CAPPELLINI STROLLS TO FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON!
AL QAMZI 2ND; SELIO GAINS 3RD STRAIGHT PODIUM!

SHENZHEN, China - 21st of October, 2007 – Guido Cappellini went out and made a statement to day letting the field know that the old “grey fox” still had some swashbuckling left in him as he cruised to an 11 second victory and moved up to 2nd in the World Championship with 50 points at the Grand Prix of Shenzhen, the 4th round of the 2007 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating.

The venue, now affectionally known as the “Monaco circuit” on the F1 world tour because of its small size (1.59 kilometers), had Cappellini lapping all but the podium finishers to capture his 55th career victory and his first victory of 2007.

“I was really happy with the way my boat handled in these conditions,” said the Como, Italy resident. “We set it up perfectly and it paid off with our victory today in really challenging conditions. We couldn't be happier and are now close to Sami for the lead in the championship with the 2nd half of the season starting up again in a month.”

Sami Selio, the points leader in the championship and lead driver of the F1 Team Energy squad, picked up his 3rd straight podium of the season with his 3rd place finish and including his win at the Grand Prix of France, now leads the title by just 3 points with 53 heading to the next faceoff at the Grand Prix of Qatar in Doha on the 24th of November.

“We weren't totally pleased with the way the boat ran, but I'll take the points and our consistancy is important for us in order to have a real chance at the title,” said Sami. “Now we head off to Doha on a course I've always done well at and we are carrying this confidence all the way to the Middle East. We will be ready for November's races.”

Thani Al Qamzi of the Emirates Team who did Cappellini in late in the race the last time out at the Grand Prix of Xi'an, couldn't do the same this time coming up 11.50 seconds short at the end.

“Guido had a better start that I did, but I stayed with him until around the 25 lap mark when my power stearing started to fail me and around this course, it's almost impossible to push ahead,” said the Abu Dhabi native. “We wanted this win for Scott (Gillman) my teacher and friend who's still recouping in the Emirates, but I think he would be satisfied with a 2nd place and another podium finish.”

Ivan Brigada, younger teammate of Cappellini on the Tamoil Team drove his DAC boat to a steady 4th place being lapped late in the race by his teammate around the (.99 mile) course.

Chinese team lead driver Philippe Dessertenne of the CTIC China Charente Maritime Team came home a fine 5th place after starting from a disappointing 13th position. He kept the home Chinese race fans happy after their native son Peng Lin Wu went out crashing down in turn two on the 18th lap.

Italian Francesco Cantando of Milan was 6th at the end after starting 11th, while Australian Bob Trask had his best finish of the season like Cantando with a 7th place performance for the XPV Race Team. Brother David had misfortune running as high as 4th when his boat broke on lap 10 and ended a promising afternoon.

Ex-World Champion Fabrizio Bocca of the Rainbow Team had another charge from the back starting 15th and taking 8th for his 4th straight top-10 performance of the season, while Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Leo Bonelli of Italy got the Qatar Team their only points of the weekend after teammate Jay Price of New Orleans, Louisiana had more bad luck when his boat delaminated before the event and he only went backwards after starting 6th and eventually dropping out of the event on the 11th lap and being classified 20th at days end.

Portugese driver Duarte Benavente who started 12th in the Atlantic Team Dragon boat finished in the points for the 3rd straight with a 10th place finish.

Two incidents marked a noteworthy afternoon on the tight race course first with Peng's crash on lap 29 followed by a hard get together in the 135 degree 5th turn when French driver Philippe Chiappe of the Atlantic Team and Swedish pilot Jonas Andersson tried to go into the same lane from two different directions with Andersson getting the worst of it rolling over the top of Chiappe while sadly in 4th place. Both drivers escaped serious injuries.

The next round of the 2007 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating heads off to Doha, Qatar for a “double dip” of two races in 6 days on the 24th and 27th of November. This may well seal the fate of drivers who aren't ready to put together one of the most challenging and exciting race venues on the planet in the inner harbor of Doha mixing the “calm and the collisions” of the open sea.

For additional information, interviews or video footage please contact:

Steve Michael Reporting - Philippe Stiernon F1 Press Officer

Photos: http://www.f1boatphotos.com