Qatar Team Seals Stuninning One-Two In

KAZAN, (Tatarstan) June 22 (QNA) -: Qatar s Shaun Torrente and defending UIM F1 H20 World Champion Alex Carella recorded pole position and the second fastest time in qualifying for Saturday s Grand Prix of the Republic of Tatarstan on the Nizhny Kaban Lake in Kazan on Friday afternoon. The pair managed to fend off a fierce last gasp challenge from Team Abu Dhabi s Ahmed Al-Hameli, with Torrente s fastest lap of 42.65s sufficient to pip his team-mate by just 0.13 seconds in a thrilling pole shoot-out. Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari qualified fifth for the third F-4S Eurofin Trophy race of the season with his BaBa but flipped his boat out of fifth position on the 15th lap of a race where series leader Matthew Palfreyman of England led from start-to-finish to extend his championship lead over Sweden s Jesper Forss to 15 points. "I cannot believe it," said Khalid bin Arhama Al-Kuwari, head of formula racing at the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of HE Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani. "I knew we had two young and ambitious drivers but it is fantastic for us to get first and second in qualifying. Last year we finished the race first and third and now it would be great to go even better with a one-two finish. "This performance is down to the hard work of the entire team, the mechanics, the management, everyone. Last night the mechanics worked until midnight and they were the first in the pit area this morning at 06.00hrs. It has been a fantastic all-round performance and I thank them all for that." Qualifying Eighteen boats lined up for the first of three qualifying sessions and the slowest three would be eliminated in the 20-minute stint held in bright, blustery conditions. Francesco Cantando set the early target lap of 46.25s but this was soon surpassed by Al-Hameli, as Torrente and Carella moved into third and fifth positions with 11 minutes remaining. Carella moved in front with a stunning tour of 45.16s and was soon passed by Chiappe s lap of 44.89s, as the Qatar Team duo held second and fifth heading into the remaining six minutes. Andersson eventually won the session with a lap of 44.82s with the Qatar boats in third and sixth. Filip Roms, Brett Stuart and Ivan Brigada were eliminated. Five boats would fall by the wayside in Q2 and Emirati Al-Hameli set the target time of 43.98s. Carella and Torrente slotted into fifth and sixth heading into the final 10 minutes. Sami Selio and Andersson pushed the Qatar duo down to sixth and eighth with seven minutes to run. Only six of the eight boats took to the water for the first free practice session and Palfreyman topped the timings with a lap of 50.29s. Al-Kuwari ran for just five laps near the end and slotted into fifth with a best run of 55.82s. Saturday There will be another free practice session on Saturday morning and the second of the weekend s F-4S races starts at 15.00hrs after further timed trials at 13.00hrs. The Grand Prix of the Republic of Tatarstan starts at 17.00hrs (16.00hrs Doha time). 2012 Grand Prix of Tatarstan qualifying results 1. Shaun Torrente (QAT) Qatar Team 42.65s 2. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team 42.78s 3. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 43.08s 4. Phillipe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC China Team 43.49s 5. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 43.58s 6. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Singha F1 Racing Team 43.73s 7. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad Croc F1 Team 43.80s 8. Jonas Andersson (SWE) Team Sweden 43.87s 9. Duarte Benavente (POR) F1 Atlantic Team 45.30s 10. Marit Stromoy (NOR) Team Nautica 45.84s - 2012 UIM F1 H20 Pole Position Championship standings after round 2 1. Ahmed Al-Hameli (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 32 pts 2. Alex Carella (QAT) Qatar Team 30 pts 3. Shaun Torrente (QAT) Qatar Team 20 pts 4. Thani Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 16 pts 5.Phillipe Chiappe (FRA) CTIC China Team 14 pts 6. Sami Selio (FIN) Team Mad Croc F1 12 pts 7. Yousef Al-Rabayan (KUW) F1 Atlantic Team 7 pts 8. Francesco Cantando (ITA) Singha F1 Racing Team 5 pts 2012 F-4S Drivers Eurofin Trophy standings after race 3 1. Matthew Palfreyman (GBR) Atlantic Team 60 pts 2. Jesper Forss (SWE) Team Sweden 45 pts 3. Tobias Munthe-Kaas (NOR) Team Nautica 33 pts 4. Xiong Ziwei (CHN) CTIC China Team 21 pts 5. Valts Silis (LAT) Team Singha 13 pts 6. Kornel Vo (HUN) Team Mad Croc 12 pts 7. Khalid Abdullah Al-Kuwari (QAT) Qatar Team 11 pts 8. Mohamed Al-Mehairbi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 7 pts 8. Rashed Al-Qamzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi 7 pts 10. Viktor Vo (HUN) Team Mad Croc 5 pts 11. Erik Danielson (NOR) Team Singha 3 pts (END)