HIGH WINDS AND WAVES FORCE STOPPAGE OF G.P.!
CAPPELLINI WINS 5TH WORLD TITLE IN 7 YEARS!

Vienna, Austria (5th September) - A strong easterly wind combined with a strong current forced the premature cancellation of the 1st Annual Grand Prix of Austria as worsening conditions stopped the event on the 7th of 50 scheduled laps. This marked the 2nd time this season that a round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating had been stopped because of unsafe water conditions for the pilots.

The premature end of the event, along with the formal cancellation of the scheduled Hong Kong Grand Prix in October until the year 2000, gave Monaco pilot Guido Cappellini the World Championship for an unprecidented 5th time. With just one race to go on the calender in Abu Dhabi in the month of December, Cappellini’s lead of 43 points is more an enough to hold off American Scott Gillman for the title.

Cappellini, on the strength of 4 straight wins at the start of the season, was never headed and with Gillman suffering engine problems in the mid-season mark, it opened up the door for Cappellini to take the title for the 5th time in the last 7 years.

The native of Como, Italy earned his title through hard work and development of new boat designs over the winter to lead him to the victories. Cappellini, has led in every race to this point in the season and has only been beaten by Gillman, who has won the last 2 straight in Moscow and Istanbul.

Today’s event, the 8th on the tour for 1999, saw three different starts with Cappellini finally leading from 2nd place from the third green light with Finnish pilot Pertti Leppala chasing in 2nd with 1998 World title holder Jonathan Jones of Cardigan, Wales trailing closely in 3rd. Pole sitter Scott Gillman dropped out early on the 3rd lap with a broken throttle cable, while 1992 World Champion Fabrizio Bocca brought out a yellow flag when he stuffed in the first turn on the 5th lap.

On the 7th tour, both Argentinian Carlos Maidana submarined on the main straightaway and with other pilots struggling just to get around without doing the same, the officials headed by Race Director Cees Van der Veldon elected to end the event on this lap and finish the day with no championship points awarded.

As the U.I.M. F1 World Championship goes on to it’s final round in December at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, two questions remain, can Gillman continue his win streak or can Cappellini start a new wave of wins and look for his 6th title in the year 2000. We will find this out on the 3rd of December and the 6th Annual Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.