Former world champions Jonas Andersson and Shaun Torrente traded the top spot across two free practice sessions at the inaugural Grand Prix of Kyrgyzstan–Issyk-Kul on Friday, setting up what promises to be a competitive weekend on Issyk-Kul lake.
Andersson, a three-time world champion, went quickest in the first session with a best lap of 49.942 seconds, edging four-time world champion Torrente by just 0.203 seconds. Current championship leader Stefan Arand was third.
"The circuit now is very small and short, so with this high altitude we need to get the best out of this package we have," Andersson said, adding that "the first practice was good."
The second session flipped the order. Torrente posted a 48.946-second lap to go fastest, with Andersson 0.251 seconds back in second. Torrente had dealt with a crash before the session and was candid about the turnaround: "The guys did a really good job getting the boat back together after I crashed it. We made some set-up changes for Free Practice 2 and honestly the boat was great."
Marit Stromoy rounded out the top three in the second session with a lap of 49.255 seconds, having finished tenth in the first session.
Earlier in the day, teams and drivers watched acrobatic horse-riding displays and musical performances with steep mountains and sweeping green valleys as the backdrop, as the host nation welcomed the championship's first visit to the region.
