2010 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Sharjah, UAE – December 9-10, round 8
For immediate release
Friday, December 10th, 2010
QATAR’S JAY PRICE PIPPED TO THE WORLD
TITLE BY SELIO AND TEAM TACTICS IN SHARJAH
· Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al-Hameli wins Grand Prix of Sharjah
· Qatar’s Andy Elliott retires after lap one in Sharjah
· Qatar’s Al-Shamlan retires from F-4S race; victory for Samuelsson
SHARJAH (UAE): The Qatar Team’s Jay Price lost out on his second UIM F1 World Championship title by just two points after finishing fourth overall in Friday afternoon’s Grand Prix of Sharjah on Khalid Lagoon.
Needing to finish in front of Finland’s Sami Selio or one place behind the Finn if he did not win the race, it was all going according to plan for the Qatar Team until the closing laps of a thrilling race. Price was trailing in fourth, with Selio in third behind Team Abu Dhabi’s eventual race winner Ahmed Al-Hameli and Italy’s Alex Carella.
But Carella is a team-mate of Selio and slowed to enable Selio to pass into second position. Price could not find a way through over the closing laps and fourth place meant that he missed out on the world title by just two points.
Qatar’s F1 team is managed by 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.
Qatar’s Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan qualified third for the final F-4S race of the season, but engine problems forced him out of the reckoning after seven laps. Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson pulled away from the rest of the field to seal the win, with Filip Roms in second position.
Qatar’s Andy Elliott endured another miserable race outing and withdrew after the first lap of the main race.
The race
Nineteen boats took to the start and the Qatar Team duo sat in fifth and 18th positions on the pontoon. Price faced the most important dash to the first turn buoy of his illustrious career behind Carella, Al-Hameli, Selio and Ivan Brigada.
Al-Hameli made the best start and led through lap one, with Price remaining in fifth position and Elliott moving up to 14th, as Brigada fell back. Price managed to pass Andersson on lap three and slotted into fourth behind Al-Hameli, Carella and Selio, but Elliott was unable to complete the second lap and retired.
Price continued to shadow Selio through lap seven. Fourth would be enough to claim the world title, provided that Selio finished third, but the Qatar driver was quite aware that the Finn’s team-mate was running ahead in second position and could easily pull aside if called to do so.
Al-Hameli continued to lead through lap 12, as Carella held second and Price began to close on Selio for third place. There was less than two seconds between the duo as they began lap 13 and just 1.31s at the start of lap 14. Price was now well clear of fifth-placed Andersson and had no worries about boats in the rear view, as he lost a second to Selio on lap 14.
The gap was 1.18s after lap 17 and 1.6s through 19 tours, but Price could not find a way through and it looked increasingly likely that Team Mad Croc team tactics could well decide the outcome of the World Championship in the closing laps.
Al-Hameli stumbled on lap 25 and Carella reduced his lead to 1.33s, although the Emirati recovered on the subsequent lap to edge back into a 3.11s advantage. Price was running just 0.72s behind Selio.
Predictably, Carella began to slow and fell into the clutches of Selio and Price. The Finn was a mere 0.43s behind his team-mate heading into lap 30 and managed to pass and inherit second position. It was crucial that Price was able to pass the Italian or the world title would be lost by just two points.
Team Mad Croc had read the tactics perfectly and Jay could not overtake his rival. It was too late and Al-Hameli took the chequered flag to victory and Selio snatched second position to seal his second world title, with the Qatar Team pipped by just two points in one of the most exciting finishes to a season in F1 history.
F-4S race 2
Al-Shamlan continued his superb form from Thursday afternoon to finish third in qualifying for the final race of the season behind Hagin and Samuelsson, the Swede now back on track after engine problems ruined his day on Thursday.
Al-Shamlan had run even better in the morning’s practice and set the second fastest time behind Hagin. It was small wonder that the Qatar Team was looking forward to the rookie’s final 20-minute race of the season on Khalid Lagoon.
But the season’s finale ended in disappointment for the Qatari. He was sidelined on the eighth lap with engine problems, in a race where the new F-4S champion Oskar Samuelsson snatched a 9.58s victory from Filip Roms. Stefan Hagin sealed third overall.
Official practice
Price had clocked the fourth fastest time in the morning’s free practice session, where it was more a matter of getting the race set-up right and avoiding trouble on the race course. Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi won the stint, but Elliott was unable to take the start.
Grand Prix of Sharjah – final results
1. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi
2. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc @ 6.55s
3. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc @ 7.93s
4. Jay Price (QA) Team Qatar @ 10.05s
5. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan @ 41.43s
6. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 1 lap behind
7. Fabian Kalsow (D) F1 Atlantic Team 1 lap behind
8. Marit Stromoy (N) Team Azerbaijan 1 lap behind
9. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 1 lap behind
10. Phillipe Tourre (F) F1 Atlantic Team 1 lap behind
2010 UIM F1 World Drivers’ Championship – final standings
1. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc 94 pts
2. Jay Price (QA) Team Qatar 92 pts
3. Alex Carella (I) Team Mad Croc 71 pts
4. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 66 pts
5. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 59 pts
6. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 58 pts
7. Pierre Lundin (S) CTIC China Team 40 pts
8. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team 26 pts
9. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Azerbaijan 20 pts
10. Fabio Comparato (I) 800 Doctor 17 pts
11. Tim Seebold (USA) Team Skydive Dubai 16 pts
12. Fabian Kalsow (D) F1 Atlantic Team 15 pts
13. Davide Padovan (I) Rainbow Team 14 pts
14. Marit Stromoy (N) Team Azerbaijan 13 pts
15. Duarte Benavente (P) F1 Atlantic Team 10 pts
16. Andy Elliott (GB) Team Qatar 7 pts
2010 UIM F-4S Championship – final standings
1. Oskar Samuelsson (S) Team Rainbow 144 pts
2. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc 104 pts
3. Stefan Hagin (D) Team Atlantic 91 pts
4. Bimba Sjoholm (S) Team Azerbaijan 85 pts
5. David Del Pin (I) Team 800 Doctor 76 pts
6. Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan (QA) Qatar Team 50 pts
7. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China 46 pts
8. Majed Al-Mansoori (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 31 pts
9. Rashid Al-Tayer (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 21 pts
10. Matthew Palfreyman (GB) Team Nautica 17 pts
11. Kristoffer Fjelde (N) Team Singha 12 pts
12. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (N) Team Singha 11 pts
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