motonautica
F1 Powerboat Racing. Formula One UIM World Championship 2007
GP of PORTUGAL Race, Portimao domenica 13 maggio 2007
GILLMAN HOLDS OFF CAPPELLINI & PRICE FOR WIN!
DESSERTENNE HEADS FOR HOME GP WITH 5TH PLACE!
Pagina 1 di 5
PORTIMAO, Portimao, Portugal - 13th of May, 2007 – World Champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team held off the challenge of Italian Guido Cappellini and American Jay Price to win the opening round of the 2007 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating at the 9th Annual Grand Prix of Portugal in front of tens of thousands of race fans along the 1.66 kilometer course on the Arade River on Portugal's Algarve Coast.
The 4-time World Title holder led from the start and never looked back while feeling the pressure from Cappellini who dogged him for the full 60 laps in his new Tamoil DAC hull especially made for the newly mandated crash boxes for added protection of the drivers around the cockpit area. Cappellini had some drama just before the start when he realized his engine had a defective flywheel that needed to be changed just before the parade lap.
The native from Los Angeles, California, Gillman, battled two re-starts after a pair of crashes in mid race by Italian Francesco Cantando and teammate Ahmed Al Hamli and continued to keep Cappellini at bay until the end of the Grand Prix to win for the 2nd time in Portugal and the 23rd time in his 10 year F1 career.
“We did what we had to do in such a physically taxing event today,” stated Scott. “Our set-up wasn't the best but we were able to come away with an important win to lead the championship and look forward to next weekend in La Rochelle and the Grand Prix of France.”
While Cappellini chased Gillman, Jay Price of the Qatar Team was cutting his way up the field in a hurry passing Swedish driver Jonas Andersson of the F1 Team Sweden boat and then got in a physical dual with Finnish driver Sami Selio trading paint with the Helsinki driver at least once on his way to third.
“We worked on getting a good jump and were able to do it at the start,” said Jay. “The Qatar Team boat and Selio were caught up at the same piece of real estate going towards the right hander and we got together and I've still got the paint on the back side of the sponson to show the evidence of it.”
For the driver from New Orleans, Louisiana it was his 2nd podium finish in just 7 F1 starts since coming over from F2000 in 2006. Jay was the final driver to finish on the lead lap drifting back 33.13 seconds behind the winner at races end.
Selio took his first top-5 finish in over a year while Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne of the CTIC China Charente Maritime Team came home 5th pushing Selio after starting 9th on the day. He will be under added pressure next weekend at his home Grand Prix in La Rochelle.
Swedish driver Pierre Lundin finished a race in Portugal for the first time in his three tries with a well earned 6th after starting 13th. David Trask from Australia took 7th after qualifying 8th while Frenchman Philippe Chiappe was 8th as one time World Champion Fabrizio Bocca of the Rainbow Team took home 9th . Rounding out the top ten and picking up the final point of the day was rookie Leo Benelli of the Qatar Team.
With his victory, Scott Gillman leads the World Championship points table with 20, followed by Cappellini's 15, Jay Price's 12, Sami Selio's 9 and Philippe Dessertenne's 7. The next round of the 2007 U.I.M. F1 World Championship will be next weekend on France's West Coast in the city of La Rochelle as the series returns to France for the 18th time and the first since 2000 on the 20th of May.
| |
-----------
-----------
-----------
-----------
|
