ABU DHABI - July 23, 2015 - Never to be outworked, the Dubai based Victory Team with their driver Shaun Torrente, took time out last weekend for a two day test in Italy as they continue to fine tune their UIM F1World Championship BABA designed raceboat preparing for the upcoming 14th Grand Prix of Portugal on the 1st and 2nd of August in the lovely city of Porto on the countries Northwest coast.
World Driver Championship points leader Torrente, flew in from Florida in the U.S.A. to take part in the exhaustive round of tests, supported by, Team Manager Ragesh Elayadeth, Executive Director Arif Al Zaffain along with Nadir Bin Hendi, Alex Canzi, Steban Baloo just to name a few that we on hand.
The tests, were conducted at San Nazzaro last Saturday and Sunday, with personnel arriving from the Emirates, the United States and other parts of Italy participating.
"It was a great facility for testing," said Shaun. "The Cremona family that live there, do an unbelievable job of preparing the race course and supporting us with divers and facilities. On top of that "Mamma" Cremona cooks us amazing authentic Italian lunches and together, this support, allows us to focus on the job of finding speed and pace without any distractions."
The 36 year-old native of Miami went on to say; "We changed the bottom of the boat four different times to help improve acceleration and handling, and in the end, the testing was worthwhile and 'just what the doctor ordered' as we made some great progress with this boat from where we were in France a month ago."
Torrente, who has finished second and third in the championship the last two years, was looking to take a podium racing for first time with the Victory Team in France. He was sitting in second place late in the event, until a huge piece of epoxy got stuck in the feed line for the fuel tank thus slowing him down dropping them to fourth on Lac Leman at days end.
Shaun, who after two rounds leads the championship table with 29 points, highlighted by his victory at the Grand Prix of Qatar in March, is just five clear of both Swedish driver Jonas Andersson of Team Sweden and Kuwaiti pilot Youssef Al-Rubayan of the Portuguese based F1 GC Atlantic Team who is coming off his first career victory last month in Evian, France.
"We are excited about coming to Porto and the new circuit," said the two-time North American Champion. "The whole Victory organization personnel are meshing well together and are dedicated to moving the program along. The next step, is continuing to get to know each other better and so far, everyone has been great and truly professional to work with."
The third round of the championship, takes place on the Douro River for the first time, around the very technical seven turn 2.158 kilometer race circuit, in front of what is expected to be large enthusiastic crowds lining the river for the weekend festival which will feature drivers from 12 different countries in the battle for a world title.
You can stay informed with all the comings and goings of the series, by following all the racing news, by going to their official website of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship at www.f1h2o.com.
In turn, you'll also be able to watch both the qualifying on Saturday and the Grand Prix race on Sunday via the worldwide television broadcast feed by again, going to the UIM F1 H2O World Championship's official website as well at www.f1h2o.com.
Be In The Know - With F1 H2O!
