UIM F1 - 8th Grand Prix of Russia - New And Old 'Hero's' make a mark

by Phillipe Stiernon on 23 Jul 2010 UIM F1 - eighth Grand Prix of Russia - The recently completed eighth Grand Prix of Russia in St. Petersburg witnessed by the tens of thousands of fans along the Neva River saw five of the worlds most talented drivers battle for the final three podium positions in a titanic struggle during the season's only night event.

There was some unbelievable unseen drama going on out on the 2.014 kilometer circuit during the race that most people didn't notice at the time!

The UIM F1 H2O World Championship's second round of 2010 was the official end to the 'European' campaign as the the series gets set for a summer recess leading up to the start of the Far East and Middle Eastern portion of it's calendar that runs into the month of December.

What the race followers in St. Petersburg saw when the Grand Prix was finally completed, was a pair of past World Champion's going toe to toe on the water in various forms of comfort, with a new upcoming star making his first strong impression to the world of F1 racing showing that someday he possibly could be candidate a legitimate candidate for future World Championships.

Sami Selio the 'Finnish Flyer' who is the 2007 world title holder, came away with his first victory of the 2010 campaign and put himself right back into the championship picture picking up 20 points for the victory and his first points of the season and now sits just outside first place in the drivers championship by one point. The Mad Croc Team driver from Helsinki set the pace during the evening event winning by just two seconds over his rookie teammate.

'We established right away that we want this victory,' said Sami. 'We needed this performance and now we are right in the middle of the fight for the title as we await the next faze of the championship heading to China. From last place to second in the drivers championship in one weekend, that's the way to be.'

Selio's new stablemate is fast rising Italian star Alex Carella who since coming over from F2 has been nothing short of spectacular taking second at this race after qualifying fifth in Portimao at the Grand Prix of Portugal before dropping out and qualifying fourth and now sitting tied for fifth in the drivers championship with 15 points.

'Wow, spectacular, what a way to start my F1 career,' said Alex. 'My boat felt marvelous, my team was marvelous, everything was marvelous. Now we move on and see if was can carry this momentum further this year.'

The driver from Piacenza now nicknamed 'Captain Cool' since his initials for his name are A.C. which is the shortened version of wording 'air conditioning.' Alex was cool despite being under tremendous pressure from another World Champion who finished right behind him in third position.

Qatar Team driver Jay Price once again had all sorts of drama in Russia having a blade break off of his four bladed propeller at the start of the Grand Prix giving his engine a hard dose of vibrations and almost undriveable conditions during the race but still was able to 'nurse' the boat home enabling him to reach the podium for the first time this season. Jay's third was just four seconds behind Selio and now has him being placed on the podium for the 14th time in his last 17 finishes since 2008.

'Needless to say, Russia was a struggle for the Qatar Team,' said the native of New Orleans. 'We knew we needed to drive smart in order to finish, but at the same time I had to first hold off Francesco Cantando before he crashed out and then later on in the event with both Team Abu Dhabi drivers Ahmed Al Hameli and Thani Al Qamzi as well. The important thing is that we are now tied for first in the championship at 21 points and we will only work harder to get better at the next race in Linyi, China.'

Taking fourth and tying for the lead in the championship with Price is Team Abu Dhabi driver Al Qamzi who qualified seventh and ran a steady race to take fourth at the end of 40 laps. He like American Jay Price now has a third and a fourth this season after two events.

Fifth and just 7.42 seconds behind at the end was two time winner of this race Jonas Andersson of Team Azerbaijan as the driver from Fruvi, Sweden qualified ninth and now has his third straight top five finish in St. Petersburg in four starts.

Other drivers of note in the event saw Sweden's Pierre Lundin of the CTIC China Team finish a fine sixth after qualifying a disappointing 13th while Norway's Marit Stromoy came home seventh after qualifying 16th. Another Italian rookie, Davide Padovan of the Rainbow Team, was eighth after qualifying 10th for his second straight top 10 performance this season.

The city of Linyi in China will host it's first ever UIM F1 H2O World Championship Grand Prix on the weekend of the second and third of October. The event will mark the first of three races in this ancient country of the Far East.

Linyi, is a 2,400 year old city of 10 million in the Shandong Province and is known for it's wholesale goods. It sits on the lovely Yihe River and the area around the city is known for it's garlic, chestnut's and soybeans along with it's various other agricultural products. Stay tuned.