Andersson Extends Sprint Winning Streak to Eleven

Jonas Andersson extended his remarkable unbeaten sprint race record to 11 consecutive victories with a commanding performance in the opening sprint race, the Swede dominating from pole position to win by nearly 13 seconds.

The championship leader produced a storming getaway to establish control, opening up an eight-second advantage with 11 laps remaining as he posted the fastest lap of the race at 46.162 seconds. Since sprint races were introduced last season, Andersson has won every sprint race he has contested.

Despite the dominant victory, Andersson admitted the boat remained challenging: “The boat is still not perfect and is tricky to drive so my team must work on that for the race tomorrow.”

Shaun Torrente claimed second for Victory Team ahead of Grant Trask, who secured his second podium finish of the weekend despite battling illness throughout the event.

Torrente reflected on his start: “My only chance of winning was at the start and I was in with a shout. It was beautiful conditions to drive on and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Jelf’s Misfortune Hands Trask Podium

The Australian had come under intense pressure from Ben Jelf, who was running strongly in fourth and threatening to claim his second consecutive podium finish. With five laps remaining, Jelf suffered an engine failure and retired from the race, handing Trask third place.

Trask’s podium came as welcome relief for the Team Sweden driver, who has been unwell all week and was still suffering during the race. The result marked his second podium in consecutive events after finishing third in last weekend’s Shanghai Grand Prix.

Sami Seliö brought his Red Devil-SMC F1 entry home in fourth ahead of Marit Strømøy, who claimed fifth for Strømøy Racing after finishing the 18-lap race just under 44 seconds behind the winner.

Six Drivers Finish Lap Down

Alberto Comparato completed 17 laps to finish sixth, one lap behind the leaders, ahead of Mansoor Al Mansoori and Kyle Maskall. Cédric Deguisne rounded out the finishers in ninth.

The second sprint race begins shortly, with Alec Weckström starting from pole position.

Sprint Race 1 Results

POS	#	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPS	BEST LAP	TIME/GAP
1	1	Jonas Andersson	Team Sweden	18	46.162	Race Time
2	4	Shaun Torrente	Victory Team	18	46.791	+12.974s
3	2	Grant Trask	Team Sweden	18	46.552	+27.862s
4	11	Sami Seliö	Red Devil-SMC F1	18	47.880	+40.815s
5	50	Marit Strømøy	Strømøy Racing	18	47.526	+43.844s
6	97	Alberto Comparato	Comparato F1	17	48.570	+1 Lap
7	5	Mansoor Al Mansoori	Team Abu Dhabi	17	49.529	+1 Lap
8	22	Kyle Maskall	China CTIC Team	17	49.253	+1 Lap
9	73	Cédric Deguisne	Maverick Racing	17	51.075	+1 Lap
10	9	Ben Jelf	F1 Atlantic Team	12	46.699	DNF