ROGGIERO WINS FROM THE POLE IN MALAYSIA!
CAPPELLINI TAKES 2ND AND WINS 7TH WORLD TITLE!

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: (18th of August) ­ The Italian Zepter Team took a rare one-two today picking up a win for 2nd driver Massimo Roggiero and the World Championship for team leader Guido Cappellini for the 7th time in 10 years as he continues to make history on the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating tour.

Roggiero, who came on strong in the top-6 qualifying yesterday with a pole setting time of 47.18 seconds around the 2 kilometer 7-pin course here at the Mines Resort City Resort just outside Kuala Lumpur, took the lead from the start and never looked back leading all 50 laps and taking his first win since Stresa, Italy back in 1998.

Cappellini, who started 3rd moved ahead of 2nd place Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team at the start and spent most of the race protecting his teammate while knowing if he stayed where he was, he would win his 7th title. The native of Como, Italy finished 3.5 seconds behind his teammate and now has 5 wins in 7 starts and 115 points on the year. Cappellini has won every championship in the last 10 years expect Scott Gillman’s two in 1997 and 2000 and Jonathan Jones title in 1998.

For American Scott Gillman, his older DAC boat worked well enough for him to continue his unbelieveably long streak of 30 straight podiums in his 30 finishes in 3rd place 5 seconds behind the winner Roggiero. Gillman’s 51 points moves him into 2nd place in the world championship race. Gillman’s delema all season is that he has run 4 different boats in 7 races. Gillman hopes the team will have a long development program over the winter months and be ready for their own design in 2003.

Italian Fabio Comparato took 4th after starting in the 4th position and fighting with Gillman early for the 3rd spot. He eventually finished 4 seconds behind Gillman for his 4th top 5 finish of the season.

Behind Comparato was another Italian Francesco Cantando who had his best result of the 2002 campaign despite leading 3 races and picking up 7 points in the 5th spot 12 seconds behind the winner Roggiero. Cantando went from 9th to 5th and finished four seconds ahead of Saudi Arabian Laith Pharaon who finished 6th after starting in the 5th position.

In the 7th spot was Ivan Torta, teammate to Francesco Cantando of the Singha Beer sponsored boat. Torta took his 5th top 10 finish of the season. In 8th position was Sweden’s Jari Honkala who had reached the top-6 shootout but couldn’t charge forward in his Molgaard boat.

Italian Fabrizio Bocca who started 11th got his 4th top 10 finish of the season in the Corona Beer sponsored boat, while Emirates driver Thani Al Qamzi was 10th and finished in the top 10 for the 4th time this season.

The only stoppage of the afternoon was when on the front straightaway Vincenzo Polli and Australian Kirk Tsaccounis got together, touched and blew over into a 360 degree blowover. Both drivers were transported without injury off the course.

Cappellini now has his 7th championship but the battle for the runner-up spot is still very much up for the taking with American Scott Gillman feeling the pressure from France’s Philippe Dessertenne with 46, Massimo Roggiero with 44 and both Laith Pharaon and Fabio Comparato with 42.

The U.I.M. F1 World Championship now takes a month off until the 8th of ten rounds scheduled for Waterford, Ireland and the Grand Prix of Ireland on the 15th of September.