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In Abu Dhabi, most of his memories have been less
than exciting, with a fifth place in qualifying being his
best back in 2014 and a third place podium in 2014
being his only top-three performance in four previous
appearances.
He will need to do more this year if he has any hope of
taking the top step of the championship this calendar
year for the Emirates based Victory Team.
Sweden’s dark horse hope is Jonas Andersson of
Team Sweden. He sits 30 points back and is in need
of more than one miracle to develop in his chase for
his first world title. The driver fromFruvi has raced 11
different times in Abu Dhabi with one podium result
in that time since 2006 with a third place finish in
2007.
All eyes will be glued to oneman in particular, the two-
time defending World Champion Philippe Chiappe of
France. The CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team driver
has momentum on his side once again this year, with a
13 point lead over Torrente with just 40 points still up
for grabs after a pair of wins and four podium finishes
in five starts leading to Abu Dhabi.
The driver from Rouen had a victory from pole
position in a must win situation back in 2014 when he
went on to win his first title. In his 12 previous starts,
he also has four podiums and six top-five finishes and
knows he can’t let any of the other talented drivers
such as Torrente, Selio or Carella buy a ray of hope by
making a mistake along the corniche this time around.
Can Chiappe become only the fifth driver in the
history of the UIM F1H2O World Championship
tour to become a three-timeWorld Champion behind
Renato Molinari, Guido Cappellini, Scott Gillman or
Alex Carella?
Local drivers such as a fast charging Ahmed Al Hameli
from the Emirates Team and Thani Al Qamzi from
Team Abu Dhabi will be hoping to spoil the party.
It’s another step into the history and drama of the
historic third decade at the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi!
F1H2O
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