Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al Hameli was in sensational form in the time trials for Sunday’s Grand Prix of China on the Liu River in Liuzhou.
The Emirati claimed pole position with a fastest lap of 46.29 seconds and now holds a nine-point lead in the UIM F1 Pole Position Championship.
Thani Al Qamzi capped a successful day’s racing for Team Abu Dhabi by setting the third fastest qualifying time for Sunday’s race in a qualifying session that was marred by a heavy collision between Alex Carella and Luigi Roberto. He now holds sixth position in the UIM F1 Pole Position Championship.
“After the disappointments in Linyi, this was just the result we needed,” said Al Hameli. “Thani and I are now in great positions to set the pace in the race on Sunday.”
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Tayer kick-started his F4 career by recording fifth position in the first of the two Liuzhou F4 races.
Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson of Team Rainbow recorded the win after starting in pole position.
Al Hameli and Al Qamzi started well in the first of the qualifying sessions and laps of 47.38 and 48.03 put them both at the top of the leader board in the opening minutes, with Qatar’s Jay Price and Italy’s Fabio Comparato their closest challengers.
The Team Abu Dhabi pair maintained their positions at the top of the leader board on the new Liu River course and remained comfortably placed to reach the second qualifying session.
Andy Elliott, Rinaldo Osculati, Tomas Cermak, Phillipe Tourre and Marit Stromoy were eliminated and the remaining 15 headed into the second qualifying session.
Al Hameli and Al Qamzi continued where they left off by heading straight to the front of the leader board in the second session, but a heavy collision between Luigi Roberto and Alex Carella brought proceedings to a halt and cost the joint championship-leading Italian a chance to reach the top five in the time trials.
Carella’s engine was ripped clean from his boat in the incident.
Only eight boats were permitted to start the third and final qualifying session and Al Hameli set the first sub-47 second lap to take the fastest time of 46.90. But he was quickly overhauled by Price, as Al Qamzi slotted into third with a lap of 47.13.
Al Hameli regained the lead mid-way through the 10-minute session and overcame heavy pressure from Price late on to conserve his lead and take maximum points towards the UIM F1 Pole Position Championship.
Team Abu Dhabi runs under the auspices of the ADIMSC with full support from the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), under the chairmanship of Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan and the patronage of Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.
Both Majed Al Mansoori and Rashid Al Tayer were permitted to test Team Abu Dhabi’s F4 boat on Friday and a final decision was made as to who would represent the UAE team in the two F4 races on Saturday and Sunday.
Al Tayer was given the nod, with an agreement made for Al Mansoori to represent Team Abu Dhabi in Shenzhen next weekend.
Al Tayer recorded the eighth fastest time in free practice, a session that was won by Germany’s Stefan Hagin from Team Atlantic with a lap of 51.20.
The Emirati improved to snatch sixth position in the first of the time trials for Saturday’s first ever F4 race.
He eventually finished fifth overall in the 20-minute race after running for 14 laps behind Swedish race winner Oskar Samuelsson, the winner of the time trials.
Finland’s Filip Roms was second and Italy’s David Del Pin was third.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al Qamzi and Ahmed Al Hameli recorded the second and third fastest times in Saturday morning’s first practice session. They ran for 35 and 23 laps respectively, with Al Qamzi setting a hot lap of 47.36, a mere 0.12 seconds slower than the pace-setting Jay Price.
The Grand Prix of China takes place on the Liu River on Sunday afternoon at 4pm (noon UAE time) after a second free practice session and the second of the new 20-minute F4 races.
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