Friday, December 11^th, 2009

CAPPELLINI SEALS WORLD TITLE IN SHARJAH AS FINAL RACE VICTORY FALLS TO SAMI SELIO

·        First corner accident wrecks Qatar Team’s title dreams

·        Qatar’s Malcolm Goodman finishes eighth in Dragon boat

·        Finland’s Selio pips Qatar’s Price to UIM F1 Pole Position title

SHARJAH (UAE): A first corner accident and resultant boat and engine damage cost the Qatar Team and Jay Price their chance to retain their UIM F1 World Championship title in a dramatic 16^th round of the series on Khalid Lagoon, Sharjah, on Friday afternoon.

Finland’s Sami Selio led from start to finish to secure victory and third position in the UIM F1 Drivers’ Championship, but third place was sufficient for Italy’s Guido Cappellini to take his 10^th world title and his 102^nd podium finish. Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qamzi finished second overall and sealed a similar position in the drivers’ standings. Malcolm Goodman ended his sixth GP race with the Qatar Team in eighth position and collected three championship points to finish 17^th overall.

“I got a slow start off the dock and then saw Al-Hameli blow over,” said a disappointed Price. “Then I went wide and over. They brought me back to the dock to check everything and then the engine loaded up with water. It’s obviously a big disappointment and the end of one big roller-coaster of a season for us. The plan was to beat Sami off the pontoon at the start. I knew that I had to go for the win.”

The Qatar Team runs under the auspices of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and the management of Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, Head of Formula Racing at the QMSF.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” said Al-Kuwari. “We have shown that we are back but, even if Jay had won the race today, it would not have been enough to take the world title. We will just have to focus on 2010 and try and put it right next season.”

The race

On the eve of his birthday, Price began the race slotted in between Selio and Al-Hameli and knew that he had to win the race and hope that Cappellini finished no higher than seventh. It was a tall order and a good start was crucial. It was cool and damp in Khalid Lagoon, as Thursday’s accident damage kept Phillipe Chiappe and Fabio Comparato out of the race.

Price made a slow start and allowed Selio to take the line into the first corner, but the yellow flag was raised immediately when Al-Hameli spectacularly flipped out of the race and Price slid wide, rolled and damaged the air bag system and rear cowling on his DAC. The air bag had not activated and the defending World Champion managed to stay in second position, minus his rear engine cowling, when the race restarted in slightly windier conditions after five laps.

A quick visit to the pontoon seconds before the green flag cost Price his position and he restarted down in sixth. He climbed back to fifth before Marco Gambi’s stoppage on the course forced a second yellow flag situation. But the lack of a rear cowling had caused terminal engine problems and forced Price out of the race before the second restart.

Selio began to pull away and head into the distance, but Cappellini and Al-Qamzi became involved in a heated tussle for second position. The Italian led by just over one second after 12 laps, as Goodman climbed to seventh overall for the Qatar Team, the Briton benefiting from a new engine in his Dragon boat for the final race of the year. Al-Qamzi eventually passed Cappellini into second position and Goodman passed Fabian Kalsow into sixth overall.

The top three were processional through the middle section of the race, as Cappellini eased his pace to take the strain off his engine and Selio and Al-Qamzi were untroubled in first and second positions. Goodman’s potential top six finish ended on lap 35 but he was classified in eighth position at the finish.

The top three held station through the final two laps, with Selio taking outright victory and third in the Drivers’ Championship, Al-Qamzi secured second position and a jubilant Cappellini finished third to secure the world title for a record 10^th time

Timed trials and free practice

Price missed out on the UIM F1 Pole Position title by the narrowest of margins. He trailed Selio by two points heading into the crucial final session of the season and had to beat the Finn to win the title. But it was not to be and Selio set an impressive lap of 49.18s during his 10 laps on the course and that was sufficient to seal the crown, take Pole Position for round 16 and beat Price’s best lap of 49.41s, which netted the Qatar Team driver second position.

Malcolm Goodman had sat out the morning’s practice session and the Briton also sat out the timed trials, where only 14 of the 18 boats qualified for a lap time and Al-Hameli and Cappellini shadowed Price in third and fourth positions.

Qatar’s defending World Champion had raised team hopes in the morning’s free practice session by setting the fastest lap of 49.88s, with Selio and Al-Qamzi some way off his pace. Only 13 of the boats took to the water for the session after damage sustained in Thursday’s race prevented several from entering.

2009 Grand Prix of Sharjah  – race 2 results (Friday)

2009 UIM F1 World Championship – positions after 16 of 16 races:

2009 UIM F1 Pole Position Championship – final positions after round 16:

Ends