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Team Abu Dhabi's Ahmed Al Hameli will be hoping history repeats itself in the final round of the 2011 UIM F1 H20 World Championship starting Thursday.
Al Hameli qualified second for last year's Grand Prix of Sharjah and went on to end his season on a winning note.
"It would be nice to end the year with another win in Sharjah," Al-Hameli said.
Al Hameli and his teammate, Thani Al Qamzi, will both be aiming to top the podium on Friday afternoon as they chase third place in the drivers' championship behind the Qatar Team drivers Alex Carella and Jay Price.
Neither of the Emirati drivers can now win the title but Al Hameli trails Al Qamzi by just 10 points in the standings, so it is all to play for on the demanding course on Khaled Lagoon, where 20 points are at stake for the winner, 15 for second and 12 for third.
The Qatar pair of Carella and Price will play out a winner-takes-all clash in the drivers' championship, with the Doha-based team already assured of the world title.
Carella (85 points) leads Price by five points after his victory in last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and needs only to finish ahead of his teammate to win the title for the first time.
Price, the 2008 world champion, who headed the standings by three points before finishing third in Abu Dhabi, needs to beat Carella by at least five points.
The teams will take to the water from 9.15am on Thursday for the first of the weekend's two practice sessions.
This will be followed by the three-stage qualifying competition, starting at 3.50pm.
A second practice session on Friday morning will precede the Grand Prix of Sharjah at 4pm.
* Compiled by The National staff with agency
UAE TV: Qualifying, 3.45pm, OSN Sports 3