MEDIA INFORMATION
2024 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship
MOTO 2 GLORY FOR CHAVANNE AND BOSSCHE IN QUY NHON ON SUNDAY MORNING
Sunday, March 24: French girl Jessica Chavanne and Belgian racer Quinten Bossche clinched vital Moto 2 victories in the Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski Division GP1 categories at the Grand Prix of Bình Định-Vietnam in Quy Nhon on Sunday morning.
Chavanne is the defending World Champion and led the second of the Ski Ladies Motos from the first few turns to the finish to move level on points with her great Estonian rival Jasmiin Ypraus. The result sets up the prospect of a gripping Moto 3 showdown this afternoon. Chavanne said: “It was really good. I took a beautiful start. Jasmiin pushed behind me all the Moto, so it was really tight. I make a little mistake but cross finger it was good. Let’s see what Moto 3 brings…”
Quinten Bossche delivered another devastating display of ski control and stamina to dominate the second of the Ski Division GP1 Motos and extend his Grand Prix lead over Austrian Kevin Reiterer to six points. The Belgian said: “I feel tired. It was a very long one and it was more choppy than yesterday. Maybe it’s a little bit hotter, I don’t know. It was more demanding than yesterday. We have one more this afternoon but I am very happy. Hopefully we can make it three from three!”
Chavanne holds off Ypraus to win Ski Ladies GP1 Moto 2
Ypraus lined up at the start of the second of the Ski Ladies GP1 Motos with a three-point cushion over Chavanne, courtesy of her last-gasp triumph in Moto 1. After her technical issues on Saturday, River Varner lined up on the pontoon in Emma-Nellie Ortendahl’s spare boat.
There was a slight breeze on Thi Nai Bay as Ypraus headed 10 rivals into 15 minutes of frenetic racing. Chavanne, Benedicte Drange and Estelle Poret made strong starts but Chavanne gained the advantage from Ypraus, Drange, Sofie Borgström and Poret.
By the end of lap one, Chavanne had edged into a 2.805sec advantage over her Estonian rival. Drange, Borgström and Poret were third, fourth and fifth and Ortendahl climbed through the tail-enders after her non-finish in Moto 1 to hold sixth. Despite running with a loose bumper, Varner climbed from 10th to eighth and began to apply the pressure on Janina Johansson in the fight for seventh.
Chavanne continued to pull away from Ypraus and extended the gap to 3.891sec through lap three. All the riders held their positions until Poret passed Borgström and moved up to fourth. Ypraus reduced Chavanne’s lead to 2.915 seconds heading into the last four minutes of the race in a carbon copy of what happened in Moto 1. Would Chavanne make a late mistake again?
Meanwhile, Ortendahl fell off her ski and ruined her chance of challenging Borgström for fifth. The Swede’s demise moved Varner up to sixth after the American found a way to pass Johansson.
On this occasion, there were no late dramas for Chavanne and the defending champion passed the chequered flag 7.663 seconds ahead of her rival to move level with the Estonian on 47 points in the Grand Prix standings, her cause helped when Ypraus made a mistake of her own late in the race. Drange rounded off the podium places to move level on points with fourth-placed Poret. Borgström came home in fifth and Varner, Ortendahl, Johansson, Lisa Caussin Battaglia, Naomi Benini and Joana Graca rounded off the 11 finishers.
Second Moto masterclass by Bossche in Ski Division GP1
Belgian sensation Quinten Bossche started the second of the Ski Division GP1 Motos with a three-point cushion over Kevin Reiterer after his blistering performance in Moto 1. Morgan, Mickael and Jeremy Poret were third, fourth and fifth of the 21 riders at the start of the second 20-minute Moto.
A couple of riders appeared to leave the start pontoon early but it failed to prevent Bossche from edging into the lead over Morgan and Jeremy Poret, Reiterer and Oliver Koch Hansen. Bossche completed the opening lap 4.161 seconds ahead of Morgan Poret with the top five holding station and Mickael Poret running down in sixth place. The defending World Champion then lost his sixth to Japanese jet ski school owner Toshi Ohara, as Bossche completed lap two with a lead of 5.736 seconds.
Bpssche took the race by the scruff of the neck and began to shake his rivals into submission. ‘The Bomber’ extended his lead to 8.927 seconds over Morgan Poret, as Reiterer managed to find a way to pass Jeremy Poret and snatch third. Behind seventh-placed Mickael Poret, Alec Enderli, Axel Courtois and Valentin Dardillat rounded off the top 10.
Reiterer overtook Morgan Poret to grab second and Koch Hansen heaped more misery on the Poret family by passing Jeremy Poret to move into fourth. Bossche’s lead grew to 13.021 seconds with less than five minutes on the clock and Dardillat passed Courtois to grab ninth with less than three minutes of the race to run.
Bossche stayed clear of any late mistakes to secure a second memorable Moto win of the weekend. The Belgian finished 10.298 seconds clear of Reiterer and extended his Grand Prix lead over the Austrian to six points.
Morgan Poret completed the podium line-up and Koch Hansen and Jeremy Poret were fourth and fifth. Ohara, Mickael Poret, Enderli, Daniele Piscaglia and Anthony Beernaut rounded off the top 10 after Dardillat dropped out of contention after six laps and Courtois fell late on. Daniel Svae Andersen also took a tumble in the closing seconds of the race.
Race officials examined the video evidence from the jump start post-race and duly awarded 25-second penalties to both Jeremy Poret and Ohara for their actions. The decision left the top 10 unchanged.
Runabout GP1 entrants and the three Freestyle competitors were permitted to carry out further free practice after the conclusion of the second Motos for Ski Division GP1 and Ski Ladies GP1. They will compete in their second Moto on Sunday afternoon.
Ends
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