2008 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Russia – June 13th-14th, round 4 of 9
For immediate release
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
EXCITING RUSSIAN RACING ADVENTURE
AWAITS QATAR F1 POWERBOAT TEAM
Qatar’s Price out front in World Championship hunt
Rookies Al-Khulaifi and Al-Fayyad relish Russian challenge
SAINT PETERSBURG (Russia): The Qatar Team heads across the Baltic Sea to Russia and the port city of Saint Petersburg this weekend for the fourth round of the UIM F1 World Championship, which takes place on Saturday evening on the Neva River.
The team is on an understandable high after achieving a stunning result last weekend at Lahti in Finland, where team racers Jay Price and Yousef Al-Khulaifi fought back from 18th and 20th places on the grid to take second and eighth in the overall standings.
Price now leads the UIM F1 World Championship by 23 points with six races remaining and the Qatar Team heads the Italian Tamoil F1 operation by 18 points in the prestigious UIM Teams’ Championship. Qatar’s Ahmed Al-Fayyad will race the third Qatar Team boat in Russia.
"It’s a case of keeping things going and maintaining our strategy and ensuring that we pick up some points in Russia," admitted Qatar’s F1 team manager Mohammed Al-Ali. "We experienced the highs and lows of Formula racing last weekend in Finland and no one expects the Russian race to be any different. There is a different format to this weekend’s race, but we will prepare as best we can."
Guido Cappellini’s win in Finland has catapulted the Italian back into contention for the world title, but the Como driver was pressured towards the end of the Lahti race by Price and knows that it will not be easy to overturn the 23 points by which he trails the Qatar Team driver. Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al-Hameli also has 27 points, while Doha race winner Jonas Andersson is fourth in the listings with 20 points from three race starts.
The Qatar Team is run under the auspices of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani.
Saint Petersburg was the Russian capital until 1918 and is the fourth largest city in Europe after Moscow, London and Paris. It is situated at the head of Neva Bay on the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea and is built on a myriad of islands separated by canals and waterways.
The Russian racing timetable gets underway with technical scrutineering and registration on Friday morning (June 13th), before the free practice session takes place at the unusual time from 20.00hrs on Friday night. The six-pin course is situated between Vasilievskiy island and Zayachiy island on the stunning Neva river in the centre of Saint Petersburg under the shadow of the St. Peters and Paul Fortress.
Saturday’s (June 14th) action-packed race agenda begins with the first time trial between 10.00hrs and 10.45 hrs on Saturday morning. The second time trial takes place from noon and the shoot-out to decide pole position gets underway at 13.30hrs.
After lunch there will be a second one-hour free practice session from 16.00hrs and the Russian Grand Prix fires into life at 20.00 hrs on Saturday evening. This will be followed by the prizegiving ceremony at 22.00hrs, with the race timetable benefiting from the ‘white nights’ or long summer evenings that are a feature of this northern city in the middle of summer.
2008 UIM F1 World Championship – Drivers (positions after round 3 of 9):
1. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 50 pts
2. Ahmad Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 27 pts
3. Guido Cappellini (I) Tamoil F1 Team 27 pts
4. Jonas Andersson (S) F1 Team Sweden 20 pts
5. Pierre Lundin (S) China CTIC Team 13 pts
6. Sami Selio (FIN) Woodstock Red Devil Racing 12 pts
6. David Trask (AUS) Trask Brothers Racing 12 pts
6. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha Team 12 pts
6. Phillipe Chiappe (F) F1 Atlantic Team 12 pts
16. Yousef Al-Khulaifi (QA) Qatar Team 3 pts
2008 UIM F1 World Championship – Pole Position (positions after round 3 of 9):
1. Guido Cappellini (I) Tamoil F1 44 pts
2. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 36 pts
3. Ahmad Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 35 pts
4. Jonas Andersson (S) F1 Team Sweden 32 pts
5. David Trask (AUS) Trask Brothers Racing 14 pts
5. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 14 pts
7. Sami Selio (FIN) Woodstock Red Devil Racing 12 pts
8. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha Team 7 pts
9=. Massimo Roggiero (I) Woodstock Red Devil Racing 5 pts
9=. Phillipe Chiappe (F) Atlantic Team 5 pts
2008 UIM F1 World Championship – Teams (positions after round 3 of 9):
1. Qatar Team 50 pts
2. Tamoil F1 32 pts
3. F1 Team Abu Dhabi 27 pts
4. F1 Team Sweden 22 pts
5. F1 Atlantic Team 21 pts
6. China CTIC Team 19 pts
7. Trask Brothers Racing 18 pts
8. Woodstock Red Devil Racing 13 pts
9. Singha Team 12 pts
10. Doctor 800 7 pts
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@compuserve.com. www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).