LIUZHOU, China: The Qatar Team’s Alex Carella claimed a convincing victory from pole position in yesterday’s 18th Grand Prix of China on Liuzhou’s Liu River in south-eastern China.
In a race where the yellow flag was raised on two occasions, Carella led from the start to the chequered flag to snatch a nine-point lead in the UIM F1 H20 World Championship, as he bids to retain the world title. Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al Qamzi finished second overall and Frenchman Phillipe Chiappe was third.
Shaun Torrente was holding fourth overall when the race was yellow-flagged after an incident involving Bimba Sjoholm’s boat. But the Qatar Team driver was also sidelined as soon as the race restarted, when he clipped the back of Sami Selio’s boat, flipped his boat and the incident sidelined both drivers.
“It was a bad deal. I am fine but it was a racing accident. We had plenty of speed. Sometimes you have to take risks to achieve the goals,” he said.
He added: “I am really happy with the first place. This was a fantastic result for Alex and it is great that we are leading the championship heading to the next race in Abu Dhabi,” said Khalid bin Arhama Al Kuwari, head of formula racing at the QMSF, which runs under the Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani.
Khalid Abdullah Al Kuwari started race two in the F-4S Eurofin Trophy from seventh position and finished in a similar place. Sweden’s Jesper Forss won the contest to snatch the outright lead in the championship from England’s Matthew Palfreyman by just two points. Al-Kuwari holds equal fifth place.
England’s Matthew Palfreyman qualified in pole position for the second of the Liuzhou F-4S races, with race one winner Jesper Forss shadowing him in second position.
Forss emerged victorious for the second time in two days in race two. Qatar’s Al Kuwari started from seventh place and finished in a similar position.
THE PENINSULA
