Andersson said:

“It has been a very tough season against some big teams. We had a rough start to the season at Lake Toba in Indonesia in practice and I broke the engine in the race. From there, it has been four wins in a row. It is incredible for me and thanks to all the people who have been helping me. We had a perfect set-up and my boys are working really hard. For us, it is incredible to achieve this in this kind of racing with these big teams. I am really happy.”

Stark added:

“I think we had a decent season. Coming back after a few years away, I cannot be more happy for my team. I have a perfect boat every race, so my job is quite easy. I won here the last time I came in 2018 and I was second in the championship that year too. Maybe next year we go for the win!”

Peter Morin of the China CTIC Team finished the final round of the 2023 UIM F1H2O World Championship in fourth and confirmed third in the overall Drivers’ Championship standings. Morin said:

“We finish third in the Teams’ Championship. It has been incredible here, a great race and thanks to my team for their hard work this year.”

Andersson’s team-mate Kalle Viippo was fifth and added valuable points to Team Sweden’s tally, while Marit Strømøy gave the new Mercury four-stroke V8-engined DAC a best finish of the season with sixth.

With Alberto Comparato and Brent Dillard sidelined after a dramatic collision that forced a yellow flag nine laps from the end, Comparato’s team-mate Brock Cohen came home in seventh and Briton’s Ben Jelf earned a career-best finish with eighth and collected his first World Championship points. Early season leader Bartek Marszalek was ninth and Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al-Qemzi rounded off the top 10.

The Maverick Racing duo of Cédric Deguisne and Alexandre Bourgeot finished outside the points in 11th and 12th and Jelf’s F1 Atlantic Team colleague Duarte Benavente was 13th.

Road to Sharjah-Grand Prix of Sharjah

Eighteen of the 21 boats lined up for the start of the 32-lap race on Khalid Lagoon. The violent coming together between Team Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente and Mad Croc Gillman Racing’s Filip Roms in Saturday’s second sprint race sidelined both racers and the Victory Team’s Ahmad Al-Fahim was suspended as a result of a yellow card for his driving that caused the collision.

Speaking from the pits just before the race, Torrente said:

“I feel bad for Al-Fahim. He made a mistake. We give each other so much trust at the front of the field. I went in there hard and Roms got collected and I ended up in the hospital. Jonas and I had a great battle in qualifying. It was fun. I am blessed to be standing here. I had lunch with the team today. The hybrid neck restraint I used saved my life. The black eye, I will take..”

Andersson and Viippo started from first and second positions on the pontoon and Ferdinand Zandbergen – Andersson’s only rival for the Fast Lap Trophy – was third and lined up ahead of Trask and Stark. Comparato, Deguisne and Bourgeot had changed engines and started near the rear of the field in 15^th, 16^th and 17^th, with Dillard at the back in 18^th.

Stark got the jump on the rest of the field but Andersson managed to hold his line and maintain his lead from Grant Trask, Stark and Zandbergen, but Viippo dropped back to fifth. Andersson began to stretch his legs and he pulled 5.338 seconds clear of the Australian through three laps. Dillard managed to climb from 18^th to 12^th heading into lap five.

Andersson had already caught the back-markers by lap six but was showing no mercy to his rivals and maintained a constant pace to stay well clear of Trask, Stark, Zandbergen, Viippo, Morin, Al-Qamzi, Cohen, Marszalek and Comparato. All 18 boats were still in the race.

The World Champion kept the pedal to he metal and increased his lead to 13.033 seconds after one-third of the race, although Trask was losing power and coming under pressure from both Stark and Zandbergen in the battle for second place, with the latter two tussling for the runner-up spot in the World Championship.

Stark managed to overtake Trask and snatched second place, as Zandbergen was forced to pull out with electrical gremlins and Trask ceded third to Morin and was then passed by Viippo. The Australian plummeted out of contention soon afterwards, as Al-Qamzi and Cohen climbed into fifth and sixth. Slower traffic cost Andersson valuable time and the Swede came under pressure from Stark with the gap just 1.336 seconds as the race reached its half-way point after 16 laps.

The two Swedes continued to vie for top spot as the race headed into lap 21, although the World Champion edged over three seconds ahead on the next lap. Two-time World Champion Sami Seliö had already been forced out with a loss of engine power when Comparato barrel-rolled his boat after colliding with Dillard on the far side of the circuit with nine laps still to run. Both boats were damaged in the incident and were removed from the circuit under a yellow-flag. Comparato was taken to hospital for medical checks and was released shortly afterwards .

