Alex Carella said his growing partnership with Thani Al Qamzi can lead Team Abu Dhabi to victory in Friday’s Grand Prix of Sharjah and pave the way for more glory in next year’s UIM F1 H2O World Championship.
Carella and Al Qamzi go into the final round of the season leading the team title chase with Carella hoping a victory on the Khaled Lagoon course will lock-up the runners-up spot in the drivers’ championship.
The pair qualified fifth and seventh respectively for Friday’s race and hold a two-point lead over champion Philippe Chiappe’s CTIC China Team in the team standings.
The Italian three-time world champion was exhausted by last weekend’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi success after his boat misfired at the start. He has also had to shrug off the effects of flu.
“I’m better today and will be OK,” he said. “It was our goal for both of us to finish on the podium last weekend, and with Thani coming through to third we both want to be on the podium again.”
Carella, who was denied a second-round victory in France by a post-race disqualification, said that “apart from that mistake we’re happy with the way things have gone. I think Thani and I can do great things next season.”
Frenchman Chiappe is already installed as champion for the second year in a row. Carella is tied on 39 points with the Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente in joint-second place, with several drivers, including Al Qamzi, among those who could still snatch the runners-up spot.
Regardless of the final result, this season will go down as the most successful to date for Team Abu Dhabi.
Gary Ballough and John Tomlinson landed the team’s first UIM Class 1 world championship title last month.
Three weeks later, teammates Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori finished runners-up in their first season in the UIM XCAT World Series.
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