ABU DHABI - (Wednesday, November 30, 2011) - As the UIM F1 H2O World Championship heads into its final critical two Grand Prix's of the season, the sixth round of the 2011 season which is set for the 8th and 9th of December along the corniche in Abu Dhabi will also be hosting it's 20th race in its history dating back to 1993.
A multitude of drivers have earned World titles during this 18 year period at a site that has become famous for crowning champions and 2011 may develop into the same scenario.
The Qatar Team led by veteran American driver Jay Price leads the championship by a precarious three points over teammate Alex Carella of Italy 67-64. The winner, earns 20 points for a victory, with second place runner-up taking home 15 and third place driver 12 with points awarded all the way down to one for the 10th place position at the finish.
For Price, to win his second World Title in Abu Dhabi, he'll need a podium finish, plus bad luck to strike both his teammate Carella and third place driver Thani Al Qamzi of Team Abu Dhabi who currently has 55 points, to have real shot at becoming a multiple World Champion.
The race over the years has been both heartbreak and exuberance for a multitude of talented pilots who have competed in the series starting with 10-time World Champion Guido Cappellini who won five different times in his 18 starts for the driver from Como, Italy including the very first Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi back in 1993.
Other Italians have done well here including Francesco Cantando of the Singha F1 Team who captured a pair of victories in 2000 and 2001 finishing both years as runner-up in the drivers standings.
American drivers, such as Scott Gillman, now the Team Manager for Team Abu Dhabi, won his first of four titles in Abu Dhabi in 1997 having had great success along the corniche including another victory in 2005. The tradition of greatness for Americans started with Felix Serralles who captured a pair of wins in the first races of the event back in the early 1990's at the second race of 1993 and again in 1994.
Jay Price, also entered his first ever F1 event in Abu Dhabi back in 2002. His meteoric rise was such that he won his first World Championship title in Abu Dhabi just 19 races later in 2008.
Mad Croc Team driver Sami Selio of Finland who won his a world title in 2007 and a brilliant win in Abu Dhabi in a "must win" situation of back to back victories in the Emirates, had hoped to defend his last years victory, looks as though he will go missing this year as he continues to mend from injuries occurred at the Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou in October. His seat will be taken by Kuwati F2 sensation Yousef Al Rubayan.
While a host of leading drivers have won before in Abu Dhabi, this year, seven different boat hulls are expected to be raced from four different countries. The DAC hull from Como, Italy has won more than any other, along with the BABA and BLAZE hulls representing Italian boat builders.
The French MOORE boat will be in the contest at the hands of talented driver Philippe Chiappe along with the Danish MOLGAARD making its debut at the hands of Swedish driver Jonas Andersson.
The DRAGON boat from the United Kingdom will be on hand along with a new GRAN PRIX boat from California being driven by Shaun Torrente.
So both boats and drivers from around the world are getting ready to head their way to the 20th edition of a great Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi looking to add their name to one of powerboat racings greatest trophies, the 20th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi. Maybe at this event, as we've seen so many times before, a possibility of crowning a new World Champion as well.
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