Friday, July 31: The inaugural Grand Prix of Kyrgyzstan–Issyk-Kul was in full swing, as the host nation displayed the best of its culture and natural beauty ahead of an afternoon of Free Practice sessions. 

A selection of F1H2O teams’ members spent the morning admiring various acrobatic horse-riding displays and musical performances in a breathtaking backdrop of steep mountains and sweeping green valleys. Drivers were then able to get their first feel for racing on Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul lake this afternoon in two Free Practice sessions that were dominated by F1H2O’s most decorated current drivers.

It was a battle of the former World Champions in the first Free Practice session, with three-time World Champion Jonas Andersson achieving the session’s fastest time of 49.942 seconds, just 0.203 seconds quicker than four-time World Champion Shaun Torrente, who achieved the second-fastest time. “The circuit now is very small and short, so with this high altitude we need to get the best out of this package we have,” Andersson shared “but the first practice was good”. Meanwhile Stefan Arand showed no signs of slowing, with the current Championship leader achieving the third-fastest time of the session.

The two former World Champions then switched positions in the second Free Practice session, with Shaun Torrente coming out on top with a best lap of 48.946 seconds, and Jonas Andersson securing the second-fastest lap, just 0.251 seconds behind the current World Champion. “The guys did a really good job getting the boat back together after I crashed it,” said Torrente “We made some set-up changes for Free Practice 2 and honestly the boat was great”. Marit Stromoy, who achieved the tenth fastest lap in the first Free Practice session found her pace in the second session, with a best lap of 0:49.255 seconds that saw her finish third in the session’s standings.