Season 2002
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| Italian Guido Cappellini (above) took a record 7th World Title in a season that produced exciting racing throughout but ended in tragedy for the sport with the loss of Italy’s Vincenzo Polli |
Idea Marketing, promoters of the UIM World Formula 1 championship have enjoyed another successful season featuring 10 Grand Prix events in 9 different countries. Although Guido Cappellini secured a record breaking 7th world title with three races to spare, competition for the silver and bronze awards was spectacular and the positions remained undecided until the final meeting in Abu Dhabi. Sadly, however, this Abu Dhabi finale will be remembered for when popular Italian driver Vincenzo Polli lost his life in a horrific accident during the meeting.
The season opened with the Grand Prix of Portugal, hosted by Portimao on the Algarve. Early indications suggested reigning champion Guido Cappellini would be facing serious competition from fellow Italian Francesco Cantando, the 2001 silver medallist. Cappellini swept into the lead and was swiftly passed by Cantando who was soon drawing away from the chasing pack. Unfortunately, as Cantando stormed down the main straight on full power, he was confronted by Saudi pilot Laith Pharaon, who was making up ground after spinning out earlier in the race. Cantando's Singha Beer DAC collided with Pharaon resulting in a monumental pile-up and both drivers retreated to the shore aboard rescue craft. This incident provided Cappellini with his first win of the season ahead of Finland's Sami Selio and American Mike Seebold.
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| The Grand Prix of Italy in the principality of Campione by the picturesque Lake Lugano provided glamour, style and another win for Cappellini who regularly tests on the nearby Lake Como |
Three weeks later, the World F1 Road Show trundled into the Italian principality of Campione nestling in a Swiss/Italian valley by the picturesque Lake Lugano. Cappellini was instantly billed as favourite for the Grand Prix of Italy as he regularly tests his boats on nearby Lake Como and has become a specialist of these waters. But Cantando's Portuguese good form stayed with him as he chased Guido throughout the early laps with American Scott Gillman and Fabio Comparato in close contention. However, on lap 25, veteran Franco Leidi barrel-rolled leaving the pack to follow the pace boat for a restart. On the green flag Cantando's trim pump jammed and for the remaining 15 circuits he struggled finally finishing 7th. Comparato and Gillman rounded off 2nd and 3rd places, while Seebold filled 4th spot, although this was to be his last race when his sponsor withdrew support.
Next it was Finland in glorious Helsinki, and the "Land of the Midnight Sun" boasted a race circuit that would tax drivers' skills to the limits. Part of the course was in the confined waters of a dock and at the other end, the circuit took the fleet within metres of the city centre. The race organiser and former downhill skier Perrti Leppalla was not only promoting his home event, he was also taking part in it and obviously very keen to succeed.
After an untidy start, Cappellini soon headed the charge chased by France's Philippe Dessertenne and Britain's Andy Elliott. The washes from the boats rebounding off the quay walls soon produced choppy conditions yet considering the confines of the course the pace was still fairly fast and furious. But, on lap 9 the unthinkable happened, former champion Gillman came together with Leppalla and both boats flipped over. If that was not enough excitement for one day, 10 laps later Cappellini tried to get through a gap that was not there and he touched Russian Stanislav Kourtsenovsky leaving both boats underwater. This was good news for Dessertenne who went on to secure victory ahead of Pharaon and Massimo Roggiero, but there was bad news for Andy Elliott whose craft was swamped by a large wave in the dock area.
The magnificent sunny weather that had been following the fleet throughout the first three meetings of the season continued as Budapest in Hungary played host for Round 4 of the series in temperatures topping 90 degrees.
The fast flowing River Danube that had played havoc with turn buoys during the 2001 Austrian GP was more subdued and all the markers stayed in place.
The race course, flanked by beautiful historic buildings, was a straight forward up and down layout and the huge powerboat crazy local crowd had their own hero Rudy Mihaldinecz in the line-up. Regrettably, it was not to be Rudy's day as, although finishing 8th in the race he was docked a lap for entering the pits on the yellow flag. Cantando was up with the pace for 33 laps before his engine expired, and Gillman, who had been obliged to use an untested boat after his favourite Burgess was wrecked in Finland, had a good race following winner Cappellini across the line with Ivan Torta securing a valuable 3rd place.
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| Francesco Cantando was pressuring the lead in Cagliari until a steering wire jammed in its pulley and his boat flipped taking him out of the race and leaving wreckage to be cleared |
The Grand Prix of the Mediterranean was staged on the island of Sardinia at the commercial port of Cagliari. Last season Cappellini and team partner Sugihara both came to grief at this venue but the champion's confidence had not been damaged in the slightest.
