Powerboat Racing: Singapore’s Larry Chua and Laurence Wong finish 6th overall in Nations Cup

By Tan Jon Han/Red Sports

Marina Bay, Sunday, November 20, 2011 — Singapore drivers Larry Chua and Laurence Wong crashed in their own waters as both failed to clock a finish on the second day in the rain-soaked F1H2O Nations Cup race.

The Team Singapore drivers had better luck in the Match Race the previous day where Larry and Laurence finished 5th and 10th respectively. The knock-out race saw drivers racing against each other over an alternating loop course. Together with that result, Team Singapore finished joined 6th in the overall standings.

Team United Arab Emirates (UAE) proved to be the strongest contender, winning both races. Pilot Ahmed Al Hameli (UAE), who was the fastest qualifier as well as the winner of the Match Race yesterday, claimed the championship’s title. Qatar’s pilot Khalid Saleh Al Shamlan came in second in the Grand Prix, and the second UAE pilot, Majed Al Mansoori, came in third out of 16 boats that finished the race.

The Singapore drivers dropped out of the race in succession after meeting with individual mishaps. Laurence Chua (#11) was quick on the throttle to chase leader Al Hameli (#6) of Team UAE, after racing resumed on lap 23 due to an earlier incident involving Paul Gaiser (#18) of Team Brazil. However, he barely made it to the first turn as the choppy waves knocked his catamaran over.

Teammate Larry Chua lasted 34 laps before losing control of his raceboat and nearly colliding into the Merlion platform, much to the horror of the spectators. Larry ended in 15th place, with Laurence further back in 17th.

Said Larry Chua about making the quarter-finals on Day 1: “I was quite surprised I made it, I think that everyone put maximum effort in this event and I was lucky this time around. Today’s race is very different from the ones I’m used to as I usually do lap races, so this is interesting.”

This is the first international powerboat race for the Singapore team. About the team’s overall performance, team manager Bernard Koh said: “The Singapore drivers performed well in the match race yesterday (Saturday) putting the nation in fourth position. Today (Sunday), the drivers had to deal with the rain and choppy elements which made racing very testing and challenging.

“On an overall note, the team put in a great performance finishing overall 6th in the F1H2O Nations Cup, their first major international powerboat racing event. We hope younger drivers can gain from their experience and their participation can encourage Singaporeans to pick up the sport.”

Overall results of F1H2O Nations Cup
1. United Arab Emirates
2. Qatar
3. South Africa
4. Malaysia
5. Finland
6. Singapore
6. Hungary
8. Brunei
9. Brazil
10. Saudi Arabia