Carella fends off Torrente to secure win for Team Abu Dhabi

Sport360 staff 08:01 18/07/2016
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  • Alex Carella speeds away at the Grand Prix of France in Evian.

    The Italian managed to fend off a fierce challenge from Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente on Evian’s Lac Leman Sunday afternoon.

    Carella led from the start until lap 10, when the American hit the front. The Victory Team driver clouted a turn buoy soon after and was forced to run a drive through penalty lap after the turn buoys had been secured.

    Carella regained the lead while Torrente regrouped to reach the chequered flag in third after passing Erik Stark with 11 laps to run.

    Carella’s victory by the margin of 11.72 seconds gives him an 11-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship after two rounds and Team Abu Dhabi leads the CTIC China Team by eight points in the Teams’ Championship.

    Carella had qualified in pole position for the race after a thrilling Q2 session. “We changed position a couple of times in the Q2 and, at the end, I see a chance on the last lap to take it and we fought and we got the pole position,” he said. “It was great for the time after the hard job they have done for the last few months.

    “Taking the win is a fantastic feeling. I dedicate this win to the hard work put in by everyone by Team Abu Dhabi over the last few weeks. It’s a fantastic feeling to be leading the championship.”

    With double World Champions Philippe Chiappe and Sami Selio both retiring and Jonas Andersson suffering engine issues, it opened the door for Finland’s Filip Roms to take a career-best second position. Cedric Deguisne also finished a career- best fourth behind Torrente.

    Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi qualified in fourth and held his position for the first eight laps until a mechanical issue intervened and forced him down the leader board. The disappointed Emirati eventually retired and failed to pick up any championship points.

    The UIM F1 H2O World Championship now heads to Portugal’s Algarve coast and the town of Portimao at the end of the month.

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