QUY NHƠN, VIETNAM – Victory Team’s Erik Stark converted pole position into a start-to-finish win in the yellow-flag-interrupted first Grand Prix of Bình Định-Vietnam on Sunday morning.
The Swede completed the 35 laps in stifling heat 2.715 seconds ahead of Team Vietnam’s defending World Champion Jonas Andersson. Stark’s fifth career Grand Prix win, and first since Sharjah in 2018, gives him an eight-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Andersson’s second place was his 33rd career F1H2O podium.
I had a good race. Of course, I was pacing myself and was feeling it. I had a big moment on the start straight and I thought this is it but the boat was good, the team worked well and I had amazing propellers from Mr. Dynamite. It was tough. It got quite rough and the wind was picking up all the time.
Erik Stark
After a spectacular collision between Sharjah Team’s Filip Roms and China CTIC Team’s Brent Dillard brought out a yellow flag after 17 laps, Dillard’s team-mate Peter Morin passed race-one winner Rusty Wyatt for third when Wyatt lost radio contact at the restart. Wyatt recovered to fourth and is joint second in the standings with Andersson.
Strømøy Racing’s Bartek Marszalek and Marit Strømøy were fifth and eighth, either side of Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi and Red Devil-SMC F1 Team’s double World Champion Sami Seliö in sixth and seventh. Stark’s Emirati team-mate Ahmad Al-Fahim scored his first points of the season in ninth and Ferdinand Zandbergen completed the top 10. Maverick Racing’s Cédric Deguisne, Rashed Al-Qemzi and F1 Atlantic Team’s Ben Jelf finished 11th to 13th.
How the race unfolded
Stark started ahead of Andersson, Stefan Arand, Wyatt and Morin on Thi Nai Bay. Maverick Racing’s Alexandre Bourgeot did not start after a warm-up accident, Dillard and Jelf started 15th and 16th after engine changes, and Al-Qemzi started last after replacing Alberto Comparato.
Stark held off Andersson at the start as Wyatt passed a slow-starting Arand. Using a canny propeller choice, Stark led by 3.547 seconds on lap six. Arand’s hopes ended when the second Team Vietnam boat stopped on lap seven, and Duarte Benavente also retired after nine laps.
On lap 17 Roms turned in too early, collided with and barrel-rolled over Dillard’s boat, putting both out. Racing resumed on lap 21; Stark stayed ahead, Morin took third from Wyatt, and Marszalek and Al-Qamzi passed Seliö. Morin closed on Andersson late on, but Andersson held second as Stark used pole and cleaner water to take a memorable win and the championship lead.