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eam Abu Dhabi laid
down an impressive
marker and sent a
clear message to
their rivals at the
s e a s o n - o p e n e r
in Portimao with
Shaun
Torrente
delivering in full
on his maiden outing with the 2017 Team
World Champions at the UIM F1H2O Grand
Prix of Portugal, his teammate Thani Al
Qemzi adding to the celebrations coming
home in second place to complete an Abu
Dhabi one-two.
The tension was palpable as the drivers sat
patiently on the dock waiting to kick start
the championships’ 35th season; the skies
darkened momentarily, thunder cracked
overhead, then lights out and the 2018
season was underway as 19 boats launched
off the dock to take on the 1.937km Arade
River circuit.
Within less than a lap the yellow flag was
out two boats sat motionless, an engine
fire which was quickly doused adding to
the drama. On lap five the green flag was
given, Torrente held his nerve controlled
the restart and went off in search of the
chequered flag and duly found it with 2.09s
to spare.
There was little movement behind the race
leader over the 48 laps, Victory’s Ahmed Al
Hameli dropping two spots to sixth at the
restart, CTIC teammates Philippe Chiappe
and Peter Morin gaining ground, Chiappe
then going on to pass a struggling Alex
Carella on lap 34 to secure the final slot on
the podium.
For Team Abu Dhabi it was the perfect start
to the season. They arrived in Portugal with
an air of confidence that all their pre-season
testing and preparation would pay off, and
how. Both Torrente and Thani Al Qemzi had
two new gleaming ‘next generation’ DACs
to parade, Rashed Al Qemzi, the youngest
of the trio, stepping into the hull that was
steered to the 2017 drivers’ world title.
If Torrente at any time pondered who
along the pit lane would be his most likely
challenger over the weekend, he didn’t
have to look too far; he was quickest in first
practice, Thani Al Qemzi not far off him in
fourth. In BRM Qualifying Torrente was
second best to his teammate in Q1 and Q2
but saved his best till last to secure pole
position in the six boat shoot-out, but by
just 0.07s from that man Al Qemzi.
And in the race it was again Al Qemzi who
pushed Torrente all the way, closing a five
second gap to just two at the chequered
flag. Going into the event Torrente said
‘how I run in Portugal will do the talking’
which said it all. “I am so proud of the team.
I love everything about the boat. It’s just
tremendous, a perfect weekend. I have been
waiting for this for quite a while,” he said.
“We were so prepared for this. We knew
which engine we were going to run. We put
F1H2O
The tensionwas palpable as the drivers
sat patiently on the dockwaiting to kick
start the championships’ 35th season
T
n° 2 JUNE | 2018
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