25 DRIVERS SET FOR "MIDNIGHT SUN" RUN IN HELSINKI!
GRAND PRIX OF FINLAND FIRST OF 2 STRAIGHT BACK TO BACK EVENTS IN JUNE!

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: (6th of June, 2002) – The largest field of drivers of the 2002 U.I.M. F1 World Championship series is expected for the weekend of June 14th thru the 16th at the 2nd Annual Grand Prix of Finland as the tour comes north to the land of the "Midnight Sun" in Helsinki, Finland.

The races return to the country of Finland for the second time in 5 years with the 1998 event in Tampere being the first ever 60 degrees north latitude, thus being the farthest point north on earth that F1 racing had ever taken place. In that event, Scandanavian pilot Goran Karlof took his only F1 victory and other drivers from the region will be in the line-up hoping for the same success come race day making this the largest field expected of the season.

Italian Guido Cappellini leads the World Championship with 40 points on a perfect two for two season thus far with wins in Portugal and Campione d' Italia. The lead driver of the Zepter sponsored team will be hoping for pole position in Finland as he did in Tampere 5 years ago but also, looking for better luck after failing to finish the event at days end. The win would mark his 42 career victory in his career that has spanned 17 seasons.  

A possible teammate to Cappellini could be organizer of the event Helsinki's own Pertti Leppala who has raced once before on the Cappellini crusade and winning with ease in Vienna in his last event in September of 2000. Leppala, who had a great shot at winning his home Grand Prix in 1998 before dropping out, could be a wild card in the mix and would dearly love to make his finish in Finland a storybook ending.

Cappellini's full season teammate Massimo Roggiero who has in the past run as many as two 2 boat teams his hoping to turn his luck around in the Zepter sponsored effort with an 8th place finish in Campione his only showing for points in the first two events of the season. The likeable driver from Varese, Italy was the last to drop out of the 1998 event in Finland and would like to change his luck this upcoming week.

Second in the World Championship is Fabio Comparato with 24 points with a 2nd at the last event in Campione and a 4th in Portimao. He has led both races this season, only to have dropped back in the last third of each event with a variety of problems in his Nautica Comparato sponsored DAC Mercury powered 2.5 litre machine. This will mark his first trip to Finland for the driver from Venice.

Third in the title run is USA driver Mike Seebold fresh off an opening season win in Laughlin, Nevada in the American PROP F1 tour last weekend. Seebold, running for the Mueller Car Transport sponsored boat he helped build, is coming off a 4th place in Italy after hitting the season in full stride with a podium placed 3rd in the opener in Portugal. The native of St. Louis, Missouri who now makes his home in Marco Island, Florida is still learning about the "Euro Style" courses and hopes to do better on this season shortest 1.8 kilometer 6-turn course.

Finland's own up and coming star Sami Selio is 4th in the World Championship with 15 points courtesy of a 2nd place finish in the opening round in Portugal. The 27 year old driver is hoping that his 3.0 litre Johnson powered DAC boat will get him back to the front of the pack. He finished 6th in Tampere back in 1998 and will be looking for another top three finish and maybe his first ever win in his Ionica Vivid Velden sponsored boat.

Another American driver and 2-time World Champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team is hoping finally his bad luck has come to a close and he can once again focus on winning. He came home on the podium with a 3rd last time out in Campione and is now 5th in the World Championship with 12 points. The native of Glenwood Springs, Colorado is going for his 12th win of his career and his 28th straight podium while finishing a race, a streak he has held since coming to the series in 1997. Last time out in Finland he finished 2nd to Goran Karlof of Sweden.

Another former World Champion Fabrizio Bocca in the Corona sponsored DAC is tied for 6th in the title run with Saudi Arabian pilot Laith Pharaon in his Four Seasons Hotels sponsored DAC boat. Bocca, who took a 5th in Portugal and failed to finish in Campione was 7th in Finland back in 1998. For Pharaon, it marks his first trip to the "north country" and he comes in with a 5th place finish in Campione following a 3rd place qualifying effort.

Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne in the Charente Maritime sponsored DAC is 8th in the title run with a 7th in Portugal and a 9th in Campione following a first lap crash and a charge through the field. The native of La Rochelle, France was 3rd in the World Championship a year ago and is still trying to hit his stride here in Finland a place where he finished 11th in Tampere.

Portugese driver Duarte Benavente is tied with Italian Ivan Torta for 9th in the title run with 5 points. Benavente got tangled up with Dessertenne on the opening lap and retired last time out while Torta took it home to a 6th place effort in Campione d' Italia.

The biggest disappointment of the season has to be to Italian Francesco Cantando who for the past two seasons has finished 2nd in the championship and has 6 career victories. The friendly native of Milan has led both rounds of the championship this season only to crash while leading in Portugal and having a mechanical problem while out in front in Campione. His 7th place finish give him just 4 points and a long way back to his chief rival Cappellini and his 40 points. Cantando has proven to be the quickest this season, now if he can keep it clean to the finsh he can hopefully take home his first win of the campaign.

Other new faces expected in Helsinki will be Russian pilot Stanislov Kourtsenovsky and Finnish driver and Swedish native Michael Weckstrom both driving for the Ionica Vivid Velden race team. Also, Austrian pilot Rupert Temper is expected with the Michael Werner prepared Mueller Auto Transport sponsored team for the first time this season.

An exciting new event in the capital city of Helsinki with little darkness and a lot of activities surrounding the event should make this race one of the most eagerly awaited venues of the season. Following the Helsinki event, the teams pack up and head south to Budapest as they welcome back the capital of Hungary to the calendar in over a decade as the teams aim for round #4 and the Grand Prix of Hungary on the weekend of the 21st thru the 23rd of June and the river Danube Festival.

Notes: We send our best to Michael Werner the man behind the MMPower operation who has been in the hospital all week following a very dangerous operation following a ruptured appendix last weekend. Michael is doing well and is expected to be well enough, he hopes for the trip to Helsinki …   .All the best wishes to the many time powerboat World Champion and Germany's most decorated driver  …  Michael Seebold is finally getting a weekend off after finishing 4th in Campione two weeks ago and winning last weekend in Laughlin, Nevada …  He will now be heading back to Florida to compete in a deep sea fishing contest looking to catch marlin and sailfish … .Is this our newest version of "The Old Man and The Sea"?... Look out for the many "fish tales" that will be coming your way next weekend … .Great to see Stanislav Kourtsenovsky and Michael Weckstrom back on the tour … Michael is the Finn who really is a Swede, who, well, we did this last year … Scott Gillman has been traveling a fair share, heading out to Abu Dhabi after the event in Campione before trying to get home for a few days in Colorado … Did you forget the names of the wives of the American drivers? It's simple, both Scott and Michael's wives are named "Lori" …  Wasn't it great to have 3 legends of racing all together for the first time in years in Campione, with Renato Molinari, Bill Seebold and Cees Van der Velden all in one place and picking up the fun and kidding each other like they did when they were teammates back in the early 1970's?...Yours truly will be doing the "Marathon Madness" dash next week by catching a Tuesday night "red eye" all nighter flight from Portland, Oregon on the West Coast to Atlanta and then flying into Orlando arriving at 730 and in time to go home for 2 hours, pack and head back to the airport to fly to Miami, then flying another night to Paris and connecting to Helsinki and arriving on 1430 on Thursday … .If I catch a nap while talking to you on Thursday, just slap me to wake me up … ..ciao and from the beach … see you all next week. "Sunshine"