Team Abu Dhabi promise all-out assault in Sharjah
Torrente, Al Qamzi and Stark in three-way battle for F1 drivers’ crown in season-finale
Team Abu Dhabi has promised to go on an all-out assault to wrap up the most fruitful season heading into this weekend’s Grand Prix of Sharjah — the seventh and final round on the 2018 UIM F1H2O World Championship on the Khalid Lagoon.
For the first time, two championship titles will be decided in Sharjah during the week with the final round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship being held alongside the final round of the UIM-ABP Aquabike Class Pro Circuit World Championship. Known jointly as the Sharjah World Championship Week, the two competitions to be held at the Khalid Lagoon along the Buhairah Corniche from December 11-15 were announced by Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), Nicolo di San Germano, Promoter, UIM ■ F1 Powerboat and Aquabike World Championship and several of the participants.
Thani Al Qamzi threw open the race for the drivers’ crown with an amazing start-to-finish push that saw the 40-year-old become the first ever Arab to win the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi last weekend. That win saw the Emirati driver climb back into second overall with 74 points, just three shy of leader and teammate Shaun Torrente, while the third Team Abu Dhabi driver Erik Stark slipped into third with 65 points.
Al Qamzi’s outright win and Torrente’s sixth place was enough for Team Abu Dhabi to snatch a third teams’ title in four years as they stay unbeatable at the top with 131 points and one last race to go in Sharjah this week. For 10-time world champion Guido Cappellini — who took over Team Abu Dhabi in 2015 — this is the third success following earlier crowns in 2015 and 2017.
But the teams’ championship title is not going to stop either of the three from competing for the drivers’ honours.