CAPPELLINI CONQUERS SHENZHEN IN LATE AFTERNOON!
AL QAMZI 2ND AND SELIO TO START 3RD!

SHENZHEN, China – 20th of October, 2007 – Nine time World Champion Guido Cappellini of the Tamoil Team put on a dazzling display of speed and nerve in the fading sunlight and will lead the field of 22 drivers from 4 different continents after setting a blistering 35.2 second lap at the 4th Round of the 2007 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating at the Grand Prix of Shenzhen on the foot of the South China Sea,

The driver from Como, Italy celebrated not only his 63 pole position since 1995, but also his 100th shootout appearance with his strong performance in front of a large crowd of race fans on Lake Shenzhen.

“It was an important statement for me to make since I know how starting from the number one position will make a real difference at the start,” said Guido. “It was the first time I have ever raced my new boat on such a short circuit and I was totally impressed with the performance.”

Starting next to him in the 2nd position on the start pontoon will be maybe the hotest driver on the tour in Thani Al Qamzi who is coming off a great win last time out at the Grand Prix of Xi'an two weeks ago and now has two wins in his last four starts.

“I am very happy with my boat and they way it has been set up to run here,” said Thani. The Emirates Team has done a great job in getting me in 2nd and my teammate Ahmed Al Hamli in the 7th postion. We both look forward to tomorrow in a big way with a lot of confidence.”

In the 3rd place off the dock will be championship points leader Sami Selio of Finland who needs another steady performance to maintain his 11 point lead on Cappellini and 21 point margin on Al Qamzi as the series comes close to finishing off the 4th of 8 races in the 2007 campaign.

“I'll take 3rd place today,” said Selio. “Tomorrow will be a long race with more laps than in any time I have raced in the sport, so it should be a real challenge mixed in with a ton of fun.”

Australian driver David Trask ran a strong 36.25 second lap and will start 4th for the XPV Race Team. It was the 2nd top 6 shootout of the season for the driver from Brisbane, Queensland.

Fifth will be young Italian star Ivan Brigada, Cappellini's teammate doing a 36.5 second lap around the 5 turn 1.59 kilometer course.

Jay Price of the Qatar Team did a bonzai final lap to get into the top 6 shootout and will start in that position for the New Orleans, Louisiana native with a 37.48 second lap in his BABA boat.

Eighth will be Swedish driver Jonas Andersson of the F1 Team Sweden boat with a 37.59 time, while brother Bob Trask had his best qualifying effort of the season with a 9th place and a time of 38.11 seconds.

Rounding out the top ten will be another Swedish pilot in Pierre Lundin of the Comparato Racing Team looking for another top 5 finish with a time of 38.33 seconds.

So 22 drivers from 10 different nations will take on the small but very challenging “bull ring” of a circuit in front of what is expected to be tens of thousands of race fans for tomorrows event. The race just outside Hong Kong at the fast emerging city of Shenzhen should be one of the most exciting this season with drivers ready to tackle the 5 turn circuit.

For additional information, interviews or video footage please contact:

Steve Michael Reporting - Philippe Stiernon F1 Press Officer

Photos: http://www.f1boatphotos.com