Al Qamzi aims to defend Grand Prix of Russia title in U.I.M. F1 series

9:08 PM Fri 7 Aug 2009 GMT

'GP OF ST PETERSBURG-140608-PL-Al Qamzi Thani of UAE of the Abu Dhabi F1 powerboat team pictured on the Neva River in St Petersburg, Russia, venue of the UIM F1 powerboat Grand Prix, the 4th leg of the world championship series. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Idea Marketing. - Grand Prix of Russia' F1 World Championship &copy

It's taken him nine years, but for the first time this weekend Thani Al Qamzi will launch into the water leading the drivers championship table with 53 points coming into the fifth and sixth rounds of the 2009 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating at the 8th Grand Prix of Russia on the Neva River in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia.

Tomorrow's race event, the first of back to back Grand Prix races this weekend, will mark his 70th career start as Thani continues in his 10th season in F1 competition for his hometown Team Abu Dhabi organization. So far this season, Thani has been a model of consistency with a win, a second and two fourth place finishes in the first four races of the campaign.

Al Qamzi of UAE of the Team Abu Dhabi powerboat F1 team pictured in action Picture by Paul Lakatos/Idea Marketing. - UIM F1 World Championships &copy Click Here to view large photo

"We are running with a lot of confidence this season and our whole program is working smoothly with everyone working for one goal, a world title for the team," said Thani.

"Ahmed has a little bad luck with his wonderful victory earlier in the year in Portugal, but he will come charging up from fifth in the drivers championship before the year is over. Now, is the time to make a major break from the rest of the field with a couple of podium results and hopefully get a bit of breathing room before head to China in early October."

Thani's team mate Ahmad Al Hameli has been on a streak of sorts having reached the podium in five of his last seven finishes. He's also been one of the best qualifiers having started eight of the past 11 races in the top three. Ahmad has kept himself sharp over the last month having raced in two North American events and finishing a fine fifth place at the 22nd Annual Bay City River Roar event in Michigan running a Johnson powered DAC hull.

"We had a great time in America and it helped me stay in racing shape considering the Bay City event was a real rough water event, said Ahmad.

"Survival and smart driving got us to the finish and now we tackle the rough Neva River which should be another challenge as I hope to finish better than I did a year ago when I placed 10th after starting second."

Team Abu Dhabi will be just one of ten teams chasing World Championship points as the series finishes off its European season before heading off to China, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for the second half of the season.

Tomorrow's event will be a 30 minute race starting at 18:00 local time, 15:00 GMT and 10:00 EDT in North America.

Viewers from around the world will be able to follow the race tuning in on the internet to the series official site at www.f1h2o.com beginning one-half hour before the start of the race.

by Philippe Stiernon F1 Press Officer

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