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Friday, July 17: A total of 14 pole positions were contested in a hectic first day of racing in Gyor, Hungary, as the more than 150 riders jostled for positions in the latest UIM Aquabike European Continental Championship round, as well as this year’s standalone UIM Aquabike Junior World Championship. Selected categories contested their first Moto in the afternoon, followed by the Grand Prix of Hungary’s spectacular opening ceremony and dinner that delighted riders and fans alike.
European Continental Championship Qualifying
As in the season’s opening round in Mira, the number of riders registered in the Ski GP1 category exceeded the UIM mandated limit of 22 riders per race. The 27 riders in the category were therefore split into two randomly selected groups for qualifying, with the top nine riders of each group automatically qualifying for the weekend’s Motos, and the remaining nine riders facing a final qualifying round in which only the fastest four riders joined the other 18 riders to secure spots in the Grand Prix of Hungary.
After dominating all three Motos from start to finish in Mira, it came as little surprise when Quinten Bossche topped Group A with a time of 1:24.74 seconds, but the Belgian had some fresh competition in the form of Australian Jayden Richardson, absent from the opening round in Mira, who came just 0.12 seconds behind Bossche. In Group B, Mickael Poret was the man to beat after securing an opening lap of 1:24.72 seconds that proved too fast for any other riders to surmount. Being 0.02 seconds quicker than Bossche’s fastest lap, this means the Frenchman will start Moto 1 in pole position.
Estelle Poret dominated the opening Ski Ladies GP1 round of the season, having won all three Motos in Mira, but will face a mighty challenge to emulate that feat in Gyor after she was disqualified from the qualifiers for running in the wrong direction. Lou Dardillat took advantage of the disqualification of the current World Champion to take the pole position. “It’s the first pole position of my career and the circuit is very difficult, but it’s very good for me” exclaimed a joyous Dardillat.
Runabout GP1 qualifiers could barely have been closer, as current European Champion and winner of the opening race of the season in Mira, Jeremy Perez, registered a fastest lap just 0.04 seconds slower than former World Champion Samuel Johansson. This puts the Swede in pole position for Moto 1, setting up a thrilling start to Runabout GP1 in Gyor as Perez tries to take back the top spot.
A typically polished sequence from Roberto Mariani saw him score 186 points from the judges, delivering him the Freestyle pole position. The current World and European Champion has vital points to gain in Gyor if he is to retain his title, after bike problems in Mira dropped the Italian to third in the standings after the 2026 season’s opening round.
Having finished second in all three Ski GP2 Motos in Mira, Daan Hoeke has given himself the best shot of going one further in Gyor after securing the pole position spot, though competition in the category is fierce, with the top four finishers in Ski GP2 registering best laps less than two seconds from one another.
Linus Lindberg, currently sixth in the Runabout GP2 standings, has given his chances of rising up the table a significant boost after claiming the pole position by a fine margin of 0.11 seconds. As in Ski GP2, the top four riders in Runabout GP2 are closely competitive, with only 1.19 seconds separating their best laps.
Fresh from his win in Mira, Leo Kete claimed the pole position in Ski GP3 by a comfortable 1.62 second margin. In Ski GP4, Csongor Jászai continued his unbeaten streak after his perfect score in Mira, with the Hungarian’s 1.72 second best lap gap making him firm favourite this week as he races on home turf, whilst fellow Hungarian Marvin Bohuslav topped Ski GP4 Junior qualifying.
Mattias Siimann claimed the pole position in Runabout GP4, and Alizée Vanden-Blecken continued her strong form to claim pole position in Runabout GP4 Ladies.
Junior World Championship Qualifying
Noam Santos Bíró claimed pole position in Ski Junior GP3.2, whilst Leo Kete claimed his second pole position of the weekend after topping qualifying in Ski Junior GP3.3.
Nele Lahmen dominated qualifying in Runabout GP4 Junior, with the Hungarian claiming pole position with a lead of 4.89 seconds.
Moto 1
Leo Kete once again proved himself a class apart from his rival Ski GP3 riders, leading Moto 1 from start to finish, establishing an enormous lead of 42.55 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line. The real competition came for the remaining podium places, with Barnabas Szabo and Michael Von Reybroeck able to hold off Lajos Komonyi to come second and third respectively, but only by pushing their bikes to their limit until the very end, with the three riders crossing the finish line with less than two seconds separating them.
Mattias Siimann was unable to capitalize on his pole position start in Runabout GP4, coming second after Alex Palau managed to gain a position to claim his first Moto win of the season.
There is no stopping Alizée Vanden-Blecken in Runabout GP4 Ladies, as the French rider went on to claim her fourth straight Moto win in a row by crossing the Moto 1 finish line in Gyor with a cool 10.28 second lead. Her latest win means she has claimed all 100 of the available points in the 2026 European Continental Championship so far.
Likewise, Csongor Jászai is sitting on a perfect score of 100 points after he too extended his unbeaten run from Mira in Gyor, winning the Ski GP4 Moto 1 by 3.79 seconds as Dorijan Jakopanec managed to trail the Hungarian race leader throughout, but never quite found the pace to pip him to the top spot. Meanwhile, Marvin Bohuslav led from start to finish to comfortably win Ski GP4 Junior Moto 1.