Andersson takes individual title, Team Abu Dhabi cling on to their team championship for now

SARDINIA: Sweden’s Jonas Andersson clinched the UIM F1H2O World Championship for the second time on Sunday with a convincing victory in the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy.

Andersson’s start-to-finish success in Olbia also puts Team Sweden in a strong position to secure the team title won for the last five times by Team Abu Dhabi.

While the defending champions had a disappointing day in Olbia, with Thani Al-Qemzi finishing eighth and Rashid Al-Qemzi 10th, they will still take the fight into December’s final round in Sharjah, which has produced many dramatic finishes over the years.

Andersson was crowned champion in Sardinia after an impressive third successive Grand Prix victory, cruising home from Frenchman Peter Morin, with Sharjah Team’s Ferdinand Zandbergen taking the third podium spot to go second in the championship standings.

The Dutchman will now look to secure the silver medal in Sharjah, although he can expect to come under pressure from his two closest challengers, Victory Team’s Erik Stark and Morin.

After his pole position success yesterday, Andersson looked in complete control following his superb start to take an immediate lead, which he never looked like surrendering.

Stark instantly swept past Italy’s Alberto Comparato to initially grab second place, but later dropped back to fifth and slipped to third in the championship.

Team Abu Dhabi’s two Emirati drivers were unable to recover from their qualifying setbacks. Thani Al-Qemzi, winner in Olbia last year, gained one place from his starting position but could not mount a climb through the field.

After securing his fourth F2 world title earlier this month, Rashed-Al Qemzi had problems at the start of the qualifying sprint race, and while he