Alec Weckstrom has made it a clean sweep in China, following up his pole position and Sprint Race win with victory in the Grand Prix of Shanghai-China for Victory Team.
It was in Zhengzhou that Weckstrom claimed his maiden career win the last time the UIM F1H2O World Championship raced in China, and this latest result suggests the country agrees with him. He got the perfect start from pole, leading into the first turn ahead of team mate Shaun Torrente, with Sharjah Team's Stefan Arand close behind in third.
Further back, multiple-time World Champion Jonas Andersson produced one of the drives of the day. Starting last after an engine change, the Team Abu Dhabi driver carved through the field aggressively, at one point nearly colliding with Ben Jelf as he fought for position.
The race's first major incident came on lap two, when China CTIC Team's Brent Dillard flipped his boat and ended up in the water. Trailing seventh-placed Rashed Al Qemzi and blinded by spray, Dillard was too slow out of the course's right-hander, dipping his trim under and rolling the catamaran. His race ended there under the resulting Yellow Flag.
The stoppage erased the near three-second lead Weckstrom had built, bunching the field for the restart. When racing resumed, Torrente went for an overtake on his own team mate at the same right-hander that had claimed Dillard. Weckstrom ran wide through the corner, Torrente dived for the gap, but it was too tight. The American's boat clipped Weckstrom's and spun out, ending his challenge and dealing a blow to his hopes of defending his world title.
Weckstrom's boat came through unmarked, but his lead was far from safe. Arand immediately pressed the attack once the Yellow Flag cleared, running side by side with the Finn through the opening turns before Weckstrom managed to hold firm and edge clear, though the gap between them never stretched beyond three seconds.
With 16 laps remaining, Weckstrom nearly came undone when he ran wide and clipped lapped runner Ben Jelf of Atlantic Team. The two boats glanced off each other rather than spinning, allowing Weckstrom to keep his lead, though Arand had closed the gap.
Trouble struck again two laps later when Sharjah Team's Rusty Wyatt suffered mechanical failure and stopped on course, triggering another Yellow Flag. Jelf and Al Qemzi also failed to finish, with less than a third of the 45-lap race remaining.
Only nine boats remained when racing resumed with 11 laps to go. Grant Trask and Andersson used the restart to full effect, each completing a triple overtake past Alberto Comparato, Stefan Hagin and Sami Selio to move into third and fourth respectively.
Arand kept the pressure on to the end, with Weckstrom nursing a broken propeller and racing cautiously in the closing stages. The gap was just 1.096 seconds entering the final lap, but it proved too late for Arand to find a way through.
Weckstrom's win completed a perfect weekend in China: pole position, Sprint Race victory, and Grand Prix win. Arand's second place was enough to move him to the top of the Drivers' World Championship standings, reviving his title hopes after a non-finish in Kyrgyzstan. His team mate Trask claimed the final podium spot, ahead of Andersson in fourth.
