Grand Prix of Ukraine - Selio victorious in Kiev

by F1H20 on 22 Jul 2012 Though the second annual Grand Prix of Ukraine, third event on the UIM F1 H20 World Championship series, took two days to run, it turned out to be worth the wait. The drama began when American driver Shaun Torrente of the Qatar Team out maneuvered Finland's Sami Selio early in the race to grab the lead on the first re-start.

Torrente controlled the race until another yellow flag came out and with less than six laps to the finish when Selio charged by Torrente when his engine broke sending Selio to win for the 10th time in his career and the first since December of 2010.

'It was a big win for us today,' said Sami. 'I feel that we are back on song to push for another title but there is still a long way to go in the season but with the pole and the win, it can't get much better than this.'

The Mad Croc F1 Team driver has now proven he is totally recovered and is back on track to once again to challenge for a title by winning in front of thousands of spectators on the edge of the Kiev Sea. His victory gives him 41 points on the season moving him from fourth to second in the driver’s championship.

Coming home in second after starting down in 10th position was Ahmed Al Hameli of Team Abu Dhabi who with his 15 points has increased his championship points lead to nine earning now 50 thus far as he reached the podium for his seventh straight race for last year’s winning driver.

'I was really exciting about the final re-start,' said Ahmed. 'I went from fourth to second in the final few laps and really earned this position because I had to fight and scratch my way up the ladder all 37 laps today. It is still too early to start thinking about the title however, I just want to keep my podium streak alive. Then we'll see.'

Taking third was Qatar Team driver and defending World Champion Alex Carella of Italy who had a steady drive finishing 4.36 seconds back and more importantly picking up 12 points that are crucial for his dreams of making it back to back titles by the end of the 2012 campaign.

Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC China Team fought violently in the final few tours in hopes of making it three straight podium performances this season only to be turned back by Carella. The driver from Rouen was in a scrap with Italian Francesco Cantando of the Singha Team for most of the 37 laps with Franz finishing with a fifth place position at the end of the day.

Abu Dhabi veteran driver Thani Al Qamzi was sixth, three seconds behind Cantando in sixth, while rookie Kuwati driver Youssef Al Rubayan had his best career performance with his seventh place for the F1 Atlantic Team.

Eighth was Swede Jonas Andersson in his new Molgaard boat after struggling with fuel feed problems, while Portuguese driver Duarte Benavente picked up two points for ninth in his new BABA boat for his F1 Atlantic Team.

Russian driver Stanislav Kurtsenovskiy crashed out just six laps into the race for seventh place and was uninjured.

The UIM F1 H2O World Championship now heads for China on October 1 where the series returns to lovely Liuzhou for the fourth round of the 2012 campaign.

F1 H20 website