Sharjah 24 – WAM: Team Abu Dhabi enjoyed a perfect start to the 2022 UIM F1H2O World Championship Sunday as Shaun Torrente won the Grand Prix of France from team-mate Thani Al Qemzi.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club, dedicated the win to President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and to the government and people of the UAE.

"Today's victory is a translation of the support provided by the UAE leadership for sports and sportsmen across the nation," he said.

Torrente, world champion in 2018 and 2019, capitalised for his tenth career Grand Prix success when Team Sharjah’s Sami Selio dramatically came to a halt on the 37th of 60 laps after leading from pole position.

The two Abu Dhabi drivers had set off in second and third positions with the aim of piling the pressure on Selio and the Finnish two-time world champion was ultimately denied a first Grand Prix win since 2016 by mechanical problems.

It was a second successive one-two start to a F1H2O season by Team Abu Dhabi, following Al Qemzi’s victory from Torrente in Italy last year.

The result underlined their status as overwhelming favourites for a fifth world team title, and suggested that the two team-mates could go on to battle it out to decide this year’s individual F1H2O driver’s crown.