Dubai: No action was possible on Saturday as rains and winds held centre-stage at Lac Leman, the venue for the second round of the 2017 UIM F1H2O World Championship.
With winds touching 20kph, none of the 20 boats representing nine teams from around the world could go out on the waters for fear of unforeseen casualties. The official website of the competition put out an initial update earlier in the day stating that official practice was not possible in the morning due to prevailing weather conditions.
As a result of the weather, none of the boats ventured out on the water. “This morning’s official practice has been delayed due to the continuing unpredictable weather and conditions on Lac Leman,” a terse statement from the organisers said.
The organisers monitored the situation and when weather conditions did not change till later in the evening, it was officially announced that the 21st Grand Prix of France would be run on Sunday, provided the weather conditions were better.
The UIM race officials lauded local organisers from the idyllic Spa Resort of Evian-Les-Bains on the southern shore of Lac Leman, Europe’s highest alpine lake, on the arrangements made to ensure safety of teams and spectators. Later in the evening, the officials released a fresh schedule for Sunday, however, depending on existing weather conditions.
“There is nothing much we can do about the weather,” Victory Team driver Shaun Torrente, rued.
“It is pretty frustrating to just sit indoors and do absolutely nothing so far the entire weekend. Hopefully, we will have the sun out tomorrow [Sunday] and we can get on with some racing,” the American driver added.
However, weather forecast for Evian and surrounding regions is predicted to be stay the same with showers and winds between 20 and 22kph. But, from Monday there will be an improvement with winds dropping and the sun coming out.
Three-time defending world champion Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC F1 Shenzhen Team holds a distinct advantage with 20 points against his name after having won the season opener held in Algarve, Portugal in the second half of April. Close on his heels is Mad Croc Baba Racing Team’s Finnish driver Sami Selio with 15 points, while F1 Atlantic’s Portuguese driver Duarte Benavente is in third with 12 leaving Team Abu Dhabi’s former three-time world champion Alex Carella in fourth with nine points.
However, Torrente — who led one-fifth of the 50-lap race — is seen as one of the top challengers to the defending world champion. “Nothing changes for me and my teammate Ahmad [Al Hameli]. This change in schedule only gives us an extra motivation to stay focused and get maximum points in France after our disappointment in Portugal. The weather has been a concern, but we will see what best we can do under these given circumstances,” Torrente said.
As per the amended schedule for Sunday, there will be a 45-minute official practice session at 10am [12 noon UAE] followed by a one-hour qualifying from 11am [1pm UAE]. The Grand Prix of France — the second round on the 2017 UIM F1H2O World Championship — will be run from 4.10pm [6.10pm UAE].
