2010 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of China, Liuzhou – October 16-17, round 4 of 8
For immediate release
Saturday, October 16th, 2010
QATAR TEAM’S JAY PRICE QUALIFIES
SECOND FOR SUNDAY’S LIUZHOU RACE
· Qatar Team’s Andy Elliott qualifies in 19th position
· Time trial victory and pole position for UAE’s Ahmed Al-Hameli
· Qatar’s Al-Shamlan takes sixth place in inaugural F4 race
LIUZHOU (China): The Qatar Team’s Jay Price was edged out of pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of China by the UAE’s Ahmed Al-Hameli.
The pair traded fastest laps in a thrilling 10-minute showdown to determine the starting order for the fourth round of the UIM F1 World Championship, but the Team Abu Dhabi driver snatched the maximum points and pole position by a mere 0.07s with a fastest lap of 46.29s.
Price now holds third place in the UIM F1 Pole Position Championship and will start Sunday’s race on the Liu River in Liuzhou from second place on the grid. Team-mate Andy Elliott was unable to progress from the first qualifying session and will start the race from 19th position.
Qatar’s Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan finished sixth overall in his first ever F4 race. Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson recorded the fastest lap in the time trials and went on to claim 20 points for an inaugural race win.
“It was very close right until the end of qualifying and Jay showed that he has the pace to push on and take victory in the race on Sunday,” said Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, Head of Formula Racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF).
Time trials
On a new course on the Liu River on the outskirts of Liuzhou, it was imperative that Price started well and Elliott finished inside the top 15 in qualifying session one. The former World Champion slotted into third through the opening minutes, behind the Team Abu Dhabi race duo, and Elliott recorded a lap of 54.62s but was pushed down to 15th position.
Elliott was displaced by Phillipe Tourre and slipped to 16th overall as Price was also overtaken by rookie Alex Carella and dropped to fourth position. Italy’s Luigi Roberto also passed Elliott, who was struggling to regain his place in the top 15 and avoid elimination from the first qualifying session.
Price slipped behind Selio into fifth position before regaining his fourth place. He had done enough to reach the all-important second qualifying session, but 19th-placed Elliott was eliminated along with Rinaldo Osculati, Tomas Cermak, Phillipe Tourre and Marit Stromoy.
The Team Abu Dhabi duo set the pace at the start of the second qualifying session, but a heavy collision between Alex Carella and Luigi Roberto forced a yellow flag situation and action was stopped while the boat wreckage was removed from the course. Price had managed to climb to third before the incident, which forced the session to be abadoned.
Only eight boats were permitted to start the final shoot-out to determine the starting order for Sunday’s race and Price edged into an early lead only to be edged out by Al-Hameli. Price replied immediately with a fastest lap of 46.82s to regain the lead, but Al-Hameli was not to be denied and retook the provisional pole position in a thrilling duel on the Liu River.
F4
Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan set the fifth fastest time in the first F4 free practice session with a quickest lap of 53.76s during his 18-lap stint. Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson claimed pole position with a fastest lap of 52.86s in the time trials and Al-Shamlan was pleased to post a fastest lap of 53.77s to slot into third place in the line-up for the inaugural F4 race.
The Qatari slipped down the leader board in the actual race and eventually finished sixth overall, with the podium places falling to race winner Samuelsson, second-placed Finn Filip Roms and third-placed Italian David Del Pin.
Free practice
Jay Price clocked the fastest time in the first free practice session on Saturday morning. The DAC driver recorded a lap of 47.22s during his marathon 30-lap stint and that was 0.12s quicker than the UAE’s Thani Al-Qamzi. Andy Elliott struggled with his Dragon boat at the rear of the field to post a fastest lap of 58.07s.
Grand Prix of China, Liuzhou – time trial results
1. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 46.29s
2. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 46.36s
3. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 47.08s
4. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 47.27s
5. Fabio Comparato (I) 800 Doctor 47.67s
6. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 48.28s
7. Marco Gambi (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 48.95s
8. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 49.34s
19. Andy Elliott (GB) Qatar Team
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 1
1. Oskar Samuelsson (S) Team Rainbow 20 pts
2. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc 15 pts
3. David Del Pin (I) Team 800 Doctor 12 pts
4. Bimba Sjoholm (S) Team Azerbaijan 9 pts
5. Rashid Al-Tayer (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 7 pts
6. Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan (QA) Qatar Team 5 pts
7. Kristoffer Fjelde (N) Team Singha 4 pts
8. Matthew Palfreyman (GB) Team Nautica 3 pts
9. Stefan Hagin (D) Team Atlantic 2 pts
10. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China 1 pt
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com,
www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
www.qmsf.org
www.f1boat.com