Victory Team Dominates Free Practice Ahead of Jeddah F1 Grand Prix

Sean Toronti dominated the first day of free practice at the Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship's fourth round in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, leading both sessions aboard Victory 4. His performance puts the Victory Team in strong position as they chase another world title with just two rounds remaining in the season.

Toronti topped the opening free practice session with a lap time of 42.453 minutes after completing 14 laps. He beat Sweden's Jonas Anderson, who finished second with 42.494 minutes, while Marit Stromoy from Team Stromoy took third place at 42.996 seconds. His teammate Alec Weckstrom struggled in the first session, finishing 17th with a time of 42.896 minutes.

The Dubai-based driver continued his strong form in the second free practice session. He improved his time to 42.241 minutes with just four laps, again claiming the top spot. France's Peter Morin from Team China finished second at 42.975 minutes, followed by Finland's Sami Selio from Red Devil Racing at 43.119 minutes. Erik Stark from Abu Dhabi Team grabbed fourth place with 43.222 minutes, while Weckstrom bounced back to fifth position with a time of 43.530 minutes.

Race organizers canceled the third free practice session that was scheduled for Thursday evening. Friday will feature qualifying followed by two sprint races that award additional championship points. The main race takes place on Saturday.

The strong practice results come at a crucial time for Victory Team, who currently lead the championship standings with 125 points. Team Sharjah sits second with 95 points, followed by Sweden with 82 points and Abu Dhabi with 50 points. The team won the previous round in Zhenzhou, China, last month and are pushing hard to reclaim the world title.

In the drivers' championship, Alec Weckstrom leads with 66 points aboard Victory 3, while Toronti holds second place with 59 points. Sharjah's Rusty White rounds out the top three with 58 points.

Mohammed Hareb, CEO of Dubai International Marine Sports Club, expressed satisfaction with the team's performance. "The focus was primarily on testing boat readiness and allowing drivers to measure the official tracks before entering the sprint races and main race," he said. "We look forward to maintaining these gains and repeating these times to be strongly present in the core of competition in this important round, as it is considered the penultimate one, and every point in it will be precious in our continuous steps to regain the world title."

The Jeddah round represents a critical opportunity for Victory Team to extend their championship lead. With only one round remaining after Saudi Arabia, every point counts in what's shaping up to be a tight finish to the 2024 season.