home Grand Prix in China and again in Qatar to round out
the season third overall behind the 2012 Champion Nicklas
Friberg.
Bad weather in Kyiv last July may have cut the racing
programme in half, but the solitary race saw the emergence
of a talented future star in the guise of 18 year-old Latvian,
Nikita /ijcs, who lapped the entire field including second-
placed Szymura in a masterful display of driving to win for
Mad Croc Racing.
The youngster again starts for Mad-Croc and, if unlike in
2013 he completes a full race programme, will be a likely title
contender, his four Grand Prix starts last season bringing
three race wins, a second and a fourth, two podium seconds
and a third in spite of one or two technical hiccups to run
out the season in fourth.
Another ‘uber uber’ youngster – the youngest of his peers
at just 17 – and another destined for success is Sweden’s
Morgen Fernplast who teams-up for a second stint with the
Nautica outfit. +e stepped up to challenge in /iu]hou, China
for his only outing in 2013 and made a big impact in race 1
easily outpacing the Championship leader Szymura to win
on his debut at just 16 years old. Although Szymura turned
the tables in race 2 to take his first and overall event win,
Fernplast grabbed the second spot on the podium.
At 27 Mohamad Al Obaidly is the elder statesman of the
ïeet and takes over sole driving duties for Team Qatar.
He was thrust into the limelight for the second half of
last season as well as competing, quite spectacularly on
occasion, in Nations Cup and starts the year with far more
experience.
Motorglass F1 Team’s Jan Andre Landsnes from Norway will
be hoping for a more reliable set of tools to help him out in
2014 after being beset with technical issues managing only
two top five finishes last year, with 1 year-old Rashed Al
Romeithi starting the season for Team Abu Dhabi.
H20 MAGAZINE - MARCH 2014 | 21
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