Stark tops Jeddah warm-up as Grand Prix looms

Erik Stark topped the times in Saturday morning’s warm-up session for the Grand Prix of Jeddah, posting a best lap of 42.533 seconds over the 30-lap session.

The Team Abu Dhabi driver’s time was just over a second slower than Shaun Torrente’s pole position lap of 41.444 seconds set in Friday’s qualifying, suggesting teams were focused on race preparation rather than outright speed.

Alberto Comparato finished second in the session, 0.111 seconds behind Stark, with Grant Trask third. Championship contenders Rusty Wyatt and Jonas Andersson rounded out the top five.

Torrente, who starts the Grand Prix from pole position, set the eighth-fastest time. Championship leader Alec Weckström finished 15th, more than two seconds off the pace.

Stefan Arand, Cédric Deguisne and Damon Cohen did not participate in the session.

The Grand Prix starts at 16:05 local time with 20 championship points available and Weckström holding a one-point advantage over Torrente in the title race.

Warm-up session times

Pos
Driver
Best lap
Gap
1
Erik Stark
42.533
2
Alberto Comparato
42.644
+0.111
3
Grant Trask
42.781
+0.248
4
Rusty Wyatt
43.129
+0.596
5
Jonas Andersson
43.259
+0.726
6
Marit Strømøy
43.261
+0.728
7
Peter Morin
43.402
+0.869
8
Shaun Torrente
43.493
+0.960
9
Ben Jelf
44.018
+1.485
10
Alexandre Bourgeot
44.048
+1.515
11
Sami Seliö
44.139
+1.606
12
Stefan Hagin
44.445
+1.912
13
Mansoor Al-Mansoori
44.565
+2.032
14
Bartek Marszalek
44.573
+2.039
15
Alec Weckström
44.611
+2.078
16
Ferdinand Zandbergen
44.708
+2.175
17
Duarte Benavente
46.308
+3.775
18
Stefan Arand
DNS
19
Cédric Deguisne
DNS
20
Damon Cohen
DNS