Francesco Cantano turned the tables on fellow Italian Guido Cappellini in the seventh round of the world Formula I championship in Stralsund, German, on August 5.
Francesco Cantano turned the tables on fellow Italian Guido Cappellini in the seventh round of the world Formula I championship in Stralsund, German, on August 5. It was just reward for his recent efforts to improve the performance of his Mercury powered Dac cat: personally rebuilt during the four week rest following the sixth round in Italy.
It was Cantano’s first straight win of the season. Added to his two seconds and a third placing this not only gives him a championship score of 76 points, a mere 16 behind the leading Cappellini (Dac/Mercury), but proves the five-time world title-holder is no longer invincible.
Cantando shot away from pole position and was never seriously challenged, eventually winning by a wide margin of 25 seconds over defending world champion, Scott Gillman (Dac/Mercury) of the United States.
Gillman had suffered problems earlier with his helmet visor but despite this and failing to finish in the first five rounds of the series, achieved his second podium place of the year.
The battle for the remaining top five places was between fellow Italians Fabio Comparato (Dac/Mercury) and Massimo Roggiero (Dac/Mercury) and Cappellini.
Surprisingly, Italian ace Guido Cappellini struggled throughout the weekend with both pole speed contest and the race itself but still managed to find form in the final ten laps to finish third and collect 12 points.
Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne (Dac/Mercury) who began the race lying second in the series with 61 points, finished fourth. Although this added nine points to his total he now slips down to third with a score of 70 points.
Britain’s three-time world title holder, Jonathan Jones returned to the championship for the first time since the opening round in Malaysia. He is one of the few drivers not using a an Italian built Dac hull. Instead he stays loyal to the British builder, Burgess, which obviously paid dividends. Despite his long absence from the international scene he still managed to finish sixth after starting eighth on the pole.
Round six winner, Victor Kunitch (Dac/Mercury) from Latvia, was not so lucky this time. He tangled with Portugal’s Duarte Benavente (Burgess/Mercury) at the second turning marker during the 16th lap and retired.
The race once again proved the reliability of Mercury power. Conditions were not that easy, proved by the large number of retirements, with the only two Johnson powered craft taking part among them.
World Formula 1 Championship. Round seven. Stralsund, Germany
Results:
1. F.Cantano (Ita) (Dac/Mercury) 20pts
2. S.Gillman (USA) (Dac/Mercury) 15pts
3. G.Cappellini (Ita) (Dac/Mercury) 12pts
Championship position after seven rounds:
1. G.Cappellini (Ita) 92pts
2. F.Cantando (Ita) 76pts
3. P.Dessertenne (Fra) 70pts
4. V.Kunitch (Lat) 41pts
5. M.Roggiero (Ita) 36pts
6. L.Pharaon (Sau) 36pts
