Marszalek wins Race 1 at F1 Powerboat Lake Toba

Balige, The Gulf Observer: Bartek Marszalek of Stromoy Racing earned full points after winning Race 1 of the F1 Powerboat (F1H2O) World Championship’s first round in Lake Toba, Muliaraja Napitupulu Port, Balige, North Sumatra, Sunday.

In the 30-minute race, the Polish rider finished first after crossing the 2.2 kilometer circuit with 18 laps.

Marszalek gained 20 points that became a valuable resource to compete in the next seven rounds in this year’s F1H2O.

“It is incredible to win the race. I really enjoyed it. This morning’s weather was perfect for the qualifier and we had a lot of spectators around the lake; so many smiles give extra motivation. I was very good on the motorboat,” Marszalek said after the race.

Sami Selio of the Sharjah team won second place, with 01.97 seconds behind Marszalek while Erik Stark from the Victory team won third place, with 03.26 seconds behind from the first winner.

Selio and Stark gained 15 and 12 points respectively.

Peter Morin of China CTIC Team was in fourth place with 04.18 seconds behind, and after him was Thani Al Qemzi of the Abu Dhabi Team at 05.87 seconds.

Shaun Torrente of Abu Dhabi team had to settle for ninth place with one lap behind the race winner.

Torrente had been in the pole position but was penalized with one lap penalty for making a false start.

It was the second mistake Torrente made. In the qualifying session, he got the pole position, but his best time record was canceled because he was caught cutting the corners.

Therefore, Torrente had to give up the pole position to Marszalek and started the race one position behind the Polish rider.