4 / 36
In one of the busiest and most
unpredictable pre-seasons in terms
of line ups, a late burst of multiple
driver reshuffles has added extra
spice to the 2017 UIM F1H2O World
Championship.
As three-time world champion Philippe
Chiappe sets out on the defence of
his title, the France-based CTIC F1
Shenzhen China Team confirms an
all-French line up, with Peter Morin
brought in to take over from Xiong
Ziwei, who remains as a reserve driver.
An unseen and unexpected change
brings two big names together under
one umbrella with Ahmed Al Hameli
and Shaun Torrente teaming-up in the
rebranded Scott Gillman Victory Team
and a further rebranding realignment
sees EMIC Racing morph into Emirates
Racing, the driver line up of Marit
Stromoy and Mike Szymura remains.
Despite a move to a UAE team
announcedearlierintheyear,Australia’s
Grant Trask has surfaced in Portugal to
join Duarte Benavente’s F1 Atlantic
outfit and, after much speculation,
Jonas Andersson has confirmed that
fellow Swede Erik Stark will join him at
Team Sweden.
MAJOR RESHUFFLES IN F1H2O DRIVER LINE
UPS ADDS SPICE TO SEASON AHEAD
CHINA BUND EIPS HIGH PERFORMANCE
ELECTRIC ENGINE MAKING WAVES IN
WORLD POWERBOAT RACING
A landmark development in world
powerboat racing will see the CHINA
BUND Electric Integrated Propulsion
System [EIPS] high performance marine
racing engine be the engine of choice for
the 2018 UIM-H2O Nations Cup World
Series.
Mr Xin Chongjie, president of the highly
successful Chinese conglomerateBUND
Holding Group and Mr Dario Calzavara,
managing director of the renowned
Italian specialised engineering company
Terra Modena Mechatronic, revealed
details of this significant engineering
achievement at a press conference
in Monaco in March, hosted by Dr.
Raffaele Chiulli, president of the Union
Internationale Motonautique (UIM), the
world governing body for powerboating.
The project to develop and produce the
CHINA BUND EIPS has taken two years
of research and development at Terra
Modena
Mechatronic’s
engineering
facility in Reggio Emilia in northeast Italy
and is fully endorsed by the president
of the UIM and has received the full
support of the president of H2O Racing,
Nicolo di San Germano.
4
n° 1April | 2017