ABU DHABI - Tuesday, 16 July - Talented French pilot Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team went "outside the box" of his normal UIM F1 H2O World Championship driver duties by winning the 2013 UIM World Endurance Championship at the "Necko Endurance" event in Augustow, Poland last weekend.
The driver from Rouen, who finished runner-up in last years F1 H2O World Drivers Championship, put together 236 laps in on the 8-turn race circuit on Necko Lake in center city Augustow piloting his craft for eight hours sharing the driving duties with teammates Peter and Nelson Morin finishing second at days end. This result, combined with their brilliant victory in Rouen back in May, totaled enough points to earn Philippe the UIM S3 Endurance Title for 2013.
"This is a great event for me to hone my skills as I now get ready for next weeks Grand Prix of Ukraine on the 26th thru the 28th of this month," said the 10 year F1 veteran.
"Kyiv has a special meaning for me since last year I very proudly won the Sunday afternoon "President Cup" match race against the worlds best drivers. This time around I am hoping to not only win the Grand Prix on Saturday but repeat my historic win at "drag racing" again on Sunday."
The 49 year-old veteran, who has 82 career starts, is still searching for that illusive first Grand Prix victory. He has 11 career top-three podium finishes and 24 top-five results and has combined for 318 career points.
At the race circuit in the city of Vyshgorod on the Kiev Sea on the outskirts of the capital city of Kyiv, Chiappe in the last two season's has finished a disappointing ninth in 2011 and just missed the podium with a fourth place a year ago after qualifying fifth.
"I really like the circuit on the Kiev Sea but it can be challenging," said Chiappe. "The waters are tricky especially from the far open end and you have to hope the wind doesn't get to strong. Last year it took us two days to finish the race because of the high winds and rain and hopefully that won't be a factor this time around.
The people are great and we have a wonderful and enjoyable time coming to Kyiv. You always get that extra "kick of adrenaline" when you see the tremendous crowds that turn up every year for the event weekend."
Finnish two-time World Champion Sami Selio of the Mad Croc Team leads the championship after his win in Brazil last month just ahead of the pair of Qatar Team drivers in American Shaun Torrente and defending World Champ Alex Carella of Italy.
Drivers from 15 nations are expected during this 30th Anniversary racing season of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship tour with the 3rd Annual Grand Prix of Ukraine marking the 249th Grand Prix in the series four decade history.
You can follow all the action of the Grand Prix of Ukraine by going to the tours official website at www.f1h2o.com to catch live via the world television feed Qualifying on Friday the 26th and the Grand Prix race both scheduled at 18:00 local, 15:00 GMT and 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time on the East Coast of North America.
Be In The Know - With F1 H2O!
