Torrente, Al Qemzi kept waiting for pole position bid as conditions on Lac Leman hit qualifying
Team Abu Dhabi’s bid to extend a three-year dominance of the Grand Prix of France was interrupted today as the qualifying session for the third round of this season’s UIM F1H2O World Championship was delayed by conditions on Lac Leman.
With rough waters having already led to the morning practice session being yellow flagged several times, qualifying in Evian was postponed until 6pm local time, with a switch to tomorrow morning looking likely as conditions worsened.
Team Abu Dhabi drivers have won the Grand Prix of France from pole position for the last three years, and Shaun Torrente and Thani Al Qemzi are determined to extend the run following their 1-2 success in Portugal.
While championship leader Torrente is seeking his first victory in Evian tomorrow afternoon, the team are chasing a fourth success in a row in France, having won eight of the last ten F1 races overall.
With the calm of the previous two days replaced by rough waters and treacherous rollers, Torrente had a scare in today’s practice session when he spun out of a turn.
“I thought I was going for a swim in Lac Leman for the second time in my career,” said the American, who was second fastest to Frenchman Peter Morin of CTIC F1 Shenzhen China, with Al Qemzi 12th. “There were a lot of big bumps out there and I was being pretty aggressive.”
“Our goal here is to stay consistent and I’m looking forward to keeping the run going. I’ve had some of the best drives in my life here in Evian but have never won. As a team we have to keep working hard, stay focused and we can make it.”