The two-time World Champion led from start-to-finish in punishing heat and reached the chequered flag 14.708sec in front of his Estonian team-mate after Strømøy Racing’s Bartek Marszalek suffered a jammed throttle in the final minutes, lost second place and slipped back to fifth behind third-placed Sami Seliö of the Red Devil-SMC F1 Team and Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi.
Andersson said: “I should be honest with you. I missed the start. The engine and the boat were good but I missed it. I had the opportunity to overtake and after that it was an easy race to be honest. Tomorrow will be a different story with Erik (Stark) and the other drivers, but I am happy win this win. Tomorrow, it will be tough. Stefan, I know him a little from before, but he did another fantastic job. He was excellent in Indonesia and we came here and were a little more prepared. I am so happy for him. It is like he has been racing in F1H2O for 10 years. Together we are very strong. Now we are two strong drivers who can fight for the podiums.”
Arand added: “Obviously the change (to F1H2O) has not been easy and it’s going to take time to get used to it. I am not yet 100% at the maximum potential in this boat but I am working hard for this. The race was better than the last one bit I was behind Bartek after the first lap. He had an issue and I managed to sneak past. His misfortune was my fortune. I myself am happy with the result but not 100% happy with my driving. I feel the boat can go even faster.”
Andersson and Arand lined up in the leading two positions for the second of the 18-lap Sprint races ahead of Marszalek, Seliö, Al-Qamzi and Marit Strømøy. Alexandre Bourgeot and Ahmad Al-Fahim were seventh and eighth with Rashed Al-Qemzi bringing up the rear of the field after replacing Alberto Comparato from qualifying onwards.
Andersson was like a greyhound out of the blocks and the Swede stayed out in front but Arand lost his second place to Marszalek with Seliö, Al-Qamzi, Al-Fahim, Strømøy, Al-Qemzi and Bourgeot rounding off the nine racers through lap one.
The defending World Champion continued to pull clear of the second-placed Pole and led by 5.864 seconds through lap three. The rest of the field held station although Al-Qamzi was climbing all over Seliö’s rooster tail in a bid to snatch fourth.
By lap 10, Andersson was storming to victory and led by 10.064 seconds but the other seven drivers held their positions with four laps to go.
Andersson gave Team Vietnam a comfortable win for the home crowd and Marszalek held off Arand but Al-Fahim spun on the penultimate lap and slipped out of contention and a jammed throttle forced Marszalek to pull off the circuit temporarily and he dropped three places to finish fifth.
