-Straight bullets for Max Maeder, maintaining joint 1st with Qibin Huang, China
-France and Italy rise through the ranks with Lysa Caval, FRA and Riccardo Pianosi, ITA claiming 2 bullets each
-A new face at the front as Catalina Turienzo, Argentina leads races for the first time since starting kitefoiling a mere 18months ago
-Noteworthy racing from Vojtech Koska, Czech Republic, Flavio Marx, Italy and Dutch rider Jis Van Hees with some impressive top 3 results
-End of qualifying series for the boys, fleet split in Gold and silver from tomorrow
It was a successful day for France, with consistent appearances from Lysa Caval, Heloise Pegourie and Chloe Revil dominating the top 3 spots in every race of the day. Caval performed remarkably, and with two bullets and two second-place finishes she climbed the leaderboard from sixth to first. “I tried to push a lot today with my 21m! My legs hurt a lot, but I managed to do three top-3 finishes. However, it’s not enough to be on the podium so tomorrow I will push more!” said an ecstatic Revil.
Caval was much happier to race on her 21m today, feeling fresher and more ready than yesterday: “I was more confident on the water, I’m super happy with the result, it’s amazing! I did what I knew I had to do. Tomorrow I will try to do the same… maybe more bullets! I will keep focused because it’s only the second day and anything can happen. It’s cool to see the French team on the top. We fight together on the water but we are all friends, it’s really nice”
Their teammate Heloise Pegourie also showed great form, taking the remaining 2 bullets of the day, while the Polish girls had a tougher time on the water, with overnight leader Magda Woyciechowska dropping down to third, Julia Damasiewicz currently sitting in sixth and 2022 Youth World Champion Nina Arcisz in seventh.
Rise of the Americas
The pleasant surprise in the girls’ fleet is Catalina Turienzo. The young Argentinian often found herself in the top of the pack, even leading for most of the last race, and with a series good finishes she is over the moon to end the day sitting in fifth place. “I was leading at first, but I dropped my kite on the downwind! Luckily, I managed to pick it up quickly and I passed some girls on the upwind and two more on the downwind, so I finished second. It’s super exciting, it is such a cool feeling, the level is so high since the Europeans in Torregrande, the girls are pushing so so hard.” After only 18 months of kitefoiling, the young Argentinian rider is one to watch! She is joined by a highly promising new generation of kitefoilers appearing from the Americans, including Brazil’s Lucas Fonseca, Marcos Rodrigues and Vittor Filho, Columbian riders Marie Prevot and Jean Paul Villegas as well as Adriano Castro Ortiz representing Cuba for the first time ever in Formula kite.
Asians still on top
In the boys fleet, the Asians extended their lead on the fleet with a perfect score of 6pts each. Finishing the day with a successful port start, Max Maeder (SGP) won all of his races today, whilst Qibin Huang (CHN) gave away two bullets to Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi, who finally found his stride at the front of the pack in Yellow fleet. “The day was as expected, I hit a fish on the first race and did the rest well. I can see that the Italian it’s playing with different strategies to win me, it surprised me at the beginning” said Huang, who seems determined to revenge this year’s Europeans, when Pianosi won over Huang in the final.
Behind the trio, a fierce battle is going on, with various faces emerging to the front in every race. Vojtech Koska (CZE), Flavio Marx (ITA) and Jis Van Hees (NED), all demonstrated once more that consistency is key, with multiple finishes in the front pack. Jis Van Hees was delighted with his execution today: “Yesterday I was struggling to find my groove on the starting line, but today I managed to get away from the start clean and it was making a huge difference. Especially the first race, finishing second gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of day which went pretty good for me, so I’m happy” Van Hees currently sits in seventh and hopes to climb the leaderboard in the following days.
Join us tomorrow as we finally get to see the top boys battling head-to-head in Gold fleet. The action on the weekend will be broadcasted live through the IKA channels.
RESULTS MEN
1. Maximilian Maeder CHN 6 p
1. Qibin Huang SGP 6 p
3. Ricardo Pianosi GER 10 p
RESULTS WOMEN
1. Lysa Caval FRA 12 p
2. Heloise Pegourie FRA 16 p
3. Magdalena Woyciechowska POL 17 p
EVENT MICROSITE
Text Credits: IKA media
Photo Credits: IKA media / Robert Hajduk
Video Credits: ICARUS Sports
