Abu Dhabi's Torrente clinches victory at Grand Prix Of India

Amravati - The first race to be held in the country since 2004 did not disappoint in the excitement stakes

Team Abu Dhabi continues to lead the UIM F1 H2O World Championship, but Shaun Torrente has replaced Thani Al Qemzi at the top of the points' standings after his start-to-finish victory in Sunday's gripping Grand Prix of India on the Krishna River in Amaravati.
Thani Al Qemzi led the championship by just one point before the race weekend, but the Emirati's title challenge suffered a major setback when he was forced to withdraw with engine issues after five laps. Team Abu Dhabi's third driver Erik Stark maintains second place in the championship standings, but third place for the Swede behind female race runner-up Marit Stromoy of the Emirates Racing Team means that Stark now trails Torrente by seven points with two races still to run.
Torrente, Stromoy and Stark were the class of the field that suffered a high rate of attrition on the punishing Indian river course. Three-time World Champion Philippe Chiappe of the CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team all but lost his chance of regaining the title after a start lap collision and defending champion Alex Carella of the Victory Team retired at the start with his own engine issues.
The first race to be held in the country since 2004 did not disappoint in the excitement stakes and Chiappe's team-mate Peter Morin finished fourth overall with Italian veteran Francesco Cantando rounding off the top five. The result also enabled Team Abu Dhabi to extend its lead over the CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team to a massive 53 points.