Chippe romps home in Grand Prix of Dubai

Sport360 staff 02:39 05/03/2016
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Stunning win: Chippe.

    French driver and two-time world champion Philippe Chiappe made the perfect start and was in a class of his own in winning the inaugural Grand Prix of Dubai at the opening round of the 2016 UIM F1 H2O World Championship.

    The CTIC China Team driver got a clean start and was pushed hard by Team Abu Dhabi driver Alex Carella. The three-time champion tried extremely hard to find a way past Chiappe, but that never happened as the Frenchman held on for his sixth career win.

    Even after Sweden’s Jesper Forss had spectacularly flipped out of the race with just over 20 laps remaining, the CTIC China Team driver was able to fend off another late Carella challenge to start the defence of his world title in perfect style with a victory by 1.75 seconds.

    The driver from Rouen said: “It was a great way to start the season and a great day for my team, as my young teammate ‘Leo’ Xiong managed to finish fifth for the best run in his career.

    “The restart was no problem, as we had clear water, but the final few laps and a lot of traffic on this small 1.96 kilometre (1.22 mile) race circuit forced me to make every move a smart one in the final moments with Alex hovering right behind.

    “It worked out in the end and it’s nice to go home with 20 points in the bank heading to my home race in Evian, France in mid-July.”

    Carella said: “I tried everything I could to find a way to get close to Chiappe, but couldn’t quite do it. “I’m hoping we can find that little bit extra in France and this time take the victory there in July.”

    Team Abu Dhabi’s other driver Thani Al Qamzi, who had qualified sixth, dropped out early on lap seven and wasn’t a factor.

    Victory Team driver Shaun Torrente of Miami had to claw and scratch his way to the podium with a third place finish after starting fifth. The American finally passed Jonas Andersson of Team Sweden with a nifty move on the restart at the two-thirds mark of the race, earning him 12 valuable points for the home team.

    “Yeah, I battled with Jonas all day long,” said Torrente. “We had great fun and I really enjoyed the restart. I’m worn out but satisfied with a podium start to the season.”

    With the top four drivers finishing on the same lap, Chinese driver Xiong, a lap down, had the best finish of his career with a fifth after qualifying seventh off the dock.

    Recommended