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Great One Two Start For Qatar

Doha - 5th March - The 2011 UIM World F1H2o Championship kicked off with a brilliant opening round, particularly if you are a Qatari fan. Qatar's American pilot Jay Price clinched maximum points ahead of team partner Alex Carrella.

It was bitter disappointment for reigning World Champion Sami Selio as, after leading the race for 29 or the 35 laps his engine went silent opening the door for the Qatar duo. Conditions were ideal with a gentle breeze and hazy sunshine and although few boats retired, positions remained almost unchanged throughout.

France's Philippe Chiappe driving for Team CTIC China secured third place ahead of the two Team Sweden boats of Shaun Torrente and Jonas Andersson while Mad Croc's David Padovan filled 6th place. Nordic's Marit Stromoy chased Abu Dhabi Thani Al Qamzi thoughout but had to settle for 8th place behind the Arab boat and Francesco Cantando and Duarte Benavente rounded off the top ten.

It was a miserable day for Abu Dhabi's Ahmed Al Hameli as, after qualifying second on the grid was relegated to the back when his engine failed to start and when it did fire up he stopped on lap 20.



Price Leads Cinderella 1-2 Qatar Team Finish in Doha!

DOHA, Qatar – Saturday, March 5, 2011-- Qatar Team drivers Jay Price and Alex Carella couldn't have dreamed up a better conclusion as the American driver hounded defending World Champion Sami Selio of Finland for 29 of the 35 laps and slid past him with less than six laps to go, to capture his second straight win at his team's home Grand Prix and his 10th of his career at the opening round of the 2011 UIM F1 H2O World Championship on Doha Bay in Qatar.
Selio, who's propeller shaft failed, took off from the pole position and managed to stay in front of Price by a margin of one to two seconds until he got “the shaft” down in turn three and came to an immediate stop ending his day in tears while the crowd in the tens of thousands broke out in cheers knowing their hero's from the Qatar organization were going to finish first and second on the day and a great start to the start of the ten month long season.
“We hounded Sami all day and were never going to give up,” said Jay. “True, bad luck for Sami but racing works that way, sometimes it's your day and today with my teams hard preparation Alex and I came home on the podium together. It couldn't have been any better.”
For the young Carella, it was a satisfying afternoon finishing 6.62 seconds behind his teammate while holding off third place finisher Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team who reached the podium in Doha for the second time in the last three seasons.
“I am happy with what we did today,” said Alex. “The Qatar Team has some new personnel and we are working well as a team and enjoying our company already which is great. I can't wait to get to Portugal and push for a victory with my new team.”
For the Mad Croc Team driver Sami couldn't believe his bad luck, “I was coming into the third corner with less than six laps to run and my suddenly stopped and I didn't know why,” said the Helsinki driver. “When we pulled the boat out of the water the propeller and the shaft it is attached to was gone. Now we head to Portimao and I hope I can win there for the first time in my career.”
Taking a fine fourth and making a giant impact is rookie Shaun Torrente driving the Peters & May sponsored DAC for Team Sweden to a fourth and fifth place finish two seconds in front of his teammate Jonas Andersson who won this race back in 2008. For the two-time North American champion, he was pushing for a podium finish in his very first race when his propeller broke with 15 laps to go settling for fourth 16.20 seconds behind his fellow American.
Jonas was satisfied with a fifth while Italian Davide Padovan gave the Mad Croc Team their only points of of the day with a fine sixth place in his first race as Selio's teammate. Team Abu Dhabi driver Thani Al Qamzi was seventh bringing the only points to a very disappointed group when young driver Ahmad Al Hameli who qualified second was forced to start last when his starter failed on the parade lap and moved to the end of the field of drivers at the start. A mechanical problem took him out 20 laps into the 35 lap event.
Marit Stromoy of Norway gave the Team Nautica group their first points of the season with a fine eighth place finish in an unfamiliar BABA hull rented to her by German Fabian Kalsow for the weekend. Ninth was an unsatisfied Italian Francesco Cantando of the Singha Team who has had bad luck in Doha reaching the podium only once in nine races.
Portugal's Duarte Benavente completed the top ten picking up the final point in his 99th career start for the F1 Atlantic Team and heading home to the next stop on the UIM F1 H2O World Championship tour on the weekend of the 22nd of May in Portimao and the Grand Prix of Portugal.
This weekend belonged to the Qatar Team with Jay and Alex taking an exciting one-two in front of the thousands of fans that lined the corniche along downtown Doha on the edge of the Persian Gulf. The attention of the racing world now shifts to Europe and one of the most anticipated Grand Prix's of the year in Portimao.
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Sami Selio to Start on Pole in Doha!

Al Hameli 2nd and Price 3rd for Qatar Team!

DOHA, Qatar – March 4, 2011 – Defending World Champion Sami Selio saved his best effort for the final minutes of the one hour qualifying session and ran a 47:05 second lap for 160.68 kph run and will lead the field of drivers from 10 different nations for tomorrow's opening Grand Prix of the U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship and the Ninth Grand Prix of Qatar on challenging Doha Bay.

Selio, who's never won in eight previous starts in Doha, is chasing his 10th career victory tomorrow for the Mad Croc Team with his new teammate from Italy Davide Padovan taking a well earned sixth with a 48.67 lap in his first start with the team.

