Audi 2025 WingFoil Racing World Cup Türkiye - Day 4
by WingFoil Racing World Cup 16 Aug 18:52 BST
13-17 August 2025
Audi 2025 WingFoil Racing World Cup Türkiye - Day 4 © IWSA media / Robert Hajduk
Italy is on the verge of a golden double at the Audi 2025 WingFoil Racing World Cup Turkiye, with Alessandro Tomasi and Maddalena Spanu both securing top spots ahead of Sunday's finals in a dramatic day of racing marked by strong but more manageable winds.
After a week of wild conditions, today's breeze ranged from 20 to 30 knots, with gusts still causing occasional havoc. But none of it phased 22-year-old Alessandro Tomasi, who delivered a ruthless performance across eight gruelling races. The athlete from Lake Garda secured four wins and clinched the top spot in qualifying, booking a direct passage to the final.
However, it wasn't all plain sailing for Tomasi. A dramatic moment unfolded when he fell just minutes before the start of the afternoon session, striking his wing with the foil mast. He rushed back to shore with the air bladder spewing from the rip in the outer skin, praying it wouldn't explode. On the slipway, fellow riders and supporters rallied to help him patch the damage. He made it back to the start just seconds after the fleet had already launched and remarkably fought his way into the lead, before a small fall left him finishing second.
That race went to Poland's Kamil Manowiecki, who had a blistering day on the water, finishing in the top two in seven of the eight races. It was enough to snatch an overall second place finish and progress straight to tomorrow's final.
Defending event champion Mathis Ghio will have to progress from the semi-final if he's to keep his title. The last time he found himself in such a predicament was December 2024 in Brazil. "It's a different approach from starting in the final on top in first place - it'll be tough", he concedes. "We'll have lighter winds than today so it'll be intense," said Mathis who's hoping conditions will allow him to use a bigger, more powerful wing.
The race to secure a place in the medal series, limited to the top nine riders, went right down to the wire. Italy's Ernesto De Amicis edged into ninth place thanks to a string of consistent top-ten finishes. But it was a crash in the day's first race that proved pivotal. Britain's Freddie Strawson misjudged his start and collided with China's Sheng Yin. The resulting penalty saw him drop to 11th, just behind New Zealand's Sean Herbert.
For those who missed the cut, there's still one last shot at glory via a one-off 'Golden Ticket' race. As it stands, Kamil Manowiecki remains the only non-French or Italian athlete in the medal series.
Doing the double
In the women's fleet, Italy's Maddalena Spanu remains the standout favourite and continues her charge towards gold. Despite a few wipeouts in the punchy breeze, she never surrendered the top of the leaderboard.
Greece's Emilia Kosti took full advantage of Spanu's rare slip-ups, racking up crucial bullets to qualify second for the final.
Elsewhere, two riders transitioning from other disciplines made their mark in the big-air conditions. Turkey's Dilara Palombo, a former Olympic windsurfer, impressed on her World Cup Series debut, consistently finishing in the top five. Meanwhile, French kiteboard convert Anais Mai Desjardins showed blistering pace to earn a direct spot in the semi-finals.
With both Tomasi and Spanu leading their respective fleets, Italy stands on the brink of a double gold in Istanbul but with the changing conditions nothing is guaranteed, something Tomasi is all too aware of, "I'll have to try to race the final like I've raced all week. To race loose and free and try to ignore the pressure."
The action reaches its grand finale on Sunday 17 August, with the highly anticipated medal series, where champions will be crowned. Fans can follow every moment of the Audi 2025 WingFoil Racing World Cup Turkiye in real-time, as races are tracked live, with updates and insights shared across all official IWSA channels.