2013 UIM F1 H2O WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Brazil – round 1, June 1-2
For immediate release
Saturday, June 1, 2013
QATAR TEAM’S TORRENTE AND CARELLA QUALIFY IN SECOND
AND THIRD PLACES FOR INAUGURAL GRAND PRIX OF BRAZIL
· Carella and Torrente third and seventh in first official practice
· Qatar’s Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari seals podium finish in F-4S race
· Qatar’s Carella ferries Brasilia’s governor around race course
BRASILIA (Brazil): The Qatar Team’s Shaun Torrente and defending UIM F1 H20 World Champion Alex Carella will start Sunday’s inaugural Grand Prix of Brazil on Lake Paranoá from second and third positions after Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session.
In a thrilling Q3 shoot-out between five of the fastest drivers in the world, both Qatar racers narrowly missed out on claiming pole position, which fell to Finland’s former World Champion Sami Selio with a best lap of 52.65 seconds. Sweden’s Jonas Andersson was fourth and Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al-Hameli made a superb return from serious illness to claim fifth place.
“We missed out on the pole but we again showed that we are a competitive force and will try very hard to retain our world titles,” 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.
“The team has worked very hard to set the boats up for the altitude on this race course and we can look forward to what promises to be a very exciting race. We struggled to find the right prop (propeller) for the qualifying, but the goal is points for the championship in the race. I would like to thank Sheikh Hassan for his support and a big thanks to my crew and our drivers for their hard work.”
Carella also found time in his pre-race preparations to give Brasilia’s governor Agnelo Dos Santos Queiroz two high-speed runs around the Lake Paranoá course in a two-seater race boat.
Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari qualified in third place for the first of the UIM F-4S races for the Eurofin Trophy and the Qatari shadowed Sweden’s Niklas Friberg and Germany’s Mike Szymura to the finish of the 15-lap race.
Qualifying
The qualifying programme was split into three sections, with four and six drivers eliminated in each of the first two stints and just six drivers heading into the final shoot-out. Phillipe Chiappe was the first driver on to the water for the 20-minute Q1 session, but Selio laid down the gauntlet with a lap of 53.64 seconds and Torrente slotted into second before being demoted to second by the flying DAC of Carella.
Al-Hameli began his return from illness with a flying lap of 53.51 seconds to guarantee his place in Q2 and Torrente hit the top of the leader board with a tour of 53.25 seconds. Carella went even quicker in the last two minutes to win the session with a lap of 53.19 seconds. It was an excellent Qatar one-two, but Norwegian rookie Pal-Virik Nilsen, Filip Roms, Xiong Ziwei and Rinaldo Osculati were eliminated.
Selio set the early Q2 target time of 53.76 seconds and Carella and Torrente settled into second and third places. The Finn won the session, but the Qatar duo safely reached Q3 in second and fourth positions. Phillipe Chiappe, Marit Stromoy, Yousef Al-Rubayan, Valerio Lagiannella, Thani Al-Qamzi and Duarte Benavente failed to make the six-boat shoot-out.
Technical issues prevented Francisco Cantando from setting a qualifying time and Al-Hameli set the early target of 54.88 seconds on his second lap. Andersson sneaked inside the Emirati’s time with a second lap of 53.22 seconds, as Torrente took to the water for his two laps and grabbed provisional pole with a tour of 52.92 seconds and then improved his time with a stunning lap of 52.75 seconds.
Carella’s first lap of 53.33 seconds put him into third behind Torrente and Andersson and he snatched second place with a last lap of 53.02 seconds, but Selio was last out on to the water and his first lap of 52.65 seconds claimed pole position.
Sixteen of the 17 entrants took to the water for the first one-hour official practice session of the new season on Saturday morning. Brazilian Paul Gaiser slipped in his hotel room, injured his wrist and was unable to take the start of practice, where Selio set the early target lap of 53.11 seconds and that time was sufficient to win the session. Carella and Torrente ran for 30 and 25 laps each and were third and seventh quickest.
F-4S for the Eurofin Trophy
Hungary’s Kornel Vo qualified on pole position for the first of the season’s F-4S races with a best lap of 1min 19.77sec and Al-Kuwari slotted into third position behind Sweden’s Niklas Friberg.
The race ran over 15 laps of the 2.2km course and Friberg made the best start and began to edge away from Al-Kuwari. He was 14.82 seconds ahead of the Qatari through lap three and extended his advantage even more as the race progressed to reach the chequered flag with a winning margin of 48.13 seconds over Mike Szymura. The German overtook Al-Kuwari in the closing laps to confirm second position.
Free practice starts at the earlier time of 08.00hrs on Sunday, June 2nd and F-4S practice and time trials precede the second F-4S race at 09.45hrs. The Grand Prix of Brazil gets underway at 11.00hrs (17.00hrs Doha time).
2013 Grand Prix of Brazil – qualifying results
1. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 52.65 sec
2. Shaun Torrente (QAT) Qatar Team 52.75 sec
3. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team 53.02 sec
4. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Azerbaijan 53.22 sec
5. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 54.88 sec
6. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Singha F1 Racing Team DNS
2013 UIM F1 H20 Pole Position Championship – positions after round 1
1. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 20 pts
2. Shaun Torrente (QAT) Qatar Team 15 pts
3. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team 12 pts
4. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Azerbaijan 9 pts
5. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 7 pts
6. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Singha F1 Racing Team 5 pts
2013 F-4S Eurofin Trophy – positions after race 1
1. Niklas Friberg (SWE) Team Azerbaijan 20 pts
2. Mike Szymura (DEU) Atlantic Team/Interpass/GC 15 pts
3. Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari (QAT) Qatar Team 12 pts
4. Mohamed Al-Mehairbi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 9 pts
5. Eirik Danielsen (NOR) Team Nautica 7 pts
Bincheng Wu (CHN) CTIC China Team 0 pts
Kornel Vo (HUN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 0 pts
Jan Andre Landsnes (NOR) Singha Racing Team 0 pts
Ends
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