Action resumed on lap 29 with just four laps remaining. Andersson held off his rivals to maintain the lead and began to edge away from the Victory Team driver. The Swede stormed away to snatch his 14^th career GP victory by 2.452 seconds. Stark secured second place and Al-Qamzi passed Morin to snatch the final podium place for Team Abu Dhabi.

2023 Road to Sharjah-Grand Prix of Sharjah – result:

1. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden 32 laps
2. Erik Stark (SWE) Victory Team @2.452sec
3. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi @5.287sec
4. Peter Morin (FRA) China CTIC Team @5.857sec
5. Kalle Viippo (FIN) Team Sweden @10.140sec
6. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team @13.807sec
7. Brock Cohen (AUS) Comparato F1 @15.540sec
8. Ben Jelf (GBR) F1 Atlantic Team @31.380sec
9. Bartek Marszalek (POL) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 1 lap behind
10. Rashed Al-Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 2 laps behind
11. Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick Racing 2 laps behind
12. Alexandre Bourgeot (FRA) Maverick Racing 2 laps behind
13. Duarte Benavente (POR) F1 Atlantic Team 2 laps behind

Behind the leading duo, Andersson’s team-mate Kalle Viippo qualified in a career-best third place with the Sharjah Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen set to start Sunday’s Grand Prix from fourth spot.

Andersson said:

“I had a perfect set-up and we have been lucky because I also found problems with the old boat. The guys managed to fix it and it was working perfect. I broke my best prop in Q2. This was the back-up and it was not so bad. I am really happy and proud for Kalle, who was qualifying in third. There have been a lot of problems with the engines on the boats and I try hard to give him some good material. We are one and three for the race. Hopefully we don’t break anything in the Sprint races today. Anything can happen. Hopefully we can go for the Teams’ Championship tomorrow…”

 

Second-placed Torrente added:

“It sucked not being in a boat (after his yellow card). It was nice to stay home with the family and spend some quality time. A lot of stupid mistakes on my side. It was not one of my years. Sharjah is about a reset and developing some things for the future. “

 

A delighted Viippo said:

“I am very happy with this result. Now everything is working and Jonas has been working really hard with the engines. It is nearly perfect. Of course, you can always do better. But it is good for now, for this year!”

Zandbergen qualified in fourth. He said:

“We are trying to secure second place in the championship and we are fighting for the Fast Lap Trophy and the Teams’ Championship, so there is a lot to focus on this weekend.”

 

Mad Croc Gillman Racing’s Grant Trask qualified in an excellent fifth place.

The Australian said:

“To be honest, it has been an awesome season. I have done three races. One I didn’t finish, but I got seventh at each of the venues. Now I will try and get top five this weekend.”

 

Ahmad Al-Fahim of the Victory Team reached Q3 with some excellent speed but only ran for two laps and qualified in sixth place.

Q1

Nine boats were eliminated from the opening 20-minute session that also went a long way to determining the starting positions at the rear of the pontoon for the Grand Prix and the afternoon’s two Sprint races. Peter Morin carded the early target of 48.444 seconds and that stood for five minutes until Torrente clocked a lap of 48.346 seconds to top the standings. The China CTIC Team’s Brent Dillard was forced to missed the session after bad weather-related logistical delays in the delivery of his new engine from the USA.

Torrente and Morin stayed out in front after eight minutes of the session, although Zandbergen, Andersson, Al-Fahim and Thani Al-Qamzi were well-placed to make Q2 when the session was yellow-flagged with 11 minutes to go after a buoy was dislodged at turn three on the far side of the circuit. Additional time was added to the session as a result of the stoppage and the green flag was raised with just over 11 minutes still to run.

Andersson snatched the top spot in the closing minutes with a fastest lap of 48.202 seconds to beat Torrente, Morin and Zandbergen but Cédric Deguisne, Alexandre Bourgeot, Ben Jelf, Duarte Benavente, Marit Strømøy, Filip Roms, Rashed Al-Qemzi and a disgruntled two-time World Champion Sami Seliö were eliminated.

Q2

A further six boats were eliminated in the second 15-minute session. Andersson benefited from clearer water and carded the target of 48.975 seconds but that was quickly beaten by Al-Qamzi, Viippo and Stark. Zandbergen then ran quickest with a run of 47.917 seconds, only for Andersson to regain the top spot with a 47.879sec run.

