2014 F1 Powerboat World Championship

2014 F1 Powerboat World Championship
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Philippe Chiappe (right, pictured in 2009) won his first title in 2014 with 70 points.

The 2014 UIM F1 H2O World Championship was the 31st season of Formula 1 Powerboat racing. Alex Carella, driving for the Qatar Team, entered the season as defending triple world champion having successfully defended his world championship for the second year in a row in 2013.[1]

Carella's streak as champion was ended by France's Philippe Chiappe for the CTIC China Team. Chiappe won the final two races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, overhauling a ten-point deficit to Carella and eventually won the championship – the first for a French competitor[2] – by eight points. Carella had won the season's first two races in Doha and Liuzhou, before he was disqualified in the third race of the season, which was held in Doha.[3] Third place in the championship went to Carella's team-mate Shaun Torrente, who was the only other winner of the 2014 season, in the second Doha event.[3] The results for Carella and Torrente were more than enough for the Qatar Team to win the teams' championship, 40 points clear of the CTIC China Team. The pole position and fastest lap trophies were also taken by Carella, beating Chiappe in both categories.

Teams and drivers

Team Hull Engine No. Race drivers Rounds
Qatar Qatar Team DAC Mercury 2.5 V6 1 Italy Alex Carella[4] All
2 United States Shaun Torrente[4] All
United Arab Emirates Team Abu Dhabi BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 5 United Arab Emirates Thani Al Qamzi[5] 2, 4–5
6 United Arab Emirates Ahmed Al Hameli[5] 2, 4–5
China CTIC China Team Moore Mercury 2.5 V6 7 France Philippe Chiappe[6] All
DAC 8 China Xiong Ziwei[6] All
Portugal F1 Atlantic Team/Interpass/GC DAC Mercury 2.5 V6 9 Kuwait Youssef Al Rubayan All
BaBa 10 Portugal Duarte Benavente All
Italy Mad Croc BaBa Racing Team BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 11 Finland Sami Seliö[7] All
12 Finland Filip Roms[7] All
Sweden Team Sweden Molgaard Mercury 2.5 V6 14 Sweden Jonas Andersson All
15 Sweden Jesper Forss 2–5
Italy Motorglass F1 Team BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 18 Poland Bartek Marszalek[8] 1
18 Poland Bartek Marszalek 2–6
DAC 23 Italy Marco Gambi[8] 1
Blaze 24 Italy Francesco Cantando[8] All
South Africa Caudwell Racing Caudwell Caudwell 3.5 V6 33 Italy Ivan Brigada[9] 2–4
34 Slovakia Tomas Cermak[9] 2–4
United States Team Nautica BaBa Mercury 2.5 V6 50 Norway Marit Strømøy[10] All
Molgaard 51 Sweden Erik Stark[10] All
Key
Regular boat/driver
Boat ineligible for team points

Team and driver changes

As in 2013, there were no major changes to the teams present in the 2014 championship. All nine were once again represented, albeit with some sporting new identities. The most significant of these was the new title sponsorship of Francesco Cantando's team. Known as Singha for many years, thanks to sponsorship from the Thai Singha brand of alcohol, Cantando signed a new deal ensuring his team would be known as the Motorglass F1 Team from 2014.[8] Joining Cantando would once again be Bartek Marszalek who competed in five of the six races in 2013, and fellow Italian Marco Gambi. Whereas Bartek competed for the full year, Gambi was only present at the opening round in Doha. Jonas Andersson's team was the other to undergo a change of identity over the winter as he once again reverted to the Team Sweden name, having been sponsored by Azerbaijan the previous year. For the first race in Qatar, Andersson's team ran with just his own boat, but was joined by 2012 F-4S champion and fellow Swede Jesper Forss from the second race onwards.

At reigning champions the Qatar Team, everything remained the same with Alex Carella and Shaun Torrente again reprising their roles.[4] Similarly, Team Abu Dhabi also retained Thani Al Qamzi and Ahmed Al Hameli for 2014,[5] however they missed both races in Qatar, the first and third races of the season, reportedly due to matters relating to the politics in the region between Qatar and the UAE.[11] CTIC China Team kept 2013 runner-up Philippe Chiappe and their young Chinese driver Xiong Ziwei[6] whilst F1 Atlantic Team also stayed with their line-up of Youssef Al Rubayan and Duarte Benavente.

Sami Seliö and Filip Roms continued the all-Finnish line-up at the Mad Croc team for 2014[7] whilst Marit Strømøy led the campaign for Team Nautica again, and for 2014 was partnered with fellow Scandinavian, young Swedish driver Erik Stark, replacing the retired Rinaldo Osculati.[10] Caudwell Racing were also back in the championship, campaigning their unique four-stroke engine package, but the team missed the first race in Qatar. An announcement during the summer however revealed their intentions for the rest of the season, with Ivan Brigada again leading the South African team alongside Slovakian Tomas Cermak who was returning to the sport for the first time since 2010.[9] Despite a very popular double points finish for the team at the Grand Prix of the Middle East, with Brigada an excellent seventh, the challenges faced with running heavier four-stroke engines against the well-established and lighter Mercury two-strokes finally took its toll. Caudwell were forced to bow out of the championship prior to the fifth and final race of the season in Sharjah, with 2014 proving to be their most successful year.[12]

Season calendar

Countries that hosted F1 Powerboat races in 2014, shown in green. Former host nations are shown in pink.

