The team experienced the ultimate highs and lows of international powerboat racing at the second and third rounds of the UIM F1H2O World Championship, with Ferdinand Zandbergen claiming a first career pole and race win and two-time World Champion Sami Selio setting superb lap times only to be denied success by two accidents, the second of which cost him any chance of taking part in the second race.

A focused Selio said:

“Even now I still have mixed emotions about the race weekend, especially after seeing the work involved to a fix a crazy amount of damage that could have easily been avoided. It was absolutely great for Zandbergen because that result now shows that the Sharjah Team have two strong drivers capable of getting the job done. For me though, to have a podium place snatched away is still hard to understand.”

The flying Finn now has a target of achieving a podium finish in Sardinia this weekend. Way back in 2004, when Scott Gillman won the last race on the island, a young Selio finished second overall at the Grand Prix of Europe in Cagliari.

“To stand next to Scott Gillman was almost like an honour, as he had secured a podium place every year that we race there,” added Selio, who now has a point to prove this weekend. “It’s not easy to get good results as every lap in your entire racing career will be different. That’s what keeps it interesting and that’s all the motivation that is needed.”

Tomorrow (Friday), drivers will be permitted to take part in an extra free practice session on the 1620-metre, eight-pin course adjacent to the Molo Brin pier in Olbia.

Ferdinand Zandbergen is only 27 years old, his teammate, Sami Seliö still has what it takes, but he is 47. We started to play with numbers this morning, and the youngest driver on the grid is Kalle Vippo. 

Kalle has not yet showed us the results we expect, but his change over to a DAC hull will give him an easier way forward and upwards. 

Jonas Andersson Vippo’s teammate, is 48, and he is the reigning world champion.

The youngest team on the start pontoon are Gillman Racing. 

We will not take team manager Scott Gillman into account, but his drivers. 

Filip Roms is 28 and Alec Wekstrøm 24. 

Wekstrøm was in the mix on Saturday with a third-place finish in round two of the UIM F1H2o event.   

The senior driver on the tour is 59-year-old old super veteran, Philippe Chiappe. 

He is racing together with Peter Morin 42. 

The average age of a F1H2o driver is right now 40.6 years. 

In Formula One it is 27.75 this season.

That number is pulled up by Hamilton and Alonso.

Alonso is the oldest driver, he is 40, just a tad under the average age of the UIM F1H2o field.

If you take out the five youngest drivers, born mid / late 90´s your average will jump to 47!

PRW believes that the average age will drop, its more likely to believe that the senior drivers will drop out, and younger drivers will be lining up. 

The three hottest youngsters nowadays are Zandbergen, Weckstrøm and the former UIM F2 World Champion, Alberto Comparato. 

They can all set poles and win races. 

It only took Zandbergen five races to win his first race. 

That’s good, but not a record. 

Seliö’s former teammate Alex Carella, made it in his third F1H2o start. 

These drivers cannot do it constantly and every day like 44 year old, Team Abu Dhabi driver Shaun Torrente, but they will get the experience.  

The future

There was also hope and an optimistic atmosphere in the pits. 

Until now, the drivers have been the driving force behind the races, low budget F1H2o events to get it up and going again. 

That will change next month, as race promotor H2o Racing will have a ‘business as usual’ event complete with their hallmark style and high standards. 

We have reason to believe that it’s going to be an exciting event in Sardinia, and it will be formally announced later today. 

The future sounds and looks bright for F1h2o.