Team Abu Dhabi's Alex Carella secures fourth F1 H2O title with victory in Sharjah

Sport360 staff 20:28 15/12/2017
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  • Alex Carella and team manager Guido Capellini celebrate their triumph.

    Team Abu Dhabi’s Alex Carella delivered a sensational performance to lead from the start to the chequered flag to secure a convincing victory in the 18th Grand Prix of Sharjah and a fourth UIM F1 H2O World Championship title.

    Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC Shenzhen China Team could not recover from a disappointing start from fifth position on the pontoon and the three-time champion had to settle for an eventual third position and the runner-up spot in the World Championship after climbing back from as low as eighth in a largely processional race on Khaled Lagoon.

    The Victory Team’s Ahmed Al Hameli benefited from a superb start to hold second for much of the race until he hit technical trouble and his demise opened the door for Team Sweden’s Jonas Andersson to snatch second spot.

    Thani and Rashed Al Qemzi delivered solid performances to reach the finish in third and ninth positions to cap a memorable afternoon for Team Abu Dhabi, with young Rashed claiming his first World Championship points. Poland’s Bartek Marszalek and Chiappe’s team-mate Peter Morin rounded off the top six. But Thani was given a one-lap penalty for jumping the start some minutes after the podium and slipped to sixth and finished fourth in the championship.

    Team Abu Dhabi also added the UIM F1 H2O Teams’ Championship title for the first time since 2015 to the UIM Pole Position Trophy earned on Thursday and the prestigious UIM F2 World Championship secured by young Rashed Al Qemzi in Portugal in October. The last drivers’ title won by the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) was in 2006, by Scott Gillman, the man whom Carella joined in the sport’s all-time Hall of Fame with four world titles.

    “It is a very special feeling. I fight this weekend. I wanted to come out with everything,” Carella said. “The work of yesterday paid today and it gave me a perfect place to start.”

    “When I heard that Philippe was in eight position I knew I did not want to push too much. I was in perfect control of the race. I was just hoping that nothing would happen.”

    Alex Carella made no mistake as he secured a fourth world championship.

    Alex Carella made no mistake as he secured a fourth world championship.

    Team Abu Dhabi general manager Salem Al Remeithi was ecstatic at having recaptured the team championship after missing out last year. “Our team deserved the success this year,” he said. “This is an achievement for the whole UAE and we are proud to have succeeded in the championship.”

    “Our team deserves to be number one and can climb on to the podium with pride. To earn the three victories in the Drivers’ Championship, the Teams’ Championship and the Pole Position Trophy is a fantastic achievement by our team.”

    It was a triumphant moment for Team Abu Dhabi.

    It was a triumphant moment for Team Abu Dhabi.

    Rashed Al Romaithi and Mohammed Al Mehairbi of Team Abu Dhabi finished the final F4-S Trophy race of the season in eighth and ninth positions, but third overall was sufficient for the Victory Team’s Mansoor Al Mansoori to pip Frenchman Jeremy Brisset to the title. Hungarian veteran Rudolf Mihaldinecz led from start-to-finish to pip young Frenchman Tom Chiappe to the overall Grand Prix victory and the race two win. Al Mehairbi incurred a one-lap penalty for not maintaining his line and duly lost fourth position, although he secured third in the final points’ standings.

    Meanwhile, team manager Guido Cappellini could hardly contain his emotion after the dramatic title success.

    “Incredible, incredible. To win the last race in the World Championship is the best possible thing you can do to win the title. We had two boats on the podium (until the lap penalty) and Rashed gains his first ever points. For me, it is one incredible day.”

    18th GRAND PRIX OF SHARJAH

    Nineteen boats lined up on the pontoon for the 45-lap showdown to decide the outcome of a fascinating World Championship. Sami Selio was not able to start, Shaun Torrente used a spare Moore boat after his morning’s practice crash and Erik Edin fitted a near-standard engine after suffering a failure in the morning. Grant Trask and Duarte Benavente also changed engines and started at the rear of the field.