“It was great to find the lap we needed late in the day,” said Selio. “We worked our way around the a very difficult four pin course today with the strong winds blowing off from the city from the north causing rough conditions in one spot and calm in the next in just a matter of moments. You had to really concentrate and we were thrilled with the result.” It was Sami's 2nd pole position after doing the same in 2009.

Team Abu Dhabi driver Ahmed Al Hameli coming off his 32nd birthday took second for the second straight year and was just .17 of second behind Selio after being at the top of the leader board for most of the day. The Abu Dhabi native, who last season was awarded for qualifying the fastest throughout the season was disappointed he wasn't number one when the hour long session ended, “We felt great with our setup all day and we thought this was going to be our first ever pole here but it wasn't to be. Tomorrow we will try to take it step farther.” Ahmed's teammate Thani Al Qamzi a winner of the 2007 race will start ninth.

Last years winner Jay Price of the Qatar Team running the newer of the DAC stable of boats was third quickest after taking pole in 2010 with a 47:36 or .31 of second slower than Selio. He new teammate Alex Carella was once again for the second straight year was fourth running a 47:54 second lap.

“We did what we could today,” said Jay. “Depending on the conditions, we are going to chase hard for the win and hopefully have two straight victories on home waters when the sun sets tomorrow.”

Fifth was French driver Philippe Chiappe who continues to drive well in the Moore designed boat running a 47:60 and taking his first ever top five performance in qualifying in Doha for the CTIC China effort. His teammate Pierre Lundin of Sweden was seventh with a 48:67 lap.

Jonas Andersson of Sweden drove to eighth quick until he crashed out spectacularly down in turn four just at the start of the final 10 minute Q3 session. He along with his rookie teammate Shaun Torrente who looked strong and was leading qualifying in the Q2 session until a piston stuck which ended his day with both Team Sweden boats being forced toward the tail end of the grid for tomorrow's race.

Norway's Marit Stromoy will start in the tenth position with her new team in her new BABA boat leased to her by Fabian Kalsow who will not run a full season in 2011 in the Team Nautica hull after doing a 51:93 second lap.

Drivers from around the world will take to the waters of Doha Bay along the corniche of the lovely ultra modern setting of downtown Doha in Qatar for the opening round of the 2011 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship series and the Ninth Grand Prix of Qatar beginning at 15:30 local time and 12:30 GMT. The race can be followed worldwide on the official website www.f1h2o.com beginning at 12:25 GMT.



"Poker Faces" for Friday's Qualifying Starting in Doha!

DOHA, Qatar – March 3, 2011 – The paddock has been put into place for less than 36 hours and already the strategy is starting. New drivers and new teams have been jockeying into position filled with a lot of talk and mystery for the opening round of the U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship for powerboating at the Ninth Grand Prix of Qatar in Doha Bay.

The start of the weekends competition begins on Friday with a one hour “knockout” qualifying session to determine the starting positions for Saturday's Grand Prix. For many teams the faces have changed and everyone is eyeing it's competition keeping strategy close to the vest in order they don't give away any secrets for weekend strategy.

The qualifying mark set on Doha Bay for the Grand Prix of Qatar was set last year by home team driver Jay Price who went on to win the race from pole position with a time of 44.42 seconds and a 170.19 kph (105.51 mph).

“We had a magical weekend a year ago and would love to duplicate again this season,” said the American. “The Qatar team has been busy testing this past week and we feel we have all the kinks out and are ready to go. My new teammate Alex Carella has added a lot already and we should push each other which is a must if we are going to chase the team and drivers championships.”

Next door on paddock row is the winning team that won both of these championships in 2010 courtesy of Sami Selio as the Finnish star from Helsinki steared the Mad Croc effort to the championship at last years final round in Sharjah in the UAE.

“We have all our boys back from last year and have added Davide Padovan from Italy as a second driver who was runner-up to rookie-of-the-year in 2010 and will really add a lot to the organization,” said Sami. “I have a pole here in 2009 and am looking for my first victory here on Doha Bay this Saturday.”

Team Abu Dhabi earned a pole position in 2007 when Thani Al Qamzi took both the pole and the victory in his pocket that weekend. His younger teammate Ahmed Al Hameli won the qualifying award last season with the best results throughout the season and at the same time is looking for his first pole position.

Jonas Andersson of the new Team Sweden effort earned a pole position which carried him to his 2008 victory in Doha one of his four career wins. Joining him this season will be the much talked about newcomer Shaun Torrente of Miami, Florida who like his fellow countryman Scott Gillman back in 1997 came to the series with back to back North American titles. Gillman went on to win the World Championship on his first try and Shaun will be hoping to do the same this year.

The major difference this time around is that Scott brought over his own Seebold boat from America that won the two titles while Shaun is being introduced to a new boat he has no time in. This should make the drama that much more exciting.

Drivers from ten different nations will be ready for tomorrow's 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT) one hour qualifying session that will determine the starting grid and pole position for Saturday's Ninth Grand Prix of Qatar and the opening session for the 2011 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship. The qualifying session can be viewed “live” worldwide on the official website www.f1h2o.com.