Whilst Dessertenne stayed behind when his engine refused to fire up on the start line, Cappellini was pressurised for the first 17 laps by Cantando who at times was running upsides the early leader. Unfortunately, just as the young Italian was attempting an overtaking manoeuvre on the outer leg of the course, a steering wire jammed in its pulley and Fran's DAC flipped over in a cloud of spray. As soon as the wreckage had been removed from the circuit Cappellini continued to lead the way, this time with Pharaon and Gillman snapping at his heels. It looked like we were in for a dramatic finish but an over enthusiastic observer reported Vincenzo Polli had nose-dived and the yellow flags were hoisted. As it transpired whilst Polli had got a Ôlittle out of shape' he had managed to regain control. Nevertheless, as the race was almost over the referee decided that instead of raising the green flag, which might have led to a nail-biting finish, the race would end on lap 39 awarding Guido his 4th win of the year.
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| Italy’s Guido Cappellini dominated the Formual 1 season from start to finish including taking the first place on the podium in the Grand Prix of the Mediterranean at Cagliari |
Stralsund, once part of East Germany, staged the Grand Prix of Germany and the circuit had been enlarged since the inaugural meeting in 2001. ADAC, the giant motoring organisation, supported the town council in sponsoring the event and F1 was joined by a fleet of Molgaard mini-cats powered by 70hp Tohatsu engines and driven by local pilots.
A huge grandstand was erected overlooking the circuit and by race time it was filled to capacity. Last year's winner Cantando was hoping his run of misfortune so far had come to an end and by lap 42 of the 60 lap marathon it looked like he was indeed the odds-on winner. But as he roared down the fast straightway in front of the crowds an alarming noise from his engine spelt disaster and it later transpired his flywheel had sheered off. Again Cappellini welcomed Fran's departure as the champion collected another full set of points with Dessertenne also on the podium in 2nd place.
Sweden's Jari Honkala briefly soaked up the limelight after crossing the line in 3rd place but a post-race engine inspection revealed illegal transfer ports resulting in Portugal's Duarte Buenavente being promoted to 3rd place, although he missed out on the podium champagne celebrations.
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| France’s Philippe Dessertenne pushed the championship leaders hard all season but in the fianl reckoning missed out on the World Championship Bronze medal by half a point |
It was a hard race in terms of engine failure as only 6 of the 19 starters completed the Grand Prix and only Cappellini covered the full 60 laps. Scandinavia's Gert Ladefoged, Pierre Lundin and Michael Weckstrom rounded off 4th, 5th and 6th places.
As the fleet left Stralsund it was a hasty dash to Luxembourg where containers were loaded onto a cargo aircraft for the long haul to Malaysia and the 7th Round of the championship. The venue for the 2002 Grand Prix of Malaysia was a stark contrast to last year's event in Johore Baru. Here at the magnificent Mines Resort, a self contained tropical paradise surrounding a vast lake, and only 20 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur, teams were provided with a large helping of divine luxury.
The race course was unimaginative as its high speed straights and corners were more a test of nutrition than driving skills. Local hero Simon Saw joined the fleet but was obliged to use a 2 litre engine as opposed to everyone else's 2.5 litre powerplants. Two Australian's Kirk Tsaccounis and Malcolm Jamieson were also entered but only Tsaccounis made the start grid. On lap 21 of 50, the lone Aussie might have wished he had stayed ashore after he was involved in a spectacular clash with Vincenzo Polli, right under the nose of Malaysia's Prime Minister. Both driver's escaped unscathed but their steeds were damaged putting them out of the race.
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| The Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on the River Danube provided perfect conditions, in contrast to the Austrian GP where the Danube caused problems by running too fast |
Meanwhile, at the front of the fleet, Massimo Roggiero was leading team partner Cappellini with Gillman in 3rd place and making little impression on the leading duo. At the chequered flag Roggiero recorded his first win of the year and Guido's second place was sufficient to secure him his record breaking 7th world title.
Incidently, Simon Saw's race ended on lap 40 when his engine fell silent and Sami Selio's lone OMC outboard stopped one lap later.
A month long break was enjoyed by all the teams while the containers were shipped from the Far East to Waterford for the Grand Prix of Ireland. F1 was once again joined by a fleet of local F4 boats as part of their National Championships and Ireland's Will Chamber's was enrolled as team partner to Sami Selio in the OMC powered F1 Vivid Velden team.
