MEDIA INFORMATION
2025 UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship
JÄSZAI, CALMELS, PUZELEVIC, FILIBERTI, REINASS, SIIMANN, DRANGE AND MICKAEL PORET PREVAIL IN SECOND SARDINIAN MOTOS
- Moto 1 Runabout GP1 and Freestyle success for Medori and Al-Mulla
Saturday, October 18: Csongor Jäszai, Baptiste Calmels and Karol Puzelevic prevailed in their second Ski GP3, Ski GP4 and Runabout GP4 Motos at the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy in Olbia on Saturday afternoon.
Their on-water competition preceded a return to the water for Runabout GP4 Ladies, Ski GP2, Runabout GP2, Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski GP1 and the first of the Motos for the Runabout GP1 and Freestyle competitors.
Aurora Filiberti managed to delight the home crowd by snatching a narrow victory in Runabout GP4 Ladies heat and the Estonian duo of Mattias Reinass and Mattias Siimann won the second of the Ski GP2 and Runabout GP2 Motos. Benedicte Drange topped the standings in the second Ski Ladies GP1 Moto and Mickael Poret won the second of the Ski GP1 heats.
World Championship leader François Medori collected the maximum 25 points for winning the first of the Runabout GP1 Motos and Rashid Al-Mulla prevailed in Freestyle.
Jäszai redresses the balance to win second Ski GP3
Moto 1 winner Dorijan Jakopanec was not able to prevent Hungarian rival Csongor Jäszai from getting the better of him in the second 10-lap Moto in Olbia. Jäszai was able to pass the Croat, extend his lead and eventually win the heat by 1.534 seconds.
Portugal’s Manuel Leite rounded off the podium places with Gabor Szabo, Dag Martin Drange and Gergo Simon trailing in their wake. Jäszai and Jakopanec are now tied on 47 points apiece in the World Championship. Alexandre Bourgeois and Michael Van Reybroek were non-starters.
Calmels makes it two from two in Ski GP4
Baptiste Calmels had taken 25 points for winning the first of the Ski GP4 Motos and that gave the French Yamaha racer pole for Moto 2.
He took the hole shot from Markus Erlach, Daniils Potrivailo, Ander-Hubert Lauri, Mansour Abuljadayel and Mathys Meziere. Lauri managed to pass Potrivailo to grab third but Calmels had extended his advantage to 9.418 seconds by the start of lap four.
The Frenchman held on to claim his second win of the weekend by 21.965 seconds with Lauri and Erlach wrapping up the other places on the podium. Meziere moved up to fourth ahead of Potrivailo, Abuljadayel, Alberts Cupriks, Juraj Jadanec and Massimo Cannizzo. Lino Brusadin slipped to the foot of the rankings after incurring a 40-second penalty for a jump start. Calmels now has a six-point lead over Lauri in the World Championship.
Puzelevic passes Gurkšnys to win Runabout GP4 Moto 2
Lithuania’s Grantas Gurkšnys has shown some terrific form in recent weeks and success in Moto 1 gave him pole for the second heat ahead of Karol Puzelevic, Davide Pontecorvo and Alessandro Prats Palau. Killian Miano, Tommaso Bensa and Alberto Santini were not among the 20 starters.
Gurkšnys took the hole shot and began to edge clear of Pontecorvo, Puzelevic, Henri Koppas and Erikas Butkus, although the latter was passed by Prats Palau. Puzelevic overtook Pontecorvo on a split heading into lap two and began his pursuit of the leader.
Gurkšnys was passed by Puzelevic with less than two minutes to go and they held their positions for a Lithuanian 1-2 with Prats Palau taking third. Koppas, Butkus and Pontecorvo finished fourth, fifth and sixth with Dovydas Kutra, Arti Mölter, Rihard Leinsalu and Marcantonio Oliveri rounding off the top 10. Puzelevic and Gurkšnys are now tied on 47 points apiece in the World Championship.
Francesco Bassenghi retired after three laps and there were 40-second jump start penalties for Emanuele Pontecorvo, Bassenghi, Juliusz Roman and Jakob Wolfsmaier and a one-lap penalty for a turn buoy violation for Ciro Taranto.
