KIEV,Ukraine – Friday, July 29, 2011 – Team Abu Dhabi's driver Ahmed Al Hameli, who missed the last Grand Prix in Russia two weeks ago, took his frustrations out on the field on the UIM F1 H2O World Championship, to capture pole position by .41 of a second qualifying at a speed of 159.88 kph for tomorrow's inaugural Grand Prix of Ukraine around the six turn 2.35 kilometer course on the Kiev Sea.
“It's great to be back and the boat worked perfectly for this course,” said Ahmed. “It's going to be a busy race at the front and for me earning my first pole position of the season was something extra special for the team as well.”
Just missing the pole were both Team Qatar drivers Jay Price and Alex Carella. The two are caught up into a one-two battle for the championship, with Price leading Carella by just two points and out-dueled him in qualifying by .34 of a second starting second while Alex will follow in third.
“We thought we had a great opportunity to be number one today but just didn't get the early start we wanted and the water didn't work out for us so we'l settle for second,” said Jay. “Tomorrow is another battle in or war for the championship and we'll go out there and give it our all for a win here in Kiev.”
Meanwhile, defending World Champion Sami Selio of Finland and the Mad Croc Team moved up farther than anyone in the final Q3 qualifying session going from ninth, then seventh and with a minute to go grabbed a well earned fourth as the 15 minute session came to a close with a time of a 49.58 as he chases his first victory of the campaign.
Swedish driver Jonas Andersson steered his BABA Team Sweden boat to a fifth place off the dock tomorrow with a 49.61 lap while Italian Francesco Cantando introduced his Singha Team Blaze boat to it's first weekend of racing with a 49.76 second lap for seventh place.
Starting in the eighth slot will be Norwegian driver Marit Stromoy as she will start in the top ten for the third time in four tries this year in her new BABA hull for Team Nautica that gave her a first pole back in May in Portugal.
Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Shaun Torrente of Miami, Florida will start ninth with a time of a 50.80 despite getting in only one hot lap in his Team Sweden DAC before his trim broke and ending his shot at pole the rest of the session.
Rounding out the top ten was a relieved Pierre Lundin of Sweden in the CTIC China Team DAC with a 50.84 and just beating out his teammate Philippe Chiappe who finished a disappointed 11th with a 50.99 knowing he must do well in the race if he has any hope of capturing a World Title before the season comes to a close in December.
Eighteen drivers from 12 different countries will take to the Kiev Sea tomorrow afternoon at 18:00 local, 15:00 GMT and 11:00 EDT in North America for the first Grand Prix of Ukraine. Can Ahmed Al Hameli win his first race of the year or will the Qatar Team make it four wins in a row in 2011. It may also be other surprises as the Fourth race of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship gets underway north of Kiev in search of a World Champion.
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