ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Friday, April 9, 2010 – Guido Cappellini after 25 years of activity, of which 23 in Formula One, decided to finish his career in the world of the inshore competitions. This decision was though during the winter break and taken with the full knowledge to have reached all the aims fixed in this sport.
The victory of the 10th F1 Inshore world title, in that historic 11th December in Sharjah in the UAE, has been the top of a studded career of a lot of successes and records. After the victory of the ninth title in 2005 this was the final “target” of the driver from Como; manage where nobody has never arrived and maybe nobody will never arrive.
2006 and 2007 have been two unlucky seasons with the “tenth star” escaped from the hand of the Italian driver in both championships to the last race when all seemed to turn at best. 2008 had seen Cappellini closing in the 10th place in the classification above all for technical problems, suffered during the entire season, and a lot of people gave it for “ended or demotivated” and, instead, in 2009 it has been the final collected.
The great determination and motivation of the pilot from Como and its prestigious team, allowed him to center the great aim of a career, the dream of all the drivers: the one to enter and to remain in the history of a sport having written permanent and perhaps unique pages and numbers.
Ten titles in 23 years mean to have been to the top of the discipline and to have above all fought and won against more generations of opponents and to have always been a winning driver, also in parallel with the technological development of the discipline. Guido Cappellini has given a lot to this also from the technological point of view, developing DAC boats, that have been the most winning in the history of this sport. The safety has always been a bullet for him and a lot of the developments made in the last seasons to have faster but also safer and more reliable F1 inshore catamarans are merit of Guido.
The numbers of the champion from Como are very impressive: in 171 disputed GPs he has gained 62 times, starting 70 times from the pole position and finishing 104 times on the podium. First world title in 1993 and last one in 2009 after 16 years. Last speed record established in 2005 on the lake Iseo with the incredible speed of 256,25 Km\h (all the data can be found the internet site www.guidocappellini.com).
“Formula 1 has been my life and now I reached the moment to change. I caught up all my aims in this discipline and it would not have sense to continue in a sport that needs maximum determination, concentration and dedication. I would like to thank all who remain near me in these years: all those who believed in me and that supported me, all the fans that always stimulated me to give the maximum in every contest, my family and my team. A team composed of exceptional men thanks to whose work, cohesion and determination, made all this come true.
For which concern 2010, it will be a transition year for me, I have not certainly lost the wish to run and to be protagonist. The experience in Brasil Class 1, immediately on the podium, has been fantastic and I’m now watching with a lot of interest to the offshore competitions”.
