Dubai: Team CTIC China’s French driver Philippe Chiappe won for the first time on home waters following an outright triumph at the fourth round of the UIM F1 Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou, China, on Friday.
There was plenty of reason to celebrate for Team Abu Dhabi after Thani Al Qamzi pushed the French driver all the way before finally finishing second, while Sami Selio from the Italian-based Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team, came in third.
The win in China helped Chiappe pull further away on the drivers’ leaderboard with 55 points, while Victory Team’s Shaun Torrente continued his pursuit for top honours while chasing in second place overall with 39 points.
Yousuf Al Rubayan of the F1 GC Atlantic Team continued in third overall with 36 points and Team Sweden’s Jonas Anderson is in fourth with 29 points. Al Qamzi’s second place in China earned him 15 vital points that along with his fourth place finish in Porto, Portugal keeps him with a total of 20 points in sixth place and the last two rounds remaining in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
The leading duo controlled the race from the green flag as the French driver led from start to finish and moved into a 12-point outright lead of the World Championship with a seven-second win over Al Qamzi. The Team Abu Dhabi driver was pushy throughout the race trying to gain some corner to overtake the home team’s Chiappe.
Ultimately, Selio came in to challenge Al Qamzi, and it was only a very strategic race line that helped the Team Abu Dhabi champion to steer home with vital 15 points. “This was a long race and I am happy to see my strategy working perfectly,” Al Qamzi said.
“I managed to stay ahead of Sami and shadow Philippe to the finish and keep my team in the hunt for the Teams’ Championships at least,” he added.
The fifth round of the UIM F1 World Championships will be held off the Abu Dhabi breakwaters on December 11, while the Sharjah Grand Prix will act as the traditional season-closing finale on the Khalid Lagoon on December 18.