Victory in the Hungarian GP in Budapest on June 23 gave Italian ace Guido Cappellini his third Formula 1 win of the season
Victory in the Hungarian GP in Budapest on June 23 gave Italian ace Guido Cappellini his third Formula 1 win of the season. The fourth round of the series, the result leaves the defending champion with a total score of 60 points, 27 points ahead of fellow Italian Fabio Comparato.
Cappellini, who crashed out of the lead the previous week during the Finish GP in Helsinki, came back to take pole position before leading the 60-lap event throughout. He finished six seconds ahead of American Scott Gillman who was behind the wheel of a brand new prototype hull designed and built in Abu Dhabi.
Gillman finished just in front of Italian Ivan Torta (Dac/Mercury 2.5) who collected his first podium result. Fourth slot was filled by Fabio Comparato (Dac/Mercury 2.5) of Italy with Finnish driver Selio Sami – racing the only three-litre OMC powered craft in the line-up – fifth.
The high pace made it a race of attrition with almost half the fleet retiring with problems of one kind or another. Bad driving also took its toll.
Jari Honkala (Molgaard/Mercury 2.5) from Finland was disqualified and fined after destroying two buoys and colliding with other contenders on the circuit. Three other drivers were also fined for similar infringements.
Laith Pharaon (Dac/Mercury 2.5) from Saudi collided heavily with Italian Vincenzo Polli (Dac/Mercury 2.5) resulting in the biggest accident of the meeting. Fortunately both drivers escaped serious injury.
The fifth round of the UIM Formula I championship series takes place in Cagliari, Sardinia, on July 7.
