MEDIA INFORMATION
2023 UIM F1 H2O WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
SHAUN TORRENTE LAYS DOWN A MARKER BY WINNING THE FREE PRACTICE SESSION
Saturday, April 29: Defending three-time World Champion Shaun Torrente gave his rivals a firm indication that he means business this weekend when he topped the times in Saturday morning’s free practice session for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Zhengzhou, China.
The Team Abu Dhabi driver ran his DAC on the Yellow River course for just 13 laps but there was nothing unlucky about his fastest time of 45.90sec that catapulted the American to the top of the standings. He finished the one-hour stint 0.941 seconds ahead of Frenchman Peter Morin of the China CTIC Team, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Torrente’s team-mate Rashed Al-Qamzi had won Friday’s extra free practice session and the Emirati showed that was not a flash in the pan by finishing Saturday morning’s session in third with a best run of 47.00sec. The Victory Team’s Erik Stark and Italian racer Alberto Comparato rounded off the top five in a session where only Brent Dillard failed to start. Early championship leader Bartek Marszalek only ran for three laps before returning to the pontoon in an attempt to conserve his engine for qualifying.
A strong wind was prevalent on the race course on Saturday in advance of the BRM Qualifying sessions that were scheduled to start at 09.00hrs (CET). But the wind was not as strong as it had been late on Friday afternoon.
2023 Grand Prix of Zhengzhou, China – free practice (Saturday):
1. Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Abu Dhabi 45.90sec
2. Peter Morin (FRA) China CTIC Team 46.84sec
3. Rashed Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 47.00sec
4. Erik Stark (SWE) Victory Team 47.21sec
5. Alberto Comparato (ITA) Comparato F1 47.51sec
6. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden 47.75sec
7. Ferdinand Zandbergen (NLD) Sharjah Team 48.27sec
8. Grant Trask (AUS) Mad Croc Gillman Racing 48.28sec
9. Ahmed Al-Fahim (UAE) Victory Team 48.38sec
10. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 48.42sec
11. Sami Seliö (FIN) Sharjah Team 48.44sec
12. Kalle Viippo (FIN) Team Sweden 48.81sec
13. Filip Roms (FIN) Mad Croc Gillman Racing 49.05sec
14. Duarte Benavente (POR) F1 Atlantic Team 49.66sec
15. Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick Racing 50.68sec
16. Brock Cohen (AUS) Comparato F1 50.82sec
17. Alexandre Bourgeot (FRA) Maverick Racing 52.66sec
18. Ben Jelf (GBR) F1 Atlantic Team 53.47sec
19. Bartek Marszalek (POL) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 1min 00.87sec
Brent Dillard (USA) China CTIC Team DNS
Ends