After taking a bye week from our racing coverage last week, we’re back—and the international championship picture looks a lot different than it did just a week ago.
The UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship delivered one of its most dramatic weekends of the season at the Grand Prix of Hungary, where hometown heroes thrilled the crowd, championship favorites stumbled, and several title races were thrown wide open heading into September’s European Continental Championship finale in Vichy, France.
While some riders strengthened their grip on championship glory, others suddenly find themselves fighting to keep their title hopes alive with just one European round remaining.
Hungary Delivers Plenty Of Drama
The final day in Győr produced nearly everything race fans could ask for.
Hungarian rider György Kasza electrified the home crowd by snapping Jeremy Perez’s Runabout GP1 winning streak with a dominant Moto 2 victory before repeating the feat in Moto 3. But while Kasza celebrated on home water, the bigger story unfolded behind him as mechanical problems derailed Perez’s weekend and championship contender Samuel Johansson was sidelined after retiring from Moto 2.
Those setbacks completely reshaped the overall Grand Prix standings, allowing Pierre-Francois Savelli to emerge with an unexpected overall victory and tightening what had looked like a relatively comfortable championship race.
Elsewhere, reigning World Champion Estelle Poret endured a frustrating weekend filled with penalties, mechanical troubles and ultimately a DNS in the final moto, dramatically changing the complexion of the Ski Ladies GP1 championship.
Some Riders Continue To Separate Themselves
Not every championship tightened.
Belgium’s Quinten Bossche remains one of the sport’s hottest riders after completing another perfect weekend in Ski GP1. Through two rounds, Bossche has yet to lose a moto and now carries a perfect 150-point score into the championship finale.
Norway’s Benedicte Drange answered Estelle Poret’s dominant opening round with a flawless performance in Hungary, while freestyle standout Roberto Mariani returned to winning form with another spectacular display that reinforced his championship credentials.
Across the remaining classes, riders including Karl Joosep Steinberg, Mattias Siimann, Leo Kete, Jose Vainio and several junior competitors also left Hungary with valuable momentum as the European season approaches its conclusion.
Now The Focus Turns To France
The next stop is Vichy, France, where the final round of the 2026 UIM Aquabike European Continental Championship will take place September 4-6.
Following the dramatic events in Hungary, several premier classes remain very much undecided. Perez still leads Runabout GP1, but Savelli has closed the gap considerably after his breakthrough performance. In Ski Ladies GP1, Drange now leads with Jessica Chavanne still within striking distance after Poret’s difficult weekend. Even in Ski GP1, where Bossche has been nearly untouchable all season, the pressure will be on to complete a perfect championship run.
With European titles on the line across all twelve racing categories, Vichy promises to deliver one of the biggest weekends of the international racing calendar.
Looking Ahead
And speaking of international competition, the countdown is officially underway.
We’re now less than six months away from the 2026 WGP#1 World Cup in Pattaya, Thailand. In a notable scheduling change, the event will be held January 13-17, 2027, rather than its traditional December timeframe, giving racers around the world another major international event to circle on the calendar.
Our Weekly Racing Roundup returns Thursday morning, and as we move into the second half of the racing season we’d love to hear from race promoters, clubs and organizations around the world.
Has your series produced a breakout star? Is there a volunteer, official or racer who deserves recognition? Are you introducing new classes, announcing schedule changes or building toward a championship weekend?
If so, we’d love to help tell those stories. Reach out and let us know what’s happening in your corner of the racing world.
Official UIM-ABP Aquabike press releases from Hungary and the upcoming Vichy event appear in full below.
Monday, July 27th – The advanced program for the final installment of the 2026 UIM Aquabike European Continental Championship taking place in Vichy, France, has been published. All twelve racing categories will have their final showdown in the French town on September 4-6.
Following Pierre-Francois Savelli’s shock win at the Grand Prix of Hungary, the race for the Runabout GP1 title remains wide open. Current European Champion Jeremy Perez maintains his lead in the standings on 131 points, with Savelli not far behind on 118 points. Should Perez’s engine issues re-emerge in Vichy, then it will provide Savelli his best chance yet to claim a maiden title win.
