ABU DHABI // Ahmed Al Hameli, one of the leading Emirati powerboat drivers, almost went ”broke” in putting together a new team to compete in this season’s F1 H20 UIM World Championship.
After more than a decade as a Team Abu Dhabi driver, Al Hameli set up Emirates Racing Team this season with many of the same faces he had worked with at Team Abu Dhabi, including team manager Scott Gillman.
“I’m feeling very happy and very excited,” Al Hameli said yesterday as his team unveiled a new sponsor that will ease the financial worries.
“I was almost broke before this race, as I built my new team by myself. It’s a championship, around the world, and it takes money to race in.
“I am not there (to make up numbers), I am there to win races and make a big name for my team.”
The announcement was the culmination of a series of pre-season changes that saw Al Hameli, Gillman and others replaced at Team Abu Dhabi.
In February, Team Abu Dhabi recruited Italian legend Guido Cappellini to replace Gillman (the pair were great rivals in their racing days).
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At the time, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, chairman of the board of directors of Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club, said the appointment was in the best interests of the team.
“Abu Dhabi has a strong presence, and for that we have appointed someone with Guido’s profile and expertise to train our drivers at the top level of the sport,” Sheikh Sultan said.
“I am sure that Guido’s presence in the team will also enable us to attract top names to the team in the near future.”
That it did – the arrival of Cappellini enticed Italian Alex Carella, a three-time world champion, to join Team Abu Dhabi, which edged out Al Hameli.
Al Hameli said he and Gillman then made the decision to set out on their own after finding their chances limited at Team Abu Dhabi because of the new arrivals.
So far the team has taken part in the season-opener in Qatar in March, where Al Hameli was forced to retire after another boat crashed into him.
Since then, the team has been able to reflect on the whirlwind, four-month birth of a new team.
“It’s not easy to put together a team so quickly,” Gillman said. “Along with Ahmed and others, and a lot of people I know in Europe, they helped us put it together very quickly. We didn’t have a boat, but a friend gave us one, we got the equipment and made it to the first race.”
They have since recruited the rising Swedish star Erik Stark, which has emboldened Gillman as far as the team’s prospects for the rest of the season are concerned.
“We’re a very strong contender with Ahmed and Erik,” he said. “For me, it’s the strongest two-driver combination out there. We hope we can get on the podium. We still have a chance at the championship.”
The next race in the series is in France on June 28.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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