2008 UIM F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi – December 4th-5th, round 7 of 8
For immediate release
Monday, December 1st, 2008
QATAR TEAM’S JAY PRICE HEADS TO ABU DHABI
ON VERGE OF ENTERING THE HISTORY BOOKS
·QMSF prepares to celebrate UIM F1 World Championship crown
·Qatar rookie Yousef Al-Khulaifi set for crucial support role
DOHA (Qatar): The Qatar Team’s Jay Price heads to the emirate of Abu Dhabi this weekend to take part in the most important race of his career and the most significant UIM F1 World Championship race in the history of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF).
If the Qatar Team’s F1 supremo gains four points or more in Friday’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, the penultimate round of the UIM F1 World Championship, he will be taking the world title back to Doha to crown a sensational F1 season for the Qatar Team.
Price will power away from the start of Friday’s race, off the breakwater in Abu Dhabi, with a 36-point lead in the championship over Sweden’s Jonas Andersson and a 38-point advantage over the Finnish defending World Champion Sami Selio. The odds are stacked in favour of the Qatar Team taking a maiden world title, but nothing will be left to chance in the build up to the crucial race. Twenty points are at stake for the winner and the mathematical possibilities are endless in what promises to be a thrilling race.
"My strategy for Abu Dhabi is to make the shoot-out and start at the front of the field," admitted Price, who has just recovered from a recent bout of the ‘flu. "I will push from the start and, if I have a good start, then I will race hard early. If I don’t have a good start I will pull back and wait until later in the race to move up the field. I want to keep my run of podium finishes alive.
"In some ways I think just needing to finish has taken the challenge away from this race. That is just not my style. Anyway I have two races to collect the four points. I have raced on the Abu Dhabi course many times in F2 and a few times in F1 and have a good feeling for it.
"It’s my goal to capture the world title in Abu Dhabi. I know that Sami and Jonas must go all out for the next race, but only one boat can win and I don’t think it will be either of them. I do feel that Team Abu Dhabi will be well prepared for this race. I think they will run three boats. The pressure is on them to win at home and they will try to win at all costs. But, this could be the greatest achievement of my racing career. It will be a dream come true!"
"We must be very careful to avoid any accidents and mechanical problems," admitted Khalid Bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation, which is run under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani. "It would be very special for the State of Qatar, the board members of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and the whole team who put so much effort into this campaign from the start of the year, if we could clinch the world title."
Khalid admits it will not be easy: "Sami and Jonas are good drivers. Anything can happen to them. We will also run Yousef (Al-Khulaifi) in the second boat. We are hoping for better luck for him this time. We made the decision mid-way through the season to run just two boats so that we could focus on the world championship title and the decision has turned out to be a good one."
Race weekend gets underway on Wednesday (December 3rd) with technical scrutineering and team registration, before drivers are permitted to take to the water for the first time for a one-hour free practice session at 9.45am (UAE time) on Thursday morning. The first time trials to determine the starting order for Friday’s race begin at 12.30pm and are followed by the second time trials at 2.30pm and the all-important six-boat shoot-out from 3.45pm.
Friday’s Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi starts at 3.30pm, although teams will be permitted to take part in a final 45-minute free practice session from 10.15am on Friday morning.
2008 UIM F1 World Championship – Drivers (positions after round 6 of 8):
1. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 85 pts
2. Jonas Andersson (S) F1 Team Sweden 49 pts
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Woodstock Red Devil Racing 47 pts
4. Ahmad Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 40 pts
5. David Trask (AUS) Trask Brothers Racing 32 pts
6. Fabio Comparato (I) 800 Doctor Team 31 pts
6. Pierre Lundin (S) China CTIC Team 31 pts
8. Phillipe Chiappe (F) F1 Atlantic Team 29 pts
9. Guido Cappellini (I) Tamoil F1 Team 27 pts, etc
16. Yousef Al-Khulaifi (QA) Qatar Team 8 pts
2008 UIM F1 World Championship – Teams (positions after round 6 of 8):
1. Qatar Team 90 pts
2. F1 Team Sweden 58 pts
3. China CTIC Team 48 pts
4. Woodstock Red Devil Racing 48 pts
5. Tamoil F1 43 pts
6. Trask Brothers Racing 41 pts
7. F1 Team Abu Dhabi 40 pts
8. F1 Atlantic Team 39 pts
9. Doctor 800 31 pts
10. Singha Team 14 pts
11. Rainbow Team 2 pts
2008 UIM F1 World Championship – Pole Position (positions after round 6 of 8):
1. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 78 pts
2. Guido Cappellini (I) Tamoil F1 73 pts
3. Ahmad Al-Hameli (UAE) F1 Team Abu Dhabi 67 pts
4. Sami Selio (FIN) Woodstock Red Devil Racing 59 pts
5. Jonas Andersson (S) F1 Team Sweden 50 pts
6. Jay Price (QA) Qatar Team 36 pts
7. David Trask (AUS) Trask Brothers Racing 21 pts
8. Francesco Cantando (I) Singha Team 14 pts
9=. Massimo Roggiero (I) Woodstock Red Devil Racing 5 pts
9=. Phillipe Chiappe (F) Atlantic Team 5 pts
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@compuserve.com. www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).