2010 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of China, Shenzhen – October 22-24, round 5 of 8
For immediate release
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
QATAR TEAM’S JAY PRICE AIMS TO KEEP UIM F1
MOMENTUM GOING IN SHENZHEN THIS WEEKEND
· Andy Elliott aims for a points-scoring finish in Shenzhen
· Qatar’s Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan set for third F4 race outing
SHENZHEN (China): The Qatar Team realises the importance of maintaining its winning momentum when Jay Price and Andy Elliott tackle the Grand Prix of China, round five of this year’s eight-race UIM F1 Championship, on the edge of the South China Sea at Shenzhen this weekend.
Fresh from taking a sensational win in Liuzhou last Sunday, Price has opened up a nine-point lead in the UIM F1 Drivers’ Championship heading into the third Chinese race in the space of four weeks.
The Qatar Team’s lead driver led from start-to-finish last weekend and will test a new DAC boat supplied by multiple World Champion Guido Cappellini before making his decision on which boat to use this weekend.
“It’s crucial that we keep the momentum going in Shenzhen and push hard for a second win in a week,” insisted Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, Head of Formula Racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF).
“The team is already in Shenzhen, getting ready for a test and preparing the set-up and strategy for the weekend. We have taken the initiative in the championship with the win last Sunday and it came at a time when our major rivals in the points had problems. Now we need to keep the pressure on and go for the win.”
Britain’s Andy Elliott will support Price in the Qatar Team at the helm of his Dragon boat. Elliott holds 11th position in the UIM F1 Drivers’ Championship, but finished just outside the points last weekend in Liuzhou.
Price will also be aiming to claim pole position in Saturday’s all-important time trials. He missed out on pole last weekend to Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al-Hameli, but collected 15 points towards the UIM F1 Pole Position Championship and now holds third in this points’ table, a mere eight points behind second-placed Finnish driver Sami Selio.
The 2008 World Champion had one non-finish and a second place in the two Shenzhen races last season. Last year’s races were won by Cappellini and Sami Selio.
Shenzhen will also mark the third Grand Prix meeting for the F4 racers, although the opening two races in Linyi were cancelled and points have only been amassed so far at the two rounds in Liuzhou.
The Qatar Team’s Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan currently holds sixth position in the points’ standings after a fifth and a sixth place on the Liu River and will be aiming for the podium this weekend if he is to close the gap on early F4 leader Filip Roms of the Mad Croc Team.
Shenzhen is a large city in southern China, near Hong Kong, and has been designated as a special economic zone. It is the third largest container port in China and is now a regular race venue in the UIM F1 calendar.
Teams will carry out registration and technical scrutineering on Friday (October 22) before the first free practice sessions for both the F4 and F1 drivers gets underway on Saturday morning. The first 20-minute F4 race takes place at 14.00hrs (09.00hrs Doha local time) and the F1 time trials start an hour later.
Both the F4 and F1 runners will be permitted a second practice session on Sunday morning (October 24). The second F4 race starts at 14.00hrs and the Grand Prix of China at Shenzhen fires into life from 16.00 hrs (11.00hrs Doha local time).
2010 UIM F1 World Drivers’ Championship – standings after round 4
1. Jay Price (QA) Qatar F1 Team 48 pts
2. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 39 pts
2. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 39 pts
2. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 39 pts
5. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 35 pts
6. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 21 pts
7. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 20 pts
8. Fabio Comparato (I) 800 Doctor 14 pts
9. Tim Seebold (USA) Team Skydive Dubai 12 pts
9. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 12 pts
11. Andy Elliott (GB) Qatar F1 Team 7 pts
2010 UIM F1 Pole Position Championship – standings after round 4
1. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 59 pts
2. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 50 pts
3. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 42 pts
4. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 37 pts
5. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 36 pts
6. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 17 pts
7. Fabio Comparato (I) 88 Doctor 14 pts
8. Duarte Benavente (P) F1 Atlantic Team 12 pts
9. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team 5 pts
2010 UIM F4 Championship – standings after race 2
1. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc 35 pts
2. Oskar Samuelsson (S) Team Rainbow 32 pts
3. David Del Pin (I) Team 800 Doctor 27 pts
4. Rashid Al-Tayer (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 16 pts
5. Bimba Sjoholm (S) Team Azerbaijan 13 pts
6. Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan (QA) Qatar Team 12 pts
7. Kristoffer Fjelde (N) Team Singha 7 pts
8. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China 6 pts
9. Matthew Palfreyman (GB) Team Nautica 5 pts
10. Stefan Hagin (D) Team Atlantic 3 pts
Ends
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