Sunday, December 8: Five thrilling Grand Prix in Indonesia, Vietnam, Sardinia and a pair of October races in China paved the path to this weekend’s Road to Sharjah-Grand Prix of Sharjah on Khalid Lagoon.
Two gladiators will enter the arena trying to make their own little bit of racing history over a 32-lap race, starting at 15.00hrs (GMT +4) today.
Team Vietnam’s Jonas Andersson is the strong favourite to earn a third world title in four years but the Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt would love to see an alternative outcome to this year’s UIM F1H2O World Championship in his rookie season.
Simply put, a finish in the top four of this afternoon’s race would give Andersson the title regardless of what Wyatt can deliver from his starting position of 11th on the pontoon. The pair are separated by 13 points and the odds are firmly stacked in the Swede’s favour. He starts on pole position from friend and rival Erik Stark and no-one would bet against Jonas letting his rival through to win his last race for the Victory Team, while conserving his boat to claim the world title.
But the Sharjah race has a way of upsetting the form book. Andersson has suffered bad luck on this course before and many people will remember when the Qatar Team’s Alex Carella and Jay Price took each other out at the first turn buoy and Carella won the title as a result.
Regardless of what Andersson does this afternoon, Wyatt has to storm through the field to finish at least second overall to give himself a chance of taking the title. Those 15 points would be enough to win the world title at his first attempt if Andersson was to finish lower than eighth. Victory for Wyatt would mean that Andersson would need to finish no lower than fourth to guarantee the title.
Other drivers could also have a say in this afternoon’s outcome: Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi is driving well and the China CTIC Team’s Peter Morin and Strømøy Racing’s Bartek Marszalek are just two of half a dozen drivers more than capable of getting in the mix and upsetting the applecart. Besides, Morin and Stark could still finish as runners-up in the Drivers’ Championship.
There is also the small matter of the UIM F1H2O Teams’ Championship. Team Vietnam heads into the final race with a 17.5-second advantage over the host Sharjah Team. The results of both Kalle Viippo and Filip Roms could also be deciding factors in seeing whether Andersson can defend his Teams’ crown in the UAE or whether the Sharjah Team snatches a memorable win in front of a home crowd.
