Torrente Wins Kyrgyzstan Grand Prix, Takes Championship Lead

Shaun Torrente won the Grand Prix of Kyrgyzstan on Sunday, holding off Erik Stark by 0.047 seconds after a race that swung from a commanding lead to a nine-boat scrap in the space of one yellow flag. The result also does something the race itself didn’t quite manage to settle on the water: it hands Torrente the championship lead, four points clear of Stefan Arand, who retired from the race that mattered most to his title defence.

Race Results

A Lead Won Twice

Torrente had the better of the start, going wheel to wheel with pole-sitter Jonas Andersson into the first corner and coming out ahead. From there he simply left the field behind, his advantage over Andersson stretching to 12 seconds inside the opening third of the race, built on a 53.254 lap that stood as the fastest of the weekend from Friday’s practice through to the flag.

The race went yellow flag when Ben Jelf barrel-rolled his boat, and erased that entire lead. The British driver himself was unhurt. But the bunching that comes with any restart turned what had been a Torrente procession into a genuine fight, and by the time the field went back to green, Torrente’s cushion was gone and Erik Stark had jumped from fourth to second past both Andersson and team-mate Alec Weckstrom.

Torrente never rebuilt the gap. He led every lap from there to the flag, but by single tenths rather than seconds, and it was Stark, not anyone from Torrente’s own Victory Team, who spent the closing laps as the closest threat.

Stromoy Misses the Podium by 0.022 Seconds

Marit Stromoy took her best result of the season, climbing from 15th on the grid to fourth, backing up the pace she showed in Sunday morning’s warm-up, when she set the fastest lap of the entire weekend. She ran as high as third at one stage after the restart before Weckstrom reclaimed the position, and finished the race just 0.022 seconds behind him, the closest she has come to an F1H2O podium.

Strømøy Racing’s new Mercury Racing 4-stroke motor, only fitted to the boat in the days before the weekend, was central to the story. The team’s other driver, Bartek Marszalek, backed her up with fifth, his second straight podium-challenging weekend after finishing on the rostrum at Cagliari.

Andersson’s Unexplained Fall

Jonas Andersson’s race went the opposite way. The pole-sitter ran second before the yellow flag, but dropped to seventh immediately at the restart and continued sliding, eventually finishing eighth, a lap down on the leaders. Neither the broadcast nor Team Abu Dhabi offered an explanation for the loss of pace during the race, and Andersson’s own best lap of the day, a 54.637, was competitive with the podium finishers, which points to something happening on track rather than a straightforward power deficit.

Wyatt’s Recovery From Last

Rusty Wyatt’s ninth place was the quiet story of the afternoon. He started 18th and last after an engine change following a qualifying failure, and worked his way through the field to finish on the lead lap, one place and 0.023 seconds behind Andersson at the flag.

Championship Lead Changes Hands

Stefan Arand had led the championship by nine points coming into the weekend, on the back of his Cagliari win. His race ended with a mechanical problem, and with Torrente taking maximum points for the win, the standings have flipped.

It is Torrente’s first time atop the standings this season, and comes in what he has already confirmed will be his final year on the tour before retirement.