Shanghai thriller sets the scene for this weekend’s Grand Prix in Zhengzhou

Three scintillating qualifying sessions and a pulsating Grand Prix in Shanghai have set the scene perfectly for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Zhengzhou, China on the Yellow River.

The third round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship comes after two rounds in Indonesia and China that sees the Drivers’ Championship wide open with just eight points separating the top six drivers. Several teams now have drivers capable of challenging for the podium and the season heads into the meat of the action with no-one really able to predict the outcome of this year’s enthralling World Championship.

After their retirements on Lake Toba in August, Jonas Andersson, Shaun Torrente and Erik Stark needed to finish the race on the Huangpu River last weekend. They ran the risk of falling behind early season leader Rusty Wyatt in the rankings. When the Canadian crashed out early in the 39-lap spectacle, that threw the title race wide open with three rounds remaining, although Wyatt is still second in the rankings.

Team Sweden’s Andersson maintained the early pressure on Torrente and it paid dividends with the Swede able to pass the American and survive four yellow-flag stoppages to record his 17th career win. That success lifted the three-time World Champion into a three-point lead in the World Championship and, coupled with new team-mate Grant Trask’s sensational qualifying and race performances, it catapulted Team Sweden into Teams’ title contention and saw Trask hold equal fifth in the Drivers’ Championship heading to Zhengzhou.

The man of the weekend was probably young Estonian Stefan Arand. He found a staggering pace to outwit Torrente in a fascinating third qualifying session but then suffered the disappointment of needing an engine change before the race. Starting from 19th out of 20 drivers on the grid wrecked his chance of taking the win, but Arand took advantage of the stoppages and the carnage going on around him to finish an eventual fourth. He is tied with Trask in the points’ standings.

The Victory Team was impressive all weekend: Torrente narrowly missed out on pole but was delighted to win his Sprint race and was gifted pole position for the Grand Prix when Arand required the power plant replacement. After being passed by Andersson, the Florida man settled for the much-needed points for finishing second and is now just five points behind Andersson in fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Agencies