2011 UIM F1 H2O WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
13th Grand Prix of Portugal, round 2
For immediate release
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
QATAR’S PRICE AND CARELLA SEAL SENSATIONAL
ONE-TWO FINISH IN 13th GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL
· Qatar’s Khalid Al-Shamlan claims first ever UIM F-4S victory
· Torrente and Stromoy crash out; Al-Hameli rolls on lap 10
PORTIMAO (Portugal): The Qatar Team’s Jay Price and Alex Carella sealed a second successive one-two victory in Sunday afternoon’s 13th Grand Prix of Portugal, near Portimao.
Following a collision between Pole Position winner Marit Stromoy and American Shaun Torrente, Carella and Price inherited the lead and Price managed to squeeze past his Qatar team-mate when race action resumed. The pair have extended their lead in the UIM F1 H20 World Championship after two rounds and the Qatar Team has a comfortable advantage in the UIM F1 Teams’ Championship.
Khalid Saleh Al-Shamlan capped a sensational weekend for the Qatar Team. He began the second F-4S race from second position and hit the front after an early yellow flag incident sidelined series leader Bimba Sjoholm. The Qatari maintained his composure to complete a resounding maiden victory and snatch a four-point outright lead in the UIM F-4S Championship after four rounds.
“What a weekend,” said an ecstatic 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. “It does not get any better than this. This is the second one-two in as many races for Jay and Alex and we have a big lead in the championship.
“I said to Khalid (Al-Shamlan) this morning that he would be on top of the podium and he did it. This is a fantastic result for the team and we devote this victory to Sheikh Hassan for his commitment to the Qatar Team. Khalid is getting better all the time and now I can really see him progressing to becoming part of the F1 scene in the future. To make it even sweeter, Khalid now leads the F-4S Championship.”
13th Grand Prix of Portugal
Price and Carella lined up in second and fourth places on the starting pontoon, with Price determined to beat surprise Pole Position winner Marit Stromoy to the first turn buoy.
Stromoy made a superb start to fend off Al-Hameli, who appeared to make a jump-start from 16th on the grid. Price slipped behind Carella into fifth. By lap five, Al-Hameli was penalised for a jump-start and forced to take a drive through lap, as Carella and Price completed lap five in fourth and fifth places.
Al-Hameli still hadn’t taken his penalty lap by the eighth lap, as Stromoy continued to fend off the challenge from Al-Hameli, Shaun Torrente, Carella and Price. A yellow flag was raised on lap 10 when Al-Hameli flipped his boat out of the race, his demise promoting Carella to third and Price to fourth behind Stromoy and Torrente.
Torrente and Stromoy took each other out of the race in a high-speed accident as soon as the action restarted and this handed the race lead to Carella from Price, but the race was yellow-flagged for a second time. Action resumed on lap 22 of 42 and Price managed to pass Carella and take a slender lead with Al-Qamzi snatching third place from Phillipe Chiappe.
Price began to pull away from Carella’s new DAC. His lead had grown to 2.17s through lap 24 and to 2.83s after 28 laps. The 2008 World Champion’s lead was 3.58s after 34 of the 42 laps and he held on to take his 11th career F1 win and extend his lead in the 2011 Drivers’ Championship to 10 points.
F-4S race 2
Sweden’s Bimba Sjoholm maintained her excellent run of form to snatch Pole Position for the second race of the weekend with a fastest lap of 57.36s. Al-Shamlan finished the timed trial in second position and was well placed for the start of the 20-minute race.
The race was yellow-flagged straight from the start after an incident involving Sjoholm and Al-Shamlan moved into the lead under the yellow flag, with Matthew Palfreyman and Filip Roms in second and third places. Al-Shamlan maintained a 1.86s lead over Roms through lap four, as six of the original eight runners remained in the race. The Qatari extended his advantage to 3.07s through lap five and was 3.10s in front after 11 tours.
He was not to be denied and extended his advantage to 7.21s after 15 laps, as Roms began to slip behind. The Qatari held on to seal victory by the margin of 5.31s, with Roms and Palfreyman rounding off the top three.
Al-Shamlan also won the morning’s free practice session with a fastest lap of 57.36s to pip Sjoholm by 0.05s during his 13 laps on the water.
Free practice
Carella and Price completed 12 and nine laps, respectively, in the morning’s one-hour free practice session and were classified in seventh and eighth positions after experimenting with various settings and starts to get the best set-up for the race. Italian Davide Padovan, who had endured a miserable Saturday’s qualifying, set the fastest lap of the session in 41.75s during his 29 laps on the water.
13th Grand Prix of Portugal, Portimao – result
1. Jay Price (QAT) Qatar Team 42 laps
2. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team @ 6.49s
3. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi @ 11.77s
4. Phillipe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC China Team @ 15.44s
5. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc F1 @ 17.95s
6. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team @ 31.28s
7. Davide Padovan (ITA) Team Mad Croc F1 @ 33.02s
8. Duarte Benavente (POR) F1 Atlantic Team @ 36.63s
9. Phillipe Tourre (FRA) F1 Atlantic Team 1 lap behind
10. Ivan Brigada (ITA) Singha F1 Racing Team 1 lap behind
2011 UIM F1 H20 World Championship – standings after round 2
1. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 40 pts
2. Alex Carella (QA) Qatar Team 30 pts
3. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team 21 pts
4. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 16 pts
5. Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Sweden 9 pts
5. Davide Padovan (I) Team Mad Croc F1 9 pts
7. Jonas Andersson (S) Team Sweden 7 pts
7. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team 7 pts
7. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc F1 7 pts
10. Duarte Benavente (P) F1 Atlantic Team 4 pts
11. Marit Stromoy (N) Team Nautica 3 pts
12. Phillipe Tourre (FRA) F1 Atlantic Team 2 pts
13. Ivan Brigada (ITA) Singha F1 Racing Team 1 pt
2011 UIM F-4S Championship – race 2 result (Portugal)
1. Khaled Saleh Al-Shamlan (QAT) Qatar Team 16 laps
2. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc @ 5.31s
3. Matthew Palfreyman (GBR) Team Atlantic @ 15.89s
4. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (NOR) Team Nautica @ 47.72s
5. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China @ 49.47s
6. Christian Carlsen (NOR) Team Singha 1 lap behind
Bimba Sjolholm (SWE) Team Sweden DNF
Majed Al-Mansoori (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi DNS
2011 UIM F-4S Championship – standings after race 4
1. Khaled Saleh Al-Shamlan (QAT) Qatar Team 59 pts
2. Bimba Sjolholm (SWE) Team Sweden 55 pts
3. Filip Roms (FIN) Team Mad Croc 44 pts
4. Majed Al-Mansoori (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 33 pts
5. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (NOR) Team Nautica 32 pts
6. Matthew Palfreyman (GBR) Team Atlantic 28 pts
7. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) Team China 23 pts
8. Christian Carlsen (NOR) Team Singha 8 pts
9. Kristoffer Fjelde (NOR) Team Singha 5 pts
Ends
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