CAPPELLINI CAPTURES FIRST VICTORY OF SEASON!
CANTANDO & BOCCA SWEEP PODIUM FOR MERCURY!

Portimao, Portugal - 30th April: 5-time World Champion Guido Cappellini of Como, Italy, proved to his competitors and to the racing world that a 2.5 liter Mercury engine can not only last the full distance of a race, but can win as well, as he took a 3. 43 second victory over fellow Italian Francesco Cantando by capturing the opening round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating at the Grand Prix of Portugal.

Cappellini, who won here in Portimao last season on his way to his 5th title in 7 years, came to the lead on the first lap outduelling pole-sitter Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team in his DAC Abu Dhabi Tourism machine. Gillman, the 1997 World Champion from Basalt, Colorado, had set fast time in qualifying with a 50.97 second lap around the 9-pin 1.7 kilometer course on the Arade River. The 3-time U.S.A. Champion was forced to give up using his 2.5 liter Mercury engine in favor of his smaller 2 liter powerplant after breaking his 3rd engine of the week. Gillman, 3rd after the first lap, stayed in that position until a trim pump and finally engine problem took him out of the event after 25 laps.

Francesco Cantando in the Singha Beer DAC/Mercury 2.5 liter machine got a great jump and rocketed to 2nd after starting 5th off the pontoon and got as close a 1.7 seconds to Cappellini before setting for 2nd place at the end. For the likeable Italian, it was Cantando's first podium in two years and erases a year of frustration where he finished 14th in the title chase with just 6 points.

Former World Champion Fabrizio Bocca also had a great return to the podium for the first time in a pair of years by finishing in 3rd place in his Rainbow Racing DAC/Mercury 2 liter hull. Starting 5th of the dock, he dropped back to 7th and came within 1.32 seconds of 2nd place after a spirited run in a smaller engine and a lot less horsepower and was the first of the 2 liters to finish.

The big story of the day went to local rookie Duarte Benavente of Lisbon, Portugal, racing in front of his home crowd started 7th and moved slowly up the grid in a cautious but steady finish 23 seconds behind Bocca for 3rd in his Singha Beer Burgess/Mercury 2 liter hull.

Another charger to the front of the pack was Laserline/Castrol teammate of race winner Cappellini, Fabio Comparato, in his 2nd year after winning the F2 title a few years ago. Comparato was ruled to be using an illegal exhaust on his 2.5 liter Mercury engine in qualifying and has his 3rd starting qualifying time erased and was forced to start in the 15th and final spot on the grid. Working his was to 6th was a rewarding result in his 2-liter machine.

Another rookie that opened the eyes of the racing world was the 25 year-old from Abu Dhabi, Awad Al Qubaisi, who came out of his hospital bed on Saturday to finish in 6th after starting 14th in his Emirates Abu Dhabi Tourism DAC/Mercury 2 liter hull. The former offshore racer finished in the points in his first F1 event that he has gone the total distance.

Italian veteran Franco Leidi in the Waircom Mare Magnum DAC/Mercury 2 liter machine finished his best in the past 2 years with a 7th place finish. The best since his 7th in Istanbul last season. Another Italian, Massimo Roggiero in the Petrobras DAC/Mercury 2 liter machine had a bad luck race, having sat in 4th for most of the first three quarters of the event before starting to drop back with engine problems in the final few laps losing 3 spots alone on the final tour of the event.

Another rookie in his first event, Paul Gaiser of Brazil and teammate of Roggiero picked up two championship points in his Petrobras DAC/Mercury 2 liter boat 5 laps behind of Cappellini.

Drivers failing to finish were Hungarian pilot Rudy Mihaldinecz who had gotten as high as 4th in his Dunaferr RMA-Power Seebold/Mercury 2 liter machine, while Fuchs/Eurobet teammates Philippe Dessertenne and former World Champion Jonathan Jones has trouble early with Jones dropping out after only 8 laps in his Burgess/OMC after setting quickest time in morning warm-ups giving a little sunshine to a dark opening day to the OMC teams. Dessertenne dropped out on the 11th tour, while two other OMC teams, Sami Selio in the Veldon/OMC Team Finland machine and Carlos Maidana of Argentina in the Texaco Havoline Burgess/OMC didn't finish more than half a lap before running into engine problems and missed out on a great performance being the top OMC qualifier in 8th position on the grid. Portugal hasn't been kind to Maidana who now has still failed to record a lap in the last two years here in Portimao.

The U.I.M. F1 World Championship moves on to Antwerp, Belgium in two weeks for Round #2 on the 13th and 14th of May on the Schelde River. Can Cappellini make it two in a row? Can OMC break into the top 5? Can Scott Gillman win his 4th pole position in a row? All those questions will be answered on the Flemish side of the beautiful country of Belgium.