2010 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, UAE – December 2-4, round 7 of 8
For immediate release
Friday, December 3rd, 2010
QATAR’S PRICE QUALIFIES THIRD FOR
SATURDAY’S GRAND PRIX OF ABU DHABI
· Team Abu Dhabi’s Al-Hameli clinches UIM F1 Pole Position title
· Andy Elliott eliminated in qualifying session one with 18th place
· Qatar’s Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan finishes eighth in first F-4S race
ABU DHABI (UAE): Qatar’s Jay Price qualified in third position in a thrilling set of timed trials for the 19th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at the Breakwater in Abu Dhabi on Friday afternoon.
Fractions of a second separated the leading drivers in the final 10-minute shoot-out, but a last gasp lap by Finland’s Sami Selio was enough to gain pole position. Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al-Hameli qualified in fourth place and duly confirmed the 2010 UIM F1 Pole Position Championship title with one round remaining.
“Jay will start from third, behind two of his main rivals for the World Championship, so it should be very exciting at the start of the race,” said Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani.
Andy Elliott ran for 17 laps in the first qualifying session, but his quickest lap of 55.52s was not enough to prevent him qualifying down in 18th for Saturday’s race.
Qatar’s rookie Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan qualified seventh for the first of the weekend’s F-4S races and eventually finished eighth overall. Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson came from behind to pip Stefan Hagin and move into a 47-point lead in the points’ standings with a possible 60 available in the remaining three races of the season. It was the Swede’s fourth successive F-4S race win.
Timed trials
It was imperative that Price and Elliott stayed in the top 15 of the 19 runners in the first 20-minute qualifying session on the eight-point course. Elliott – the only entrant in the race to have taken part in the inaugural Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi back in 1993 – posted an early tour of 57.39s to slot into 14th, as Price moved into second behind Al-Hameli before being displaced by Sami Selio.
Ultimately, Rinaldo Osculati, Davide Padovan, Elliott and Tomas Cermak failed to qualify for the second 15-minute qualifying session. Price snatched the early advantage with a 51.55s lap, but his time was overhauled by Selio and then Al-Hameli’s 51.18s tour. Marit Stromoy, Marco Gambi, Fabian Kalsow, Duarte Benavente and Phillipe Tourre were eliminated before the final 10-minute shoot-out, which Price started from third behind Al-Hameli and Selio.
Price surged into the lead with a lap of 50.41s and was followed into second position by Selio with a 50.54s before Alex Carella snatched the lead with 50.39s. Al-Hameli moved into third place with just two minutes remaining, but a sensational last gasp lap by Selio earned the Finn pole position with Price demoted to third place.
F-4S race one
Samuelsson remained firmly on course to claim the inaugural UIM F-4S title by setting the fastest lap of 46.66s in his 17-lap qualifying session. Al-Shamlan ran for 21 laps, but his quickest tour of 49.11s was only sufficient to claim seventh position.
Stefan Hagin moved into the lead through the opening laps of the race, as Al-Shamlan slipped to eighth position but began to close in on David Del Pin and the UAE’s Rashid Al-Tayer. Samuelsson managed to pass Roms and retake second position after 10 laps, but Hagin maintained his advantage and Al-Shamlan continued to run in eighth.
Hagin and Samuelsson pulled away from the rest of the field and Samuelsson began to close in on his rival in the final minutes. He overtook Hagin on lap 19 and held on to take victory with Al-Shamlan reaching the chequered flag in eighth place.
In the morning’s first practice session, Samuelsson had again been quickest with a 46.62s and Al-Shamlan had been running as the seventh fastest driver on the course.
Official practice
Jay Price was not displeased to claim the third fastest time in the opening practice session on Saturday morning. The World Championship leader ran his DAC for 19 laps and recorded a best lap of 50.80s, just 0.52s behind session winner Ahmed Al-Hameli and 0.11s adrift of second-placed Sami Selio. Elliott was able to get his Dragon up and running for 14 laps and recorded the 17th quickest time of the 19 drivers who started the session.
Tomorrow (Saturday), F-4S drivers have their second free practice and timed trials from 08.15hrs (Doha time) and the second of their races starts at 12.30hrs (Qatar time). The F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi fires into life at 14.30hrs (Qatar time).
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, UAE – timed trial results
1. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 50.29s
2. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 50.39s
3. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 50.41s
4. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 50.52s
5. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 50.97s
6. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 51.40s
7. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team 52.39s
8. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 52.83s
9. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 53.02s
10. Fabio Comparato (I) 800 Doctor 53.07s
18. Andy Elliott (GB) Qatar Team 55.52s
2010 UIM F1 Pole Position Championship – standings after round 7
1. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 103 pts
2. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 82 pts
3. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 74 pts
4. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 60 pts
5. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 56 pts
6. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 22 pts
7. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team 20 pts
8. Fabio Comparato (I) 88 Doctor 14 pts
9. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 12 pts
9. Duarte Benavente (P) F1 Atlantic Team 12 pts
11. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 9 pts
12. Davide Padovan (I) Rainbow Team 7 pts
13. Marit Stromoy (N) Team Ajzerbaijan 5 pts
2010 UIM F-4S Championship – standings after race 6
1. Oskar Samuelsson (S) Team Rainbow 112 pts
2. Bimba Sjoholm (S) Team Azerbaijan 65 pts
3. David Del Pin (I) Team 800 Doctor 61 pts
4. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc 59 pts
5. Stefan Hagin (D) Team Atlantic 39 pts
6. Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan (QA) Qatar Team 33 pts
7. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China 24 pts
8. Rashid Al-Tayer (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 21 pts
9. Majed Al-Mansoori (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 19 pts
10. Matthew Palfreyman (GB) Team Nautica 13 pts
11. Kristoffer Fjelde (N) Team Singha 12 pts
12. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (N) Team Singha 3 pts
Ends
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