Tense F1H2O Finale Set After Andersson Wins New Development Grand Prix of Zhengzhou-China
Thanks to a victorious finish in Saturday’s yellow-flag interrupted Union Internationale Motonautique F1H2O World Championship New Development Grand Prix of Zhengzhou-China—as well as the early retirements of his closest competitors in the standings, Rusty Wyatt and Erik Stark—Team Vietnam’s Jonas Andersson worked his way closer to a third world title and back-to-back championship seasons.
Team Vietnam driver Jonas Andersson of Sweden won the New Development Grand Prix of Zhengzhou-China on Saturday to move into the points lead heading into the season finale in Sharjah. Photos courtesy Simon Palfrader/F1H2O
The crucial 15th career win for the Swede after an accident for Victory Team’s Stark and a mechanical issue for Sharjah Team’s Wyatt has given the defending champion a three-point lead in the drivers’ championship heading into the final round in Sharjah in early December. Team Vietnam now also leads the teams’ championship ahead of Sharjah Team and Strømøy Racing.
“(The race) was actually very easy even though it was a strange course; one side was flat, but windy and the other side was rough,” Andersson, who led from start to finish on the Yellow River, said in an F1H2O press release. “After the parade lap, I made the decision to change the prop and get more speed and acceleration and it went fantastic. The boat was very easy to drive. When I had a six- or seven-second lead, I was trying to take it easy. It was so rough and then it is very easy to break the boat.
“I am super happy for the team because we worked like hell this weekend,” he continued. “Now we are back on the top where we should be.”
China CTIC Team driver Peter Morin of France finished second on the Yellow River in Zhengzhou, China.
The race’s high rate of attrition in blustery conditions failed to prevent the China CTIC Team’s Peter Morin from holding off two-time world champion Sami Seliö to snatch second place. That result enabled the Frenchman to move ahead of Stark and into third in the drivers’ championship. Currently at 99 points, Andersson is followed by Wyatt—the Canadian has 96 points—and Morin of France with 79.5 points and Stark of Sweden with 77.5 points.
Strømøy Racing’s Bartek Marszalek and Seliö’s Red Devil SMC F1 team colleague Ferdinand Zandbergen rounded off the top five in Saturday’s race. Maverick Racing’s Alexandre Bourgeot enjoyed his best finish of the season—sixth place—and Marit Strømøy brought her four-stroke DAC home in seventh, ahead of the F1 Atlantic Team duo of Ben Jelf and Duarte Benavente, the Sharjah Team’s Filip Roms and Cédric Deguisne.
A chaotic start saw a collision between teammates Ahmad Al-Fahim and Stark take each other out on the opening lap and American driver Brent Dillard of the China CTIC Team barrel-roll into retirement.
Sixteen racers lined up on the Yellow River for the rolling start in choppy water. Andersson held his advantage as Morin stayed clear of Wyatt. But the race was yellow-flagged straight away when Al-Fahim collided with Stark at turn two and Dillard spectacularly got lift, flipped at speed and crashed out of contention with the boat landing upright on the back straight. Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi then pulled out before the restart.
Two-time world champion Sami Seliö finished third for the Red Devil SMC F1 team.
Just a dozen drivers resumed racing on lap nine after a yellow turn buoy had been secured by the rescue team. Andersson maintained his lead from Morin but Seliö managed to squeeze through and snatch third from Wyatt, who also lost fourth place to Marszalek. Andersson continued to edge clear of his rivals as Wyatt came under pressure from birthday boy Zandbergen, who managed to pass the struggling points leader soon afterwards.
The dream run of form for Wyatt was not going to continue when he dropped out of contention on lap 14, leaving the title race wide open.
By lap 26, Andersson’s lead had grown to 8 seconds and the Swede held on for the remaining six laps to win his first race of the season by more than 9 seconds. Morin held off Seliö to secure second with Marszalek, Zandbergen, Bourgeot, Strømøy, Jelf, Benavente, Roms and Deguisne rounding off the 11 finishers.
The next and final stop for the series is set for December 6-8 on Khalid Lagoon in Sharjah, UAE.
Andersson had already secured his second world title before the championship arrived in Sharjah last season. He went on to record his fourth successive race victory, and Wyatt will be aiming to prevent a repeat performance in two months’ time.
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