Free Practice 2: Andersson Takes Control

The second round of the championship has arrived in Shanghai with championship leader Rusty Wyatt looking to build on his Lake Toba victory, but it was Andersson who dominated the afternoon session with a blistering lap time of 00:41.579.

Frenetic Start to the Session

The pace was much more frenetic at the start of the second free practice session compared to the morning’s running. Seventeen of the 20 racers took advantage of the one-hour stint on Thursday lunchtime, with Red Devil-SMC F1 Team’s Sami Seliö at the forefront of the early action.

The Finn carded a stunning lap of 42.879sec in the opening minutes to move ahead of the Sharjah Team duo of Stefan Arand and championship leader Rusty Wyatt, who both ran sub-44-second laps.

Bartek Marszalek of Strømøy Racing had languished near the foot of the rankings in free practice one, but the Pole put the pedal to the metal at the start of the second session and carded a 44.550sec lap in the first few minutes.

Arand Sets Early Benchmark

Arand, a man on a mission this weekend, stormed to the top of the standings just before the 15-minute mark with the fastest lap of the weekend so far – a run of 42.826sec. That was 0.028 seconds quicker than the time set by Seliö’s team-mate Ferdinand Zandbergen shortly before the session was yellow-flagged.

After the yellow flag, action resumed with around 38 minutes of the session remaining, but Arand and Zandbergen continued to top the times from Seliö, Wyatt and Marszalek.

Drivers React to Challenging Conditions

The China CTIC Team’s Peter Morin is determined to shine on home waters for his team. The Frenchman ran a 44.077sec lap early in the session and explained the team’s journey to Shanghai: “We had a bad accident in Indonesia and all the team has worked very hard to repair the boat and build two boats for this race. This is a totally different course. This is our home race but all the people have enjoyed seeing the boat.”

Erik Stark had topped the times in the first free practice in the morning. The Victory Team Swede reflected on the tricky conditions on the high-speed course: “How we started in Indonesia was not how we wanted to start with a top team. But that is racing. It can happen. Conditions are very tricky this morning. Maybe better than last year. But I feel motivated again and I am here to win. The conditions are tricky because it’s a high-speed course and there are some rollers (waves) coming in from the ocean. We don’t see them before we feel them. You try to be on the limit without crossing the limit. We have a spare boat exactly the same as the one we destroyed in Indonesia.”

Alberto Comparato posted an early lap of 43.839sec. The Italian offered his perspective on the challenging Huangpu River circuit: “I quite like the course. It is quite short and that suits me. It is a bit challenging when the rollers are coming but we need to be careful with the pace when we make the turn. I broke the trim in the first free practice but we managed to fix it.”

Andersson Strikes Back

Defending World Champion Jonas Andersson had been quiet by his high standards in the opening session, but the Swede had his DAC dialled in nicely for FP2. Heading into the second half of the stint, 13 of the 20 drivers had taken to the course but Arand’s run of 42.826sec was still the benchmark.

Andersson stormed to the top of the rankings with a lap of 42.578sec on his ninth lap of the stint. Peter Morin also ran quicker than Arand with a tour of 42.774sec to secure second place, finishing 1.195 seconds behind Andersson after completing an impressive 27 laps – the most of any driver in the session – as he fine-tuned his setup for the weekend ahead.

But Andersson wasn’t finished. The defending champion then ran an even quicker lap of 41.579sec to fire a salvo across the bow of his rivals before Friday’s qualifying session. After retiring from the opening Grand Prix in Indonesia, the Swedish driver completed 13 laps to set the benchmark time that his rivals will be targeting.

Sami Selio claimed third with 00:42.802, just 0.028 seconds behind Morin, while Stefan Arand and Ferdinand Zandbergen rounded out the top five in what proved to be a tightly-contested session among the leading pack.

Stark Slips Down The Order

Team Abu Dhabi’s Erik Stark, who had topped the morning’s Free Practice 1, could only manage sixth fastest in FP2 with a time of 00:43.597. The gap to Andersson’s benchmark stood at over two seconds, suggesting significant work ahead for the Abu Dhabi squad.

Championship leader Rusty Wyatt finished seventh, posting 00:43.711 across six laps, while Poland’s Bartek Marszalek impressed with eighth place after 17 laps of running.

The China CTIC Team’s Canadian rookie Kyle Maskall returned to action with 20 minutes on the clock and opened his account with a 47.281sec run before breaking the sub-47-second barrier on his next run, eventually finishing 11th.

British driver Ben Jelf, fresh from his career-best podium in Indonesia, finished tenth with 00:44.102, maintaining his strong form as he sits third in the championship standings.

Notable Absences

Three drivers did not participate in Free Practice 2. The Victory Team duo of Alec Weckström and three-time world champion Shaun Torrente, along with F1 Atlantic Team’s Portuguese veteran Duarte Benavente, all recorded DNS (Did Not Start), choosing to sit out the afternoon session for various strategic or technical reasons.

The session was yellow-flagged again with just over two minutes remaining.

What’s Next

The action continues on Thursday afternoon with Free Practice 3 at 15:00 local time (CST), giving teams one final opportunity to perfect their setups before Friday’s crucial qualifying session.

Qualifying is scheduled for 09:00 on Friday morning, followed by the innovative double Sprint Race format at 15:10 and 15:40. The main Shanghai Grand Prix takes place on Saturday at 15:00.

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Free Practice 2 Results

POS	#	DRIVER	LAPS	BEST LAP	GAP
1	1	Jonas Andersson	13	00:41.579
2	7	Peter Morin	27	00:42.774	+ 1.195
3	11	Sami Selio	12	00:42.802	+ 1.223
4	18	Stefan Arand	22	00:42.826	+ 1.247
5	12	Ferdinand Zandbergen	13	00:42.854	+ 1.275
6	6	Erik Stark	21	00:43.597	+ 2.018
7	17	Rusty Wyatt	6	00:43.711	+ 2.132
8	77	Bartek Marszalek	17	00:43.806	+ 2.227
9	97	Alberto Comparato	15	00:43.839	+ 2.260
10	9	Ben Jelf	22	00:44.102	+ 2.523
11	22	Kyle Maskall	13	00:44.257	+ 2.678
12	2	Grant Trask	8	00:44.551	+ 2.972
13	50	Marit Stromoy	12	00:44.638	+ 3.059
14	5	Mansoor Al Mansoori	10	00:46.057	+ 4.478
15	98	Damon Cohen	4	00:46.276	+ 4.697
16	73	Cédric Deguisne	16	00:48.080	+ 6.501
17	74	Alexandre Bourgeot	11	00:48.193	+ 6.614
18	3	Alec Weckstrom	0	DNS
19	4	Shaun Torrente	0	DNS
20	10	Duarte Benavente	0	DNS