Agencies/Abu Dhabi

By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar Team’s Shaun Torrente and Alex Carella will start today’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, round four of the 2014 UIM F1 H2O World Championship, from second and fifth

positions after a scintillating qualifying session at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater yesterday afternoon.
The Qatar Team duo will lock horns again today afternoon in a crucial race that could either decide the outcome of the world championship or throw the title race wide

open again. Torrente also closed to within one point of Carella in the fight for the UIM F1 H2O Pole Position Championship.
A mere 0.53 seconds separated the top five in the thrilling Q3 shoot-out and Frenchman Philippe Chiappe collected the first pole position of his long career in his

93rd F1 H2O race. Behind second-placed Torrente, Swedish rookie Erik Stark slotted into third place and Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed al-Hameli will start his home race from

fourth spot.
Khalid Abdullah al-Kuwari and Mohamed al-Obaidly were in impressive early form in the UIM F-4S Trophy category. The Qatar Team duo qualified in pole position and third

for the first of the Abu Dhabi races, but the race didn’t pan out as the team had hoped.
Sixteen-year-old Australian sensation Briney Rigby snatched the lead on the first lap and extended her advantage to reach the chequered flag 20.84 seconds clear of

runaway series leader Mike Szymura. Al-Obaidly finished fifth, but al-Kuwari was sidelined on lap five of 20 after hooking the boat and striking a turn buoy.
The qualifying session was split into three sections, as per the F1 car racing, and Q1 and Q2 again whittled the field down to just six boats, which would take part in

the two-lap shoot-out to determine pole position on the six-pin course.
Chiappe set the early target time of 47.67sec in Q1 and that was surpassed by Torrente’s time of 47.33sec and Carella’s lap of 47.08sec after 11 of the 20 minutes. The

Qatar Team duo held on to top the session, but Yousef al-Rubayan failed to start and Tomas Cermak, Jesper Forss, Ivan Brigada, Duarte Benavente and Ziong Ziwei were

also eliminated.
The wind began to increase as the afternoon progressed. A position inside the top six was the target and Carella did his chances no harm at all by posting a lap of

47.19sec to leap to the top of the leader board.
The Italian was overtaken by Ahmed al-Hameli and Torrente (46.63sec), but both Qatar drivers looked safe in the top six until impressive rookie Erik Stark posted a

time of 46.21sec. Torrente (46.20sec) and Carella were classified in first and fourth when the session ended, but Jonas Andersson, Bartak Marszalak, Filip Roms,

Francesco Cantando, Marit Stromoy and Thani al-Qamzi failed to reach Q3.
Selio was the first out on the water in the two-lap shoot-out and he clocked a 47.85sec and improved to record a 47.34sec target. Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed al-Hameli was

next up and he stormed to the top of the leader board with an opening charge to 46.21sec and improved with a stunning lap of 45.79sec.
Carella knew the importance of pole position but his opening lap of 45.86sec fell just short and he could not match al-Hameli’s time on lap two either. Philippe

Chiappe took up the challenge and he carded a 46.16sec lap to start with and then snatched provisional pole with a tour of 45.33sec.
Rookie Erik Stark opened his account with a lap of 45.53sec in his first Q3 shoot-out and that was sufficient to move into second with only Torrente left to race and

try and achieve a second pole position in the space of a week. His first lap of 45.48sec moved him into second place but he was not able to prevent Chiappe taking a

first career pole position.
Today, F-4S free practice, time trials and F1 practice precede the second of the F-4S races from 14:00hrs. The Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi roars into life from 15.30hrs

(14.30hrs Qatar time).
 
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi qualifying (top five)
1. Philippe Chiappe (FRA) China CTIC Team 45.33sec
2. Shaun Torrente (QAT) Qatar Team 45.48sec
3. Erik Stark (SWE) Team Nautica 45.53sec
4. Ahmed al-Hameli (ARE) Team Abu Dhabi 45.79sec
5. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team 45.86sec

F-4S Trophy race one result (top five)
1. Briney Rigby (AUS) Team Sweden
2. Mike Szymura (DEU) F1 GC Atlantic 20.84sec
3. Bincheng Wu (CHN) China CTIC 38.92sec
4. J-A Landsnes (NOR) Motorglass F1 47.86sec
5. Mohamed al-Obaidly (QAT) Qatar Team 49.04sec
Khalid Abdullah al-Kuwari (QAT) Qatar Team RET
 
2014 F-4S Trophy standings (top five)
1. Mike Szymura (DEU) F1 GC Atlantic Team 110 pts
2. Briney Rigby (AUS) Team Sweden 74
3. Jan Andre Landsnes (NOR) Motorglass F1  57
4. Mohamed al-Obaidly (QAT) Qatar Team 36
5. Khalid Abdullah al-Kuwari (QAT) Qatar Team 33