Swedish driver Alec Weckstrom has secured his maiden pole position in F1H2O, claiming top spot on the Shanghai circuit ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix races in the third round of the UIM Formula 1 powerboat world championship. The Sharjah Team pilot delivered the performance of the qualifying sessions with a blistering 43.986-second lap, becoming the first driver all weekend to dip below the 44-second barrier on the tight Chinese course.
Weckstrom’s breakthrough came after a qualifying day that saw the field separated across three sessions, with the morning’s free practice proving rough for several contenders. Bartek Marszalek’s boat flipped during practice, ruling him out of competition entirely, while Jonas Andersson, last year’s Shanghai Grand Prix winner, managed just two laps before engine troubles forced him back to the pontoon. The Swede now faces a considerable challenge to repeat his circuit victory.
The qualifying structure tested every driver’s consistency and nerve. In the opening Q1 session, Erik Stark set an early standard with a 45.700-second lap, only to be overhauled by world champion Shaun Torrente before Stefan Arand claimed the fastest Q1 time at 45.362 seconds. The real drama played out at the cutoff line, where several drivers fought desperately for the final spots into Q2. Rashed Al Qemzi clinched twelfth place by just 0.265 seconds, relegating Ben Jelf and pushing Rusty Wyatt into the eliminations with seconds remaining.
Q2 proved the stage for Weckstrom’s emergence. He displaced Torrente’s early 44.939-second benchmark within moments of his first push, setting 44.674 seconds to signal his intentions. The session turned frenetic in its closing minutes when Al Qemzi’s Abu Dhabi boat lost power, trapping him in the drop zone. The Emirati managed to restart and regain sixth spot before the flag, but Stefan Hagin’s late charge cost him fifth place. Stark, seeking to climb from eleventh, ran out of time with an eighth-place finish.
In the final Q3 showdown, Weckstrom controlled proceedings from the outset. Arand pressed hard on his third lap, narrowing the gap to just 0.309 seconds with 44.321 on the clock. Torrente then delivered a masterclass in pressure, closing to within 0.013 seconds of his Victory Team colleague, but the damage was done. Weckstrom’s response was characteristic of a driver tasting the top spot: he answered immediately with that sub-44-second lap to seal the deal. Torrente settled for second place, with Arand third, Sami Selio fourth, Grant Trask fifth, and Stefan Hagin sixth.
For Weckstrom, a career-first pole on one of world powerboat racing’s most demanding circuits represents vindication for his pace on the season so far. Sunday’s Sprint Races will determine whether he can convert this advantage into his maiden F1H2O victory.
