MAKING WAVES - 2

FLORIDA, USA…July 26th - Anybody seen my luggage?...This was the common “cry” and there were tears all around the island of Sardinia…It’s become a tradition to loose one’s baggage on your arrival one that started last year when yours truly had no clothes for 3 days and joined a select group of patrons who were lucky enough to go out and buy $18 pair of Armani briefs…This year, same result with only a 6 hour delay…However, other people weren’t so lucky…Example “A”…official scoring personnel John and Carol Stevens arrived from the UK looking rather smart in the clothes that we would then see for the next 3 days…Finally on Sunday, yes, they received their clothes only to lose them on the way back!....Ziggy Beottle also fell in the “where are my clothes” category and finding him in purgatory for 24 hours..But the hard luck story of the weekend happened to go to my broadcast partner Jonathan Jones…Old “J.J.” had his daughter along when on the way home to Wales had his flight delayed out of Cagliari only to arrive in Rome to be told he would have to wait for the next flight…No problem? Problem…the next flight wasn’t until 10 1⁄2 hours later…So, they sat and sat and well, you get the idea, only to arrive home and guess what, they lost their luggage!...But, the story doesn’t end there….”Mr. Lead foot” trying to make time getting home got caught speeding and ended up paying a large fine in the process…Don’t worry J.J. I’ll be driving to Stralsund not you…Oh, and by the way, what happened to that radar detector?...Meanwhile, for me it was decisions, decisions…..Do I watch the movie “Catch Me If You Can?” for the 3rd time, or do I watch “Two Weeks Notice” for the 2nd time?.....This is the life of one who was starting a 9 1⁄2 hour journey to Philadelphia...But, hey, lets get back to the subject here, inside scoops on the Grand Prix of the Mediterranean from the lovely “City of the Sun” in Cagliari, Sardinia…The weekend started in a great way with enjoying and celebrating series promoter Nicolo Di San Germano’s birthday. Happy 40th….and yes our web wizard Philippe S. and his 30th birthday was also during the weekend...same to you….great prizes were had for the two by Mr. & Mrs. Kourtsenovsky…Zepter Racing’s Guido Cappellini did a disappearing act like hadn’t seen since Scott Gillman’s win in Turkey back in 2000 and winning for the 4th time…A 31 second victory made everyone work harder making it that much more exciting…Speaking of Gillman, the 2nd place and podium keeps his streak alive of finishing every race of the 6 year history on the podium with either a 1-2-3 finish…Laith Pharaon used a sticker from his past to help him and it did! He put on a University of Southern California bumper sticker on the right sponsor and sure enough, he got a podium with a 3rd place the first this season….Go Trojans!...Fabio Comparato had his 3rd straight finish in the top 7 and is now 4th in the standings just two points behind Gillman for 3rd with 25…Best consistent performance so far this season has to go to Lisbon’s Duarte Benavente with a 5th and 3 top 5’s this season…Last year was a bad memory for Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne who failed to leave the dock on the start…After qualifying a lowly 17th I think he was feeling the same misery but instead charged up to take 6th…Lone Englishman Andy Elliott did his usual, started in 13th and finished with a charge at 7th…Dane Gert Ladefoged took a fine 8th while his teammate on the Danita Team rookie Julius Leysen was 9th after starting 18th…nice job rook….One time World Champ Fabrizio Bocca got his 3rd straight top 10 for the Corona Beer effort after starting 12th and gave us some wonderful pixs on the on-board camera for television…The Aussie contingent, Bob Trask nice job on the interview and us, it will happen “Mr. Rookie”…Three major disappointments were first from Francesco Cantando in the Singha Beer team machine while battling for the top spot only to have a propeller blade disappear and help put to a close a fine effort until that point….To Cees “cheese” van der Velden you know who you are, keep going brother you and Sami S will get it right sooner than you think…And finally to our friend Massimo Roggiero who, while reaching for the back door on the race trailer to close, jumped up and nearly took off his middle finger getting it caught on Sunday AM…His cast makes like he’s giving everyone he see’s the “bird” and letting everyone know that they, not he, is numero uno…So it’s off to Germany for my favorite little “bullring” of a race course where something always wild happens…Ciao from the beach……SM