MEDIA INFORMATION
2018 UIM F1 H2O WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of India, Amaravati – November 16-18
TEAM ABU DHABI’S TORRENTE WINS GRAND PRIX OF INDIA FROM POLE TO LEAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
· Team Abu Dhabi’s Stark finishes third behind Strømøy; engine woes for Al-Qemzi
· Team Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Al-Mehairbi finishes sixth in F4; win for Victory Team’s Al-Fahim
AMARAVATI (INDIA): Sunday, November 18: Team Abu Dhabi continues to lead the UIM F1 H2O World Championship, but Shaun Torrente has replaced Thani Al-Qemzi at the top of the points’ standings after his start-to-finish victory in Sunday’s gripping Grand Prix of India on the Krishna River in Amaravati.
Thani Al-Qemzi led the championship by just one point before the race weekend, but the Emirati’s title challenge suffered a major setback when he was forced to withdraw with engine issues after five laps. Team Abu Dhabi’s third driver Erik Stark maintains second place in the championship standings, but third place for the Swede behind female race runner-up Marit Strømøy of the Emirates Racing Team means that Stark now trails Torrente by seven points with two races still to run.
Torrente, Strømøy and Stark were the class of the field that suffered a high rate of attrition on the punishing Indian river course. Three-time World Champion Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team all but lost his chance of regaining the title after a start lap collision and defending champion Alex Carella of the Victory Team retired at the start with his own engine issues.
The first race to be held in the country since 2004 did not disappoint in the excitement stakes and Chiappe’s team-mate Peter Morin finished fourth overall with Italian veteran Francesco Cantando rounding off the top five. The result also enabled Team Abu Dhabi to extend its lead over the CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team to a massive 65 points.
Race winner Torrente is really enjoying his Indian summer of formula racing and claimed his third win of the season after successes in Portugal and China. He said: “A great result for me and the team again with a 1-3 this time out. Now I am the top of the championship and that is a position I want to stay in until the end of the last race in Sharjah….”
Team Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Al-Mehairbi finished the second of the weekend’s F4 Trophy races in sixth position and collected five valuable championship points. The second race was won by the Victory Team’s Ahmed Al-Fahim, as Al-Mehairbi’s main rival Max Stilz reached the chequered flag in fourth to move one point ahead of the Emirati in what is developing into a gripping tussle for F4 supremacy heading to the four remaining races in the UAE in December.
Etihad Airways is the official carrier for Team Abu Dhabi that is also supported by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and runs under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, advisor to the Head of State and chairman of the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club and under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan, Vice-President and CEO of the ADIMSC. The racing team runs under the umbrella of the ADIMSC, board member and general manager Salem Al-Remeithi and team manager Guido Cappellini.
Grand Prix of India
Team Abu Dhabi’s Torrente, Stark and Al-Qemzi lined up in pole, third and fourth positions for the fifth round of what is developing into a pulsating UIM F1 H2O World Championship. But there was more pre-race frustration for double World Champion Sami Selio: the Finn damaged his engine in the morning’s practice session and was not able to start the race.
A clean run out to the opening turn buoy was a long one and was crucial at the start of the 44-lap race on the 2.125km river course. Hot, humid conditions and large numbers of spectators were the order of the day and Torrente made a superb start and held his line through the opening corner until a yellow flag was raised when four-time World Champion Alex Carella suffered an engine issue and Philippe Chiappe was sidelined after a collision with Duarte Benavente that also spelt the end for the veteran Portuguese driver. Strømøy had struggled away from the start and lost her second place to Stark, but the yellow flag situation played into her hands somewhat when action resumed on lap four and she was reinstated in second.
Torrente maintained his advantage after the restart and Strømøy managed to hold off a fierce challenge from an airborne Stark to defend her second place in dramatic fashion. Championship leader Thani Al-Qemzi plummeted down the leader board from fourth to 14th before withdrawing with engine issues, as Jonas Andersson and Morin rounded off the top five heading into lap eight.
Torrente’s lead over Strømøy climbed to 3.19 seconds through lap 11, but the Norwegian was still coming under pressure from Stark, as fourth-placed Andersson began to pull clear of Morin, Francesco Cantando and Ahmed Al-Hameli. Grant Trask was the next to fall by the wayside with engine issues after 13 laps.
Torrente maintained a 3.42-second lead through lap 16 as the leading seven boats held station and Bartek Marszalek, Erik Edin and Filip Roms rounded off the top 10. The high-speed procession continued into lap 25 and Torrente headed into the 26th tour with a lead of 4.03 seconds. Stark continued to pressure Strømøy for second place, but Marszalek had fallen by the wayside with a mechanical problem after 23 laps and Frenchman Cédric Deguisne lost 10th place soon afterwards.
The gap at the top began to narrow as the race headed into the remaining 10 laps. The Team Abu Dhabi driver led by 1.78 seconds and Stark was a further 1.14 seconds behind. Andersson ground to a halt with his own mechanical issues on lap 34 and lost out on a possible fourth position. The Team Amaravati driver’s place was taken by Morin, as Cantando, Al-Hameli, Edin and Roms rounded off the top eight until Al-Hameli slipped down to eighth place.
