Cappellini Fails To Finsh; Brigada Wins Rookie-Of-The-Year With 2nd!

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates - 15th of December, 2006 – The “student” won the race and the “teacher” took the title as the Emirates Racing Team took three awards at the 7th Annual Grand Prix of Sharjah in the downtown Khalid Lagoon to wrap up the 2006 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating.

 Local driver Thani Al Qamzi won in impressive fashion from the pole after he passed Tamoil driver Guido Cappellini on the 12th lap to cruise home for his first ever victory in his 49th career start.

“I am very happy for my crew and my teammate Scott Gillman for winning the world title,” said Thani. “I felt very wonderful for everyone involved and look forward to starting the new season as soon as possible to keep this good feeling alive as well.”

As 23 drivers from four different continents took off on their final race of the year and their 50 lap challenge, two drivers were in a big match-up for the title. In the early stages it looked like Italian Guido Cappellini had the upper hand as he leaped into the lead from his 2nd place position and was able to set the pace for the first fifth of the race until young Thani Al Qamzi was able to power by him into the lead to stay.

Cappellini was in danger of loosing his 2nd place when Saudi Arabian driver Laith Pharaon pushing hard from his 9th starting position came close but couldn't pass the 47 year-old native from Como. Cappellini's day ended in tears when he reportedly was having electrical problems and his boat came to an immediate stop in turn 5 on the 24th lap ending his championship dreams of a 10th title at the same time.

Meanwhile, American Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team was cruising around in 4th position waiting for his chance to challenge Cappellini only to realize his challenge wasn't needed and paced himself around knowing he only needed to finish 10th at the finish and win the title. Gillman settled in 7th and took home his 4th U.I.M. F1 World Championship and a team title for the Emirates squad. The win in 2006 along with other titles in 1997, 2000 and 2004 now move Gillan ahead of Renato Molinari into 2nd place in the all-time title championship.

“We did what we needed to do to get the job done today,” stated the Los Angeles driver. “It couldn't have turned out more perfectly for us with Thani winnning and also taking the Team Championship as well. We were just setting a pace and waiting to push but didn't need to when Guido went out. Now we can celebrate a wonderful year.”

While Cappellini's day turned into a nightmare, his young teammate Ivan Brigada came home with the Rookie-of-the-Year honors with a fine 2nd place. He ended up holding off agreesive driver Laith Pharaon who “traded paint” with Brigada as they fought for 2nd on the restart on the 35th lap ending with Pharaon doing a spectacular flip into a slow roll ending his season in the water while Brigada carried on to a 2nd place.

Swedish driver Jonas Andersson of the Rainbow Team had a great finish as he took 3rd place after starting 5th and was 4.3 seconds behind Brigada at the end for his first podium in only his 5th career start.

Sami Selio of the Red Devil Selio F1 team ended a disappointing season with a nice 4th place finish which was his best for the man who a year ago took runner-up in the championship ending tied for 8th today.

The Australian brother duo of David and Bob Trask of XPV Racing again proved they are ready to challenge for a championship next season as they powered their way to a 5th and 6th flying in formation for most of the day pushing each other for a great family finish. David ended tied for 5th in the championship while Bob was classified 7th.

After the new champion Gillman was Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne of the Charente Maritime Team who was charging his way to the front all day starting in the 10th position and finishing his championship in an 8th place tie with Sami Selio.

Rookie driver Ahmed Al Hamli in only his 2nd start for the Emirates Team came home with his 2nd straight points paying position with a 9th place after starting 15th. He was 20th in the 2006 table with 3 points.

Veteran Andy Elliott of Great Britian came home 10th after starting a lowly 23rd for the Atlantic Team and finished 13th in his 17th season in F1 racing.

Other noteable performances came from the teammates of the Qatar Team as both Jay Price and Massimo Roggiero were classified 22nd and 21st with the American Price being disqualified when he took out a pair of buoys in turn 4.

Francesco Cantando ended a less than happy season with the Singha Team finshing 11th while his fellow driver Max Moreschi failed to finish in 17th position. Chinese driver Peng Lin Wu came home in 16th position and a good season for the man who has returned to F1 for the first time since the 1997 campaign.

One time World Champion Fabrizio Bocca was classified 12th while Portugal's Duarte Benavente was 13th.

So, the 25th Anniversary season of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship has come to a close and with American Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team capturing his 4th title since joining the tour in 1997. The championship coupled with his 3 North American championships mark this 47 year-old driver as one of the best all-time in the world of power boating. Can the younger drivers of the sport start to replace the established names that have ruled the competition for the past 15 years? Only time will tell, but 2006 will go down as “A Season to Remember”.