Andersson Claims Pole in Zhengzhou

Jonas Andersson stormed to pole position for the Grand Prix of Zhengzhou with a commanding 43.951-second lap to head an all-Scandinavian front row after Alec Weckström produced a sensational performance to claim second.

The defending champion dominated a thrilling final qualifying session, trading fastest laps with Weckström before delivering the decisive blow with two minutes remaining. His time fell three quarters of a second short of his pole position lap from 2024, when he posted 43.184 seconds.

Andersson admitted the weekend had proved challenging: “That was a tough one. We have been struggling all week to be fair. I was playing around too much yesterday, going from one boat to another and I didn’t understand completely the propeller choice. Maybe we were a little off but I was driving as fast as I could in Q3. The balance on the new boat is not perfect yet. We were flying all over the place. We need to work with that. If it had been windy, I am sure I would have been upside down. I am super happy for the boys who have worked hard. Now we go for the Sprint race. Hopefully, I can make a good start like I normally do. The boat is better in a race than qualifying.”

Weckström’s 44.100-second effort marked a remarkable turnaround for the Victory Team driver, who had struggled throughout Friday practice before finding nearly three seconds of improvement in final practice.

The Finn relished the battle with his rival: “It was nice fighting with Jonas again. I don’t know where he always finds one or two tenths of a second to beat us. It’s fun, it’s close. It’s nice that it’s more guys fighting at the top. It’s like the old days. I have pole for my Sprint race.”

Arand Overcomes Battery Drama

Stefan Arand claimed third on the grid despite a frantic battery change between the second and third qualifying sessions. The Sharjah Team worked quickly to replace the faulty component in approximately five minutes, allowing the Estonian to make the session and post a 44.401-second lap.

Arand explained the drama: “We had a bit of an electrical issue but the team managed to diagnose it while I was still on the water. They got it up and running and we got out there. It was a bit difficult going into Q3 with the pressure and everything being so hectic. But we managed to get a good lap. I’m not 100% content. I felt like I still had more out there. It was a challenge to get clean water.”

Shaun Torrente qualified fourth for Victory Team with a 44.555-second effort, his best lap time of the weekend despite complaining on Friday that his motor was not delivering power in certain sections of the circuit. The American produced what he described as a perfect 44.714-second lap but could not match the pace of the leading trio.

Grant Trask secured fifth for Team Sweden ahead of Rusty Wyatt, who will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from sixth after the Canadian could manage only a 45.083-second lap in the final session.

Wyatt Breaks 45-Second Barrier

Wyatt had dominated the second qualifying session, posting the first sub-45-second lap of the weekend with a 44.911-second effort six minutes into the 15-minute session. Andersson responded with a 44.837-second lap to top the session and advance to the pole shootout alongside Wyatt, Arand, Weckström, Torrente and Trask.

Peter Morin and Ben Jelf both missed the cut despite late efforts, the pair pushing hard as conditions deteriorated in the closing stages. Trask scraped through in sixth with a late lap as the track evolved favourably earlier in the session.

Torrente and Jelf were both issued with UIM Blue Cards on Friday following an incident during practice, with the pair unhappy about on-water conduct. The duo had previously collided during the opening race at Lake Toba.

Arand Tops Opening Session

Arand had set the early pace with a 46.028-second lap to head the opening 20-minute session from Andersson and Morin. The top 12 advanced to the second session, with Kyle Maskall heading the eight eliminated drivers.

Erik Stark failed to progress beyond the second session, the Team Abu Dhabi driver posting the tenth-fastest time to miss the final shootout. Bartek Marszalek and Sami Seliö also departed at the second stage.

Rain is forecast for Sunday’s Grand Prix, which begins at 10:05 local time (02:05 GMT).

Qualifying Results

POS	#	DRIVER	TEAM	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	1	Jonas Andersson	Team Sweden	46.403	44.837	43.951
2	3	Alec Weckström	Victory Team	47.493	45.203	44.100
3	18	Stefan Arand	Sharjah Team	46.028	44.956	44.401
4	4	Shaun Torrente	Victory Team	46.784	45.226	44.555
5	2	Grant Trask	Team Sweden	46.839	45.675	44.842
6	17	Rusty Wyatt	Sharjah Team	47.144	44.911	45.083
7	7	Peter Morin	China CTIC Team	46.560	45.748	—
8	9	Ben Jelf	F1 Atlantic Team	47.107	45.939	—
9	97	Alberto Comparato	Comparato F1	47.160	46.139	—
10	6	Erik Stark	Team Abu Dhabi	47.400	46.290	—
11	77	Bartek Marszalek	Strømøy Racing	47.753	46.357	—
12	11	Sami Seliö	Red Devil-SMC F1	46.807	47.142	—
13	22	Kyle Maskall	China CTIC Team	47.768	—	—
14	98	Damon Cohen	Comparato F1	47.865	—	—
15	12	Ferdinand Zandbergen	Red Devil-SMC F1	47.879	—	—
16	50	Marit Strømøy	Strømøy Racing	48.249	—	—
17	5	Mansoor Al Mansoori	Team Abu Dhabi	48.951	—	—
18	74	Alexandre Bourgeot	Maverick Racing	49.111	—	—
19	10	Duarte Benavente	F1 Atlantic Team	50.051	—	—
20	73	Cédric Deguisne	Maverick Racing	50.265	—	—