GILLMAN TAKES POLE POSITION TITLE AT SHARJAH!
CAPPELLINI DISQUALIFED TO 6TH; SELIO 2ND & ROGGIERO 3RD!

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates – 15th of December, 2005 – Emirates driver Scott Gillman had to wait one-half hour to find out if he was going to be awarded pole position or his rival Italian Guido Cappellini. The tense situation arose when Cappellini missed a buoy and circled around the course backwards which is not to the U.I.M. rules while on his first of two qualifying laps. A lap later he did a 49.33, which was better than Gillman’s 49.52 and the Tamoil crew and driver thought he had earned his 60th career pole for tomorrow’s 6th Annual Grand Prix of Sharjah.

The 6th and final round of the 2005 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating now will see the American driver leading the field of 21 drivers from 12 different countries around the 6 turn 2.235 kilometer race course inside the Khalid Lagoon in downtown Sharjah as Gillman chases his 3rd straight victory at the race site.

“We are obviously very pleased with the results of the decision of the U.I.M. and thus gives us pole position,” stated the driver from Los Angeles. “We now can concentrate on the race and hopefully pick up another win which will help us get the momentum we need to start next season.”

Gillman’s pole position is his 27th of his career in his 80th race start and also gives him the seasons “Pole Position Championship”  with 100 points and his 2nd in Sharjah since his last back in 2001.

For the native of Como, Italy, Cappellini will now be relegated to start 6th and will have to fight his way in a hurry to challenge Gillman. The last time this happened was at the Grand Prix of Qatar in November when engine problems forced him to start 6th. This has to be a crushing blow for the new World Champion as he had hoped to pull out all the stops in order to prove he earned his championship fair and square despite Gillman being the quickest in every race of the 2005 campaign only to have bad luck follow him like a shadow all season.

Moving up to 2nd will be Finnish driver Sami Selio in the Selio F1 Powerboat Team as the young star from Helsinki will now challenge Gillman for 2nd overall in the championship trailing the 3-time World Champion by just one-half point 35 to 34.5 with 20 points up for grabs at the season finale. For Selio it is his 19th time in the top-6 in this his 55th start to his career.

Starting in the 3rd position will be Italian Massimo Roggiero of Team Green as he out qualified his teammate Saudi Laith Pharaon who will start 5th. Roggiero had a time of 50.92 as he reached to top-6 for the 49th time of his career as he goes for his 4th race win of his career. Meanwhile Pharaon struggled with is engine and did a 1:00.57 lap as he reached the shootout for the 31st time in his career and he also going for his 4th career victory tomorrow.

Fourth will be past winner in Sharjah Francesco Cantando of the Singha Team as he did a 51.02 and improved to his 2nd best qualifying effort of the year. Franz still has a very outside chance to take 2nd in the championship if the 5 drivers in front drop out in the race without points. Otherwise the driver from Milan, Italy will be hoping to take his 12th win of his career and a repeat of his 2000 victory here in Sharjah.

Italian Fabio Comparato will start a disappointing 7th position as this likeable driver still has a great shot at taking runner-up with 30.5 points on the season but his 53.58 average time in two qualifying sessions just kept him out of the top-6 shootout and now will need some luck.

Thani Al Qamzi of the United Arab Emirates will start his 2nd straight race in his native country in the 8th position and hopes to relive his podium finish and a 3rd place back in 2001.

Australian David Trask of the XPV Racing Team gave it another good effort taking 9th position using a boat that isn’t familiar to him and did a fine average of 54.29 and looks for his 2nd top 5 effort of the season and a top 5 in the championship as well.

Starting in the 10th position is Portugal driver Duarte Benavente with a average of 54.83 in two qualifying sessions sitting 12th in the championship while running his seasoned boat for the final time hoping to finish in the top 10 in the championship for another year.

French driver Philippe Dessertenne was bitterly disappointed with his 11th overall starting position as he sits alone in the 2nd position of the championship with 39 points. He will now be forced to get around 6 drivers who are just behind him in the championship if he hopes to finish where he is today.

The Danita Team is missing for the first time as both boats are unable to be used as American Chris Fairchild was hoping to get into the final event of the year, however his boat needed major repairs and the time just ran out with less than a week before Abu Dhabi and Sharjah so the driver from Chicago will sit this one out. Gert Ladefoged the leader of the team from Denmark was forced to miss the event because of work commitments in Italy and leased it to David Trask.

Can Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team win for the 2nd time in less than two weeks time at back to back race events in the United Arab Emirates and win for the 11th time in his last 14 starts. Or can Cappellini make it 4 wins in the 6 races this season? Only time will answer this question as the gloves come off tomorrow between two world champions and five other drivers hoping to finish in the top 3 at days end.

All in all 21 drivers are expected to take the start lights from tomorrow’s 6th Annual Grand Prix of Sharjah the 6th and final round of the 2005 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating. The race is expected to begin at 16:00 local time 12:00 GMT and 7:00 Eastern Standard Time on the East Coast of North America.

For additional information, interviews or video footage please contact:

Philippe Stiernon
Press Officer
Philippe@f1boat.com