LIUZHOU, China - The calender may change but the results for pole position seem suspended in space and time as Italian triple World Champion Alex Carella of the Qatar Team captured pole position for the third straight year at the Grand Prix of China.
The 29 year-old driver from Piacenza had a little luck on his side, while fighting off rogue waves from boat traffic that disrupted the final Q3 Top-Six Shootout. Having turned the fast time in the Q2 session he was the last driver on the race circuit to do two solo laps in his attempt for the pole on the now calming waters of the six-pin 2.18 kilometer course.
He earned his 10th pole and for the third straight year on the Liu River. His 44.60 second lap was the fastest of the day while recording a speed of 141.26kph in the process.
"It was a great effort by our Qatar Team crew and the off-season testing in Italy paid off for my new boat," said Alex. "I'm excited about the future with this new boat and I am truly ready to try and keep my winning streak alive tomorrow."
While Alex enjoyed the fruits of capturing pole, Finnish driver Sami Selio of the Mad Croc Baba Racing organization may have put in the bravest effort. The driver from Helsinki was forced to fight off boat traffic waves that disrupted his rhythm and at the same time was able to turn a 45.99 second lap and a 136.99kph performance to finish runner-up to Carella on the grid.
"We were on a wild ride believe me," said the Finnish Flyer. "I'm still learning my new Baba hull and this maybe one of our bravest runs in many years to get such a result. The race maybe easier than what we battled through today in our fight for the pole."
Taking third place was Youssef Al Rubayan one of two back to back performing top-six drivers with the F1 GC Atlantic Team as the Kuwaiti driver took third with a 47.83 second lap while his senior teammate Duarte Benavente was right behind six one-hundredths of a second back with a speed of 131.55kph earning fourth on the grid.
While the Portuguese driver Benavente had his best qualifying effort in 17 attempts in China, Swedish driver Jonas Andersson of Team Sweden was fifth quickest for Team Sweden with a 47.91 second lap. The driver from Fruvi was 1.3 seconds faster than sixth place Italian pilot Francesco Cantando of the Motorglass F1 Team who was racing his 19th race in China finishing up in sixth with a 49.20 second lap.
The three qualifying sessions were a mix of exciting lap times and mistakes and bad luck by some of the world's best drivers.
Starting with the first two minutes of Q2 when possible pole sitter Shaun Torrente of the Qatar Team made a mistake going into the turn four right hander ending his day with a free ride back to the paddock by the Osprey Rescue Team and dreams of a top three qualifying day coming to an end.
While the American Torrente will have to settle for starting in mid-pack tomorrow, another driver Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team, saw his hopes of a first pole in China wash away when his battery wore down while waiting for the session to re-start, glueing him to the dock with his engine failing to start and ending his afternoon.
Two other bad luck scenarios came from Team Abu Dhabi with both Thani Al Qamzi and Ahmed Al Hameli struggling to finish the second session settling for for 10th and 11th off the dock tomorrow in their first race back for 2014.
Rounding out the top-ten were rookie Erik Stark of Team Nautica having a career best seventh place while Chiappe and Torrente were eighth and ninth and will be looking quickly to move up at the start of race tomorrow afternoon.
The 20th Anniversary Grand Prix of China and the second round of the 2014 UIM F1 H2O World Championship will take place Monday afternoon at 15:00 local, 07:00 GMT and 03:00 on the East Coast of North America for 39 laps around the six-pin 2.18 kilometer 1.3 mile circuit.
The Grand Prix of China part of China's "Golden Week" celebration can be viewed via the live worldwide television broadcast feed by going the tours official website at www.f1h2o.com.
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