CAMPIGLIONE FENILE, Italy - 26th February - Idea Marketing, promoters of the UIM World F1 Series held their annual pre-season presentation at the historic Five Arrows Guest House and Leisure complex, Campiglione, Italy and a great time was had by invited guests.
The evening, prior to Tuesday's presentation, F1 organizers, officials, drivers and press enjoyed a unique evening sightseeing tour around the city of Torino aboard a vintage tram car where dinner was served whilst traveling around the narrow streets and famous landmarks.
The following morning, the party boarded a coach and traveled 90 kilometers into the mountains, to the town of Sestriere, where the 2006 Winter Olympics were staged. Several snowmobiles were lined up and teams were designated their own snowmobile to take part in time trials. For several of the Arab guests, this was their first sight of snow, but that did nor deter them from scorching around the freezing circuit.
The winner was Alec Cavallero who just tipped Sami Selio for the winner’s trophy. An evening presentation followed where organizers from around the world received certificates and medals for their sterling work. F1 promoter Nicolo Di San Germano then addressed the audience and outlined a spectacular programme of nine races for 2008 starting in Qatar at the end of March. New venues include St Petersburg, Russia and Bahrain.
Team line-ups were also announced and apart from Fabio Comparato who has not yet recruited his number two driver, the teams look similar to 2007. Ziggy Boettle, has been appointed Chairman of the UIM World F1 Technical Committee and he informed team owners that all boats will be fitted with, 'Black Boxes' that will give safety officials a clear pictures of the stresses and strains within the cockpit in the event of an accident.
Raffaelle Chiuli, who had been in Zurich on business arrived at the function just in time for the farewell dinner and he made it clear he is very keen to follow the progress of F1 as it is a true reflection on how powerboat racing is reaching a global audience.
From our special reporter David Sewell
