July 2, 2018 admin@uaemsf.ae Uncategorized TEAM ABU DHABI RULES THE WAVES ON LAC LEMAN STARK, AL-QEMZI AND TORRENTE SEAL HISTORIC 1-2-3 FINISH FOR TEAM ABU DHABI AT GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE Team Abu Dhabi’s racing trio of Erik Stark, Thani Al-Qemzi and Shaun Torrente clinched an historic 1-2-3 finish at the 22nd Grand Prix of France at Évian-les-Baines on Sunday afternoon. The sensational result for the team running out of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) on the six-pin, 2.08km course on Lac Leman enabled Stark to storm to the top of the points’ standings and move two clear of his experienced team-mate Thani Al-Qemzi. The Emirati pushed the team newcomer hard, as both drivers survived two yellow flag stoppages in a thrilling race where defending World Champion Alex Carella of the Victory Team was hospitalised with a leg injury after a 24thlap crash and Torrente overcame missing out on Q3 qualifying on Saturday to climb from seventh to the final place on the podium. Sweden’s Erik Edin finished fourth, Frenchman Peter Morin was fifth and Jonas Andersson passed the chequered flag in sixth position after starting at the rear of the field following an engine change. Three-time World Champion Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team finished three laps behind and slipped to fourth in the championship standings, as Team Abu Dhabi also took control of the Teams’ Championship. The Team Abu Dhabi trio of Stark, Al-Qemzi and Torrente had lined up in pole, third and seventh positions for the 42-lap race, with Chiappe in second position and Francesco Cantando impressing in fourth place. Jonas Andersson was forced to start from the rear of the grid after engine issues on Sunday morning and double World Champion Sami Selio suffered fuel tank problems and changed to a bladder tank before the race after damaging his engine during BRM Qualifying on Saturday afternoon. The race resumed on lap 31 and Stark kept his cool to stay ahead of his team-mate as the Team Abu Dhabi trio held on to snatch a memorable 1-2-3, but there was disappointment for Francesco Cantando who stopped with mechanical issues on the last lap. Torrente said: “This is a fantastic result for the team. It’s history with a 1-2-3 and we are 1-2-3 in the championship. I was really happy with my drive. Coming from behind, it was one of my better drives. I took my chances when I needed to without being overly aggressive. The boats were prepared so well. We had exactly the same set-ups on all three boats.” Teams were permitted one last hour of free practice on the Lac Leman course on Sunday morning and all 19 boats took to the water. Erik Edin laid down the early gauntlet with a lap of 50.23sec and that was quickly surpassed by Chiappe’s run of 50.20sec in favourable conditions. Al-Qemzi then went even faster and shaved 0.17 seconds off the Frenchman’s session-topping time, as teams used the hour to find the best set-up for the racecourse. That early time by Al-Qemzi was actually good enough to win the session, although Ahmed Al-Hameli did post a late lap of 50.08sec to slot into second position ahead of Chiappe, Edin and a resurgent Alex Carella. 2018 UIM F1 H2O World Championship – standings after round 3: Erik Stark (SWE) Team Abu Dhabi 41pts Thani Al-Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 39pts Shaun Torrente (USA) Team Abu Dhabi 32pts Philippe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team 27pts Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team 26pts Erik Edin (SWE) Team Sweden 11pts Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Victory Team 10pts Alex Carella (ITA) Victory Team 9pts Marit Strømøy (NOR) Emirates Racing Team 8pts Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team 7pts Grant Trask (AUS) F1 Atlantic Team 5pts share