Wyatt Tops Second Practice With Late Surge

Rusty Wyatt snatched top spot in the closing stages of second practice, posting a 45.366-second lap to edge Shaun Torrente by two tenths as lap times tumbled across the field on the Yellow River circuit.

The Canadian, who had languished in fourth during the opening session with a 46.590-second effort, found more than a second of improvement to dislodge Torrente, who had controlled the session for much of the hour with consistent pace.

Wyatt’s late surge pushed the Victory Team driver into second, 0.218 seconds adrift after improving by over two seconds from his opening practice time of 47.790 seconds. Stefan Arand slotted into third, just five thousandths behind Torrente, as the Sharjah Team duo demonstrated strong form.

Andersson Drops Down Order

Championship leader Jonas Andersson slipped from first to fifth, his 45.843-second lap three tenths slower than his morning benchmark. The Swede completed just 14 laps compared to Wyatt’s 23 and Arand’s session-high 28.

Erik Stark improved his time by four tenths to claim fourth, maintaining Team Abu Dhabi’s presence at the sharp end with 32 laps completed across the session.

Morin Finds Pace

Peter Morin moved up from fifth to sixth with a 46.972-second lap, showing improved pace for China CTIC Team on home waters. Ben Jelf held seventh for F1 Atlantic Team ahead of Bartek Marszalek, whilst Grant Trask dropped from third to ninth after managing only six laps.

Sami Seliö rounded out the top ten for Red Devil-SMC F1 Team, ahead of Marit Strømøy and Mansoor Al Mansoori.

Weckström Down In 16th

Alec Weckström’s difficulties persisted as the Victory Team driver managed just two laps to finish 16th, over four and a half seconds off Wyatt’s pace.

Cédric Deguisne registered his first laps of the weekend with 13th-fastest time for Maverick Racing, whilst Ferdinand Zandbergen, Alexandre Bourgeot, Alberto Comparato, Duarte Benavente and Kyle Maskall completed the order.

The final practice session begins at 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT) before Saturday morning’s qualifying session.

Free Practice 2 Results

POS	#	DRIVER	LAPS	BEST LAP	GAP
1	17	Rusty Wyatt	23	45.366	—
2	4	Shaun Torrente	20	45.585	+0.218
3	18	Stefan Arand	28	45.590	+0.223
4	6	Erik Stark	32	45.636	+0.270
5	1	Jonas Andersson	14	45.843	+0.476
6	7	Peter Morin	8	46.972	+1.606
7	9	Ben Jelf	17	47.093	+1.726
8	77	Bartek Marszalek	23	47.213	+1.846
9	2	Grant Trask	6	47.369	+2.002
10	11	Sami Seliö	6	47.693	+2.326
11	50	Marit Strømøy	19	47.895	+2.528
12	5	Mansoor Al Mansoori	19	48.675	+3.308
13	73	Cédric Deguisne	23	49.034	+3.668
14	12	Ferdinand Zandbergen	9	49.231	+3.864
15	74	Alexandre Bourgeot	24	49.493	+4.126
16	3	Alec Weckström	2	50.016	+4.649
17	97	Alberto Comparato	19	50.243	+4.876
18	10	Duarte Benavente	8	50.429	+5.062
19	22	Kyle Maskall	10	51.533	+6.166