The top three held station into lap 40 and Morin was a distant fourth, but there were no changes to the leader board over the remaining four laps and Torrente held on to claim victory over Strømøy by 2.17 seconds and snatched the lead in the World Championship. Stark kept up the pressure on his team-mate with the final podium place.
Official practice
After the dramatic BRM qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, there was no point in taking any risks in the one-hour official practice session on Sunday morning. The Victory Team and Team Abu Dhabi swapped times at the head of the leader board and it was Stark who won the session with a best lap of 46.19sec set during his 22-lap stint.
Former team-mates and close friends Al-Hameli and Al-Qemzi were second and third and Carella settled into fourth spot. Pole sitter Torrente only ran for nine laps and was classified in seventh place with a best run of 46.95sec.
F4 Trophy – race 2
Team Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Al-Mehairbi headed into the second race of the weekend as the new series leader with a three-point advantage over Germany’s Max Stilz, but fellow Emirati Ahmed Al-Fahim of the Victory Team claimed pole position with a lap of 53.61sec. England’s Sam Whittle qualified in second place and Al-Mehairbi, who had been third in the morning’s free practice, was down in fifth with a best run of 54.56sec. Race one winner Rudolf Mihaldinecz did not start the qualifying session.
Al-Fahim led the way towards the first turn buoy and he completed the first lap 1.88 seconds of Whittle with Ben Jelf in third and Al-Mehairbi in fifth place. But the yellow flag was raised almost immediately before action restarted on lap three without Mihaldinecz and Bingchen Wu on the race course.
Al-Fahim began to pull away from Whittle and Jelf and Al-Mehairbi slipped to sixth place with rival Stilz running in fourth. The seven surviving boats held station through lap eight of 20 with the leader extending his advantage to 5.45 seconds. There were no changes to the running order after lap 12 and Al-Fahim managed to hold on to his lead to claim the win over Whittle by the margin of 4.36 seconds. Al-Mehairbi reached the finish in sixth.
Action in the UIM F1 H2O World Championship reaches a conclusion with two races in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in December.
2018 Grand Prix of India – result:
1. Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Abu Dhabi 44 laps
2. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Emirates Racing Team @2.17sec
3. Erik Stark (SWE) Team Abu Dhabi @3.53sec
4. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team @21.12sec
5. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Blaze F1 Team @49.47sec
6. Erik Edin (SWE) Team Amaravati L1
7. Filip Roms (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team L1
8. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Victory Team L3
9. Simone Schuft (DEU) Blaze F1 Team L7
10. Sutthipan Sookbuangbon (THI) Maverick F1 Team L9
Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Amaravati DNF
Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick F1 Team DNF
Bartek Marszalak (POL) Emirates Racing Team DNF
Grant Trask (AUS) F1 Atlantic Team DNF
Thani Al-Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi DNF
Duarte Benavente (PRT) F1 Atlantic Team DNF
Alex Carella (ITA) Victory Team DNF
Philippe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Tea DNF
Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team DNS
2018 UIM F1 H2O World Championship – standings after round 5:
1. Shaun Torrente (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 72pts
2. Erik Stark (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 65pts
3. Thani Al-Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 54pts
4. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team 39pts
5. Philippe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team 34pts
6. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Emirates Racing Team 26pts
7. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Victory Team 18pts
7. Erik Edin (SWE) Team Sweden/Team Amaravati 18pts
9. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden/Team Amaravati 14pts
10. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Blaze F1 Team 10pts
11. Alex Carella (ITA) Victory Team 9pts
12. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 7pts
13. Grant Trask (AUS) F1 Atlantic Team 5pts
13. Duarte Benavente (PRT) F1 Atlantic Team 5pts
15. Bartek Marszalak (POL) Emirates Racing Team 4pts
15. Filip Roms (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 4pts
16. Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick F1 Team 3pts
17. Simone Schuft (DEU) Blaze F1 Team 2pts
18. Sutthipan Sookbuangbon (THI) Maverick F1 Team 1pt
2018 F4 Trophy – positions after race 8:
1. Max Stilz (DEU) Blaze Performance 87pts
2. Mohammed Al-Mehairbi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 86pts
3. Sam Whittle (GBR) F1 Atlantic Team 70pts
4. Tom Chiappe (FRA) Emirates Racing Team 65pts
5. Ahmed Al-Fahim (UAE) Victory Team 63pts
6. Wu Bingchen (CHN) CTIC F1 China Team 40pts
7. Pedro Fortuna (PRT) Team Sweden 35pts
8. Alexander Lindholm (FIN) Team Amaravati 29pts
9. Ben Jelf (GBR) Team Amaravati 27pts
10. Rudolf Mihaldinecz (HUN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 22pts
11. Xavier Autard (FRA) Maverick Racing 21pts
12. Quentin Dailly (FRA) Maverick Racing 17pts
13. Camille Broutechoux (FRA) Maverick Racing 8pts
14. Joris Colleret (FRA) Maverick Racing 7pts
15. Louise Vella (AUS) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 5pts
16. Ian Gonsalves (GUY) Maverick Racing 3pts
Ends
For further media information and information about Team Abu Dhabi:
Please contact: Khalid Al Saadi, Media Incharge, Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club, P.O. Box 45656, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Mobile Telephone: + 971 50 768 6761, E-mail: alsaadi@adimsc.ae.
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