Team Abu Dhabi's Thani Al Qemzi and Alex Carella finished second and fourth respectively in Sunday's Grand Prix of Harbin, round three of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship, at the Hulan Estuary Wetland Park.

Team Sweden's Erik Stark, a four-time F2 world champion, led from pole position to secure his first-ever victory in F1 and leap into contention for the championship title in a race where the Victory Team's Ahmed Al Hameli finished third to move up to fifth in the title race.

Carella's fourth position was sufficient for the Italian to snatch an eight-point lead in the series, after Sami Selio retired with technical issues, rival Shaun Torrente also withdrew and current World Champion Philippe Chiappe finished a distant fifth. Carella said: "It was really tough. I had a good start. Shaun and Ahmed were on my side and I did not want to take risks. At the end I started to think of the championship and not the single race because Sami (Selio) and Shaun were out. I decided to stay quiet. It was a good result for me, for Thani and for Team Abu Dhabi. We are first in the championship and the Teams' Championship, so it was a good weekend for us."

Rashed Al Qemzi currently leads the UIM F2 World Championship but the Team Abu Dhabi driver missed out on his first ever F1 H2O points with 11th position in the third Team Abu Dhabi boat.

Team Abu Dhabi's Mohammed Al-Mehairbi moved up to third in the UIM F4-S Trophy standings by finishing the second of the 25-lap F4 races in a similar position behind winner Jeremy Brisset of the F1 Atlantic Team and new series leader Mansoor Al-Mansoori of the Emirates Racing Team.

Earlier, the Team Abu Dhabi trio lined up in second, sixth and 13th respectively for the race, with Sami Selio and Amaury Jousseaume both starting after their crashes in qualifying, although the Finn slipped from fifth to 15th and this lifted both Carella and Rashed Al Qemzi.

Source: Khaleej Times