PORTO, Portugal - Friday, July 31, 2015 - Years ago, it started slowly, with just a pair of Swedish drivers coming from the "northern climes" but the rich history of the Scandinavian drivers is erupting into a flood of talent coming from Northern Europe with six drivers from the region now sitting in the top 10 of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship as the series enters it third Grand Prix race of the 2015 season this weekend.
Led by Swedish driver Jonas Andersson of Team Sweden, who sits second in the championship race with 24 points, he is one of three Swede's in this weekends line-up at the 14th Grand Prix of Portugal on the Douro River.
Jonas has raced in 70 times in his 10 years in F1 with having earned four victories with a best third place result here in Portugal back in 2009. Armed with a new Molgaard boat the 41 year old driver from Fruvi is hoping to win for the first time in his career here in the country that he first started his career back in 2006.
Andersson's young teammate Jesper Forss, who is just 22 years old, has moved into seventh place with five points after finishing sixth at the last Grand Prix in France holding down two top-10's in his six career starts. The 2012 F4S driving champion is looking to make his mark with his first podium here this weekend in his Molgaard Danish built boat.
Another young driver who arrived last season after winning four straight F2 titles in a row is 27 year-old driver Erik Stark of the Emirates Team. Erik has punched his ticket as a possible great career ahead of him and driver of the future candidate with a pair of podiums in just nine career starts. The driver from Stockholm is currently fourth in the Drivers Championship with 12 points after a podium third place at the opening round at the Grand Prix of Qatar back in March then being caught up in an accident in Evian on Lac Leman a month ago while looking for a top-five finish.
The Fin's have always been strong led by the duo from the Mad Croc Baba Team with two time World Champion Sami Selio earning a career 22 pole positions in qualifying, which is the most of any current active driver, along with 12 victories in his 126 race starts during his 17th seasons of UIM F1 racing.
"Yes, I had the pole here in 2006 and finished second in the race which is my best weekend thus far in the 13 times I've raced in Portugal," said the 40 year-old driver from Helsinki. "Now I think we are ready to push hard for our first win and Porto is a lovely place and I want to leave here with wonderful memories. Hopefully, this will happen to us this weekend."
The youngest driver in the paddock is Selio's teammate Filip Roms, who at 21 years old is starting to feel comfortable with the team in his fourth season. His best ever result was at his last race in Evian, France finishing on the podium for the first time in his 17 race career in the sport of F1 H2O racing.
"Yeah, it was a real ego boost for not only myself but my entire team," said Filip. "Now, the next step is to do it once again and I feel really confident in my BABA boat. Let's see how it plays out firstly in qualifying on Saturday."
Last, but certainly not least, is the Norwegian woman Marit Stromoy. She had an historic day the last time the UIM F1 H2O World Championship last raced in Portugal in 2011 when she earned pole position being the first woman ever to earn that distinction in international competition in any motorized sport when she beat 16 men in qualifying and the next day led the race until she was involved in a heavy cash on a re-start ending her disappointing weekend.
The woman from Kristiansand is sitting sixth in the championship table this season with six points courtesy of a pair of top-10 finishes with a sixth in Doha and a 10th in Evian.
"I'm truly excited about returning to this lovely country where I have so many good memories," said Marit. "I'm going to focus on that great time too much this weekend as 2015 is a different season and different circumstances but at the same time when you do well in certain places you have a good histories with you have a tendency to relax and have built-in confidence at the same time. We'll see how it all works out for us on Saturday afternoon."
So, as the UIM F1 H2O World Championship for powerboating continues 35 years after it's beginning season the countries from the "Great White North" continue to influence the series over the years with 25 drivers from Finland, Norway and Sweden making a giant statement in the sport and now six of the top 10 drivers in the Drivers Points Championship are from Scandinavia.
Will it continue?...Why not. Let's see how the story will be untold this weekend for the first time at the 14th Grand Prix of Portugal on the Douro River in Porto.
You can follow all the stories of the weekend and watch the world television broadcast feed at the same time by simply going to the official website of the tour at www.f1h2o.com.
Saturday's qualifying for pole position begins at 16:30 local (15:30 GMT) while the Grand Prix is on Sunday the second of August starting at 17:15 local (16:15 GMT) and 12:15 EDT on the East Coast of North America.
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