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F1H2O
After a strong early showing in qualifying last time out before he
dropped into a hole and turned over, ending his race chances, Italy’s
Francesco Cantando will line up in Evian looking to end his dismal
run there and hopefully in his new Blaze which the team is working
frantically to have ready for Evian, whilst his ever improving Blaze
Performance teammate Bartek Marszalek will be eager to get back on
the water looking to build on his excellent drive to fifth in Portugal, well
aware that his post-race penalty cost him his first podium, and despite
seeing blue at the end after a discussion with and ensuring an early bath
for Emirates Racing’s Mike Szymura.
French outfit Maverick F1 Racing will line up for their home Grand Prix
for the first time as a fully-fledged ‘full time’ F1H2O Team, with Cedric
Deguisne returning to the venue where he enjoyed his best ever result
with a fine fourth last year and after a solid season opener finishing in
sixth despite technical problems, with teammate Amaury Jousseaume
looking to make up for the disappointment of retiring after 27 laps on
his F1H2O debut.
Team Sweden’s Erik Stark is another with a poor record on Lac Leman
and is yet to finish a race and, despite a flat battery costing hima podium
in Portugal, the young Swede will be looking for more of the same pace
he showed last time out after qualifying in third and running in second
for all but two laps.
Teammate Jonas Andersson has two podiums on French waters, his last
in Evian in 2015 and is targeting his first points of the season. The pair
will run the same boats and have been testing back home in Sweden,
trying different propeller set ups and running the engines on the
dyno and on water with the same fuel used in Portugal to try to better
understand how the engine reacts to it.
Despite having the fastest two boats in Portugal and pole-sitter Shaun
Torrente leading the race by a country mile for 10 laps before his engine
let go, Victory Team will arrive in Evian pointless with Torrente and
especially Ahmed Al Hameli, after his spectacular crash, desperate to
get their title challenges back on track.
Torrente will also be eager to get the win that eluded him last year after
an uncharacteristic mistake cost him the lead and probably victory. The
American is always the first to hold his hand up if he makes an error and
equally shrugs off and accepts misfortune, always seeing the glass half
full. “It was just one of those things. It happens. The engine breaks,” he
said. “The positive is I can’t wait to start in France. We are really fast
and I know I have the pace to beat the number 1 boat. We will keep our
heads down and keep working.” said Torrente.
Emirates Racing will also be looking to turn their fortunes around in
Evian and post their first points of the year after engine issues side-
16
n° 2 June | 2017