Cappellini makes waves as Gillman strikes rotten luck

The Emirates team had the fastest boat in Qatar but Guido Cappellini proved again yesterday that speed is not always what matters most in a Grand Prix.

Scott Gillman and the Emirates team are now out of contention for the world F1 powerboat championship after Gillman's engine blew up just 12 laps from the finish and Cappellini went on to win.

The Italian crossed first after passing French driver Philippe Dessertenne on lap 38 of the 50-lap race.

Gillman started from pole position and twice led by more than 10 seconds, but was pulled back to the rest of field by two yellow flags.

This is the third time this season that Gillman has been stopped by an engine drama while leading the race.

At the first round in Portugal Gillman's engine sucked up some water and failed.

At the second round in Italy his engine stopped 100 metres from the finish, while in Singapore a shocking crash with Cappellini ended his race.

Intense scrutiny

That crash was the subject of intense scrutiny and many believe it should have resulted in a one race ban for Cappellini.

The officials, however, made some mistakes after the incident and the Italian was allowed to race this week.

Despite the result from Singapore, Cappellini said there was no luck involved in his 49th career victory.

"It was a very rough race in difficult conditions that were sometimes dangerous," said Cappellini.

"It's always important for me to win so we are happy with the result and we want to be first position in other two races in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah."

Cappellini said he couldn't say aloud what he was thinking when he passed Gillman but he admitted the Emirates driver had had some bad luck.

"Scott was pushing for a win and maybe this is too much for his engine." Twenty two drivers from 12 different nations attended this Grand Prix, but only 11 boats finished the race.

Fabrizio Bocca from the Rainbow Team was the first to go when his boat refused to start.

His team mate and Qatari hero, Mohammad Al Ali, went next when his boat rolled on the first lap.

The incident brought out the first yellow flag and caused some controversy because two laps of the race had not been completed, so the drivers were relegated to their start positions.

Results

Qatar Grand Prix:

1.Guido Cappellini ITA Tamoil F1 Team 20

2.Philippe Dessertenne FRA Ligier Charente Maritime 15

3.Sami Selio FIN Selio F1 Powerboat 12

4.Fabio Comparato ITA Comparato Racing Team 9

5.David Trask AUS XPV Racing 7