UAE-based teams ready to challenge rivals at season-opening Indonesia GP

Hours, weeks and months of meticulous preparation will be put to the test this weekend when spectacular Lake Toba in deepest Sumatra hosts the 3rd Grand Prix of Indonesia, the opening round of the 2025 UIM F1H2O World Championship.

A late start to the 2025 season will see five top class Grand Prix shoehorned into the last five months of the calendar year.

The race in Indonesia starts the action for the third successive season, although a switch to an August date should see slightly better weather conditions, particularly with the racing activity taking place in the mornings on the world’s largest volcanic lake.

Following the Balige-based event this weekend, equipment will be shipped to China for a pair of back-to-back Grand Prix in Shanghai and Zhengzhou in early October.

There will then be a traditional finale to the championship in the Middle East with a new venue in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, hosting the penultimate round at the end of November and the UAE emirate of Sharjah hosting the traditional final round on Khaled Lagoon the week before Christmas.

Last week’s five-day aquabiking bonanza was an unmitigated success with the 16-year-old Indonesian Boanerges Ratag making history by being crowned as the youngest ever World Endurance Champion and Jasmiin Ypraus, Oliver Koch Hansen, François Medori and Roberto Mariani winning the Grand Prix in their respective categories.

With attention now turning to the world’s premier single-hull power boating series, who will follow in the footsteps of Poland’s Bartek Marszalek and Canada’s Rusty Wyatt — the winners of the race on Lake Toba in 2023 and 2024 - and both also picking up their first ever career Grand Prix wins to boot?

Ten teams and 20 drivers will line-up this weekend, although there have been some musical chairs amongst the drivers in the close season and the Grand Prix of Indonesia will see the first F1H2O appearances for Mansoor Al Mansoori of Team Abu Dhabi and Damon Cohen of the Comparato F1 Team.

Team Sweden (known as Team Vietnam in 2024) were the form operation last year and earned a clean sweep of the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships and the F1H2O Pole Position Trophy. Team leader Jonas Andersson is a three-time World Champion and he lines up this year with team-mates Johan Osterberg and Kalle Viippo in support. The Swede won the world title in 2021, 2023 and 2024 and has 36 podium finishes and 16 GP wins to his name.

Last year, Wyatt produced one of the most spectacular finishes in Grand Prix history to stun his rivals on Lake Toba and earn a win on his debut with the Sharjah Team.

As Andersson and Erik Stark faltered on the final lap, the Ontario-based Canadian came around the outside like a sling shot to snatch a thrilling victory. That set the rookie up for a memorable season and the outcome of the Drivers’ Championship was only decided in Andersson’s favour at the final round in Sharjah when Wyatt retired from his Sprint race and Andersson went on to win the Grand Prix.

For 2025, Wyatt remains under the management of four-time World Champion Scott Gillman at the Sharjah Team and will be joined by young Estonian Stefan Arand and third driver Filip Roms. Arand began the 2024 season working alongside Andersson at Team Vietnam and is looking forward to the new challenge.

Team Abu Dhabi have one of the most formidable records in the history of the sport but trophies and success have evaded the operation running under the management of 10-time World Champion Guido Cappellini since 2022.

Last year, was a struggle with driver changes not helping team stability but the UAE-based operation pulled a master stroke by signing the talented Swede Erik Stark for a second time to lead the operation this year.

Stark has 16 podiums and five wins in his career thus far and was one of the few drivers able to match and beat Andersson in 2024. He finished third in the Drivers’ Championship with the Victory Team before making the switch to Team Abu Dhabi.

The team based out of the Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club (ADMSC) has a record of seven Teams’ Championships and four Drivers’ Championships but is also keen to nurture local talent.