Over one hundred and twenty athletes competed in the first event to win the Italian title.
The first round of the 2024 Italian Jet Ski Championship took place in Naples , on one of the city's iconic landmarks, Lungomare Caracciolo. This provided the backdrop for the best Italian riders, who put on a spectacular show, competing in spectacular challenges before the eyes of countless fans and passersby in the waters off the Rotonda Diaz beach. The event, scheduled for May 3-5 and organized by Salvatore Babo's ASD Jet Ski Family Racing Team, under the aegis of the Italian Motorboating Federation (CONI) and with the patronage of the City of Naples, lived up to expectations with the participation of over 120 athletes.
Friday 3 May after the preparation of the race field, the registrations and the technical checks of all categories and classes, at 16.00 there was the Mototherapy with the special kids who took a tour of the circuit with jet skis, this activity was organized in collaboration with the association "Noi posso APS", which has been dedicated for about 10 years of kids affected by autism, carrying out numerous initiatives both sports and training. For this reason the stage also boasts the moral patronage of the Authority Guarantor of Childhood and Adolescence of the Campania Region.
The categories and 23 classes that competed are:
Runabout F1, Runabout F1 Veteran, Runabout F2, Runabout F4, Runabout F4 Veteran, Runabout F4 Female, Runabout F4 Female Veteran, Runabout Novice. Spark Youth 12-14, Spark Youth 15-18. Ski F1, Ski F1 Veteran, Ski F2, Ski F4, Ski Open, Ski Superjet, Ski Youth 12-14, Ski Youth 15-18. Freestyle Pro, Freestyle Beginners. Endurance F1, Endurance F2, Endurance F3.
THE WINNERS OF THIS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP STAGE AND OF THE TWO ROUNDS OF THIS WEEK END OF RACES
For the Free-Style the first heat on Saturday 4th May was won by Roberto Mariani, second place for Massimo Accumulo, Francesco Mortellaro third. In the second heat on Sunday 5th first place again for Mariani, second for Accumulo and third Roberto Minnucci.
The stage for this category also saw the conquest of gold for the multiple Italian and world champion Roberto Mariani, in second place Massimo Accumulo Italian Champion 2023, the bronze was instead won by Francesco Mortellaro. The audience was left breathless for the masterly performances of these pilots.
The two heats of the two categories Ski F4 and Ski Open, motorcycles that are ridden standing up with tilting handlebars and that competed together, in this stage with separate rankings, lasted 10 minutes + 1 lap, the race was clockwise. On the first day of racing on Saturday 4 May, the victory for the Ski Open went to Davide Pontecorvo, second Carolina Vernata, third Cristoforo Pignata, for the Ski F4 instead the victory of the first heat always went to Davide Pontecorvo, second place for Lino Brusadin and third for Carolina Vernata.
On the second day, the heat was won for the Ski Open by Davide Pontecorvo, second by Vernata and third by Pignata, for the Ski F4 Davide Pontecorvo first, Carolina Vernata second and third by Lino Brusadin.
The stage was won for the Ski Open by Davide Pontecorvo, second place for Carolina Vernata and bronze for Cristoforo Pignata. For the Ski F 4 gold again for Davide Pontecorvo, silver for Lino Brusadin and bronze for Carolina Vernata.
In the Spark Youth 12-14 years 8 minutes + 1 lap Alessio Ascione won the first heat, Gabriele Dragone placed second and Andrea Fagiolo third, on the second day Alessio Ascione maintained first place, in the second heat, Ciro Taranto came in second and Francesco Bassenghi third.
The stage for this category was won by Alessio Ascione, second Gabriele Dragone and third Francesco Bassenghi.
In the Youth Ski 15-18 years the first heat was won by Carolina Vernata, Antonio Retta second and Adele Tomassini third, in the second heat on Sunday 5 May, the positions remained the same as Vernata, Retta and Tomassini.
The stage was won by Carolina Vernata, second place for Antonio Retta and third for Adele Tomassini.
For Endurance F1 and F2, a 30-minute race plus one lap for each heat, a great expression of power for these bikes, lots of horsepower and great speed. The first heat saw Michele Cadei triumph for F1, Matthias Giraldo in second place, Emanuele Masala in third, for F2 Gaetano Costagliola first, Slobodan Sobic second and Pierantonio Rizzardo third. In the second heat, in F1 Matthias Giraldo placed first, Emanuele Masala second and Ezio Lucchese third. For F2 Gaetano Costagliola first, Slobodan Sobic second and Nicola De Giorgi third.
The stage was won for F1 by Matthias Giraldo, behind him in second place Michele Cadei and Emanuele Masala in third. For F2 Gaetano Costagliola first, Slobodan Sobic second and Pierantonio Rizzardo third.
As for the Ski F2 and Ski Superjet categories, the first heat of the Ski F2 was won by Ugo Guidi, Naomi Benini took second place and Maicol Bettucci third, while for the Ski Superjet first place went to Andy Trasmondi, second to Juri Tiozzo and third to Marcantonio Oliveri.
