Ahmed Al Hameli leads from start to finish
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Ahmed Al Hameli of Team Abu Dhabi won the opening round of this year’s Formula 1 H20 world championship series in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.
After being pushed for 39 of the 40-lap contest by the two-time world champion Sami Selio, he went on to win by 2.63 seconds, gaining 20 valuable points.
“It was great,” said Ahmed. “It took me four races last year to earn my first points so it’s good to start off with a win and head the championship.”
Sami Selio didn’t get the luck he was hoping for, finishing third after lying second for all but the final lap.
He was passed by French driver Philippe Chiappe who jumped from fourth to second picking up 15 well-earned points.
“I was so happy with my boat today,” said Philippe. “It ran like it was on rails and we had the jump in the final few laps to pass Sami to slide from fourth to second which was one of my most exciting days in racing.”
The world championship now heads for Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia for the second straight year on the weekend of June 23-24.
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