Sharjah: It will be Shaun Torrente challenging two-time defending world champion Philippe Chiappe when the Sharjah Grand Prix — the seventh and final round of the 2016 UIM F1H2O World Championships are held this weekend.
CTIC China Team’s Chiappe goes in with a huge advantage, thanks to a second place in last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that saw the French driver come to Sharjah with a comfortable 19-point lead against Victory Team’s Torrente.
This leaves Chiappe with the rather comfortable task of finishing in the top 10 and along with it getting one point that is needed to hand him a third successive world crown. That will make Chiappe only the third driver — joining Guido Cappellini and Alex Carella — in winning three titles each in the 33-year history of F1 powerboat racing.
Though the competition has got tougher, the experienced Chiappe has impressed this season with outright wins in Dubai and Portimao followed by podium spots in China and Abu Dhabi.
“Sharjah has always been good to our team,” Chiappe said.
“All we need is to stay safe and finish among the points in Sharjah. So the focus will be to have a reliable boat,” he added.
On the other hand, Torrente has no option but all-out attack. Not only does the American have to win, but Torrente will have to hope that luck will be on his side to ensure Chiappe does not complete the race. “We have a tough task to accomplish,” the Florida driver admitted.
“But as usual we are here to try and win and leave the rest,” he added.
Chasing Torrente for the remaining slots is a trio of drivers with the four of them separated by just nine points. Team Sweden’s Jonas Andersson — winner at the Abu Dhabi GP — sits in third spot, while a further three points back and tied on 54 points are Team Abu Dhabi’s Carella and Mad Croc Baba Racing’s Sami Selio.
The technical scrutiny and untimed free practice will take place on Wednesday [December 14], while the official qualifying will be from 3.30 pm on Thursday and the Grand Prix of Sharjah from 4 pm on Friday.
