Wyatt and Sharjah team lead the pack into next week's Shanghai Grand Prix

Indications after the opening round of the UIMFIH2O World Championship on Lake Toba in Indonesia suggest that this year's series is going to be one of the most exciting on record.

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Historyrepeated itselfin Sumatra with the Sharjah Team's Rusty Wyatt earning his second successive win on the world's largest volcanic lake and the level of competition means that all IO teams will need to be on top form in Shanghai Grand Prix at the start of a hectic end to the season and a pair of back-to-back races in China.

Wyatt has a new teammate this season: the young Estonian Stefan Arand has been keeping in race trim by competing in recent rounds of the UIM F2 World Championship in Italy and Portugal. He finished fourth in Indonesia to give the Sharjah Team the early bragging rights in the UIM FIH2O Teams' Championship.

The remaining positions in the top 10 came as something of a surprise at the season's opener with the defending World Champion Jonas Andersson, his Swedish rival Erik Stark and the returning three-time World Champion Shaun Torrente all failing to finish the race. Even though they scored well in their Sprint races with Andersson and Torrente both claiming a win apiece none of them can afford another retirement in Shanghai with this year's series being fought out over just five Grand Prix.