MEDIA INFORMATION
2025 UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship
MIHALCEA, DRANGE, MICKAEL PORET AND KASZA TRIUMPH IN THEIR SECOND MOTOS IN GYŐR ON SUNDAY MORNING
Sunday, August 3: The last four Moto 2s at the Grand Prix of Hungary were held in Győrzámoly, near Győr, on Sunday morning.
Romania’s Alexis Mihalcea and Norwegian Benedicte Drange took the laurels in the Runabout GP2 and Ski Ladies GP1 categories and then it was the turn of the Ski GP1 and Runabout GP1 riders to take to the water. Mickael Poret managed to take maximum points in Ski GP1 and György Kasza rounded off the session with victory in Runabout GP1.
Mihalcea earns his second Runabout GP2 Moto win
After a short delay while course turn buoys were repositioned following an overnight storm, Moto 1 winner Alexis Mihalcea lined up on pole position for the second Runabout GP2 Moto. The Romanian took the start ahead of Justin Patzner, Valdemaras Adamovič, Manuel Reggiani, Alejandro Prats Palau and Levente Kacor.
Mihalcea made a good start and stayed ahead of Reggiani, Patzner and Prats Palau with series leader Tom Claerhout languishing down in 14th of the 16 entrants. Kacor managed to pass Prats Palau but the leading trio held station with Mihalcea extending his advantage to 4.60 seconds through lap three. Domantas Vaznys surged through the field and moved up to fifth but Claerhout was down in 13th and on course to lose his European Championship advantage.
Vaznys climbed to fourth and then dropped out of the race after six laps. Claerhout managed to improve during the Moto to finish ninth and stay in title contention. But there was no stopping Mihalcea at the front of the field and the Romanian claimed the Moto win by 11.39 seconds from Reggiani. Patzner rounded off the podium places followed by a spirited Danuel Lasselsberger, new European Championship leader Prats Palau and Kacor.
But Lasselsberger was later awarded a 25-second penalty for not maintaining his lane at the start and that pushed the Austrian down to eighth and promoted Prats Palau and Kacor to fourth and fifth. Adamovič also took a lap penalty for missing a turn buoy and that lifted Claerhout into seventh. Mihalcea takes an eight-point lead over Patzner into the final Moto in the quest for Grand Prix glory.
Drange holds on to snatch second Ski Ladies GP1 Moto win
Benedicte Drange dominated the opening Ski Ladies GP1 Moto and lined up on pole for the second heat from Jonna Borgström, Jasmiin Ypraus, Lou Dardillat, Virginie Morlaes, River Varner, Naomi Benini and European series leader Jessica Chavanne.
The Norwegian was again the quickest out of the blocks and emerged from lap one with an 8.33-second lead over Borgström with Dardillat and Ypraus following closely behind. Chavanne his trouble on the opening lap and languished a long way behind her seven rivals in eighth place.
Ypraus passed Dardillat to take third and Chavanne began a fight back to try and catch Varner and Benini in sixth and seventh positions. Drange continued to impress and stayed on course for her fifth successive European Championship Moto win but Ypraus was now her closest challenger after the Estonian passed Borgström just after the race mid-point.
Despite Ypraus’s late charge, Drange held on to secure the win by 19.37 seconds with Ypraus and Borgström wrapping up the podium places ahead of Morlaes, Varner, Chavanne, Dardillat and Benini. Drange now takes an eight-point Grand Prix cushion over Ypraus and Borgström into Moto 3 but Chavanne saw her overall championship advantage eaten into once again by Ypraus and Morlaes.
Drange said: “Moto 2 went really well. I took the start and got the lead. I am really thankful to my mechanics and all the team supporting. P1 and we are currently leading so it was a good one…”
Mickael Poret digs deep to win second Ski GP1 Moto
Oliver Koch Hansen needed to keep the pressure on European Championship leader Mickael Poret after his victory in Moto 1 in the Ski GP1 category. With the gap down to four points and Poret’s younger brother Morgan also in the mix, the second Moto was crucial.
Mickael Poret made a good start and managed to stay ahead of Koch Hansen although Lucas Binar was also in the mix from the outset. Mattias Reinass, Quinten Bossche and Kevin Reiterer settled into fourth, fifth and sixth but Morgan Poret suffered a major blow to his title challenge when he fell on the opening lap and was taken for medical treatment.
Koch Hansen and Bossche both overtook Binar and began to apply the pressure on Mickael Poret and the gap was just 1.43 seconds between the Dane and the Frenchman after three laps. Poret managed to keep the Dane at bay as the Moto entered its second half as Reiterer climbed to fifth behind Binar at the expense of Reinass. Binar then dropped out of contention after four laps and Reinass moved up to fourth behind Poret, Koch Hansen and Bossche.
Poret’s lead was just 1.28 seconds at the start of lap seven but the championship leader held his nerve to win the Moto by 2.92 seconds and extend his European Championship cushion to seven points. Koch Hansen, Bossche, Reiterer and Reinass completed the top five and the result means that Koch Hansen and Poret are now separated by just four points in the battle for Grand Prix glory.
Valentin Dardillat plummeted to 18th after being awarded a 25-second penalty for not maintaining his lane at the start. Thai rider Tanawin Molee was also penalised.
Kasza wins Runabout GP1 Moto 2
Jéremy Perez had won the opening Runabout GP1 Moto and started on pole for heat two from György Kasza, Robin Laforge, Petr Dryjak, Andrzej Wisniewski and Martin Doulík.
Kasza made the best start and was able to steal a march on both Pierre-François Savelli and Perez with Wisniewski and Dryjak rounding off the initial top five. Doulík was not able to finish the opening lap, even though he was also penalised for not maintaining his lane.
Savelli managed to pass Kasza and took the lead as Dryjak moved up to fourth and Laforge passed Wisniewski and moved into fifth. The Pole then retired after five laps and Laforge, Dryjak and Levente Kacor filled fourth, fifth and sixth positions. Kasza managed to pass Savelli in the closing stages of the Moto but the Hungarian had already been awarded a one-lap penalty for hitting a turn buoy.
He finished the Moto 2.41 seconds ahead of Savelli with Perez, Laforge, Dryjak and Bardoux rounding off the top six but when the penalty was imposed Savelli took the win by 16.70 seconds from Perez with Kasza slipping to third ahead of Laforge, Dryjak and Bardoux. Before the penalty was imposed, Kasza said: “It was a nice race. The French guy was ahead of me but I pushed hard and managed to pass him. Let’s see now in Moto 3.”
Kasza then appealed against the decision and his protest was upheld with the victory going back to the Hungarian at the expense of Savelli and Perez.
Ends