Filiberti fends off Urlo to seal Runabout GP4 Ladies Moto 2 win
Arianna Urlo had got the better of Luisa Beja and Cyrielle Bramm in the morning’s opening Runabout GP4 Ladies race and had pole for Moto 2. But it was Aurora Filiberti who stormed through to take the hole shot and the early lead from the pole-sitter, Bramm, Beja and Katriin Nilbe.
The two Italians became embroiled in a nip and tuck duel for the next few laps with Filiberti holding a slight lead over Urlo as they pulled clear of Bramm, Beja, Nilbe and Astra Gurkšnytė in warm, sunny conditions.
Filiberti held on to win the Moto by 0.986 seconds from Urlo, Bramm, Nilbe, Gurkšnytė, Beja, Nikola Dryjakova, Michelle Dimov, Carmen Roosmaa and Katarina Sepp. Annemarie Oiemets, Ilari Vanni and Jiang Lingzi rounded off the finishers with Vanni incurring a one-lap penalty for missing a buoy. The result enabled Urlo to stay out front in the World Championship standings by just four points.
Reinass earns his second Ski GP2 Moto win
Mattias Reinass started heat two in the Ski GP2 category ahead of Csongor Jäszai and fellow Estonian Karl-Joosep Steinberg. Reinas kept the lead from Steinberg and Jäszai and the leading trio began to pull away from Robin Ortner, Andy Trasmondi and Gianfranco Oliveri.
Reinass held the lead throughout the Moto and reached the chequered flag 9.103 seconds in front of Steinberg to strengthen his grip on the World Championship. Jäszai finished third ahead of Ortner, Trasmondi, Oliveri, Alessio Ascione and Lukas Glanninger.
Siimann grabs Moto 2 victory in Runabout GP2
Davide Pontecorvo started the second of the Runabout GP2 races from pole and lined up ahead of Mattias Siimann, Pierpaolo Terreo, Domantas Vaznys and Alessandro Fracasso for the running start.
Terreo took the hole shot from Pontecorvo, Siimann and Fracasso. Ruben Jimenez Riquelme and Abdullah Al-Fadhel settled into fifth and sixth. Terreo then fell back to third behind Siimann and Pontecorvo, as Fracasso began to apply the pressure on his fellow Italian rival.
Siimann romped off into the distance to win the Moto by 15.803 seconds with Pontecorvo and Fracasso finishing in second and third after Terreo picked up a one lap penalty for missing a turn buoy. Vaznys was fourth ahead of Jimenez Riquelme and the Italian trio of Antonio Pontecorvo, Davide di Maio and Manuel Reggiani.
Siimann’s win drew him level with Pontecorvo in the World Championship. Al-Fadhel plummeted to 15th in the Moto after being handed a two-lap penalty for invading an alternate course.
Moto 2 success in Ski Ladies GP1 for Drange
Jasmiin Ypraus had taken the laurels in the first of the Ski Ladies GP1 Motos on Saturday morning and took the rolling start of Moto 2 ahead of Benedicte Drange and Estelle Poret. She was out to defend a six-point advantage over Poret in the World Championship. Ongoing mechanical issues kept Jessica Chavanne out of action.
Ypraus made a sluggish start and that enabled Drange to take the hole shot and the early lead with Poret in third ahead of Heloise Delcluze, Virginie Morlaes, Sofie Borgström, Lou Dardillat, Siiri Salonen, Naomi Benini, Joana Graça and Janina Johansson. Drange began to increase her advantage but Poret managed to pass Ypraus and snatch second place.
Drange was able to fend off Poret’s pressure over the closing laps to win the Moto by 1.933 seconds, reduce the gap to Ypraus in the title race and also take the lead in the Grand Prix standings. Ypraus finished on the bottom step of the podium ahead of Delcluze, Morlaes, Benini, Borgström, Salonen, Dardillat, Graça and Johansson.
Drange said: “It was a really good race. I had an excellent start, took the hole shot and tried to make a gap. I kept it but Estelle was pushing from behind but I am really happy with the victory. I really need the points for the championship.”
Mickael Poret seals victory in thrilling second Ski GP1 Moto
Quinten Bossche admitted to being a little disconsolate after winning Moto 1 because of the points he had dropped at the opening round on Lake Toba in August. But the Belgian had pole in Ski GP1 from championship leader Oliver Koch Hansen and his closest rival Jéremy Poret for Moto 2. Eddy Godon was a non-starter.
