Sharjah’s Team’s Rusty Wyatt extended his lead in the 2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship with victory in the Grand Prix of Shanghai, China as hazardous conditions brought the race to an early finish.
Just 11 of the scheduled 32 laps had been completed when the Grand Prix was halted for safety reasons, with Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al Qemzi and defending world champion Jonas Andersson among those to suffer as the weather took its toll.
After climbing two places to sixth as he looked to fight his way through the storm, Al Qemzi slipped to a tenth-place finish, while Andersson narrowly avoided a spectacular crash and conceded second place in the title race as conditions deteriorated.
Under pressure from fellow-Swede Erik Stark, Andersson dramatically saved himself after spinning sideways, but he was unable to prevent the Victory Team driver nudging him down to third spot in the Grand Prix, and the championship.
It was a tough weekend all round for Team Abu Dhabi, with Alberto Comparato finishing 14th, and like Al Qemzi, he will be aiming for a big lift when the penultimate round takes place in Zhengzhou in two weeks’ time.
Championship rookie Wyatt was the driver who coped best throughout as the weather first ruled out the first free practice session, and yesterday forced the cancellation of the two sprint races.
He was fastest in the second practice session before clinching pole position, and built a comfortable lead from the Grand Prix start, eventually finishing with a 7.2 secs advantage over Stark, and now leads him by 17.5 points in the championship.
Twice a Grand Prix winner in China, veteran Emirati driver Al Qemzi will seldom have raced in more challenging conditions during an F1H2O career stretching back to 2000.
He will now look forward to his 157th race start in Zhengzhou with the intention of adding to a Grand Prix record which includes ten race victories and 45 podium finishes.
With the threat of a typhoon ever present in Shanghai, his Abu Dhabi team-mate Comparato had joined race and team officials to carry out a safety check on the circuit in a rescue boat, before the decision was taken to cancel Saturday’s sprint races.
“It was very bad,” he said. “It was even tricky with the rescue boat, For me, it was too dangerous.”
2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship standings
- Rusty Wyatt (CAN) 87pts
- Erik Stark (SWE) 69.5
- Jonas Andersson (SWE) 69
- Peter Morin (FRA) 54.5
- Bartek Marszalek (POL) 48
- Stefan Arand (EST) 34.5
- Marit Stromoy (NOR) 32
- Sami Selio (FIN) 31
- Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) 27.5
- Ben Jelf (GB) 26.5
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