The second heat in Ski F2 saw Ugo Guidi triumph, followed by Naomi Benini and third place for Maicol Bettucci. In Ski Superjet Andy Trasmondi first, Alessio Ascione second and Marcantonio Oliveri third.
The stage was won for Ski F2 by Ugo Guidi, second Naomi Benini third Maicol Bettucci, for Ski Superjet Andy Trasmondi first, Marcantonio Oliveri second and for Juri Tiozzo third place.
For the Spark Youth 15-18 years, Ludovica Urlo won the first heat, Nicole Cadei was second, and Antonio Retta was third. In the second heat on Sunday, Urlo confirmed her first place, Domenico Caiazza took second, and Nicole Cadei placed third.
The stage was won by Ludovica Urlo, silver for Nicole Cadei and bronze for Antonio Retta.
For the Runabout F4 and F4 Veteran in the first heat Arianna Urlo, for the F4 she placed first, Antonio Pontecorvo second and Michele Cadei third, for the F4 Veteran Michele Cadei first, second Marcantonio Oliveri and third Alberto Santini. In the second heat of the F4 Marcantonio Oliveri first, Antonio Pontecorvo second and third Arianna Urlo, for the F4 Veteran, instead Marcantonio Oliveri first, Michele Cadei second, Alberto Santini third.
The stage was won by Arianna Urlo for the Runabout F4, second place for Antonio Pontecorvo, third for Marcantonio Oliveri, for the Runabout F4 Veteran Marcantonio Oliveri gold, Michele Cadei silver and Alberto Santini silver.
For the Runabout F2 high-powered motorcycle, Alessandro Fracasso took first place in the first heat, Michele Marras second and Nicola De Giorgi third. In the second heat on Sunday 5 May Alessandro Fracasso, a very young rider, who remained in the lead from the start of the race, with a dizzying pace also won this second heat, Michele Marras took second place and Sabato Pontecorvo third.
The stage was won by the young Alessandro Fracasso, with Michele Marras taking second place and Nicola De Giorgi taking third.
For the Ski Giovanile 12-14 years the first heat of these very young pilots saw Alessio Ascione prevail who came first, behind him was Eros Brusadin and Gabriele Dragone third. Also in the second heat Alessio Ascione maintained the first place and Ersos Brusadin the second, Francesco Mariani instead placed third.
The stage was won for the Ski Giovanile 12-14 years by Alessio Ascione, followed by Eros Brusadin and in third place Gabriele Dragone.
In the Runabout F4 Women and F4 Novice: the first heat for the F4 Women was won by Naomi Benini, Ilaria Vanni came in second and Carolina Vernata third. For the F4 Novice Ludovica Urlo, on the first day took first place, Alberto Fochesatto second and Alessandro Urbinati third. The second heat on Sunday for the F4 Women Naomi Benini first, Carolina Vernata second, Ilaria Vanni third, in the F4 Novice Nicole for Nicole Cadei first place, Ludovica Urlo second and Alberto Fochesatto third.
The stage was won for the F4 Women by Naomi Benini, second place for Carolina Vernata, third for Ilaria Vanni. In the F4 Novice for Ludovica Urlo the gold, for Nicole Cadei the second place and for Alberto Fochesatto third.
In the Ski F1 Veterans, both the first and second heats were won by Ugo Guidi who came first, Gianfranco Oliveri second and Andreas Reiter third.
The trio confirmed their three respective positions, winning the stage.
In the Ski F1 that competed together with the Ski F1 Veterans, the first heat was won by Daniele Piscaglia, second place for Andy Trasmondi and third for Andrea Guidi. The second heat was won by Matteo Benini, second place for Daniele Piscaglia and third for Andrea Guidi.
The stage for the SKI F1 was won by Daniele Piscaglia, with Matteo Benini taking second place and Andrea Guidi taking third.
For the Runabout F1 that competed with Runabout F1 Veterans, the first heat for the Runabout F1 was won by Pier Paolo Terreo, second place for Manuel Reggiani, third for Davide Di Maio, in the second heat instead Pier Paolo Terreo first, Davide Di Maio second and Stefano Castronovo third. The stage was won by the Runabout F1 Pier Paolo Terreo, second place for Davide Di Maio, third for Manuel Reggiani
For the Runabout F1 Veterans the first heat was won by Pier Paolo Terreo, for Lorenzo Benaglia the second place and for Giuseppe Greco the third. The second heat was also won by Pier Paolo Terreo, in second place Giuseppe Greco, third Lorenzo Benaglia.
The stage winners for this category were Pier Paolo Terreo first, Lorenzo Benaglia second and Giuseppe Greco third.
After the Naples stage, the second stage of the Italian Jet Ski Championship will be held in Chioggia on May 18-19, followed by the third in Ancona on June 8-9, the fourth in Santa Cesarea (LE) on September 7-8, and the fifth and final stage will be in Fiumicino on September 21-22. The preparation of all the race fields is taken care of by the organizers of the relative events.
(ph photo Mirko Malaguti)
