Team Abu Dhabi find their form again as Erik Stark comes second, while a penalty for Alec Weckstrom means Marit Stromoy takes third place

Sunday, August 2: It was the battle of the multiple World Champions at the front of the inaugural Grand Prix of Kyrgyzstan–Issyk-Kul, with Jonas Andersson lined up in pole position and Shaun Torrente behind him, starting in second place. The positioning flipped immediately once the race began, as Torrente flew off the start to narrowly take the holeshot from Andersson and take the lead.

Further behind, Rusty Wyatt also delivered a strong start. The Sharjah Team driver had a lot of ground to make up after an engine change before the Grand Prix relegated him to start last in eighteenth place, but he quickly flew through the pack of drivers in front of him, coming out of the first lap in thirteenth place. Yet the best start of the race came from Marit Stromoy, who gained the most positions of any driver, starting in twelfth place before slotting into sixth place after just a few turns.

By the second lap, the drivers settled into their positions following the various overtakes at the start of the race, and the individual battles began. Torrente proved too fast for Andersson to challenge, establishing a 3.382 second advantage after one lap, but behind the two former World Champions their respective teammates were within overtaking distance from one another, as Team Abu Dhabi’s Erik Stark hunted down third-placed Alec Weckstrom of Victory Team. Stark kept Weckstrom in his sights, never letting Weckstrom build an advantage of more than a few seconds, but had to patiently trail the Victory Team driver for the first 14 laps of the race without finding any kind of opening.

After those 14 laps, a Yellow Flag was brought out after Ben Jelf turned too hard and barrel rolled, completely upending the race as the drivers bunched up and any large gaps were wiped away. This was most painful for race leader Shaun Torrente, who had been running the previous few laps with a gap of over 12 seconds between himself and second-placed Andersson. The stage was therefore set for drivers to take their chance for an overtake, with 24 laps still left.

Once the Green Flag flew, Torrente immediately got back to building his lead, flying out in front of Andersson, who was briefly overtaken by Weckstrom on the outside. Andersson clawed back his position on the next turn as Weckstrom struggled to control his boat following the overtake, as the Victory Team driver fell back into third place. But the restart was to prove fateful for Weckstrom, who was penalised for failing to hold his lane in the restart, incurring a one lap penalty.

The strongest restart came from Stromoy, who executed a double overtake of teammate Bartek Marszalek and then Stark to move into fourth position. She managed to hold onto that position for just one lap, however, as Stark quickly countered and retook fourth place. 

Having already seen Wyatt and Trask face mechanical problems in yesterday's Sprint Races, Sharjah Team suffered yet another blow on the eighteenth lap, with Stefan Arand forced to retire early and pointless due to engine issues in a cruel change of fortunes following his victory in the last Grand Prix.

With 20 laps to go, the battle at the front was yet again thrown open, as Andersson lost power and slowed, dramatically falling back from second into seventh place. As he fell back, his teammate Stark took advantage, executing an overtake on Weckstrom to move into second place. Meanwhile Andersson continued to drop positions, getting overtaken by fellow Team Abu Dhabi driver Rashed Al Qemzi to end up in eighth place with 18 laps left.

As battles took place behind him, Torrente continued to calmly lead the race, having reestablished a comfortable lead after the Yellow Flag restart. The current World Champion showed his experience in managing his lead, maintaining his race-winning pace but avoiding any unnecessarily risky manoeuvres.

There was some consolation for Andersson on the final lap, as the former World Champion exploited the proximity of Turn 1 and Turn 2 to execute an inside overtake on teammate Al Qemzi in order to retake seventh place. But it was too little too late for him to make up any more lost ground, as Torrente crossed the finish line soon after to claim the win in the first ever Grand Prix of Kyrgyzstan. Stark crossed the line 4.730 seconds later to secure second place, and Weckstrom crossed third, though his penalty meant that it was Stromoy behind him who claimed the third podium place for the Grand Prix.