Similarly, in Ski Ladies GP1 unexpectedly poor results from previous Championship leader Estelle Poret mean the Championship title will go right to the wire. Poret had a perfect start to the season in Mira, winning all the Motos to pick up the full 75 points on offer, but persistent problems in Gyor saw her only pick up an additional 16 points to bring her total to 91. This puts the current World Champion far behind current leader in the standings Benedicte Drange, whose flawless performance in Hungary brought her points tally to 134. By coming second in all three Motos in Gyor, current European Champion Jessica Chavanne kept her hopes of retaining her title alive, as she currently sits in second place in the standings on 118 points.
Meanwhile, in Ski GP1 Quinten Bossche has had a flawless campaign so far, winning every Moto to pick up the full 150 points available. He therefore goes to Vichy as the firm favourite, although victory for the Belgian is by no means assured given his history last season of suffering from problems with his bike. This keeps the hopes of Valentin Dardillat and Alec Enderli alive who, on 124 and 89 points respectively, are the only other riders still mathematically in the running for the Ski GP1 title.
With many of the other nine categories that will race in Vichy still all to play for, the final Grand Prix of the 2026 European calendar is set to be a highly contested affair. The paddock opens on Thursday, September 3, with rider registrations closing that day at 7pm local time. On-water action commences the following day, and the 2026 European Continental Championship comes to a close on the evening of Sunday, September 6 with a prize giving ceremony at 6.30pm where the year’s winners will be crowned.
19 July, 2026
QUINTEN BOSSCHE, BENEDICTE DRANGE AND ROBERTO MARIANI CLAIM GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY TITLES WITH CLEAN SWEEP OF ALL THEIR RESPECTIVE MOTOS
Pierre-Francois Savelli, Leo Kete, Mattias Siimann, Csongor Jászai, and Karl Joosep Steinberg among other riders to emerge victorious in Gyor
Sunday, July 19: Surprise results in the final Moto of the weekend led to unexpected victories in the Grand Prix of Hungary, alongside continued dominance in other categories that saw the likes of Quinten Bossche, Benedicte Drange, and Roberto Mariani leave Gyor with a clean sweep of all the available points.
European Continental Championship
The final Runabout GP1 Moto completely upended the final Grand Prix of Hungary standings, as Gyorgy Kasza repeated his pacey performance from Moto 2 to take the holeshot and then lead the rest of the race to victory. But attention turned to his main challenger and current European Champion, Jeremy Perez, who had won every Moto in Mira and had looked set to repeat that feat after his win in Gyor’s Moto 1.
But disaster struck for the Frenchman, as he battled issues with his exhaust system that made him slow from the eighth lap. Perez gradually fell behind, unable to reach his usual pace, and finished the race in twelfth place. His closest rival from Moto 1, Samuel Johansson, was unable to overcome the bike issues that forced him to retire in Moto 2, and therefore did not start Moto 3. These shock Moto 3 results have thrown the Championship standings wide open, after Pierre-Francois Savelli was rewarded for his consistent performances with the win in Gyor on 60 points, with Kasza, Perez, and Mattias Siimann coming behind him in that order, each on 56 points.
Quinten Bossche secured yet another win in Ski GP1 to ensure he remains completely unbeaten in this season’s Championship, claiming all of the available 150 points so far. The Belgian’s pace was far too great for any other competitors to come close, so the real battle was for the remaining podium places, with the next three riders crossing the finish line with only 2.08 seconds separating them.
Valentin Dardillat managed to hold onto second place throughout Moto 3 to secure his third second-placed finish in a row in Gyor and 66 points overall. After a tightly contested battle, Kevin Reiterer was able to overtake Jayden Richardson to take third place, with the Australian losing out on his third consecutive third place finish by just 0.31 seconds to come fourth in Moto 3, but still third overall in the Grand Prix of Hungary
Benedicte Drange took the holeshot and from there no one could stop the Norwegian as she stormed to her third Ski Ladies GP1 Moto win in a row to secure the Grand Prix of Hungary victory and the full 75 points on offer this weekend. As in the previous two Motos, Jessica Chavanne once again trailed Drange throughout the race to come second, meaning the current European Champion leaves Gyor with an extra 66 points to her name. Third place went to Jonna Borgstrom.
