F1H20 UIM World Championship: Trask gets amongst the points at GP of Abu Dhabi
by Bob Carter 11 Dec 2017 20:49 PST
F1H2O Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - UAE © F1H20 UIM
Racing at the penultimate round of the F1H20 UIM World Championship, the GP of Abu Dhabi, Grant Trask finished a highly credible 10th position to score one point towards the 2017 Drivers Championship.
Grant Trask is the only Australian and the only disabled pilot contesting the 2017 World Championship.
Once again Grant Trask endured a challenging lead up to the GP of Abu Dhabi. Through practice and qualifying, Grant Trask showed great speed at times, and on other occasions struggled to maintain the rage. As a new team racing in their first season on the world stage, the Trask team continue to develop their rig and experiment with props and engine set up.
Following the official qualifying program Grant Trask found himself on the start grid in 15th position.
"We'd naturally like to be closer to the front of the grid than the back," Grant Trask said.
"I would much rather race the GP on my terms at the front of the pack, than have to work my way through the field. We definitely work hard to qualify well and secure a great pole position, but this is an ultra-competitive world series with 16 drivers sitting within two seconds of the pole sitter."
Compounding the conundrum of F1 racing, Grant Trask went out on to the course in practice on race day morning to lay down the fifth fastest lap of the field. This was a full 1.34 seconds quicker than the day prior, and just 0.73 seconds off the fastest.
What really counts though is race time and when the lights turned green to start the GP of Abu Dhabi, Grant Trask leapt off the dock and moved up several places on the opening lap. He looked to be in great shape in the vital opening stanza.
Bad luck with an accident which took out two boats on lap 1, meant that the yellow flag came out and the drivers toured the circuit at slow speed in their start positions.
In spite of the setback, when the green flag appeared to re-start the race, Grant Trask was in back marker mode working his hardest to come through the field. Despite qualifying in 15th Grant Trask posted the 8th fastest lap of the GP.
Finishing 10th on the world stage is no disgrace, but it's not where Grant Trask wants to be.
"Our objective is to be in the points and keep improving at every GP," Grant Trask said.
"The opening season on the F1H20 UIM World Championship has been a real mix of good and bad fortune. We've seen what the team is capable of and want to continue to build on our best performances."
"We are really focussed on the final round of the 2017 season at the GP of Sharjah to give us a great lead in to the 2018 series. I want to qualify well, get amongst the points and wrap up the 2017 Rookie of the Year trophy."
"We want to have something to celebrate over our Aussie summer."
The final round of the F1H20 UIM World Championship is the Grand Prix of Sharjah –UAE will be held in on December 13/15 2017.