2010 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
8th Grand Prix of Qatar, Doha – November 25-27, round 6 of 8
For immediate release
Friday, November 26th 2010
QATAR’S PRICE SETS POLE POSITION TIME
IN TIMED TRIALS FOR GRAND PRIX OF QATAR
· Engine misery for Elliott in practice; he qualifies in 17th place
· Khaled Saleh Al-Shamlan finishes sixth under yellow flag in F-4S
· Price fastest for Qatar Team in Friday’s free practice session
DOHA (Qatar): The Qatar Team’s Jay Price secured a sensational pole position for Saturday’s 8th Grand Prix of Qatar by setting the fastest lap of 44.42s in Friday afternoon’s third qualifying session in Doha Bay. It was the 2008 World Champion’s first pole position of the 2010 season.
The Qatar Team’s Andy Elliott suffered a cruel engine failure on the second lap of the morning’s free practice session, but his mechanics worked hard during the lunch break to ensure that the Dragon boat driver was able to take to the water for nine laps and record a time to put him 17th on the provisional grid for Saturday.
“This is a great start to the weekend for us,” said Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF). “So far so good. We have been aiming for this and finally Jay has delivered the pole for us here.”
“I had a good bit of clear water, trimmed the boat nicely and let it just hang out,” said a delighted Price. “That’s just what we needed to set us up for the race.”
Qatar’s rookie Khaled Saleh Al-Shamlan finished sixth in the first of the weekend’s two F-4S races. Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson took victory in a race marred by two yellow flag incidents and an accident involving Finland’s Filip Roms.
The 8th Grand Prix of Qatar is being organised by the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani.
Time trials
Price left it until the dying minutes of the first session to guarantee his place in the second qualifying heat. Al-Hameli set the pace in the first stint, but Price set the fastest lap of 45.73s in the closing minutes to take the early initiative from Al-Hameli, Jonas Andersson, Selio, Al-Qamzi and Germany’s Fabian Kalsow.
Elliott joined the fray mid-way through the session and ran for nine laps, but 17th position was not sufficient to prevent the second Qatar Team driver from being eliminated from session one alongside Fabio Comparato, Duarte Benavente and Rinaldo Osculati.
Al-Hameli was the early pacesetter in session two with a lap of 45.34s, but Price leapt into second position soon afterwards by recording a 45.70s. Cantando, Carella and Andersson filled third, fourth and fifth places, although Price slipped behind Selio near the end of the session and settled for third position.
Tomas Cermak, Thani Al-Qamzi, Davide Padovan, Phillipe Chiappe and Marit Stromoy failed to make the top 10 cut for the final shoot-out. Al-Hameli equalled Price’s practice time from the morning to take the early lead in the final heat, as Selio and Price settled into second and third.
Price edged into second position with a 44.83s lap and then surged into provisional pole with a 44.42s lap. Nobody was able to beat that lap in the closing minutes and Price delighted the home crowd with pole position and duly moved up to equal second place in the provisional UIM F1 Pole Position Championship standings.
F-4S
Al-Shamlan qualified in fifth position for Friday afternoon’s 20-minute race, with pole again falling to Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson. But the Qatari lost a couple of places at the start and was holding seventh when Norway’s Tobias Munthe-Kaas, running as a replacement for Kristoffer Fjelde in the Singha team, stopped on the race course and forced a yellow flag.
Al-Shamlan slipped behind Team Abu Dhabi’s Majed Al-Mansoori at the restart and the race finished under a yellow flag when Filip Roms flipped his boat at turn one after the first restart. The Finn had been lying second behind eventual race winner Samuelsson.
“I liked the course, it was long and fast and there were not too many turns,” said Al-Shamlan, who was seventh fastest in the practice session that was won by Samuelsson in his Molgaard. “It was a matter of getting more experience for me.”
Official Practice
Eighteen of the 19 boats took to the water and Price used the session to test a selection of propellers. He held third behind the flying Abu Dhabi boats at the mid-point of the session, but Elliott suffered engine problems after just one lap and was forced back to the pits. “I wasn’t even pushing it,” said a dejected Elliott. “This was my good engine. I am gutted about this.”
An ECU change did the trick for Jay in the second half and he recorded the fastest lap of the hour – a flying 44.75s tour – to start the weekend in a positive way. Al-Hameli, Carella, Marit Stromoy and Selio filled the other top-five positions.
Tomorrow (Saturday) F1 teams will be permitted a second one-hour official practice session from 09.15hrs and the F-4S runners will follow on to the course for a maximum of 30 minutes from 10.30hrs.
The second F-4S timed trials fire into life at 11.30hrs and the second of the F-4S races gets underway at 13.00hrs. The 8th Grand Prix of Qatar takes centre stage from 15.00hrs and will be immediately followed by the prize presentation.
Timetable of events – Saturday, November 27th
08.30 Driver’s briefing
09.15-10.15 Free practice F1
10.30-11.00 Free practice F-4S
11.30-11.50 Timed trials F-4S
13.00-13.20 F-4S race 2
15.00-15.45 2010 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar
15.45 Prize giving ceremony
Grand Prix of Qatar, Doha – timed trial results
1. Jay Price (QA) Team Qatar 44.42s
2. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 44.75s
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 44.86s
4. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 45.31s
5. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 45.47s
6. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 45.71s
7. Fabian Kalsow (D) F1 Atlantic Team 46.66s
8. Phillipe Tourre (F) F1 Atlantic Team 46.67s
9. Marco Gambi (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 46.72s
10. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 46.79s
17. Andy Elliott (GB) Team Qatar
2010 UIM F1 Pole Position Championship – standings after round 6
1. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 94 pts
2. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 62 pts
2. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 62 pts
4. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 56 pts
5. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 45 pts
6. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team 20 pts
7. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 17 pts
8. Fabio Comparato (I) 88 Doctor 14 pts
9. Duarte Benavente (P) F1 Atlantic Team 12 pts
10. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 9 pts
11. Davide Padovan (I) Rainbow Team 7 pts
12. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 5 pts
12. Marit Stromoy (N) Team Ajzerbaijan 5 pts
2010 UIM F-4S Championship – standings after race 4
1. Oskar Samuelsson (S) Team Rainbow 72 pts
2. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc 47 pts
3. David Del Pin (I) Team 800 Doctor 45 pts
4. Bimba Sjoholm (S) Team Azerbaijan 43 pts
5. Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan (QA) Qatar Team 21 pts
6. Stefan Hagin (D) Team Atlantic 17 pts
7. Rashid Al-Tayer (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 16 pts
8. Majed Al-Mansoori (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 14 pts
9. Kristoffer Fjelde (N) Team Singha 12 pts
10. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China 11 pts
11. Matthew Palfreyman (GB) Team Nautica 8 pts
12. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (N) Team Singha 0 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