T
he tradition of the UIM F1H2O World
Championship goes back to the early
1 0’s with the first oǸcial Grand Prix
being held on the shores of Lake Como
in Italy in the early summer of 1981.
A lot has changed since then and the 2014 campaign
will mark the 34th year since its beginnings.
The level of competition has never been as keen as
the season gets set to stage the opening round at the
10th Annual Grand Prix of Qatar on Doha Bay, 1 -1
March, and just maybe be the best yet as well.
From top to bottom the driver line-up is filled with
veteran competitors that have been strategizing
during the off-season in taking away the reigning
three-time :orld Champion Alex Carella’s crown.
The young driver from Piacen]a, Italy, who has held
the honor now for the last three seasons in a row,
has surprised a lot of the so called §experts¨ who saw
talent, but not dominating talent, following his arrival
from F2 racing.
The Qatar Team, who has been one of the most active
teams to test over the winter with a pair of sessions in
-anuary and again in early March, has a driver in Alex
that has in the past three years won when he has had
too.
Alex has captured eight victories in his 2 career
starts while finishing on the podium an unbelievable
18 times in the 24 races that he’s completed so far
in his brief four year F1 career. §<es, even I am a bit
surprised with the success I’ve had early in my career
in the series,¨ stated Alex. §I came into F1 in 2010 after
finishing fourth in the F2 series the year before but did
have success in the F1000 class winning the world
title so, at the same time, reali]ing that if I joined the
right team, things could be great and they have been
with the Qatar Team.
§:orking with the QMSF Qatar Marine Sports
Federation) and Khalid Al Kuwari our Team Manager
and the always brilliant Brendan Power, who is the
Race Manager and builds the engines along with the
DAC representatives that give me a great boat every
race weekend, it’s gone almost like a dream for the
past three seasons.¨
§I don’t want to get off this ride of success. I want to
see if we can make it four straight championships and
tie my childhood hero Guido Cappellini who won four
H20 MAGAZINE - MARCH 2014 | 7
h2oracing.net
