2009 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Shenzhen, China – October 17th, round 9 of 16
For immediate release
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
ENGINE PROBLEMS THWART TEAM
QATAR’S JAY PRICE IN SHENZHEN
· Australian Craig Bailey finishes 10th; race victory for Italy’s Cappellini
· Team Qatar’s Price qualifies sixth for first Grand Prix of Shenzhen
SHENZHEN (China): Team Qatar endured a disappointing outing at the Grand Prix of Shenzhen on Saturday afternoon, with Jay Price retiring from a potential podium finish with engine problems and Australian team-mate Craig Bailey slotting into 10th position in the ninth round of the UIM F1 World Championship on Houhai Lake in China’s Guangdong Province.
Former World Champion, Sami Selio, began the race from Pole Position, but it was the nine-time World Champion, Guido Cappellini, who kept his cool to record a vital race victory and catapult himself into contention for yet another world title. The Como driver earned a vital 20 points to lift himself into third in the UIM F1 Drivers’ Championship behind Jonas Andersson and Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi. Italy’s Francesco Cantando shadowed his fellow countryman to the finish to record an excellent second position and Andersson completed the podium line-up.
Price started the race from sixth and moved up as high as third place before the engine problem intervened on the 42nd lap. Team-mate Bailey had begun his third race for Team Qatar from the rear of the grid, but stayed out of trouble to earn another useful points-scoring finish.
“We had that dreaded thing called bad luck again,” said Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, Head of Formula Racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which is run under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani. “This is sport and you cannot cover things like bad luck. Hopefully the bad luck will move on to someone else in time for the next race, because we need a change in fortunes to turn this around.”
Price’s retirement was his third in three races in China and the Qatar racer badly needs to put points on the board during Sunday’s second Shenzhen race or risk falling even further behind championship leader, Jonas Andersson, heading into the final six races of the year in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. He now holds fifth in the championship and is 36 points behind the flying Swede.
Time trials and free practice
Qatar’s defending World Champion was a little disappointed to qualify sixth for the race. He carded a fastest lap of 36.06s to slot into position behind Pole winner Sami Selio, Giodo Cappellini, Thani Al-Qamzi, Jonas Andersson and Francesco Cantando. Price did earn a crucial five Pole Position points for his troubles and maintained the outright lead in the UIM F1 Pole Position championship, although Selio trimmed his lead to just 13 points.
It was a far cry from the success the Team Qatar driver has experienced in the free practice session, where he netted a best lap of 35.17s during a marathon 46-lap stint. Price was the fastest driver in practice by 0.13s, with Andersson and Cappellini his closest rivals. Bailey was 16th quickest in practice and netted a similar position in the qualifying session with a best lap of 39.03s.
Tomorrow (Sunday), there is a similar timetable of free practice and a second time trial session, before the second Grand Prix of Shenzhen starts at 10am (Doha time).
Grand Prix of Shenzhen – race 1 results (Saturday)
1. Guido Cappellini (I) Zepter Team
2. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team @ 1.28s
3. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan @ 4.36s
4. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad Croc F1 Team Woodstock @ 5.58s
5. Pierre Lundin (S) Team CTIC China-Charente @ 7.39s
6. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi @ 10.37s
7. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi one lap behind
8. Duarte Bevenente (P) F1 Atlantic Team two laps behind
9. Fabian Kalsow (D) CTIC China-Charente two laps behind
10. Craig Bailey (QA) F1 Team Qatar two laps behind
2009 UIM F1 World Championship – positions after 9 of 16 races:
1. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 91 pts
2. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 81 pts
3. Guido Cappellini (I) Zepter Team 69 pts
4. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad Croc F1 Team Woodstock 63 pts
5. Jay Price (QA) F1 Team Qatar 55 pts
6. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 52 pts
7. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 52 pts, etc
2009 UIM F1 Pole Position Championship – positions after 9 of 16 rounds:
1. Jay Price (QA) F1 Team Qatar 126 pts
2. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad Croc F1 Team Woodstock 113 pts
3. Guido Cappellini (I) Zepter Team 92 pts
4. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 90 pts
5. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 66 pts
6. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 43 pts
7. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 36 pts
8. Massimo Roggiero (I) Mad Croc F1 Team Woodstock 20 pts
9. Pierre Lundin (S) Team CTIC China-Charente 19 pts
10. Phillipe Chiappe (F) F1 Atlantic Team 7 pts
Ends
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Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com. www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).