Jedovnice in the Czech Republic hosted the opening round of the 2022 Hydro GP series and Massimiliano Cremona looked all set to take maximum points in the F250 class right up until the third and final heat.

In front of thousands of spectators all enjoying the beautiful weather ten competitors from all over Europe were battling it out on Lake Olšovec and amongst them were the Italian brothers Alex and Massimiliano Cremona. Last season the F-250 championship title battle was between Alex Cremona and the Hungarian racer Peter Bodor, with the outcome certainly going ‘down to the wire’. It was here in Jedovnice that the title was eventually decided following a mechanical issue for the Italian in the second heat. That left the Hungarian only needing to finish third in the final heat to clinch the title, which Bodor promptly did.

This time it was Massimiliano that looked all set to take victory with Bodor back in second place. His brother Alex though was having a weekend to forget. When he spoke to PRW Alex admitted that he was unable to tune the engine prior to the race weekend.

I already had some problems at home in the tests, but we thought we had solved it, but no.

It was certainly a very tense weekend for the team’s mechanics because try as they might they couldn’t find a solution even after changing two motors, two fuel lines, and one battery, if they could change it, they did but to no avail.

With Massimiliano Cremona now two hundred points ahead of Bodor with just one heat remaining the odds now looked in favour of the Italian finishing on the top step of the podium, but it wasn’t to be. Unfortunately for Cremona his engine stopped just a few metres from the dock, a small error probably due to the use of the mufflers meant he was now down in fifth place. Meanwhile Bodor was out in front ironically being chased by Alex Cremona.

So, in a repeat of last year’s final heat the Hungarian did exactly what he needed to do, although this time round crossing that finish line in first place was the priority, which is precisely what he did. Not settling for second place and securing those twenty valuable points in a season that might only have three rounds is a sure sign that Bodor is not about to give up his title without a fight.

Second place Massimiliano Cremona said after the race

We came so close to touching the top step of the podium, shame about the problems we had in the third heat.

Congratulations to Britain’s Wayne Turner in getting a very credible third place. A great achievement especially with Turner suffering illness whilst competing.

For Alex Cremona it certainly was a difficult race weekend

With many issues at least I managed to finish the last heat in second place. Being able to finish the weekend in sixth place in the championship allows me to stay in the race for the title and whatever happens I’ll give it my all to the end. We couldn’t get the engine to perform as it should, we don’t have to understand why. When we return home, we will do new tests to be ready for the next battle with Bodor.

Images supplied by Milan Spurný at Studio diSTy