UIM F1H2O World Championship: Torrente accepts blame for double setback

Abu Dhabi: Shaun Torrente says he will recover quickly after beginning his UIM F1H2O World Championship title defense today with a double disappointment as strong winds brought the Indonesian Grand Prix to an early end.

The Team Abu Dhabi rider and defending champion appeared to have started the season with a dramatic opening win as he finished first in race one before race officials ruled he had jumped the start.

There followed an earlier setback in qualifying this morning when the three-time F1H2O World Champion thought he had claimed the 11th pole position of his career, only to have his best time erased due to a course infringement.

The two incidents resulted in a first pole position and career Grand Prix win for Polish driver Bartek Marszalek. The second scheduled race of the day was later abandoned after just two laps when high winds made racing conditions dangerous.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate Bartek on his first win,” said Torrente. “He deserves it. We had a good race and he didn’t make any mistakes. I’m very happy for him.”

“I can deal with defeat. In this sport you lose more than you win. But I’m angry with myself. I let the team down after all our preparation and everything we did this weekend. I won the race on the water but gave it away.

“I feel bad for the team because as always they were fantastic and deserved the win. But I’ll pick myself up quickly and move forward.

“I had pole then it was gone just because of a timing error. Then, after starting second, I jumped a little over. I still had a good race, but that’s the way it is.”

With an estimated 100,000 spectators lining the shores of the volcanic Lake Toba following Saturday’s postponement due to high winds, race officials decided to split today’s Grand Prix into two shortened 18-lap races after the morning’s qualifying session.

Marszalek started from pole in race one and held off Torrente until Team Sharjah’s Ferdinand Zandbergen retired and caught a yellow flag in the closing stages.

Torrente went past pole from the restart and moved clearly on the final two laps as he appeared to have repeated his win on last season’s opening lap before his start violation resulted in a one-lap penalty and moving him to ninth discarded space.

Marszalek’s win gave him an early lead in the F1H2O World Championship. Sharjah Team’s Sami Selio finished second ahead of Victory Team’s Erik Stark, while Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al Qemzi climbed to fifth after starting from ninth place.