Team Sweden’s Andersson snatches World Championship lead with win in Shanghai

Team Sweden’s three-time World Champion Jonas Andersson overtook Victory Team rival Shaun Torrente and overcame several yellow-flag stoppages to secure victory at a pulsating UIM F1H2O Grand Prix of Shanghai, China on the Huangpu River on Saturday afternoon.

A 17th career victory for the defending champion enabled him to move into a three-point lead in the UIM F1H2O World Championship after early season leader Rusty Wyatt of the Sharjah Team rolled out of contention on lap 12 of 39.

Torrente started from pole position and managed to fend off Andersson’s challenge for 11 laps before the pressure paid off for the Swede and he moved ahead. Despite three yellow flag stoppages in an action-packed race, Andersson was able to keep Torrente at bay with the race finishing under a yellow when two-time champion Sami Seliö rolled out of fourth place on lap 35.

Andersson’s team-mate Grant Trask emerged from the carnage unscathed to secure an impressive third place on his Team Sweden debut and move the team into a similar position behind the Victory Team and the Sharjah Team in the UIM F1H2O Teams’ Championship.

Andersson said: “I am super happy. We messed up the qualifying yesterday. It was a long time since I started down in the number four. It was difficult to understand that I didn’t have a good set-up.

“I changed something for today and it was a lot better. The start was perfect and I am so happy for the team because they are working a lot here, especially when he had problems. This is a win for the team! Grant (Trask), a fantastic drive. The first time in the boat driving and to finish number three shows he may become a problem for me!”

Torrente said: “I gave him space (Jonas) and that was done. After that, I just played defence. I was the second-placed boat. I’m not trying to take any extra risks. I’d seen Rusty (Wyatt) go out. I’m seeing points and the bigger picture. Second it is, I’ll take it, it’s points.”

The drive of the race came from the talented young Estonian Stefan Arand. The Sharjah Team driver had earned pole position on Friday morning, but an engine change meant that he started the race from 19th position.

The Tallinn-based racer carved his way through the field, taking advantage of the yellow flags to finish in a superb fourth place and push Team Abu Dhabi’s Erik Stark down to fifth.

The Victory Team’s Alec Weckström picked up valuable points for sixth and now holds third in the Drivers’ Championship, a single point behind Wyatt.

The Red Devil-SMC F1 Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen stayed clear of the carnage to take seventh, the China CTIC Team’s Peter Morin was eighth and Australia’s Damon Cohen and Maverick Racing’s Cédric Deguisne rounded off the top 10.

Only 12 of the 20 drivers completed the race with Strømøy Racing’s Bartek Marszalek and Team Abu Dhabi’s Mansoor Al-Mansoori finishing out of the points in 11th and 12th.

Engine changes for both pole winner Arand and Alexandre Bourgeot meant that the duo slipped to the rear of the field in 19th and 20th positions for the start of the 39-lap race on the 1.7km circuit. Both Trask and Andersson of Team Sweden had been impressive in the morning’s warm-up session with the quickest laps but it was Sprint race two winner Torrente who lined up on pole ahead of Stark in calm conditions.

Torrente held his line and maintained the lead but Andersson made a storming start and moved into second at the expense of Stark and team-mate Trask. Arand moved up to 14th on the opening lap. Torrente stayed over two seconds clear of Andersson into lap two but Stark was also passed by Wyatt and slipped to fifth with all 20 drivers still in the race.

Andersson closed the gap to 1.860 seconds after four laps and Arand moved up to 11th with the top five holding station and Weckström, Alberto Comparato and Seliö holding sixth, seventh and eighth. Arand passed Ben Jelf and entered the top 10 on lap nine but Andersson had no answer to Torrente in the race between the two three-time World Champions, even though the American’s lead was trimmed to just 0.622 seconds after 10 laps.

The Swede managed to pass the Victory Team driver on lap 11 after a spectacular coming together on a turn, when Torrente slid wide overtaking a backmarker and collided with the Swede’s DAC.