Weckström Claims Maiden Victory To Seize Title Lead

Alec Weckström claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory to seize the championship lead after Jonas Andersson’s calamitous afternoon saw the defending champion spin from pole position at the start before retiring with technical issues.

The Victory Team driver controlled the 36-lap race in challenging conditions to head team-mate Shaun Torrente by 3.91 seconds and secure a commanding one-two finish that transforms the title race with two rounds remaining.

Weckström challenged Andersson off the line in rain and rough water on the Yellow River. The Swede spun and dropped to ninth, then fell further back before retiring on lap 24.

The championship leader’s retirement handed Weckström a 16-point advantage heading to the next round, with Torrente second and Rusty Wyatt third in the standings. Andersson, who led by three points coming into the weekend, dropped from first to fourth.

Weckström Manages Pressure

The 30-year-old from Helsinki, who raced against Formula One stars Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris in karting between the ages of eight and 13, delivered a composed drive to secure his breakthrough victory just 24 hours after claiming his maiden sprint race win.

Weckström admitted the pressure of managing lapped traffic whilst holding off Torrente proved challenging:

Amazing, feels like a dream. I still can’t believe I have my first race win and 1-2 for the team, me and Shaun. It’s everything the team deserves and we delivered today and I’m really proud of the whole team. The whole weekend we worked flawlessly.

We were fine with the pace, just had some, let’s say I don’t trust the lapped guys, so I’m taking it easy. Every time they come in front, particularly a few of them, I take it a little easy. Then the guys close again. You just have to manage because you don’t want to flip then you get zero points.

Three times a lap I checked where Shaun is, so I knew all the time where he was. I needed to know if I have to push or if this is OK pace. I was managing the gap all the time.

Torrente Eyes Sharjah Showdown

Torrente delivered a mature performance to claim second place and move to within seven points of the championship lead, the American holding off a sustained challenge from Wyatt to secure the Victory Team one-two.

The three-time World Champion praised his team’s preparation:

What a team win, fun to drive. I could manage Rusty, so proud of the team. Two blue boats up front. Keep getting the points and show up to Sharjah with a chance to win the championship. We don’t need luck, we need preparation.

Wyatt claimed third for the Sharjah Team to move within one point of Torrente in the standings, the Canadian finishing just over six seconds behind the winner after a consistent drive in the difficult conditions.

Stark Overcomes Balance Issues

Erik Stark produced an impressive performance to finish fourth for Team Abu Dhabi, the Swede clearly resolving the balance issues with his DAC hull that had troubled him during practice. Stark completed the race 14 seconds behind Weckström to claim valuable championship points.

Peter Morin delighted the home crowd with fifth place for China CTIC Team, the Frenchman posting the fastest lap of the race at 47.602 seconds.

Stefan Arand claimed sixth for the Sharjah Team after nearly dramatically crashing out, ahead of Sami Seliö and Ferdinand Zandbergen.

Seliö Pleased Despite Difficult Weekend

Sami Seliö guided his Red Devil-SMC F1 entry to seventh place, with team-mate Ferdinand Zandbergen finishing eighth after both drivers overcame challenging starting positions.

The Finnish driver reflected on the team’s performance:

Tough races in China behind us… We did what we could and both boats finished… I myself 7th place and Ferdinand 8th place… Quite an OK result for bad starting positions… Fortunately, new updates are coming for the next race in Saudi Arabia…. We Never Give Up…

Damon Cohen and Kyle Maskall rounded out the points finishers, both completing the race one lap down.

Trask’s Weekend Unravels

Grant Trask suffered a technical failure after his promising weekend unravelled, the Team Sweden driver retiring after just seven laps.

Ben Jelf’s race for F1 Atlantic Team ended in disappointment after initially powering up to 11th position. Following a course infringement and trim issues, the British driver was forced to retire from the race after 18 laps.

Strømøy Sidelined by Battery Failure

Marit Strømøy was unable to start the race after suffering a critical power steering failure during the parade lap.

The Strømøy Racing driver explained:

A broken battery forced me to retire from the race before it even started. During the parade lap I had a failure in the power steering and had a feeling something was not right. Already on the start straight the steering jammed and that was it!

The championship continues with the Grand Prix of Jeddah on November 27-29, with Weckström holding a 16-point advantage over Torrente as the title race heads towards its conclusion in Sharjah in late December.

GRAND PRIX OF ZHENGZHOU, CHINA RESULTS

POS	#	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPS	BEST LAP	TIME/GAP	PTS
1	3	Alec Weckström	Victory Team	36	48.668	Race Time	20
2	4	Shaun Torrente	Victory Team	36	48.818	+3.910s	15
3	17	Rusty Wyatt	Sharjah Team	36	48.539	+6.050s	12
4	6	Erik Stark	Team Abu Dhabi	36	49.297	+14.039s	9
5	7	Peter Morin	China CTIC Team	36	47.602	+15.808s	7
6	18	Stefan Arand	Sharjah Team	36	47.834	+17.375s	5
7	11	Sami Seliö	Red Devil-SMC F1	36	49.261	+38.421s	4
8	12	Ferdinand Zandbergen	Red Devil-SMC F1	36	49.289	+40.972s	3
9	98	Damon Cohen	Comparato F1	35	50.213	+1 Lap	2
10	22	Kyle Maskall	China CTIC Team	35	49.829	+1 Lap	1
11	5	Mansoor Al Mansoori	Team Abu Dhabi	33	50.848	+3 Laps	0
12	10	Duarte Benavente	F1 Atlantic Team	33	52.033	+3 Laps	0
13	74	Alexandre Bourgeot	Maverick Racing	33	51.742	+3 Laps	0
14	73	Cédric Deguisne	Maverick Racing	32	51.773	+4 Laps	0
15	1	Jonas Andersson	Team Sweden	24	48.637	+12 Laps	0
16	9	Ben Jelf	F1 Atlantic Team	18	50.385	DNF	0
17	77	Bartek Marszalek	Strømøy Racing	13	50.460	DNF	0
18	2	Grant Trask	Team Sweden	7	49.814	DNF	0
19	97	Alberto Comparato	Comparato F1	3	54.176	DNF	0
20	50	Marit Strømøy	Strømøy Racing	0	—	DNS	0

F1H2O CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

POS	#	DRIVER	TEAM	POINTS
1	3	Alec Weckström	Victory Team	66
2	4	Shaun Torrente	Victory Team	59
3	17	Rusty Wyatt	Sharjah Team	58
4	1	Jonas Andersson	Team Sweden	50
5	2	Grant Trask	Team Sweden	40
6	6	Erik Stark	Team Abu Dhabi	39
7	18	Stefan Arand	Sharjah Team	37