MEDIA INFORMATION
2023 UIM F1 H2O WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
BARTEK MARSZALEK SNATCHES POLE POSITION IN INDONESIA
Sunday, February 26: Team Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente left it until the dying seconds to claim pole position for Sunday lunchtime’s Kopiko Grand Prix of Indonesia race one after the defending World Champion won the revised and rescheduled BRM Qualifying session on Lake Toba early on Sunday morning.
But Torrente’s fastest qualifying lap of 57.58sec was later cancelled and pole position was earned by Bartek Marszalek, with Torrente finishing second and Stark qualifying in third from Seliö, Andersson and Morin.
Trailing the Sharjah Team’s Sami Seliö heading into the last two minutes of the session, the American carded a lap time of 57.68 seconds to snatch the original win, while the Victory Team’s Erik Stark also sneaked through from eighth place to finish second, his run of 58.35sec demoting Seliö to third. Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team‘s Bartek Marszalek was then handed pole shortly after the session was completed.
BRM Qualifying
After the previous day’s postponement because of inclement weather conditions, BRM Qualifying was rescheduled for Sunday morning and reduced to one crucial 45-minute session to determine Pole Position Trophy points and the starting order for the race.
A flying Seliö drew first blood on a relatively calm Lake Toba race course with a lap of 1min 00.30sec and led the session through the opening minutes. Andersson had endured late technical issues and the Team Sweden crew worked into the night and early morning before the former World Champion entered the fray and ran a modest 1min 01.7sec opener, before climbing into the top three with a lap of 1min 00.46sec.
Torrente was the first racer to break the one-minute barrier in qualifying and the defending World Champion hit the top of the standings with a 59.52sec flier. His team-mate Thani Al-Qemzi was the next to go under a minute and the Emirati snatched second place. Gillman Racing’s Alec Weckström had still not started the session after engine issues on Saturday, as his team-mate Filip Roms was towed back to the pontoon after setting the 16th quickest lap early in the session.
Seliö carded a lap of 58.87sec and hit the front with 27 minutes of the session remaining, as several of the front runners returned to the pontoon to switch propellers and watch their rivals in action.
Heading into the last 20 minutes, Seliö led from Torrente, Al-Qemzi and Andersson until Zandbergen leapt up to third after matching Al-Qemzi’s fastest lap. Stark moved up to seventh at the expense of Peter Morin with a run of 1min 00.41sec and, with less than 10 minutes to run, Torrente jumped to the top of the leader board with a 58.80sec run. Seliö was not to be denied, however, and the flying Finn regained provisional pole position with a run of 58.38sec, as his team-mate Zandbergen moved up to fourth place.
Marszalek (58.36sec) stormed into second place with four minutes to run but a yellow flag was raised when Briton Ben Jelf stopped on the race course. Action resumed with two minutes on the clock and Torrente managed to squeeze through the traffic to claim a last gasp pole position with a run of 57.68sec run and Stark displaced Seliö to claim second.
The 2023 Kopiko Grand Prix of Indonesia fires into life on Lake Toba at the earlier time of 12.00hrs (06.00 CET) on Sunday after race officials were warned of a similar weather forecast in the afternoon.
There will be two shorter minute races, the first starting at noon and the second starting, as per the original schedule, at 15.00hrs. Full points will be awarded for each race and the starting order for race two will be the finishing order from race one.
2023 Kopiko Grand Prix of Indonesia – BRM Qualifying result:
1. Bartek Marszalek (POL) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 58.21sec
2. Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Abu Dhabi 58.25sec
3. Erik Stark (SWE) Victory Team 58.35sec
4. Sami Seliö (FIN) Sharjah Team 58.38sec
5. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden 58.52sec
6. Peter Morin (FRA) China CTIC Team 58.89sec
7. Ferdinand Zandbergen (NLD) Sharjah Team 59.08sec
8. Ahmed Al-Fahim (UAE) Victory Team 59.11sec
9. Thani Al-Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 59.23sec
10. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 1min 00.68sec
11. Brent Dillard (USA) China CTIC Team 1min 00.82sec
12. Alberto Comparato (ITA) Comparato F1 1min 01.60sec
13. Alexandre Bourgeot (FRA) Maverick Racing 1min 03.12sec
14. Kalle Viippo (FIN) Team Sweden 1min 03.18sec
15. Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick Racing 1min 03.19sec
16. Alec Weckström (FIN) Gillman Racing 1min 03.42sec
17. Brock Cohen (AUS) Comparato F1 1min 03.84sec
18. Filip Roms (FIN) Gillman Racing 1min 04.43sec
19. Duarte Benavente (POR) F1 Atlantic Team 1min 05.89sec
20. Ben Jelf (GBR) F1 Atlantic Team 1min 06.94sec
2023 UIM F1H2O Pole Position Trophy – standings after round 1:
1. Bartek Marszalek (POL) Strømøy Racing F1H2O Team 20pts
2. Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Abu Dhabi 15pts
3. Erik Stark (SWE) Victory Team 12pts
4. Sami Seliö (FIN) Sharjah Team 9pts
5. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden 7pts
6. Peter Morin (FRA) China CTIC Team 5pts
Ends