Team Abu Dhabi duo face must-win showdown to remain in title hunt

Sport360 staff 17:32 06/12/2015
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  • Thani Al-Qamzi in action for Team Abu Dhabi in Portugal earlier this year.

    Team Abu Dhabi are currently enjoying their most successful season to date, but Thani Al-Qamzi or Alex Carella must produce a win on home waters on Friday if they are to have any chance of bringing a second world title to the capital.

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    Heading into the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, Al-Qamzi and Carella are two of seven drivers who can mathematically still snatch the F1 crown, with the final round to follow in Sharjah a week later.

    The Emirati and his Italian team-mate have been testing in earnest in recent weeks to give themselves the best chance of securing a win, although a home success for either may still not be enough.

    Nevertheless, Al-Qamzi and Carella are eager to build on the recent achievements of Class 1 stars John Tomlinson and Gary Ballough, who secured Team Abu Dhabi’s first ever world title last month, and Rashed Al-Tayer and Faleh Al-Mansoori, who finished runners up in their first season in the UIM XCAT World Series three weeks later.

    Team Abu Dhabi’s Alex Carella faces a crucial must-win on home waters.

    As a result, he heads into the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi lying sixth in the championship standings, a point ahead of Carella but 35 shy of the series leader and defending champion, Philippe Chiappe, who won in Abu Dhabi last year.

    The Frenchman’s clinical win in China sees him arrive in the UAE with a 16-point advantage over the Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente, with 40 pts available for winning the last two rounds.

    “We carried out a good test before the XCAT racing with Alex (Carella) and Thani (Al-Qamzi) at different times at ADIMSC and the plan was more testing in the build up to this race,” said Team Abu Dhabi’s racing manager and nine-time former World Champion Guido Cappellini. 

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