Before Sunday's main event spectators were treated to two spectacular crashes during Saturday's qualifying sessions. First it was Pharaon to show how far he could fly his Team Green DAC, and almost in the same place Gillman performed an equally impressive aerobatic display in the Emirate boat. Both drivers were unscathed but Gillman's Seebold required emergency surgery before being declared fit for the Grand Prix.
Although Cappellini was now unbeatable for the title he was still up for points as he chased Cantando for 65 laps before settling for the runner-up berth. Cantando proved that providing everything holds together he can beat the Ômain man' and Pharaon also proved that a high speed barrel-roll would in no way affect his confidence as he filled 3rd place ahead of Dessertenne.
It was time for another long haul, this time to Sharjah, one of the United Arab Emirates, for the penultimate round of the 2002 Series.
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| Saudi pilot Laith Pharoan had a good season of racing and picked up the UIM World Championship Silver medal ahead of Italy’s Massimo Roggiero |
Now in it's 3rd year of hosting a World F1 Championship GP, Sharjah organisers left no stone unturned to ensure their meeting was one of the best. A huge circuit encompassing the Khalid Lagoon provided many perfect vantage points to witness the action. The Stars of Florida, a 14 strong team of professional water-skiers, provided an added dimension of entertainment to the 2002 Sharjah Waterfest, while Guido Cappellini stunned the crowd with a blitzing time during qualifying to clinch pole position. Three new faces joined the fleet, World F2000 silver medallist Jay Price from the US joined Australian champion Bob Trask while UAE pilot Majeed Al Mansouri swelled the Emirate Team to three.
The charge from grid to first turn was an extra long sprint and before the race was seconds old Comparato, who had been an outsider for the silver medal, was in a rescue craft as his DAC came together with Dessertenne's. Miraculously, the Frenchman regained control but the referee called the fleet back for a restart.
Cappellini's battery failed on the first start and after a replacement was fitted he leapt into the lead at the second time of asking. Despite completing many laps around the course throughout practice and qualifying with no errors, the champion, after rounding turns one, two and three headed towards turn five. He realised his mistake and turned to retake turn 4 but the referee deemed his move illegal and Guido withdrew leaving Roggiero to lead the way ahead of Pharaon, Dessertenne and Gillman and all four remained contenders for the overall silver medal. After 41 laps, positions remained unchanged at the front but with 9 laps remaining and as Pharaon prepared to challenge for the lead, the referee waved a red and chequered flag claiming reduced visibility as his reason for curtailing the action. The premature ending was not popular with Pharaon, Gillman and Dessertenne but there was little they could do after several controversial decisions by race officials this season had been unsuccessfully challenged.
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| Spectators were treated to spectacular racing at every venue. Pictured is a section of the crowd at the opening Grand Prix of the season in Portimao, Portugal |
The stage was set for an exciting final in Abu Dhabi, the longest serving venue on the World F1 calendar. With Cappellini leading the way, Pharaon and Roggiero were level on points for the silver but breathing down their necks were Dessertenne and Gillman. With 20 points going to the winner, it was anyone's guess as to who would finish with silver and bronze.
We will never know as, after only 12 laps of action an accident occurred on the opposite side of the course to the grandstand and pits which effectively put an end to the series in a spirit of sadness and grief.
Initially, we were unaware as to who was involved but it soon became clear Jari Honkala and Vincenzo Polli were the victims. Yellow flags were raised and the pace boat started to lead the pack around the circuit while Osprey Rescue carried out their duties.
No-one was aware of the seriousness of Polli and Honkala's condition but on the 17th lap with the pace boat still at the front of the pack, race leader Cappellini pulled into the pits, stepped ashore and reported that the sun was making driving conditions dangerous. Four laps later the red flag was raised and we were informed the Grand Prix had been cancelled due to the bright sun effecting visibility. Naturally, there was considerable animosity amongst several pilots, particularly those chasing silver, but few realised at the time that Polli had died in the accident and Honkala had been seriously injured. Gillman pointed out that every year the Abu Dhabi race was staged in bright sunlight and he did not consider it to be any worse this year or that the accident was caused by the glaring sun. In any case it was a nightmare scenario for any referee and a quick decision had to be made one way or another. The Abu Dhabi circuit, which had been modified this year, is a fast and exciting course and despite two fatal accidents is not regarded as dangerous. However, had the race been allowed to continue and had there been another serious incident, there would no doubt have been considerable finger pointing in the referee's direction.
As only 20 laps of the race had been completed, it was decided to award half points which resulted in Laith Pharaon collecting the silver medal ahead of Massimo Roggiero, while Philippe Dessertenne missed out on bronze by half a point.
| Season 2003 | Season 2001 |
