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29 March 2024

Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al Qamzi claims second spot in Liuzhou race

Thani Al Qamzi finished second in the Liuzhou. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Staff
Team Abu Dhabi endured a day of mixed fortunes at the Grand Prix of China on the Liu River in Liuzhou on Sunday.
 
Thani Al Qamzi claimed second position and moved into joint second overall in the UIM F1 Drivers’ Championship, but time trial winner and pole position sitter Ahmed Al Hameli was forced out of third place midway through the race with mechanical problems.
 
The Qatar Team’s Jay Price led from start-to-finish in his DAC and now holds a nine-point lead in the championship at the season’s mid-point.
 
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Tayer moved up to fourth in the Eurofin F4 Drivers’ Championship standings after taking a similar position in the second F4 race on Sunday afternoon. He will trade his place with Majed Al Mansoori for the F4 races at next week’s Shenzhen race meeting.
 
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.
 
Al Hameli and Al Qamzi started from first and third on the grid, but Price made a good start behind the Swedish racer Jonas Andersson, who appeared to jump the start flag. The Swede was forced to carry out a drive through penalty and Price slotted into the lead from Selio, Al Qamzi and Al Hameli. Andersson duly completed his penalty lap, as Marit Stromoy pulled up with technical problems.
 
Al Qamzi and Al Hameli maintained third and fourth places through 10 of the planned 37 laps, but Selio began to fall back with technical issues and the UAE pair inherited second and third overall. Al Qamzi continued to maintain the pressure on leader Price and trailed the Qatar Team driver by 4.73 seconds after 17 laps.
 
As the race reached the half-way point, Al Hameli was forced to retire with engine-related issues, as Al Qamzi continued to hold second position behind Price. The leading four drivers held station heading into the final 10 laps and Al Qamzi was unable to close the gap on the leader, despite both drivers being delayed slightly overtaking back-markers.
 
The Emirati kept his cool to seal second position and ensure that he headed into next weekend’s race meeting in Shenzhen tied for second position in the Drivers’ Championship with Alex Carella and Francesco Cantando, nine points behind Jay Price of the Qatar Team.
 
Rashid Al Tayer set the fourth fastest time in the second free F4 practice session and qualified in seventh for the race with a lap of 53.24 seconds.
 
Sweden’s Oskar Samuelsson claimed his second pole position of the weekend, but the Swede slipped to third place in the actual race.
 
Al Tayer just missed out on the podium with fourth overall, but race victory fell to Finland’s Filip Roms from the Mad Croc Team. Roms now holds a three-point lead in the F4 championship.