It was a weekend to forget for current World Champion Estelle Poret, who faced disqualifications, lap penalties, and recurring bike issues, the latter of which forced her to not even start Moto 3. Following her full haul of 75 points in Mira, she leaves Gyor with just 16 points more, giving her a mighty battle in Vichy to regain her place at the top of the Championship standings.
Roberto Mariani delivered another spectacular routine to win in Freestyle. The Italian’s sequence of acrobatic moves secured him 173 points from the judges, and the full 25 points for claiming the top spot. Massimo Accumulo had to settle for second place after an impressive performance of his own that saw him awarded 157 points from the judges.
In Runabout GP2 Justin Patzner flew off the start to claim the holeshot, whilst a slow start from Vaznys Domantas from pole position saw him drop down to fifth place. Patzner was unable to hold onto the lead his flying start gave him, as Linus Lindberg overtook the Hungarian on the third lap to take the lead. Lindberg then had to contend with a challenge to his own lead, as Mattias Siimann crept up behind him to reduce the gap to just 0.68 seconds by the fourth lap.
It took Siimann until the sixth lap to take the lead, and once he did, the Estonian immediately started building up a cushion between himself and the rest of the racing pack. His strong lead management saw him cross the finish line with a gap of 16.90 seconds. The Moto 3 win was enough to secure Siimann the Grand Prix of Hungary win on 67 points, although he still remains behind fellow Estonian Karl Keskula in the season’s overall rankings by just five points.
Daan Hoeke was finally able to secure a Ski GP2 Moto win after he delivered a dominant performance in Moto 3 to win the race by a margin of 20.88 seconds. His Moto win was not enough to claim the top spot in the Grand Prix’s overall standings, however, as Karl Joosep Steinberg managed to secure enough points by finishing fourth in Moto 3 to deliver him the Grand Prix of Hungary victory on 68 points to Hoeke’s 58 points.
Leo Kete took the holeshot and then led for the rest of the race in the final Ski GP3 Moto. Kete comfortably won with a 21.28 second lead to secure all three Ski GP3 Moto wins and assure him of the Grand Prix of Hungary win. The win, alongside his strong performances in Mira, puts the Slovenian well ahead in the overall standings on 147 out of a possible 150 points.
Csongor Jászai took the holeshot in Ski GP4 after a slow start from Dorijan Jakopanec saw him lose his pole position and fall back into third place. Once in the lead, Jászai immediately started to put distance between himself and the rest of the racing pack, extending his lead to almost five seconds after the first lap.
Jászai once again managed his lead well to comfortably finish first, this time with a 9.96 second lead. The Moto 3 win secured Jászai victory in the Grand Prix of Hungary on 72 points, well ahead of Jakopanec who came second on 62 points and third-placed Markus Erlach on 60 points.
Arti Molter was able to maintain his lead in the final Runabout GP4 Moto by the slimmest of margins, as Mattias Siimann pushed for the top spot until the very end, crossing the finish line just 2.48 seconds behind Molter. The Moto 3 win meant Molter did just enough to win the Grand Prix of Hungary by one point, claiming 65 points to Siimann’s 64.
Alizée Vanden-Blecken had another perfect set of results after securing her third Moto win in Gyor by a margin of 8.32 seconds. This puts her as the firm favourite to win the Runabout Ladies GP4 European title going into the final installment in Vichy, France.
In Ski Junior GP4, Marvin Bohuslav completed a hat-trick of Moto wins that saw the Hungarian claim first place in Gyor. However, since Bohuslav did not compete in the Grand Prix of Portugal, Francesco Mariani remains first in the overall Ski Junior GP4 standings on 141 points.
Junior World Championship
After back-to-back wins in Ski Junior GP3.2 for Noam Santos Bíró, Topi Järvenpää claimed an unexpected holeshot in Moto 3 to keep his hopes of winning the Grand Prix of Hungary alive. However, Bíró remained hot on his trail, just 1.47 seconds behind after the second lap. Järvenpää managed his lead well and crossed the finish line 3.50 seconds ahead of Bíró, but the Moto 3 win was not enough to secure him the World Championship title, which instead went to Bíró on 72 points to Järvenpää’s 69 points.