Mickael Poret took the hole shot from Bossche with Koch Hansen, Jéremy Poret and Kevin Reiterer running close behind. Bossche was able to pass the Frenchman and take the lead with Jéremy Poret retaining third and Reiterer passing Koch Hansen to grab fourth. The Japanese duo of Toshi O’Hara and Soshi Sato settled into sixth and seventh places but Ander-Hubert Lauri was sidelined after the opening lap and Felix Helgesen followed the Estonian into retirement a lap later.
Bossche fell on lap five and headed for the pits. The Belgian’s demise gifted the lead to Mickael Poret from his brother Jéremy with Koch Hansen again running ahead of Reiterer in third. O’Hara and Sato moved up to fifth and sixth with Saudi racer Nizar Abuljadayel, Yoni Hamelin, Anthony Beernaut and Matteo Benini running insider the top 10.
Koch Hansen passed Jéremy Poret to snatch second but Mickael Poret held on to win a thrilling Moto by 3.685 seconds after Koch Hansen ditch-hooked his ski on the last lap. The Frenchman also leads the Grand Prix standings.
Reiterer finished second ahead of Jéremy Poret, O’Hara, a stunned Koch Hansen, Abuljadayel, Hamelin, Sato, Benini and Kerto Kase. Beernaut was docked a lap for missing a buoy and slipped to 17th and there were similar penalties for Valentin Dardillat and Paul Thomas.
Mickael Poret said: “The race was okay and I made a good start. Quinten made a mistake but I took the wrong split and Quinten passed me. He was faster than me and then he got trouble. I tried to manage my pace. When Oliver passed Jéremy it became harder and I had to put some gas and I won the race. I am very disappointed that I broke during the pole position and that was bad for me for the weekend. Still, I am still in the race to win the Grand Prix. Let’s see tomorrow. I have the speed to win.”
Runner-up Reiterer added: “It was good to get a clean start this time and to be up front with the top runners. It was an all-out battle between us five guys, switching positions between us. It was great racing.”
Medori wins opening Runabout GP1 Moto
Championship leader François Medori began the first of the Runabout GP1 Motos from pole ahead of Jéremy Perez and Mattias Siimann. Medori made a superb start to take the hole shot from Jéremy Perez, Samuel Johansson, Mattias Siimann, György Kasza and Robin Laforge.
Medori gradually pulled clear of Perez as the top six held station ahead of Martin Doulik, Krzysztof Olszewski, Petr Dryjak and Guillaume Hemain. Kasza managed to pass Johansson to grab third and Laforge moved in front of Siimann and into fifth with a little over 15 minutes on the clock. Siimann then repassed the Belgian to regain fifth. Olszewski pulled out after three laps and he was joined one lap later by Anthony Radetic. Hemain also fell by the wayside after seven laps.
Medori held on to confirm his third World Championship Moto win of the season and first blood in Sardinia. He finished 3.214 seconds ahead of Perez with a distant Kasza, Johansson and Siimann inside the final top five. Laforge, Dryjak, Linus Lindberg, Andrzej Wisniewski and Lino Araújo rounded off the top 10. Florian Bardoux was down in 21st after receiving a two-lap penalty for course cutting and both Doulik and Pierre-François Savelli incurred one lap penalties for missing turn buoys and dropped back to 12th and 13th.
Medori said: “The race was crazy hard. There were many lappers and a lot of waves. I pushed all the Moto with Jéremy just behind me. I tried to stay on the bike and pass the lappers and finish in first position. I did my maximum. We will see tomorrow if we can do the same but it will be really hard.”
Freestyle success in Moto 1 for Al-Mulla
Roberto Mariani had edged Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Mulla out of pole position and started behind his three rivals in the first of the three Freestyle Motos as dusk began to fall on Saturday evening.
Paulo Nuñes and Massimo Accumolo were first on to the water followed by the Emirati and the defending European champion. Mariani started his programme with a series of back flips and side spins, one-footed back flips and a throw that didn’t go quite according to plan. He concluded with a fountain, a no-handed spin and a series of somersaults and back flips that earned him 213 points with the judges.
But Al-Mulla outscored the Italian on this occasion to grab the Moto win by five points with Accumolo and Nuñes finishing third and fourth.
Ends