KIEV, Ukraine – Sunday, July 31, 2011 – Team Abu Dhabi driver Ahmed Al Hameli continued his dominance in Kiev by coming out and winning the special “Match Race” event today defeating French driver Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team in two straight heat races to take the UIM F1 H2O World Championship “Presidential Cup” Match Race event in front of thousands of excited fans along the edge of Kiev Sea.
The two hour drag race saw drivers going head to head in a double elimination format that featured 16 different heats to determine the fastest driver on water, saw the young Abu Dhabi driver defeat first Stanislav Kourtsenovsky of Russia, Jonas Andersson of Sweden, Alex Carella of Italy before shutting down Chiappe in the final.
“Our luck continued today and we have been in a groove this past weekend that is almost legendary,” said Ahmed. “Glory lasts forever and we earned it again today. We hope we can carry this dominance on to China.”
The Frenchman, Chiappe, who finished runner-up back in 2004 in Singapore showed good style again today winning against rookie Bartek Marsalek of Poland, defending World Champion Sami Selio of Finland and Thani Al Qamzi before losing to his teammate Al Hameli.
“We did our best to be on the top step today and I appreciate what my crew did to get the boat ready and our propeller was the right choice,” said Philippe. “Now we hope we get revenge before the year is out if we do another event.”
Others who got out of the first round were Shaun Torrente of Team Sweden and Durate Benavente of Portugal. World Points leader Jay Price of the Qatar Team was disqualified for a jump start that ended his day.
The field of drivers from 12 different nations now get ready for the Fifth Round of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship as they head to the Far East for the Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou on the first and second of October. Jay Price continues to lead with 67 points while his teammate Alex Carella sits second with 57 for the Qatar Team that leads the Team Championship by 60 points.
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