ABU DHABI - Sunday, October 16, 2011 - The defending World Champion Sami Selio is resting comfortably at home in Helsinki, Finland as he continues to have tests recovering from his massive accident less than two weeks ago in Liuzhou, China at the 16th Grand Prix of China.
Always known as a fighter on the water, he now takes this resolve to his healing schedule knowing he has less than sixty days to get ready for the 6th round of the 2011 UIM F1 H2O World Championship for power boating. The final two events of the season are back to back weekend Grand Prix’s beginning with the 20th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi along the corniche in lovely Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on the eighth and ninth of December.
“The World Championship defense is over for the Mad Croc Team in 2011 and I’m just hoping that I can be healthy enough in this short time to go and participate in the final two races in early December,” said Sami.
“It’s both a matter of pride and determination as I would love to see if I can defend my pole position and victory from a year ago. But, I still have a battle on my hands here since I’ve got more than one injury to recover from. However, we won’t loose faith here and we are hoping to be with all our friends and fans in Abu Dhabi in December.”
The doctors in Helsinki continue to monitor Sami’s facial injures including the area around his eyes, especially his right one. He also admitted he has a few broken ribs and possible tailbone injuries. The medical experts are planning more x-rays to see if he has a broken wrist as well.
All things considered he’s in good spirits and the 36 year-old went to attend a National Hockey League (NHL) game in Helsinki last weekend between the Anaheim Ducks and the Buffalo Sabres and now hopes to attend the upcoming UIM Annual Meetings scheduled in Abu Dhabi in less than two weeks.
The two-time World Champion, in his 13th season in the sport, was racing in his 107th Grand Prix and had a history of only crashing out while racing just three previous times and none since 2005.
In the later stages of the Grand Prix of China while sitting in fifth place, Sami’s boat suddenly turned to the left entering the very high-speed turn number one. This corner just past the start finish line was taken around 225 kph (140 mph) and Sami corkscrewed nose first to a quick and violent stop. The highly skilled Osprey Rescue Team arrived quickly taking the veteran group from Great Britain a few minutes to remove Selio and then transporting him off the water and on to hospital in Liuzhou.
Qatar Team driver and 2007 World Champion Jay Price leads the drivers championship just as he did over Selio a year ago, having scored 67 total points on a pair of victories in Qatar and Portugal earlier this year. His young teammate Alex Carella sits second just three points back while streaking driver Thani Al Qamzi of Team Abu Dhabi coming off an important win in China now sits third with still a shout in the championship with 55 points.
Drivers from Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East will arrive to celebrate the 20th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi on the lovely waters of the Persian Gulf on the 8th and 9th of December along the corniche in the dazzling city of Abu Dhabi.
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