PHARAON WINS IN ABU DHABI; CAPPELLINI  TAKES TITLE!
GILLMAN LEADS EARLY FAILS TO FINISH; BENAVENTE 2ND!

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: (12th of December) - In the old "fairy tale" between the tortoise and the hare its not always the swiftest that wins. Today, this was proven once again as Italian Guido Cappelllini of the Zepter Team took home a 3rd place finish in the 12th Annual Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi and took is 8th World Championship in 11 years on the U.I.M. F1 World Tour.

The 55-lap final event of the season saw fastest qualifier Scott Gillman of the favoured Emirates Team get a great start and pull away from Cappellini and the rest of the field by over a second a lap. By the 8th tour the native of California had a full straight length lead until his engine broke going thru turn 5 of the 6-pin course. His hopes of a 3rd world title going up in smoke at the same time as Cappellini cruised by in first.

With Cappellini leading and now realizing that he didn't need to win to capture the title, slowed up and gave Saudi Laith Pharaon the lead on lap 10 and the driver of Team Green never looked back taking his first victory of the season and his 3rd of his career to end on a high note of an otherwise disappointing campaign.

Portuguese driver Duarte Benavente  pushed Pharaon hard in 2nd for most of the race meeting and when  the event was over, lost by 8 seconds but at the same time finished his career best in his Interpass Castrol Mercury powered  Burgess.

Fabio Comparato of the Nautica Comparato Team  pushed hard with Cappellini late in the race for the final podium finish but ran out of steam and settled for 4th. Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne was 5th in his Ligier Sports DAC, while rookie Julius Leysen of Belgium was  6th in the Danita entry.

Fabrizio Bocca of the Corona Extra Team came home in 7th, while rookie driver Max Moreschi was 8th in the Singha F1 Team as Finnish driver Sami Selio settled for 9th after taking out a buoy pushing for 4th at the time.

Francesco Cantando, the third driver having a shot at the title stopped early in the pits and went out 2 laps later charging up from 17th to finish a well deserved 10th.

A late protest decision gave Sami Selio his 5th place back after stating that Cappellini pushed him into the buoy and it was upheld moving everyone from 5th to 8th down one spot.

So, Cappellini takes his 8th title and his 3rd straight despite winning just twice on the 8 race tour of 2003, but smart driving on the final round once again proved him to be the complete package and a well deserved World Champion.

The start of the 2004 season is scheduled for Mumbai,  India for the first weekend of March. Can Cappellini continue for his promised 10 titles before retirement? We can only tell by next seasons performance.