    Carella lined up on the pontoon followed by Stark, Marszalek, Al Hameli and Chiappe, with Rashed and Thani Al Qemzi climbing to 10th and 11th. A trouble-free start was crucial and the series leader made it safely through the opening turn to maintain his lead, although Al Hameli managed to find a way to overtake Stark and Marszalek to snatch second position. Chiappe slipped to eighth and Thani and Rashed Al Qemzi held fifth and 14th.

    The Team Abu Dhabi driver extended his lead to 3.75 seconds through five laps, as Al Hameli, Stark, Andersson and Thani Al Qemzi rounded off the top five. Torrente began his climb through the field and snatched 11th and Rashed Al Qemzi moved up to 13th, but Chiappe continued to slip further behind and trailed the leader by 24.58sec after eight laps. Francesco Cantando and Matthew Palfreyman (electrical) both retired.

    The leaders held station through 13 laps and Carella’s lead edged out to 4.80sec, as Rashed Al Qemzi moved up to 12th after Torrente withdrew his Moore with engine issues and returned to the pits. The Italian’s lead grew to 7.26sec after 18 laps, as the leading duo gradually pulled clear of Stark, Andersson and Al Qemzi and Chiappe’s title dream began to fade. Mike Szymura and Cédric Deguisne (engine) joined the growing list of retirements.

    Rashed Al-Qemzi put in an impressive showing.

    Rashed Al Qemzi put in an impressive showing.

    At the halfway point, Carella’s lead was reduced to 3.95sec as he continue to close in and pass the tail enders, but Stark’s brave run ended on lap 29 when the Swede retired with a broken propeller blade and Andersson inherited third behind Carella and Al Hameli, with Al Qemzi and Barszalek moving up to fourth and fifth and Chiappe creeping in front of Filip Roms and into sixth before the Finn pulled out on lap 34.

    With 10 laps to go, Andersson passed Al Hameli to snatch second position, but Carella’s lead had grown to 23.68sec. Chiappe continued to climb and he overtook Marszalek to secure fifth and he snatched fourth when Al Hameli slipped out of contention.

    There was no last-minute drama for Carella and the triumphant Team Abu Dhabi driver reached the chequered flag to secure the world title by the margin of 16.03 seconds, with Andersson, Thani Al Qemzi and Chiappe rounding off the top four and Rashed Al Qemzi clinching his first points in ninth. But Thani was given a one-lap penalty for a jump start some minutes after the race and slipped to sixth, with Chiappe inheriting third.

    Thani Al-Qemzi's solid race was spoiled by a penalty.

    Thani Al Qemzi’s solid race was spoiled by a penalty.

    PRACTICE

    Friday morning’s one-hour practice session marked the last opportunity to get the boat set-up perfect for the race. Several drivers placed more importance on it than others and Marit Strømøy carded the fastest lap of 46.95sec after running 31 tours of the course. Stark was second, but Rashed and Thani Al Qemzi ran their DACs for just 14 and six laps and were classified in third and eighth positions. Series leader Carella ran at a slow pace for six laps but took no risks on the course.

    Selio and Marszalek sat out the session, but Matthew Palfreyman ran for a short time to test out the Dragon before his GP race debut and suffered ongoing engine issues. Grant Trask was towed off the course after stopping with technical woes and a spectacular spin and flip involving Shaun Torrente’s Victory DAC brought out a second yellow flag with 18 minutes of the session to run. Erik Stark also encountered minor electrical issues and was towed back to the pits.

    F4-S – RACE 2

    Rudolf Mihaldinecz nosed ahead of Mohammed Al Mehairbi and Tom Chiappe at the start pontoon, as title rivals Mansoor Al Mansoori and Jeremy Brisset started in fifth and fourth positions. The 57-year-old Hungarian began to extend his advantage as Chiappe and Al Mansoori moved ahead of Al Mehairbi through the opening turns.

