CLASS 1
If they start in 2014, the Australian duo of Darren Nicholson and
Ross Willaton will surely be up at the front challenging for race wins,
and if they had completed a full season together and not missed
the Italian GP, the overall Championship standings may well have
looked somewhat different.
They gave a good account of themselves in their first Class 1 outing
together with fourth and second in the season opener in China. In
Turkey they became the first Aussies to take the chequered flag
and climb the top step of the podium since 2002 and momentarily
led the points table, and followed that up with third in race 2. After
missing Italy Nicholson was seconded to run with the returning
Nadir Bin Hendi and grabbed his second win of the year, but ended
the year with a DNF and in fourth spot in the points tally.
A must have entry and a must see duo for 2014 are Italy’s Alfredo
Amato and Brit Miles Jennings who, at times, produced some
thrilling performances and became the unlikeliest of European
Champions.
Their Class 1 debut and first race of the year was a washout with
a zero points haul, but they found some pace in Turkey to take
their first podium and backed it with a fourth place. In Italy they
must have written the script, grabbing fourth in race 1 and in race 2
watched as one-by-one three race leaders’ dropped off the radar,
the cool Italian and the flamboyant Brit hitting the front on the
last lap to take the chequered flag, the win and lift the European
Championship.
FA.RO ACCIAI was by far the most consistent and the only outfit in
2013 to pick up points in every race, what they lacked to put them
higher up the order was race pace. Gian Maria Gabbiani and Luca
Nicolini extended their points run to ten races before a driver switch
in Abu Dhabi, with Robert Lo Piano joining Nicolini to extend the
run further, ending the year with five top-five finishes and a best
fourth. The team is still to confirm their starting line-up for 2014.
Team Abu Dhabi rounded off a frustrating last season with two
podiums for Class 1 rookie Faleh Al Mansoori and Rashed Al Tayer
at their home Grand Prix, but is looking to the future and will run
a new Randy Scism built and designed MTI hull and retaining the
same driver pairing for 2014.
In China their drivers were split with Tomaso Polli guiding Faleh
Al Mansoori to a fifth and a fourth on his debut. In Turkey Al Tayer
was back and on the throttles for the first time, but a DQ cost them
fourth and in race 2 they crashed out early. Italy was a season low
managing just one lap, but they closed out their year with a double
podium finish.
By the time Giampaolo Montavoci arrived in Turkey he had already
dialled in two different drivers, qualifying in China with Al Mansoori
but racing with Salim Al Adidi, and was about to get a third, Tarek
Oktem, who partnered him for the remainder of the season.
Poliform picked up a sixth place in China and renamed Poliform-
Polimersan finished fourth in race 1 in Turkey. Oktem and
Montavoci’s season-high came in Italy finishing second in race 2
before ending on a low, bowing out with two DNF’s.
The opening race of 2014 in Ibiza will see ten-time F1H2O World
Champion Guido Cappellini back in the boat which is renamed
Newstar – Poliform in partnership with Russian entrepreneur
Andrey Kitashev.
34 | H20 MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2014
h2oracing.net
