Sharjah: The season-ending race will once again witness a last-ditch effort for the world crown as four of the best drivers on the powerboating scene line up for the 15th Sharjah Grand Prix — the final event of the UIM F1 H2O World Powerboat Championship — at the Khalid Lagoon from December 11-13.
As the UIM F1 Powerboat World Championship completes three decades, Sami Selio, Shaun Torrente, Alex Carella and Philippe Chiappe will all be hoping to strike their best form in the sixth and final round of the championship here, with the world title there for the taking.
Two of the top contenders — Torrente and Chiappe — are eyeing their maiden world title, while the other two — Selio and Carella — are in line to join a select band of three-time world champions that includes the likes of Guido Cappellini, Scott Gillman and Renato Molinari.
The top four drivers have been so dominant this season that just four points separate the first three, with Selio in the lead with 64 points, followed by Torrente with 62 points, Carella with 60 points, and Chiappe on 54 points.
With these four constantly challenging each other over the past five rounds, Sweden’s Jonas Andersson is a distant fifth with 27 points, followed by Yousuf Al Rubayan (26 points) and the UAE’s Thani Atiq Al Qamzi (22).
Finland’s Selio is possibly in the best position to have a crack at the world title after two wins — Brazil and Abu Dhabi last week — along with the superior experience of winning the maximum number of pole positions. Besides, Selio also has a strong track record in Sharjah after going all the way while winning his two world crowns in 2007 and 2010.
American Torrente is one of the two Qatar Team drivers in the fray for top honours. Torrente won in Doha last month, displaying plenty of aggression and passion, and then cut a consistent course with podium finishes in the next three rounds to tally 62 points.
Italian driver Carella has many things going for him. Besides being the defending world champion, Carella also has the distinction of getting back-to-back world titles for the Qatar Team. And though the Italian has finished on the podium in eight straight races, he has not completed a race at the Sharjah Grand Prix in the past two seasons.
After getting disqualified on technical grounds from the Qatar Grand Prix, Frenchman Chiappe is the darkhorse. He, however, went on to earn his first career win in Kiev and has three podium finishes in the four races he has completed this season.
After Wednesday’s practice session, the 22 participating boats will line up for the Pole Position run on Thursday afternoon, followed by the 15th Sharjah Grand Prix from 3 pm on Friday.
