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Al-Hameli, Al-Qamzi, Seebold qualify for China Grand Prix

LINY — Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al-Hameli, Thani Al-Qamzi and newcomer Tim Seebold qualified in fourth, sixth and ninth places respectively for Sunday’s Grand Prix of China, round three of the 2010 UIM F1 World Championship, on the Yihe River in Linyi.

Fractions of a second separated the leading five or six drivers in the thrilling three-stage qualifying session and Italian Alex Carella claimed the first pole position of his short career from Team Qatar’s Jay Price. The result means that Al-Hameli slips to second position behind Finland’s Sami Selio in the UIM F1 Pole Position Championship standings after three of eight rounds.

Yellow and red flags marred the first-ever incident-filled F4 race. Team Abu Dhabi’s Majed Al-Mansoori had qualified in third position in damp, overcast conditions, but the race ran out of time after several yellow and red flag incidents and no official positions were awarded because 35 per cent of the laps had not been completed.

F4 runners will race again before the F1 Grand Prix in Sunday afternoon.

American Tim Seebold joined Team Abu Dhabi with Skydive Dubai sponsorship in the days before the Linyi race and drove a 2008 DAC.

He sat in the boat for the first time during the morning’s free practice session and set some impressive lap times on his way to an eventual ninth position.

Team Abu Dhabi runs under the auspices of the ADIMSC with full support from the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Shaikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan and the patronage of His Royal Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.

Al-Hameli had recorded the second fastest time in the first two time trial sessions of the new season in Portugal and Russia and topped the UIM F1 pole position standings before the Linyi race meeting.

A qualifying session would eliminate five of the 20 boats and all three Team Abu Dhabi drivers needed to be on their guard.

Alex Carella set the pace with a lap of 52.34s, but Francesco Cantando moved ahead of Sami Selio and Al-Hameli after six minutes of the session. Seebold and Al-Qamzi held sixth and 11^th positions respectively, but the latter posted a 53.01s to move above the former into sixth place and then hit the front with a lap of 52.11s. Seebold moved up to sixth place to give Team Abu Dhabi three boats inside the top six.

Price surged through to the top of the field with a lap of 50.73s, as Seebold, Al-Qamzi and Al-Hameli held second, third and sixth places respectively to the end of the first qualifying session.