ABU DHABI –Tuesday, November 8, 2011 – Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Shaun Torrente of Miami, Florida returns to the UIM F1H2O World Championship series at the 20th Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi on the eighth and ninth of December along the Corniche which expects tens of thousands of fans to take in the two day festival of speed on water.
Shaun returns to the series after beginning this season driving for Team Sweden. Torrente missed out on the Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou in October and now arrives as the third member with the Qatar Team. The racing group leads in the Teams Point Championship table with 131 points courtesy of three victories in the first five races of 2011 campaign.
The 33 year-old driver, who is a two-time North American F1 title holder and a SST-120 champion three times over, is currently tied for 10th place in the UIM F1H2O World Championship standings with nine points on the strength of his fourth place finish at the opening race of the year in Doha, Qatar.
After the opening round, a mix of two straight crashes followed by a mechanical problem and an early DNF in Kiev has clouded his progress in this, his first full season in international F1 competition.
“I'm really excited about joining the Qatar Team,” stated Shaun. “This multi-international group of professionals including their great pair of drivers in Jay Price and Alex Carella will be a great group to work with and I'm looking forward to helping the team and hopefully myself to more great success in the all-important final rounds of the championship in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah a week later.”
Shaun, who isn't shy about his talents, had a great shot at his first ever Grand Prix win in only his second event in Portimao in Portugal but he and talented Norwegian woman driver Marit Stromoy got together on a restart early in the Grand Prix and made for one of the most memorable moments of the season with both crashing out in spectacular fashion in their battle for the lead of the race and ending their dreams of their first Grand Prix victory.
“I look back on that crash and I wish I had it all back again,” said Shaun. “The most important aspect of this opening season is the faith that my sponsors Peters & May have in me and knowing we have both qualified well and raced strongly and now are looking for a podium and “Rookie-of-the-Year” honors to wrap up the season.”
Shaun has spent the last month preparing his Californian built GRAN PRIX boat, the same in which he piloted to nine victories in 26 starts in the last three years. It was shipped recently from Ontario in Canada and is expected to arrive shortly in Abu Dhabi.
The Qatar Team is sitting atop the Team Points standings followed closely by Team Abu Dhabi which is making their mark in the last half of the season having won the last two races in Kiev and Liuzhou. Sitting with 99 points the team, led by four-time World Champion Scott Gillman still has an outside chance of claiming the title in their native city of Sharjah on the 16th of December.
Team Qatar's drivers Price and Carella are one-two in the championship with Jay leading by just three points sitting atop the table with 67 points to Alex's 64.
Still with a shot is Team Abu Dhabi's Thani Al Qamzi who is coming off his first race win in almost two years after winning in China five weeks ago. Thani sits 12 points back and will need some help but with 20 points for victory, 15 for second and 12 for third, any mistake by either Price or Carella can open the door quickly for Al Qamzi's first title.
All the pressure will now sit squarely on Qatar Team Manager Khalid Al Kuwari and his colleague Brendan Power to see if they can give the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) their first World Championship since Jay earned it back in the 2008 season. For Shaun Torrente, maybe he's the magic elixir this team needs to get them over the hump and win another Team title as well. We see how it all begins to play out in a month’s time.
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