Torrente secures maiden world F1 title
American driver comes in third in final race as teammate Stark triumphs in Sharjah
Team Abu Dhabi signed off with one of their most dominant showings with Shaun Torrente adding the drivers’ title to last week’s teams’ crown as the curtain came down on the 2018 UIM F1H2O World Championship yesterday.
Needing at least a fourth place at the Grand Prix of Sharjah to be crowned the drivers’ world champion for the first time, Torrente came up with a superb drive to take third place behind teammate and Sharjah race winner Erik Stark and Team Amaravati’s Jonas Andersson.
The third place saw the driver from Miami top the drivers’ standings with 89 points, just four points adrift of teammate Stark who ended runner-up with 85 points, while Thani Al Qamzi ended third overall with 74 to complete a clean sweep for Team Abu Dhabi.
Team Abu Dhabi, who had sealed their third world teams’ crown in four years at the end of last week’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, further consolidated their position at the top with 143 points leaving CTIC Shenzhen F1 China Team in second with 96 points, while Team Amaravati were third best for 2018 with 54 points.
“The dream is now real and I want to thank everyone, especially my family back home [in the US], to make this dream happen for me today. All of them never gave up on me and that helped me achieve this childhood dream today,” a tearful Torrente said.
“This has been a story book ending for me. They say the first world title is the toughest, so I think I can hope for a few more in the next few years.”