MANY NEW FACES HI-LITE THE START OF 2003 SEASON!
CANTANDO ADDS YOUNGSTER AFTER LOSING TORTA!

Abu Dhabi, UAE, (18th April) - With just 2 weeks before the start of the 2003 campaign marking the beginning of the 22nd season of the worlds most exciting powerboat racing series, the U.I.M. F1 World Championship, many people have to be wondering "who are these guys" when it comes to all the new faces in the 11 team line-up for the opener at the Grand Prix of Portugal in Portimao on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of May.

Italian Guido Cappellini the current World Champion and 7-time holder of the title in the past 10 years, has always marked the beautiful city of Portimao as his first step towards capturing the title, having won in all 4 previous events in the Algarve region of Portugal. The lead driver of the Zepter Team has followed a new trend this season, adding a new teammate in Russian pilot Stanislav Kourtsenovsky who seems to have put together a serious effort for the upcoming season. Cappellini will be debuting his new "radical" boat that he hopes sets himself from the rest of the field of drivers once again while being a designer who has set the "trend" that past 5 years in the sport.

The other big talk of the past few weeks has come from Milan, where another Italian Francesco Cantando is finishing up his final designs and plans testing this weekend on his new "Blaze" catamaran boat that he hopes will lead him to his first world title. Cantando just recently received word from his teammate of the past few seasons Ivan Torta who was making great progress in the sport, was dropping out of the series this season because of family illness and responsibility that he would now need to take up because of the situation at home. The 28 year-old head of the Singha F1 Racing Team has named as a replacement for Torta the youngest driver in the series in 19 year-old Massimiliano "Max" Moreschi who joins the circus having placed 2nd last season in the European Formula 1000 series.

Veteran driver Andy Elliott of Great Britian joins Saudi driver and runner-up in the series a year ago, Laith Pharaon on the Team Green organization. Pharaon, who stated a year ago that 2003 would be his year to "truly" run for the title, will be looked upon as a driver to truly challenge Cappellini for the top rung. Elliott, who has pushed for the title in the past maybe a serious runner this season joining one of the most respected teams on the tour.

Australian Bob Trask will join the tour full time joining new teammate Massimo Roggiero on the newly formed Baba Seaquest Racing Team. Trask, a long time participant in the domestic Australian series will be chasing his first world championship points and will learn a lot from his likeable team Roggiero who picked up two wins and finished 3rd in the championship a year ago.

The Rainbow Corona Extra Team will stay put this season with one-time World Champ Fabrizio Bocca who was 10th in the series in 2002 with 3 top-5 finishes and 5 top-10 results leading the effort, while Swedish driver Pierre Lundin running his first full campaign after picking up a top-5 finish last season.

Portugese driver Duarte Benavente will lead the Atlantic Team in his English built Burgess hulled boat looking to improve on his 8th place finish in the championship. In Portimao,  all eyes will be on the native of Lisbon, who had a 4th place finish in the event back in 2000. Dutch driver Marcel Meiberg will join him in his first F1 campaign, while fellow Portugese pilot Luis Figueiredo will join him in Portimao.

Another new team Danita Racing will be led by Danish driver Gert Ladefoged who made more improvement than any other driver during last season's competition, finishing 13th overall will add rookie Belgian Julius Leysen who comes over from the F1 Waterski Racing World Championship tour as one of there leading drivers.

Team Ligier Sport could be one of the most exiciting to watch with a fully French flavored effort with lead driver Philippe Dessertenne, 4th in the championship a year ago coming off a win and 4 podium finishes. Joining Dessertenne will be fellow countryman Philippe Chiappe who joined the team last season in the final two events.

A pair of Finnish drivers will make up the Velden Racing F1 team led by Sami Selio who continues to show great promise in the Johnson powered 3.0 litre effort put together by multi-time world titleholder Cees van der Velden. Joining Selio will be Michael Weckstrom who had 1 top-10 finish on his way to 18th place in limited action in 2002.

The Emirates Team will once again be led by 2-time World Champion American Scott Gillman who will mark his 4th season with the team. Gillman, who finished 5th in the championship in 2002 struggled with 4 different boat hulls and hopes to find his first victory in 2 seasons. Thani Al Qamzi the talented United Arab Emirates driver from Abu Dhabi, looks to improve on his 5 top-10 finishes having run a strong F2 series during the winter months throughout the Middle East.

Fabio Comparato of the Comparato Racing Team finishing 6th in the title chase with a podium finish and 4 top 5's looks for his first win in a boat he and his family are building in the boat factory near Venice. Joining the Italian will be Luigi Roberto who was 5th last season in the Italian F2 championship in his first full taste of F1 racing.

Team Maremagnum is expected to join the circuit at the season's 3rd event at the Grand Prix of Hungary. Veteran Italian Franco Leidi will head the team with fellow Italian Marco Gambi comes from the sport prototype series.

So a full field of drivers are ready to start the 22nd edition of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship at the Grand Prix of Portugal in Portimao on the 3rd and 4th of May. The new drivers and a few "wildcards" throughout the season along with new boat manufacturers will make this a good possibility that this season will be a one to remember for excitement on the water in the quest for a new World Champion of the sport.