ABU DHABI - Frenchman Philippe Chiappe became the seventh driverin the 32-year-history of the UIM F1H2O World Championship to become amultiple-time title holder winning both the Porto, Portugal and Liuzhou, ChinaGrand Prix back-to-back midway through the season and leaving the competitiongasping for air at the end of 2015.

His pair of wins gave him a much needed bit of breathing roomand opened the door for the 13 year veteran to claim his back-to-back titlesfor the CTIC China Team in the world's most difficult racing series on water.

The 2015 campaign was a ten-month odyssey that began in March inDoha, Qatar. It carried on all the way to the Grand Prix of Sharjah just twoweeks before the end of 2015 in the lovely Khalid Lagoon, by which time, thedriver from Rouen had already earned his second title in two years.

It wasn't easy for the defending champion. Coming into Doha on atwo race winning streak at the last pair of events in 2014, he qualified andfinished second on a rough afternoon on Doha Bay. He then put himself in agiant hole, at his home Grand Prix in Evian in France, when he earned poleposition and to the disappointment of the tens-of-thousands of fans, he droppedout while in front at near the halfway mark picking up no points and nowdropping farther back in the drivers’ championship.

Philippe dug deep in probably his best drive of the year in Porto,Portugal, hounding race leader Sami Selio of the Mad Croc Baba Team and passedthe two-time World Champion near mid-race and cruising home to a criticalvictory, putting him just one point off the championship lead halfway throughthe season.

The next race in Liuzhou, China, saw Philippe at his best and,despite all sorts of pressure put on the team at their home race, the Frenchdriver snared pole and would go on to win his only perfect weekend of theseason for his fifth career victory and his fourth in his last six starts

The upcoming campaign looks to be only brighter, with new venuesand new drivers joining the already jammed starting grids for the Grand Prix's.It all happens on the world's most difficult and exciting racing stage onwater, the UIM F1H2O World Championship for powerboating.