Friday, November 28: The Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente held off defending three-time World Champion Jonas Andersson to grab pole position for the UIM F1H2O Grand Prix of Jeddah in a thrilling session at the North Obhur Waterfront on Friday morning.
The American’s strategy of posting a fast lap early in each session paid dividends and a quickest lap of 41.444sec was enough for the Florida racer to secure his 12th career pole and his first since the summer of 2023 to reduce Andersson’s lead in the F1H2O Pole Position Trophy to six points.
An emotional Torrente said: “It felt so good yesterday. We tested in Dubai. The guys keep working and I’m thankful that I get to do this this weekend. I thought this part of my life was over but it’s really cool to be able to do this again. Number four is still alive and we are getting stronger every race. I really liked it (the course). I was just hanging it out, especially this morning with no wind. Jonas was pushing so hard and I knew he was going to give everything he had. I was only up by a few tenths. Thankful and blessed that we have pole and now we have to do the job tomorrow.”
Andersson was on the ragged edge in his bid to grab pole: he carded a last-gasp flier of 41.647sec to secure second position but teetered on the limit in the dying seconds, gained lift and barrel-rolled out of qualifying with the clock already down to zero. The Swede was uninjured in the accident and there was limited damage to his DAC, but he now faces a race against time to be ready for the afternoon’s vital Sprint race.
The Red Devil-SMC F1 Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen delivered his best performance of the season in the new Sharjah-designed hull to grab third place on the start pontoon with a best run of 41.903sec.
Likewise, the China CTIC Team’s Peter Morin and Strømøy Racing’s Bartek Marszalek produced their quickest qualifying sessions of the season to settle into fourth and fifth positions. Torrente’s World Championship-leading team-mate Alec Weckström will start the Saudi race from sixth position.
Q1
Eight of the 20 racers faced elimination in the opening 20-minute qualifying session. The China CTIC Team’s Peter Morin posted the early target time of 44.975sec and topped the times from Torrente until the Red Devil-SMC F1 Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen leapt to the top of the leaderboard with a 43.686sec run. Stefan Hagin was yet to take to the circuit with five minutes of the session already gone.
A lap of 44.640sec put Stefan Arand into the hat for Q2 but Jonas Andersson was yet to post a time and double world champion Sami Seliö was also on the bubble for elimination. Erik Stark and Alec Weckström moved safely up the leader board and then Andersson stormed to the top with a flying run of 43.680sec to book his place in Q2. His team-mate Grant Trask was also safely inside the top 10. Rusty Wyatt also secured his place in Q2 with a table-topping lap of 43.476sec, only for Stark and Weckström to move ahead of the Canadian.
Hagin took to the water with less than eight minutes on the clock but, like the Maverick Team duo of Cédric Deguisne and Alexandre Bourgeot, Duarte Benavente, Team Abu Dhabi’s Mansoor Al-Mansoori, Damon Cohen, Strømøy Racing’s Marit Strømøy
and Ben Jelf, the German failed to make Q2.
Stark eventually topped with Q1 times from Torrente and Trask with a best lap of 42.510sec but Trask was towed back to the pontoon at the end of the stint with engine and fuel tank issues and was not able to take part in Q2.
Q2
Five of the surviving 11 drivers would fall by the wayside in the second 15-minute session. Torrente and Zandbergen were out first in the stint with the American posting a 42.488sec flier. Zandbergen carded a 43.306sec run in calm conditions but the Dutchman was quickly passed by Andersson’s run of 42.570sec.
Alberto Comparato was yet to take the start when Morin moved up to third behind Torrente and Andersson with Bartek Marszalek, Wyatt, Arand and Seliö facing elimination. The pace was frenetic throughout the field with Morin hitting the front with a lap of 42.129sec only for Weckström to go even quicker with a 42.120sec tour.
The bottom six jostled for survival but Stark, Wyatt, Seliö, Arand and Comparato were eliminated with Torrente eventually topping the times with a lap of 41.692sec from a flying Marszalek and Morin.
Q3
Torrente, Marszalek, Morin, Andersson, Weckström and Zandbergen lined up for the final 10-minute shoot out for pole position with three of them reaching Q3 for the first time this season.
Torrente was out early again and he laid down the gauntlet with a 41.684sec flier. His opening salvo was quicker than both Marszalek and Morin with Andersson slotting into third behind the Pole. Zandbergen climbed to second with a 42.075sec run. Andersson lifted himself into second place with a 41.745sec tour and Torrente responded with a 41.444sec to tighten his grip on pole position.
As the clock ticked down, Torrente led from Andersson, Zandbergen, Morin, Marszalek and Weckström, with the latter pulling off the course with less than three minutes remaining. Torrente had dominated both of the free practice sessions and he added pole position to his weekend’s achievements with Andersson and Zandbergen rounding off the pole podium. Andersson ran a last gasp 41.647sec and then barrel-rolled in the dying seconds of the thrilling session with Weckström back on the course and out of time.
Action continues with the two Sprint races on Friday afternoon.