The session was yellow-flagged with a little under eight minutes on the clock after a turn buoy was again dislodged and additional time was added before the restart. Stark hit the front with a run of 47.655sec and storming laps by both Al-Fahim and Torrente catapulted the duo into the top six with seven minutes on the clock. Bartek Marszalek also moved into contention and pushed Al-Qamzi, Andersson and Zandbergen on to the bubble with a risk of not qualifying.

Heading into a nail-biting final five minutes, Andersson delivered a lap of 47.543sec to move into second behind Al-Fahim and that pushed Al-Qamzi into seventh. But the order was changing fast at the sharp end of the standings and Andersson regained the top spot from a flying Trask, Al-Fahim, Torrente, Viippo and Stark. A dramatic last push by Zandbergen enabled the Dutchman to move into the top six at the expense of Stark, who was eliminated alongside Marszalek, Al-Qamzi, Morin, Alberto Comparato and Brock Cohen,

Comparato qualified in 11^th after missing much of the Q2 session. The Italian said: “Last year I have a podium in Sharjah and that gave us a boost at the start of the year. We didn’t have a lot of luck this year but we have a good set-up and we can fight for the podium again tomorrow.”

Q3

Trask, Viippo, Torrente, Zandbergen, Al-Fahim and Andersson lined up for the six-boat shoot-out for pole position. Andersson was on form early on and laid down the gauntlet with a 46.250sec flier – the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Team-mate Viippo displaced Trask to snatch second but Torrente delivered an upper cut with five minutes of the session remaining and stormed into provisional pole with a run of 46.033sec.

The Florida driver then increased his advantage with a lap of 45.834sec but Andersson hit back strongly and had Torrente on the ropes with a tour of 45.727sec to grab top spot again. The Swede held on to snatch pole position and clinch the UIM Pole Position Trophy in style, with Torrente and Viippo rounding off the top three places.

Two 15-minute Sprint races (A and B) will follow this afternoon from 15.00hrs with the line-up and starting orders determined by the morning’s qualifying sessions.

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Officlal press release :

Saturday, February 25:  Team Sweden’s former World Champion Jonas Andersson became the first driver to break the one-minute lap time barrier during free practice for Sunday’s Kopiko Grand Prix of Indonesia. A flying lap of 59.90sec around the demanding Lake Toba circuit in Sumatra was enough for the Swede to win the free practice session by 0.216 seconds.

The defending World Champion Shaun Torrente was Andersson’s closest challenger and his best tour of 1min 00.12sec is an early indication that the Team Abu Dhabi man is ready to resume the thrilling duel that ended with him winning a third world title last December.

With a new engine and new propellers, a refreshed Norwegian Marit Strømøy finished the session in third place and her team-mate Bartek Marszalek and Thani Al-Qemzi of Team Abu Dhabi rounded off the top five.

All 20 racers managed to post credible times around the Lake Toba course in advance of BRM Qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

2023 Kopiko Grand Prix of Indonesia – free practice (Saturday):

1. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden59.90sec

2. Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Abu Dhabi 1min 00.12sec

3. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 1min 00.18sec

4. Bartek Marszalek (POL) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 1min 00.48sec

5. Thani Al-Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi  1min 00.63sec

6. Kalle Viippo (FIN) Team Sweden1min 00.78sec

7. Sami Seliö (FIN) Sharjah Team  1min 01.25sec

8. Erik Stark (SWE) Victory Team 1min 01.28sec

9. Peter Morin (FRA) China CTIC Team1min 01.50sec

10. Alberto Comparato (ITA) Comparato F11min 02.27sec

11. Brent Dillard (USA) China CTIC Team  1min 02.32sec

12. Ahmed Al-Fahim (UAE) Victory Team 1min 03.10sec

13. Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick Racing1min 04.59sec

14. Alec Weckström (FIN) Gillman Racing 1min 04.82sec

15. Ferdinand Zandbergen (NLD) Sharjah Team1min 05.10sec

16. Alexandre Bourgeot (FRA) Maverick Racing 1min 05.62sec

17. Brock Cohen (AUS) Comparato F1 1min 06.41sec

18. Duarte Benavente (POR) F1 Atlantic Team  1min 08.04sec

19. Ben Jelf (GBR) F1 Atlantic Team 1min 08.26sec

20. Filip Roms (FIN) Gillman Racing 1min 11.10sec