The opening rounds of the UIM Fl World Championship gave the flavour for the rest of the season. Scott Gillman in the Rainbow Racing Seebold showed his top end speed superiority giving defending World Champion, Guido Cappellini in the Laserline DAC, a lot to think about. The races in Hungary, St. Petersburg and the French Grand Prix in Chalon gave a plethora of action on the water with only the French race running full distance.

Scott Gillman - five wins from nine starts and UIM F1 World title. Photo: Chris Davies		Waiting for the start in Moscow Photo: Chris Davies

Gillman gave a supreme demonstration of his skills in Dunaujvaros where his qualifying time cut 3 seconds off previous years. Jonathan Jones, in his final season with Gold Leaf was second quickest with Cappellini lying third. At the green light Gillman was on a charge until he collided with Thomas Ericsson and as the pace boat made its debut for the season, Jones took the lead. Francesco Cantando barrel-rolled, Michael Werner's DAC broke down and finally, Paul Blackburn stopped on the pit-turn buoy and race officials declared an early end to the entertainment. An ebullient Jones made the top of the podium followed by Cappellini and the "Fearless Finn" Pertti Leppala. This is Leppala's fourth season in Formula 1 and his Chesterfield/Pohian Poika team has steadily improved.

The sheer speed of Gillman and Jones on the water sent teams in search of more horsepower before the second round in St. Petersburg. But drama on the River Neva played its part again. Mike Zamparelli and Guiseppe Cabrini barrel-rolled and Humaid Bakhit did a spectacular double flip. Then it was the turn of the experienced to bring their own brand of entertainment when Cappellini had a coming together with Jones. The Welshman came off worse as his boat rolled. Gillman took advantage of this action to push hard at the front giving a cushion between him and a charging Cappellini. But even the maestro is fallible and a barrel-roll brought the European Grand Prix to an end. Gillman's first victory was sweet, and Leppala took 15 valuable points for second place.

Scott Gillman - Stars and stripes all the way.

Rain and more rain greeted the drivers in Chalon-sur-Saone and it proved a problem for many. Carlos Maidana nose-dived and Anton van Heerden (MM Racing) hit the boat and holed his own hull. Cantando suffered gearbox failure but the fun really started when Jones tried to go inside Cappellini and collided. Sugihara went wide to avoid the problem only to hit Fabrizio Bocca. Gillman was left out on his own to take a relatively easy second victory. Remarkably, Cappellini nursed his damaged DAC home to second place.

The rough salt water of Garista Bay and Corfu tested man and machinery. It also proved a turning point for the fortunes of the major championship contenders. For Jonathan Jones, another accident gave him a near impossible task in the title chase. For Gillman, another victory seemed to set him on course for an eventual series win. A retirement for Cappellini, confirmed that the World title was slipping from his grasp. Gillman lapped every driver bar Cappellini on the way to his third consecutive win to confirm his domination in his first season of racing in the World Series. Leppala took another second slot with Yutaka Sugihara - a rough weather specialist - taking third.

The mid-point of the season was Gallipoli - the Mediterranean Grand Prix - run within the southern Italian harbour and including a right-hand mark and rough water. None of this proved a problem for Gillman, who notched his fifth consecutive pole position. From the start Guido Cappellini passed Gillman to take the lead but an accident involving Massimo Roggiero brought the pace boat out. Even after the re-start, the Italian kept a grip on the lead but on the final lap he turned wide of Pertti Leppala leaving a gap which Gillman went for. The American took the chequered flag just 0.61 of a second ahead of Cappellini.

The team working on Pertti Leppala's engine. Photo: Chris Davies

The speed difference between Gillman and Cappellini had been closing and the Volga River in Moscow was the venue for Cappellini's first victory. Practice proved difficult, not least due to drift-wood, and Humaid Bakhit's barrel-roll confined him to hospital and ultimately put him out for the rest of the season. The arrival of new Anderson engines seemed to give Leppala and Cappellini the speed they'd been searching for all season. Leppala led initially until the Italian made his charge. Despite the inevitable challenge from Gillman, Cappellini took his first chequered flag of the season. Three remaining rounds and a 30 point difference between Gillman and Cappellini gave the Italian a slight chance of clawing back the title that he had held for four years.

Campione and the Italian Grand Prix continued to test the teams. The calm waters were disturbed by strong winds and the G.P. was delayed. It was Leppala who led but he found the rough water treacherous. Carlos Maidana was on his tail but it was short-lived. Firstly Gillman then Cappellini hauled in and overtook the Argentinean and the experience of Cappellini then proved too much for the Finn and he surrendered the lead. Cappellini, revelling in his second victory of the season, enjoyed the support of the partisan crowd. Leppala managed to hold onto second place ahead of Gillman.

The conditions for the Chinese Grand Prix were no better, the circuit on the Yuan Dang Lake in Xiamen off the coast of South East China gave drivers a rough ride. Thomas Ericsson's DAC rolled over Fabrizio Bocca in the opening laps, and while the pace boat was out the front runners made some rapid repairs. Cappellini's crew changed the EFI unit and race leader, Leppala taped up the ducts on the front of the boat, while Gillman changed his radio. Outside assistance incurs a one lap penalty but when Cappellini rejoined the race he lapped the entire field bar the race winner, Jonathan Jones. But when the official results were posted, Cappellini was shown in fourth place. A protest resulted in a lap docked from Leppala but no penalty was given to Gillman.

The final round, traditionally hosted by Abu Dhabi still gave rise to competition, despite Gillman already securing the World Crown. Cappellini had something to prove and victory would be some consolation while Jones wanted to part with his sponsor on a "high" note. But it was not to be. Jones crashed in spectacular and boat-breaking style and Cappellini failed to finish. This left Gillman to race to his fifth win out of nine starts. The Gulf race demonstrated that the "old guard" are under considerable pressure from younger drivers such as Francesco Cantando and Massimo Roggiero who finished second and third respectively.

Jon Jones - two wins and a lot of misery for the former World Champion. Photo: Chris Davies