Qatar Team’s Alex Carella (right) celebrates after clinching his third successive world title after finishing the Sharjah Grand Prix in first place, yesterday.
Sharjah: Qatar Team’s Alex Carella led from start-to-finish to seal a third successive UIM F1 H2O World Championship title with a stunning victory in yesterday’s Grand Prix of Sharjah on Khalid Lagoon.
Despite initial pressure from team-mate Shaun Torrente and then from race runner-up Phillipe Chiappe, Carella held his nerve to reach the chequered flag 1.98 seconds in front of the Frenchman. Torrente finished third and confirmed second position in the world championship.
There were no Friday the 13th gremlins on this occasion and Carella duly entered the history books with his third world title success.
Italian racing legend Guido Cappellini was the last man to win three successive world titles between 2001 and 2003.
Finland’s Sami Selio lost his slim chance of taking a third world title with technical problems on the 22nd lap and this left the door open for Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al Hameli to finish fourth, with fellow Emirati Thani Al Qamzi and Italian Francesco Cantando rounding off the top six.
“This was a superb performance by the entire team. I am so happy right now,” said Khalid bin Arhama Al Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani.
He added: “Congratulations to Alex on his superb drive and also to Shaun, who pushed him all the way. It was another tremendous season for everyone at the QMSF and I would like to thank Sheikh Hassan for his support and all our team for their hard work. We have now won the last three world titles. This is a superb achievement for everyone connected with the Qatar Team.”
Khalid Abdullah Al Kuwari and Mohammed Al Obaidly qualified sixth and eighth for the final UIM F-4S race of the season for the Eurofin Trophy and reached the chequered flag for the 25-lap race in fourth and sixth places.
Latvia’s Nikita Lijcs led from pole position and on through a yellow flag situation to beat the new F-4S champion Mike Szymura by 6.31 seconds.
Italian youngster Aberto Comparato finished third.
Carella made a superb start and surged into a stunning lead through lap one.
His lead was up to 2.13 seconds through lap two, as Selio moved up from 13th to eighth.
Carella continued to edge away from Torrente and the lead was up to 3.16 seconds through lap five of 38, but the American trimmed that lead back to 2.5 seconds after lap six.
Yousef Al Rubayan was forced to run a drive-through penalty lap and this lifted Selio to seventh, as Carella continued to hold off Torrente and Chiappe at the front of the field.
The defending world champion’s lead was 2.04 seconds at one-third distance, but Torrente began to edge further clear of Chiappe.
Carella’s lead was 3.32 seconds at the halfway point and Torrente was running over two and a half seconds in front of Chiappe.
Selio maintained seventh, but was unable to make in-roads into Thani Al Qamzi’s hold on sixth place.
Chiappe began to pressurise Torrente for second and the gap was 1.52 seconds after lap 22 and the Frenchman managed to pass Torrente and snatch second as Selio ground to a halt on the course and lost his chance of winning the world title. It was now Carella against Chiappe and Torrente for the world championship.
Chiappe had reduced Carella’s lead to 4.3 seconds through lap 27, but Torrente began to drop behind and the title pendulum swung in Carella’s favour. The Italian held his nerve after intense pressure from Chiappe late on to reach the chequered flag and claim his third title. THE PENINSULA
