Portimao, Portugal: Five months after securing the UIM F1 H20 Drivers’ Championship for the first time since 2006 and the Teams’ Championship for the first time since 2015, Team Abu Dhabi begin the defence of their titles at this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portugal on the Arada River in Portimao.
The team running out of the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) have a strong three-driver line-up for what promises to be a thrilling season of races, starting on the Portuguese Algarve coast and then visiting France, England, China, perhaps India, and culminating with the traditional racing finale in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in December.
The experienced Thani Al Qamzi, defending UIM F2 World Champion Rashed Al Qamzi and the American racer Shaun Torrente will represent Team Abu Dhabi, Torrente replacing defending champion Alex Carella in the team that dominated the series last season and clinched a clean sweep of titles on Khaled Lagoon last December.
Thani Al Qamzi finished fourth in the points’ standings last year behind Carella, Philippe Chiappe and Erik Stark. Both Torrente and Rashed Al Qamzi suffered their fair share of misfortune and bad luck and will be looking to bounce back strongly this season, although Torrente did claim pole position in Portugal last spring and is full of confidence after a recent test session.
“We managed to carry out some testing last week in Italy. The whole team is really looking forward to Portugal. The guys have been so focused and everyone is really prepared for the season. I think this is the most I have ever been prepared for the start of a racing season. The calendar looks good and I like the schedule for this weekend with everything moved to later in the afternoon, including testing and qualifying, so you don’t have to test at 10 in the morning and qualify at five in the afternoon and wait all day while the weather changes,” said Torrente, adding that the Portimao course is a little funky.
“It’s like a banana and you never get to get the boat going straight. It’s the way the river is with the big sandbar. It makes it different and to pick the correct propeller is a little more difficult. Last year I was on pole with my old team and that is the goal again this time.”
Several teams feature new faces in 2018. Carella has joined Ahmad Al Hameli in Dubai’s Victory Team, while the ever-improving Pole Bartek Marszalek has teamed up with Norwegian Marit Stromoy at Emirates Racing Team.
