LIUZHOU, China – Sunday, October 4, 2009 – The Grand Prix of China in the lovely city of Liuzhou which is hosting the seventh and eighth races of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O World Championship, maybe still two days away, but the competition for bragging rights when it comes to teammates has already begun.
This rivalry was not on the water this time, but in a parking lot, when Team Abu Dhabi drivers Thani Al Qamzi and Ahmad Al Hameli took to a race course on a slalom course in automobiles set up by a major sponsor for the weekend the Shanghai General Motors Wuling (SGMW) which produced a challenging event that had Al Qamzi coming away with thousands of more Chinese yuan in his pocket then he started with while leaving his teammate empty handed and frustrated when the afternoon was finally over.
The SGMW company is the focal point for the large automobile manufacturing area that encircles this city that is 2000 kilometers southwest of Shanghai in southern China. SGMW is producing over 1,500 automobiles per day with an 8% increase from a year ago which is remarkable considering the slowing global economic downturn for 2009.
The large group of F1 drivers and officials that attended the planned event participated in a myriad of events coming down to the final challenge with participants placed in two groups and were asked to drive one of the locally produced Chevrolet's around a difficult slalom course as quickly as possible, then get out of the car and help the next driver on his team buckle back into the cockpit and send him on his way doing the same thing.
The five person team which included Al Qamzi, Pierre Lundin of Sweden, Valerio Lagiannella of Italy, Jay Price of the United States and Fabian Kalsow of Germany combining with a time of 3:14.1 seconds winning the event and collecting the prize money and smiles when the day was over.
Al Hameli's team which included nine-time World Champion Guido Cappellini couldn't keep up the pace and lost by over 30 seconds when the event finally came to a close leaving Ahmad watching his teammate collect the spoils of victory at the end.
The next two rounds of the championship will mark the halfway point of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 H2O season which will be conducted on the Liu river during this Tuesday and Wednesday's Liuzhou SGMW Cup International Aquatic Speed Competition in front of expected crowds reaching close to 100,000 spectators each day.
Each Grand Prix is scheduled to begin at 1500 local time (0800 gmt) with Al Qamzi leading the championship with 65 points followed by Qatar Team driver Jay Price with 55. Al Hameli is fourth with 47 points.
Be In The Know – With F1 H2O!
