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| Qatar Team’s Alex Carella (2R) celebrates on the podium after winning the Grand Prix of Tatarstan on the Nizhny Kaban Lake in Kazan, Russia yesterday. Also seen is Qatar Team’s Jay Price (R), who finished third yesterday, to hold the UIM F1 H20 championship lead |
The Qatar Team’s Alex Carella led yesterday’s Grand Prix of Tatarstan on the Nizhny Kaban Lake in Kazan from start to finish to record a stunning victory and close the gap on team mate Jay Price to just two points in the 2011 UIM F1 H20 World Championship.
Price moved up from 15th at the start of the 40-lap race to record a stunning third overall in an afternoon where two yellow flag incidents produced some thrilling racing and enabled the Qatar Team to continue their early season domination of the F1 H20 racing scene.
Qatar’s Khalid Saleh al-Shamlan finished second in the weekend’s second F-4S race and moved 11 points ahead of Bimba Sjoholm at the top of the points standings for the 2011 Eurofin Trophy when the Swede was disqualified from the race for hitting a buoy. Britain’s Matthew Palfreyman won the 25-lap F-4S race by 23.96 seconds.
“This was just unbelievable,” said Khalid bin Arhama al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani.
“Another fantastic result for our team. Jay was the star of the movie by being able to come back from 15th to finish third and fulfil one of his dreams of being able to overtake Scott Gillman in an F1 race. It was a superb win for Alex too. He drove so very well. Khalid (al-Shamlan) now has a good lead in his championship, so these are very happy times for the QMSF at this stage of the season.”
Price’s fears about the engine in the final qualifying session were realised and the former World Championship was forced to start the 40-lap race from the back of the grid, with Carella leading the way from pole in warm, sunny conditions.
Khalid Saleh al-Shamlan qualified in second position for the second of the weekend’s F-4S races. The Qatari notched up a quickest lap of 46.73s to slot in behind pole winner Matthew Palfreyman. Series leader Bimba Sjoholm was fourth heading into the 20-minute race. Qatar’s Nations Cup entrant Khaled Al-Kuwari had started the first race on Saturday in the spare Abu Dhabi boat, but was unable to start race two.
Al-Shamlan maintained his position through lap one, as Sjoholm moved into third and began to apply the pressure. Palfreyman gradually extended his advantage over the Qatari through the opening 10 laps, as Al-Shamlan held off the Sjoholm challenge to maintain second position.
Results:
UIM F1 H20 round 3: 1. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team40 laps, 2. Thani al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi@ 4.55s, 3. Jay Price (QAT) Qatar Team@ 5.91s, 4. Scott Gillman (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi@ 16.02s, 5. Phillipe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC China Team@ 17.58s, 6. Marit Stromoy (NOR) Team Nautica @ 25.77s, 7. Stanislav Kurtsenovsky (RUS) Jetech Tool F1 Racing @ 28.98s, 8. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team@ 32.22s, 9. Phillipe Tourre (FRA) F1 Atlantic Team@ 45.38s, 10. Rinaldo Osculati (ITA) Team Nautica3 laps behind
2011 World Championship standings: 1. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team52 pts, 2. Alex Carella (QA) Qatar Team50 pts, 3. Thani al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi31 pts, 4. Phillipe Chiappe (F) CTIC China Team21 pts, 5. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha F1 Racing Team12 pts