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| Pole winner Torrente (L) with Khalid bin Arhama al-Kuwari |
The pair managed to fend off a fierce last gasp challenge from Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed al-Hameli, with Torrente’s fastest lap of 42.65s sufficient to pip his team-mate by just 0.13 seconds in a thrilling pole shoot-out.
Khalid Abdullah al-Kuwari qualified fifth for the third F-4S Eurofin Trophy race of the season with his BaBa but flipped his boat out of fifth position on the 15th lap of a race where series leader Matthew Palfreyman of England led from start-to-finish to extend his championship lead over Sweden’s Jesper Forss to 15 points.
“I cannot believe it,” 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.
“I knew we had two young and ambitious drivers but it is fantastic for us to get first and second in qualifying. Last year we finished the race first and third and now it would be great to go even better with a one-two finish.
“This performance is down to the hard work of the entire team, the mechanics, the management, everyone. Last night the mechanics worked until midnight and they were the first in the pit area this morning at 06.00hrs. It has been a fantastic all-round performance and I thank them all for that.”
Eighteen boats lined up for the first of three qualifying sessions and the slowest three would be eliminated in the 20-minute stint held in bright, blustery conditions. Francesco Cantando set the early target lap of 46.25s but this was soon surpassed by al-Hameli, as Torrente and Carella moved into third and fifth positions with 11 minutes remaining.
Carella moved in front with a stunning tour of 45.16s and was soon passed by Chiappe’s lap of 44.89s, as the Qatar Team duo held second and fifth heading into the remaining six minutes. Andersson eventually won the session with a lap of 44.82s with the Qatar boats in third and sixth. Filip Roms, Brett Stuart and Ivan Brigada were eliminated.
Five boats would fall by the wayside in Q2 and Emirati al-Hameli set the target time of43.98s. Carella and Torrente slotted into fifth and sixth heading into the final 10 minutes. Sami Selio and Andersson pushed the Qatar duo down to sixth and eighth with seven minutes to run.
Carella improved with a tour of 44.86s and the Qatar duo finished the session in second and fourth places with Torrente clocking 44.53s late on. Rinaldo Osculati, Valerio Lagianella, Yousef al-Rubayan, Phillipe Tourre and Stanislav Kourtsenovsky were eliminated.
Ten boats remained and each ran for two laps with the fastest tour counting in the shoot-out. Marit Stromoy set the target time of 45.84s, Duarte Benavente improved with a 45.30s and Cantando went even better with a 43.73s lap. Al-Qamzi posted the provisional pole with a 43.58s on his second lap and Selio almost flipped his boat to record a 43.80s on his first lap.
Torrente stormed into provisional pole position with a first lap of 42.65s and Carella’s first run of 43.18s pushed him into second place, but a second run of 42.78s was not enough to beat his team-mate.
Only al-Hameli could prevent Torrente from sealing pole position, but his two laps fell just short and the Qatar Team managed to seal a superb one-two finish, with Torrente sealing his first career F1 pole.