UIM Formula One driver Guido Cappellini took his second victory this season at the Grand Prix of Hungary.

UIM Formula One driver Guido Cappellini took his second victory this season at the Grand Prix of Hungary.



FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Italian Guido Cappellini, fresh from a win last
month in Portimao, Portugal, came from behind to take first place at the 13th annual Grand Prix of Hungary May 20 in Dunaujvaros, Hungary. The Grand Prix of Hungary was the third race of the 2001 Union International Motonautique Formula 1 season.

A field of 23 drivers, representing 15 countries, lined up for the start of the 64-lap race around a two-pin, 1.6-kilometer course. Massimo Roggiero of Italy took lead at the start, gaining a 10-boat lead. Roggiero's large lead was vanished, however, when Italian Franco Leidi came to a halt in turn two, which forced officials to stop the race before the completion of the first lap.

Roggiero took the lead on the restart with Saudi Arabian Laith Pharaon (a former world champion offshore racer) and American Scott Gillman battling their way into the top three. Cappellini, currently in fourth position, battled his way up through the pack, passing Gillman first and then Pharaon on the 11th lap to take the lead.

Once in the lead, Cappellini never looked back, increasing his lead
over the nearest competitor by two seconds a lap. The win gives Cappellini 40
points and moves him into first place in the world championship standings.

Gillman slipped from third to ninth position, eventually retiring from the
race on lap 25 due to poor boat handling. Gillman, the current F1 World
Champion, has yet to earn series points for the 2001 season. Gillman said he wasn't overly concerned about his slow start this season.

"Last year, I was 45 points behind and still won it all," he said. "Now I'm 40 points from the lead and there is still two-thirds of a season to run."

Italian Francesco Cantando, working his way up from seventh position,
finished 17 seconds behind Cappellini for a hard earned second-place finish.
Cantando now has 27 points and is tied for third in series points with Massimo
Roggiero who finished third in the race.

The 2001 U.I.M. Formula 1 World Championship continues its 20th season as it moves on to Rita, Latvia for the Grand Prix of Latvia June 3.