ABU DHABI – December 31, 2011 – The 2008 World Champion and two time runner-up of the UIM F1 H2O World Championship for the past two seasons Jay Price of New Orleans, Louisiana is announcing he has officially resigned from the championship Qatar Team as of today.

“I am announcing my resignation, the final day of 2011 and will be searching for new goals with the start of a new year tomorrow,” said the American. “I’ve done a lot of thinking since the final race at the Grand Prix of Sharjah and feel it’s best for all concerned that I walk away from the Qatar organization and rethink my future in the sport.”

The USA veteran who has been running full time on the tour since 2006 has put together 52 official Grand Prix starts, winning 11 times while reaching the podium in 25, which, is almost half his races. Jay this past season finished on the podium in all five of the races he completed and has a remarkable three year record of reaching the podium in 22 of his last 26 finishes.

“It’s time for me to build my own legacy with a new approach,” said Jay. “Now, I felt, was a time to move on.”

There has been no official statement coming from Doha and the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) yet on the state of their six year team driver, or a replacement to fill the second seat that would go along with new World Champion Alex Carella of Italy. The 26 year-old driver brilliantly out dueled Jay and won the title from Jay in the final two weeks of the 2011 season.

The 2012 UIM F1 H2O World Championship campaign is a short 10 weeks away and as luck would have it, the first Grand Prix will be held in Doha along the corniche for the 10^th Grand Prix of Qatar on the weekend of the 9^th and 10^th of March.