DOHA, Qatar - 23 November, 2013 - Qatar Team driver Shaun Torrente capped a wild and exciting afternoon of racing on Doha Bay winning for the first time in fourteen career race starts to win in front of tens of thousands of jubilant race fans in downtown Doha at the 10th Grand Prix of Qatar.
For most of the 38 lap event, marking the fourth round of the 2013 UIM F1 H2O World Championship for powerboating, Qatar teammate Alex Carella led the race from the start off pole position only to have his engine expire with just two laps remaining handing the victory to the Miami, Florida driver. Torrente, up until that time was flying in close formation with Carella the whole race just seconds behind.
"I am so excited about the win," said the American. "We've been working so hard, my crew and I, for the past two years and we've done everything but have good luck. Now, the luck has come to us and we are elated to win in front of my teams hometown fans and at the same time move into first place in the championship."
The two-time North American Champion had a dramatic end to his day coming off the final corner on the 35th lap he and fellow Floridian driver Terry Rinker of Team Azerbaijan came together from different angles and meeting and touching which sent Rinker into a double barrel roll crash ending his day while Torrente was lucky enough to keep on racing despite damage to his left sponson for the final few yellow flag laps.
Most of the afternoon, Swedish driver Jonas Andersson, teammate to Rinker, was caught up in a memorizing battle with French pilot Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team as the two were slicing and dicing through traffic lap after lap fighting for the third and final podium position behind the Qatar Team duo. The Frenchman would later get disqualified for technical reasons after the event.
At the end, Jonas Andersson came home taking second place and reaching the podium for just the second time in Doha in his nine career along the waterfront.
Youssef Al Rubayan of Kuwait, driving for F1 GC Atlantic, reached the podium for the first time in his career came home a fine third in only his 12th career start. Meanwhile, his teammate Duarte Benavente of Portugal, ran a great race starting back in the 17th position and charging up to fourth at days end.
Norway's Marit Stromoy climbed from 18th on the grid to finish a well earned and career tying best fifth place for the Team Nautica driver, while second year pro Filip Roms also had a career best sixth after starting sixteenth for the Mad Croc Team.
Torrente's teammate Carella, despite failing to finish, picked up seventh after lapping most of the field of drivers for four important championship points at days end.
Bartek Marszalek of Singha Racing was eighth while Rinaldo Osculati of Switzerland earned his first points of the year finishing ninth.
American Terry Rinker despite crashing out finished in the tenth position but with no points.
Finnish star Sami Selio, who was tied with Carella for the lead in the drivers title coming into Doha, crashed out at the start with veteran Francesco Cantando. The incident hurts Selio's chances to earn his first title since 2010, but with 40 points still up for grabs with races in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the next three weeks he still has a shot at earning another championship.
The 2013 UIM F1 H2O World Championship moves on to the fifth round of championship in Abu Dhabi next week with qualifying on the 28th and the Grand Prix on the 29th of November. Torrente with his victory leads the championship with 55 points, ahead of his teammate Carella with 48 and Selio with 44.
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