emirates7 - Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt secured pole position for Round 4 of the 2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship, overcoming challenging water conditions during an intense qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Shanghai, China, on Saturday morning.
Wyatt handled the tricky race conditions better than his competitors, finishing ahead of defending UIM F1H2O World Champion Jonas Andersson of Team Vietnam, who was 1.256 seconds behind. Erik Stark from the Victory Team took third place, with Andersson’s rookie teammate, Stefan Arand, and Dutch driver Ferdinand Zandbergen securing fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Wyatt's pole position performance also moved him to the top of the standings in the F1H2O Pole Position Trophy. He expressed his excitement, saying: “It was incredibly rough out there. Early on, we nearly lost control on the front straight. It was unbelievably windy and choppy, with so many boats. But we managed to find a good line and quite a gap.”
Wyatt initially set the pace early in the session, though Stark briefly took the lead after seven minutes with a lap of 46.154 seconds. Wyatt regained the lead after 10 minutes with a 45.817-second lap, pushing Stark to second and Andersson to third with a lap of 46.320 seconds. Norwegian driver Marit Strømøy sat out the entire session.
Stark retook the lead with a 45.255-second lap, while Arand moved into fourth place ahead of Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi and F1 Atlantic Team’s Ben Jelf. Arand then surged into second with a time of 45.772 seconds. However, Wyatt reclaimed provisional pole with a lap of 44.108 seconds, and Andersson also passed Stark with a time of 44.740 seconds.
Wyatt handled the tricky race conditions better than his competitors, finishing ahead of defending UIM F1H2O World Champion Jonas Andersson of Team Vietnam, who was 1.256 seconds behind. Erik Stark from the Victory Team took third place, with Andersson’s rookie teammate, Stefan Arand, and Dutch driver Ferdinand Zandbergen securing fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Wyatt's pole position performance also moved him to the top of the standings in the F1H2O Pole Position Trophy. He expressed his excitement, saying: “It was incredibly rough out there. Early on, we nearly lost control on the front straight. It was unbelievably windy and choppy, with so many boats. But we managed to find a good line and quite a gap.”
Wyatt initially set the pace early in the session, though Stark briefly took the lead after seven minutes with a lap of 46.154 seconds. Wyatt regained the lead after 10 minutes with a 45.817-second lap, pushing Stark to second and Andersson to third with a lap of 46.320 seconds. Norwegian driver Marit Strømøy sat out the entire session.
Stark retook the lead with a 45.255-second lap, while Arand moved into fourth place ahead of Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi and F1 Atlantic Team’s Ben Jelf. Arand then surged into second with a time of 45.772 seconds. However, Wyatt reclaimed provisional pole with a lap of 44.108 seconds, and Andersson also passed Stark with a time of 44.740 seconds.