    Sharjah provided a beautiful backdrop for the final race of the season.

    Sharjah provided a beautiful backdrop for the final race of the season.

    The race developed into a procession for the next few laps until Louise Vella found a way past Brisset on lap 15 to snatch fifth and the leader began to lap the tail-enders. Mihaldinecz survived a scare on lap 20 to secure victory over Chiappe by the margin of 9.11 seconds and third place was sufficient for Al Mansoori to claim the world title from Brisset and Al Mehairbi, but the latter was docked one lap for a lane infringement and Vella moved up to fourth place.

    Brisset managed to keep his title hopes alive by taking the wheel of Corentin Guesnel’s Maverick ASV for the final race of the season. It gave the Frenchman the opportunity to try and pip Al Mansoori to the title – 11 points separated them at the start of the day. Chiappe topped the times in the morning’s practice session in a time of 50.18sec, with Wu Bingchen and Vella in second and third and Al Mehairbi and Al Romaithi classified in fifth and eighth.

    Rashed Al-Romaithi had a hard-fought battle with Louise Vella.

    Rashed Al Romaithi had a hard-fought battle with Louise Vella.

    The timed trials took on extra significance on this occasion. Mihaldinecz spoiled the party with the pole position-winning lap of 50.11sec. Al Mehairbi slotted into second and Chiappe was third but title rivals Al Mansoori and Brisset qualified fifth and fourth, respectively.

    2017 Grand Prix of Sharjah – race result:

    1. Alex Carella (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi                                           45 laps

    2. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden                                @16.03sec

    3. Philippe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team  @20.06sec

    4. Bartek Marszalak (POL) Blaze F1 Team                                @20.68sec

    5. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team            @27.36sec

    6. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi                                              L1

    7. Grant Trask (AUS) F1 Atlantic Team                                                      L1

    8. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Emirates Racing Team                                     L1

    9. Rashed Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi                                           L2

    10. Duarte Benavente (PRT) F1 Atlantic Team                                        L2

    11. Erik Edin (SWE) Team Sweden                                                            L2

    Ahmed Al Hameli (UAE) Victory Team                                                DNF

    Filip Roms (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team                                  DNF

    Erik Stark (SWE) Team Sweden                                                             DNF

    Mike Szymura (DEU) Emirates Racing Team                                     DNF

    Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick F1 Team                                          DNF

    Shaun Torrente (USA) Victory Team                                                    DNF

    Francesco Cantando (ITA) Blaze F1 Team                                           DNF

    Matthew Palfreyman (GBR) Emirates Racing Team                         DNF

    Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team                                 DNS

    Béranger Robert (FRA) Maverick F1 Team                                         DNS

    2017 UIM F1 H2O World Championship – final positions:

    1. Alex Carella (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi                                              90pts

    2. Philippe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team            71pts

    3. Erik Stark (SWE) Team Sweden                                                       49pts

    4. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi                                        34pts

    5. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden                                           32pts

    6. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team                             30pts

    6. Ahmed Al Hameli (UAE) Victory Team                                           30pts

    8. Shaun Torrente (USA) Victory Team                                                28pts

    9. Bartek Marszalak (POL) Blaze F1 Team                                            23pts

    10. Marit Strømøy (NOR) Emirates Racing Team                               21pts

    11. Duarte Benavente (PRT) F1 Atlantic Team                                      15pts

    12. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team                       12pts

    13. Grant Trask (AUS) F1 Atlantic Team                                                   9pts

    14. Filip Roms (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team                               8pts

    15. Cédric Deguisne (FRA) Maverick F1 Team                                         7pts

    16. Mike Szymura (DEU) Emirates Racing Team                                    4pts

    17. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Blaze F1 Team                                           2pts

    17. Rashed Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi                                          2pts

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