ABU DHABI - Monday, 20 May - Can heated rivals find peace and harmony working as teammates at one of the worlds most unique powerboat races?
Well, as unusual as this may sound, the reigning two-time World Champion of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship Alex Carella did just that.
The Italian on Monday finished a long and successful three day weekend of racing alongside last years runner-up in the championship Philippe Chiappe as teammates of the four driver line-up with Team Drakkar executing a come from behind performance on the final day to capture the overall victory at the 50th 24 Hours of Rouen in France.
The four driver team, which included F1 H2O drivers Carella of the Qatar Team and Chiappe of the CTIC China organization as well as two members of the talented Morin family, completed 786 tours in their French built MOORE boat in what was scheduled to be over 20 hours of racing over the Saturday thru Monday format.
The River Seine, which runs thru the center of this historic city, which is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and where Joan of Arc was burnt to death in May of 1431, was disrupted by convoys of barge traffic that cut the racing hours down periodically throughout the weekend.
Team Drakkar led Classe 3 and the overall event easily after the first days six hours of racing having covered 235 laps to Team Pegase's 227 tours. Day two on Sunday with 12 hours completed Team Drakkar found itself down in second place after pilot Peter Morin had accelerator mechanical issues with the team slipping behind by 15 laps short of new leader Team Pegase.
But the racing gods were not good to Team Pegase on the final day with them having their own issues opening the door for Team Drakker with Carella and Chiappe constantly keeping the pressure on and pushing hard along with the Morin's eventually coming home winning the event and relishing the victory with the large crowds enjoying the celebration late in the afternoon on the 20th of May.
"My goal always is winning," said Alex. "It doesn't matter what sport I'm involved with, I give it my all. Today it was great to team up with Philippe (Chiappe). We had a great weekend and more importantly got to know each other a lot better because of this experience and look forward to racing against him in Brazil in less than two weeks."
The opening round of the 2013 UIM F1 H2O World Championship begins on the 1st and 2nd of June at the inaugural Grand Prix of Brazil in the capital city of Brasilia. It's the first time the championship has ever ventured to South America and it will also be the start of the eight month journey to determine the worlds most important championship on water.
You can stay in touch with all the news and follow qualifying and racing live at the Grand Prix as it happens by going to the tours official website at www.f1h2o.com.
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