Hameli, Qamzi star at Tatarstan GP

Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al Hameli and Thani Al Qamzi finished second and sixth overall in Saturday afternoon’s Grand Prix of Tatarstan, round two of the 2012 UIM F1 H20 World Championship, on Kazan’s Nizhny Kaban Lake. The race was yellow-flagged on three occasions to remove stricken boats from the course and Hameli had two opportunities to snatch the lead from eventual race winner, Alex Carella of the Qatar Team. The Team Abu Dhabi driver had started third on the grid and moved up to second on lap two when pole winner Shaun Torrente blew his DAC’s engine and retired. Hameli was unable to overtake Carella, despite the yellow flag delays, but retains an eight-point lead in the UIM F1 H20 World Championship after two rounds. Qamzi finished sixth and scored his first points of the season. “I chose the wrong propeller in qualifying on Friday and I was mad at myself for making that mistake,” said Hameli. “I knew that it would be a real drag race at the start of the race today and that was going to be key to victory on this narrow circuit. “It was windy and not easy to find a good set-up.” Emirati Mohamed Al Mehairbi qualified third for the second of the weekend’s 22-lap F-4S Eurofin Trophy races and reached the chequered flag in fourth position to climb to fifth in the championship standings. England’s Matthew Palfreyman found a way past the pole-winning Swede Jesper Forss to confirm his fourth successive F-4S race win and extend his series lead to 20 points. The Team Abu Dhabi duo lined up in third and fifth positions on the pontoon among the 17 boats that took the start in windy and bright conditions in Kazan. Torrente made a superb start to hold his lead through lap one, but he was forced out of the race on the next lap with a blown engine, as Carella snatched the lead and Hameli moved up to second position. Qamzi climbed to fourth behind Chiappe and the Team Abu Dhabi duo retained their positions through lap eight. The yellow flag was raised soon afterwards to enable Brett Stuart’s Caudwell Racing boat to be removed from the course and Hameli was able to close the gap on Carella, only for the Qatar driver to regain his advantage when the action resumed on lap 14 of 40. Qamzi maintained fourth position but slipped behind Sami Selio and into fifth on lap 17.