A five race calendar made up the 2014 F1 Powerboat season, the smallest in the history of the championship. It began in Doha, Qatar on 15 March and ended in Sharjah, UAE on 19 December. Having pulled out in 2013, Russia did not return to the calendar for 2014, and in addition a Brazilian race was not held, despite its debut in 2013 amidst much fanfare. The round in Ukraine, scheduled for 24 August, was subsequently cancelled in the wake of the country's unrest, and an additional race in Qatar titled the Grand Prix of the Middle East was added to the calendar in Ukraine's place.[13] A second round in China was expected initially, but was later removed from the schedule leaving Liuzhou as China's sole representation in 2014, marking 20 years since the championship first visited the country.[14]

Round Race Title Date Circuit Location Race Winner Hull/Engine
1 Qatar 11th Grand Prix of Qatar 15 March Doha[15] Italy Alex Carella DAC/Mercury
2 China 18th Grand Prix of China 6 October Liuzhou Italy Alex Carella DAC/Mercury
3 Qatar 1st Grand Prix of the Middle East 15 November Doha[13] United States Shaun Torrente DAC/Mercury
4 United Arab Emirates 22nd Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 21 November Abu Dhabi France Philippe Chiappe Moore/Mercury
5 United Arab Emirates 15th Grand Prix of Sharjah 19 December Sharjah France Philippe Chiappe Moore/Mercury

Results and standings

Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. A maximum of two boats per team were eligible for points in the teams' championship.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 20 15 12 9 7 5 4 3 2 1

Drivers standings

Pos Driver QAT
Qatar
CHN
China
MID
Qatar
ABU
United Arab Emirates
SHA
United Arab Emirates
Points
1 France Philippe Chiappe 2 Ret 2 1 1 70
2 Italy Alex Carella 1 1 DSQ 5 2 62
3 United States Shaun Torrente Ret 4 1 2 3 56
4 Finland Sami Seliö Ret 8 3 4 4 33
5 Italy Francesco Cantando 4 Ret 5 6 5 28
6 Sweden Erik Stark Ret 2 6 8 Ret 23
7 Portugal Duarte Benavente 3 DNS DNS Ret 7 16
8 Poland Bartek Marszalek 8 5 8 10 9 16
9 United Arab Emirates Thani Al Qamzi 3 9 Ret 14
10 United Arab Emirates Ahmed Al Hameli 9 3 Ret 14
11 Finland Filip Roms 5 7 9 11 Ret 13
12 Sweden Jonas Andersson Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret 9
13 Norway Marit Strømøy 6 Ret 11 7 DNS 9
14 China Xiong Ziwei 7 10 Ret 13 8 8
15 Sweden Jesper Forss Ret Ret 12 6 5
16 Kuwait Youssef Al Rubayan Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 5
17 Italy Ivan Brigada Ret 7 Ret 4
18 Slovakia Tomas Cermak Ret 10 Ret 1
Italy Marco Gambi DNS
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)

Bold – Pole position
Italics – Fastest lap

Teams standings

Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here.

Pos Team Boat
No.
QAT
Qatar
CHN
China
MID
Qatar
ABU
United Arab Emirates
SHA
United Arab Emirates
Points
1 Qatar Qatar Team 1 1 1 DSQ 5 2 118
2 Ret 4 1 2 3
2 China CTIC China Team 7 2 Ret 2 1 1 78
8 7 10 Ret 13 8
3 Italy Mad Croc BaBa Racing Team 11 Ret 8 3 4 4 46
12 5 7 9 11 Ret
4 Italy Motorglass F1 Team 18 5 8 10 9 41
23 DNS
24 4 Ret 5 6 5
5 United States Team Nautica 50 6 Ret 11 7 DNS 32
51 Ret 2 6 8 Ret
6 United Arab Emirates Team Abu Dhabi 5 3 9 Ret 28
6 9 3 Ret
7 Portugal F1 Atlantic Team/Interpass/GC 9 Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret 21
10 3 DNS DNS Ret 7
8 Sweden Team Sweden 14 Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret 14
15 Ret Ret 12 6
9 South Africa Caudwell Racing 33 Ret 7 Ret 5
34 Ret 10 Ret
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)

Bold – Pole position
Italics – Fastest lap

References

  1. "Carella Locks Down Third Straight Title With Win In Sharjah!". F1H2O. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  2. ""Vive La France" Chiappe Wins First Title In Sharjah!". F1 Powerboat World Championship (H20 Racing). 19 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Torrente Sets Doha Alight With His 2nd Career Victory!". F1 Powerboat World Championship (H20 Racing). 15 November 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "Qatar Team "Going All Out" in Preperation For 2014!". F1H2O. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Team Abu Dhabi "Re-Energized" For 2014 Opener In Doha!". F1H2O. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "CTIC China Team Hungry To Finally Win A World Title!". F1H2O. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Sami Selio – More Determined Than Ever For 2014!". F1H2O. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Cantando To Lead Motorglass F1 Team In 2014!". F1H2O. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 "Caudwell Marine Returns With New Promise For China!". F1H2O. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 "Marit Stromoy To Lead Strong New "Team Nautica" Line-Up!". F1H2O. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  11. "WORLD F1 WEEKEND IN ABU DHABI". Raceboat International. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  12. "CAUDWELL DIALS OUT". Raceboat International. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  13. 1 2 "Qatar To Host Grand Prix Of The Middle East". F1H2O. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  14. "F1 H2O to Celebrate 20 Years in China With GP at Liuzhou!". F1H2O. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  15. http://uim.sportcentric.net/db14//files/serve.php?id=3140

External links

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