Qatar Team’s Alex Carella in action at the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi yesterday. Carella finished third with team-mate Shaun Torrente in fifth position. Both drivers have a chance of clinching the championship in the last race in Sharjah on December 13.
ABU DHABI: Qatar Team’s Alex Carella and Shaun Torrente set up a thrilling showdown for the UIM F1 H2O World Championship by taking third and fifth positions in yesterday’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.
The race was yellow-flagged on the run out to the first turn buoy when both Team Abu Dhabi boats collided. Finland’s Sami Selio, who had qualified on pole, led from the restart to secure his second win in Abu Dhabi to take a two-point lead in the championship to the final round in Sharjah on December 13.
Frenchman Phillipe Chiappe started second and held off the challenge from Carella to secure the runner-up spot to keep his title hopes alive. “Today was important for everybody, I needed to get back into the championship,” said Carella.
Torrente started the race from 11th and climbed through the field to shadow an impressive Marit Stromoy to the finish in fifth place. He now trails Selio by two points with Carella a further two points adrift.
“The plan was to go really hard, really fast from the start. But then it was a case of easing off near the finish to conserve the points we had,” said Torrente.
“I am actually quite happy with the result,” said Khalid bin Arhama Al Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al Thani.
“Both our drivers scored points on a difficult weekend. It means that we go to Sharjah knowing that one of our drivers has to beat Sami Selio and they will be World Champion. Whoever wins the race will win the title!”
Qatar’s Khalid Abdullah Al Kuwari qualified in sixth position for the second of the F-4S races for the Eurofin Trophy on day three of the Abu Dhabi Water Festival and he reached the chequered flag in fourth place in a race that developed into a procession after the opening lap.
Victory fell to Latvia’s Nikita Lijcs by 4.73 seconds from Sweden’s Nicklas Friberg. Mike Szymura finished third and that was enough for the German to clinch the 2013 Drivers’ Championship with two races remaining. Qatari newcomer Mohammed Al Obaidly was eighth.
In the Grand Prix race, the engine woes forced Torrente to start the 39-lap race from 11th position on the grid, as Carella slotted into third behind Selio and Chiappe.
Duarte Benavente was sidelined before the start with boat de-lamination.
Selio made a storming start into the first turn buoy, but the race was dramatically yellow flagged when Team Abu Dhabi team-mates Al Qamzi and Al Hameli collided and were forced into retirement.
The green flag was raised on lap four and Selio maintained his lead from Chiappe, Carella, Yousef Al Rubayan, Marti Stromoy and a flying Torrente. The Qatar Team driver passed Al Rubayan and climbed to fifth on lap six and the Qatar duo maintained third and fifth through lap 10.
By lap 15, Selio led Chiappe by 3.72 seconds and Carella was 6.83 seconds adrift. Torrente continued to pressure Stromoy for fourth, but the race was yellow-flagged for a second time on lap 18 when Xiong Ziwei flipped his boat at turn four.
Action restarted on lap 22. Selio maintained his advantage and he reached the chequered flag in front of Chiappe. Carella and Torrente. THE PENINSULA
