Multiple time F2 champion Erik Stark came into his own on the Khaled Lagoon as he earned his first career qualifying pole position and will lead the field of 18 drivers from 11 different nations for the final round of the 2015 UIM F1 H2O World Championship at the 16th Grand Prix of Sharjah Friday afternoon at 15:45 local time.
The 28 year-old driver from Stockholm, who goes by the nickname "Stark the Shark" who was coming off a bit of bad luck having crashed out heavily in Liuzhou, China back in early October while failing to finish a week ago at his team's home Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, rocketed to the number one position late in Q2 and was last out in the Q3 "shootout." Here, each driver has two solo laps to set fast time and take pole around the 5-pin 2.22 kilometer (1.37 mile) circuit just inside the Gulf and Stark did just that.
Last year's pole position driver and now defending two-time World Champion, Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team, had thrown down a blistering speed of 152.09 Kph pace with a 47.34 second lap looking to make it two years in a row with the number one position. However, Stark went even quicker, with a 47.22 second time for a speed of 152.48 Kph for Scott Gillman's Emirates Team organization and making history in the process.
"It was the perfect time and I felt confident we could get around this tricky circuit with a lot of momentum since we were so fast in Q2," said Erik.
"It's a real thrill not only for me to do this but for my Team Manager Scott (Gillman) and all the great crew we have at Team Emirates and now I want to finish the job by winning the race for them tomorrow."
Earning third quickest time and now having the inside track on picking up the "runner-up" trophy in the drivers championship is Florida driver Shaun Torrente, as the Victory Team debuted it newly updated boat only two weeks after finishing the newly built mold in their first attempt to build an F1 hull after years of offshore success.
"My guys worked so hard, 24 hours a day for three days to get things right after the boat had a bit of structural issue in Abu Dhabi last week," said the American.
"Now, we seemed to have made the boat only better and thanks for guys for giving me such a great package and now we can push for our first win as a team tomorrow."
Another bright light in qualifying came from Norwegian driver Marit Stromoy as she ran a strong 47.74 second lap earning her best qualifying position in 10 races. She'll be starting fourth off the dock tomorrow after setting a speed of 150.82 Kph for the EMIC Team.
Marit's run was quiet impressive with her outgunning three-time World Champion Alex Carella who was fifth quick for Team Abu Dhabi with a 47.75 lap just ahead of four time Sharjah pole sitter Sami Selio of Finland who managed a 48.08 and will start sixth with a speed of 149.75 Kph for the Mad Croc Baba Team.
Just failing to make the Q3 session was three time winner Thani Al Qamzi of Team Abu Dhabi in seventh, with Portugal driver Duarte Benavente eighth for F1 Atlantic while Emirates Team driver Ahmed Al Hameli was ninth.
The final driver in the top ten was young "Leo" Xiong of China driving the second CTIC China Team machine in his second best qualifying effort of 2015.
The 16th Grand Prix of Sharjah will take place on the Khaled Lagoon at 15:45 local, (11:45 UTC) and 06:45 EST on the East Coast of North America for the final round of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship.
The race can be followed live via the tours website at www.f1h2o.com. It can also be seen "live" by viewing the worldwide broadcast television feed beginning at 15:45 local on the website as well.
Can the second year driver Erik Stark win his first Grand Prix for the Emirates organization and can Shaun Torrente do just enough to take runner-up in the drivers championship and capture the silver medal? Stay tuned.
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