CAPPELLINI WINS APPEAL; WILL RACE IN QATAR!!
TECHNICALITY OPENS UP DOOR FOR COMEBACK!

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – October 20, 2005 – U.I.M. F1 World Championship points leader Guido Cappellini won his appeal after the U.I.M. Commissioners and Officer Of the Day  had originally issued the native of Como, Italy a red card for dangerous driving at the Grand Prix of Singapore on the 18th of September, thus, forcing him to sit out the next race. However, with his appeal being upheld, he will now be allowed to participate in the next round at the Grand Prix of Qatar on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of November in Doha. This now opens the door once again for Cappellini to win his 9th world title holding a 17.5 point advantage with just 3 rounds to go in the championship.

The 8-time World Champion won his case by stating that according to the spirit of the U.I.M. rule 405.03 he was unable to officially protest his red card since both he and his Team Manager were at the hospital following his accident with current World Champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team and thus had no opportunity to lodge a protest due to the medical treatment that Cappellini was receiving.

The appeal Board, which consisted of Kimon Papachristopoulos, Cees van der Velden and John Puddifoot, found that Tamoil F1Team Manager Attilio Donzelli was justified in accompanying Cappellini to the hospital and his prime concern was his drivers welfare and possible injuries.

The Appeal was upheld, because the issuing of the red card infringed rule 406.02. By issuing the red card after the posting of the first results the deadline of this rule was exceeded and the U.I.M. Commissioner and the OOD had lost their right to impose penalties against the competitors. In these cases the rules in general permit the imposing of penalties only by the race jury following a protest again the relevant driver.

The interesting angle was that the Appeal Board can decide to leave it open as to whether the driving of Cappellini justified the issuing of a red card in the first place.

The bottom line: this decision really is a giant blessing for the Cappellini camp. The 2005 season will most likely not be a repeat of the 2000 campaign when Guido lost his title that year when he was disqualified for attempting to destroy the timing equipment at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria and thus missed two of the last three events. His actions opened the door for his rival Scott Gillman to take the title, which he did.

Cappellini leads the points chase in 2005 with 40 on the strength of two wins at the Grand Prix’s of Portugal and Italy. Finland’s Sami Selio is 2nd with 22.5 points; Italian Fabio Comparato is third with 21.5 points and Grand Prix of Singapore winner Francesco Cantando of the Singha F1 team is 4th with 19 points. The defending world champion Gillman with his DNF in Singapore has now slipped to 6th with 15 points.

Three races still sit on the schedule to determine the World Champion of the U.I.M. F1 tour and with a series of top-3 finishes Cappellini can easily claim his 9th title. However nothing is guaranteed as this season has turned out to be one of the wildest and most exciting in a long time and this is far from over, not only on the calendar, but on the water as well!

For additional information, interviews or video footage please contact:

Philippe Stiernon
Press Officer
Philippe@f1boat.com