In Ski Junior GP3.3, Milo Beernaut took the holeshot and then had to manage a tight lead for the rest of Moto 3 to claim the win. Beernaut eked out a gap of 1.27 seconds over Leo Kete after the first lap, but Kete would not let the Belgian get away, knowing that a win in Moto 3 would decide the overall winner of the Grand Prix, and so remained around two seconds behind him throughout the race. Beernaut kept his cool and claimed the Moto 3 win, and therefore the title of Ski Junior GP3.3 World Champion after triumphing overall in Gyor.
Jose Vainio completed a hat-trick of wins in Moto 3 to claim the Runabout Junior GP4 World Championship.
19 July, 2026
GYORGY KASZA SECURES SHOCK RUNABOUT GP1 WIN ON HOME SOIL AMIDST A BUSY MORNING OF MOTO 2 RACING IN GYOR, HUNGARY
Bossche, Drange, Mariani, Steinberg, and Vainio secure wins in their respective categories
Sunday, July 19: The final day of racing for the Grand Prix of Hungary started with hardly fought Moto 2 races, some of which have thrown the competition wide open ahead of this afternoon’s defining Moto 3 races.
Jeremy Perez’s winning streak was finally ended in Runabout GP1, after a stunning performance by Gyorgy Kasza saw the Frenchman beaten to the holeshot and unable to match Kasza’s pace throughout Moto 2. Kasza secured a flying start, achieving the race’s best lap of 1:10.77 seconds on his opening lap, and then managing to keep up his rapid pace for the remainder of the race.
Kasza continued to pull away from Perez as the race went on, eventually crossing the finish line with a very respectable 23.26 second lead. Meanwhile, Samuel Johansson’s Championship chance took a significant hit after the Swede retired on the seventh lap due to issues with his bike, meaning he finished Moto 2 pointless and goes into Moto 3 tenth in the Grand Prix of Hungary standings.
Quinten Bossche remained unstoppable in Ski GP1, winning his fifth Moto in a row of the 2026 season after another dominant display in Moto 2. The Belgian once again took the holeshot, and never looked back from there. He continued to extend his lead, crossing the finish line with a 34.46 second lead over second-placed Valentin Dardillat.
After Estelle Poret won all three Motos in Mira, the pressure was on Benedicte Drange to match Poret’s perfect Mira record in Gyor following the Norwegian’s win in Moto 1 to give her the best chance of fighting for the Championship. To this end, Drange was greatly helped by Poret’s continued bike issues that meant she was unable to reach her usual top pace.
Drange took the holeshot and then led from there, managing her lead well to win Moto 2 comfortably. As in Moto 1, Jessica Chavanne was in second place behind Drange, but this time Chavanne lacked the pace to mount a serious challenge for the top spot, crossing the finish line 15.70 seconds behind Drange. Meanwhile, Poret’s problems compounded after she yet again faced a penalty, this time for anticipating the start, which imposed a 25 second penalty that saw her finish in fifth place.
After struggling to challenge for the top spots in Mira, Karl Joosep Steinberg has come into his own in Gyor, securing two Ski GP2 Moto wins from as many races and giving himself a strong chance of fighting for the Championship. He was helped in part by the uncharacteristically poor performance of Robin Sylvester, winner of all three Motos in Mira and second place finisher in Moto 1, who struggled in Moto 2 to get his bike up to pace, finishing the race in eighth place.
Without the challenge of Sylvester, Steinberg’s greatest threat came from Daan Hoeke, who trailed him through the race. Steinberg managed his lead well though, crossing the finish line 5.30 seconds ahead of Hoeke to put him firmly in front of the Grand Prix of Hungary standings going into Moto 3.
Jose Vainio’s unbeaten run continued in Runabout Junior GP4, as the Finn yet again led from start to finish to claim the full 25 points. Nele Lahann provided the greatest challenge, but he never found the pace to worry Vainio, who crossed the finish line with a lead of 7.75 seconds.
Roberto Mariani was back to his winning ways as the current World and European Champion claimed the Freestyle victory in a spectacular performance that delighted local crowds. His sequence of tightly executed backflips and spins was awarded 185 points from the judges, comfortably more than second-placed Massimo Accumulo’s 158 points, putting Mariani back on track to retaining his Championship title following his struggles in Mira.
