Sharjah Team’s Wyatt reigns supreme at Shanghai Grand Prix

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt led a shortened Grand Prix of Shanghai China from a rolling start to a premature finish to extend his lead in the UIM F1H2O World Championship on Sunday.

The race was red-flagged after 11 laps because of the deteriorating conditions on the Huangpu River but Wyatt had already built up an advantage of 7.236 seconds and was able to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 17.5 points.

Wyatt said: “We ended up doing a rolling start because of the crazy weather and the water. We were a little concerned what would happen off the dock with the wind so strong. It worked out well for us.

“We got three wins now. Hopefully we can keep the good times rolling. It’s looking good. The boat is perfect.  We’ve got a little bit more of a technical course coming up two weeks from now, so I am looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather will be a little better.”

A battle royale had developed behind the Canadian with the great Swedish rivals Erik Stark and Jonas Andersson locked in a frantic tussle for second place. Andersson held off his friend and rival for just over eight laps when they both came together in a spectacular duel for position at a turn buoy. Stark teetered on the edge of a barrel-roll and managed to snatch second place with Andersson hooking his DAC and somehow managing to stay afloat with boat fragments flying in the air. The two Swedes held those positions when the race was red-flagged soon afterwards.

The Red Devil SMC F1 Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen climbed above Team Vietnam’s Stefan Arand to hold fourth place and was pressuring Andersson when the race was stopped.

The CTIC China Team’s Peter Morin weaved his way through the field from 16th to eventually finish in a fine sixth place and his American team-mate Brent Dillard was seventh.

The F1 Atlantic Team’s Ben Jelf came home in eighth, Wyatt’s team-mate Filip Roms was ninth and Team Abu Dhabi’s veteran Thani Al-Qamzi rounded off the top 10 after being penalised one lap for destroying a turn buoy.

Wyatt led Andersson and Stark into the start of the first Grand Prix to be staged in the world’s third largest city for 20 years. Thirty-two laps lay ahead on the demanding course off the Cruise Terminal in the Baoshan district of Shanghai and everyone’s fingers were crossed that the weather would play ball after two days of disruption to the racing schedule.

Wet and murky conditions and gusting winds were prevalent at the start of the fourth round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship. Race officials switched to a rolling start rather than a blast from the pontoon on safety grounds but it failed to prevent Wyatt from making a sensational start.

The Canadian stormed into a 5.099sec lead through lap one as the leaders held station through the opening turns. Andersson stemmed the flow of time into lap two but he had no answer to Wyatt’s pace at the start of the race. The F1 Atlantic Team’s Duarte Benavente pulled out on the opening lap.

The leaders had already caught the back markers by lap four, as Zandbergen overtook Arand to snatch fourth place behind Wyatt, Andersson and Stark. Morin had started the race in 16th place after an engine change but the Frenchman had climbed to seventh place by lap seven.

Wyatt’s lead had grown to 8.398 seconds through eight tours of the circuit as Stark teetered on the edge in a bid to overtake Andersson. The Swedes were locked in a gripping battle. Andersson survived a high-speed hook but Stark snatched second place. There was disappointment for two-time World Champion Sami Selio: the Finn pulled out after four laps.

With Zandbergen pressurising Andersson in the battle for third, the race was red-flagged on lap 11 when a turn buoy became detached. Race officials had decided that the conditions were not ideal for racing safely and drivers were instructed to return to the pontoon. Confirmation came through that racing had officially stopped with half points awarded to the drivers because only 11 laps of the race had been completed.

Action in the championship continues on the Yellow River in Zhengzhou on October 17-19 with the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou China.