DOHA, Qatar - November 19th - In a journey that took over two month's of voting and thousands of ballots being placed by media members and racing fans alike, U.K.'s John Hill and Italy's Guido Cappellini have been officially elected into the UIM F1 H2O World Championship "HALL OF FAME" for 2013.
The 1990 World Champion from Gloucester, England, who earned over half of the votes finishing with 56%, was one of the greatest powerboat drivers and certainly one of the most experienced in the sport in a career that spanned more than three decades.
John was unique for having won world titles in the three major categories, Formula One, Formula Grand Prix and Formula Three.
He died in an accident while racing at the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi in a UIM F1 H2O World Championship event in 1993 at the age of 59.
One of the fittest and most astute men in the history of the sport, John was known for defeating leading drivers one-half his age. He started in monohull racing later jumping into International F3 racing in 1979.
The driver from England helped win the international Harmsworth Trophy for the United Kingdom at its height back in the 1980's before capturing the world F1 H2O title at the final round of the 1990 campaign in Singapore.
A true dignified ambassador for the sport wherever he raced he was always one of the drivers to beat!
Meanwhile, Cappellini who captured 36% of the vote holds multiple records including most victories (62) most race starts (171) along with most pole positions (70) over his 23 years in F1 H2O racing.
This award winning boat designer has had his DAC built boats on top of the world drivers championship for the last two straight years with fellow Italian Alex Carella taking advantage of it's advanced design qualities.
Cappellini, who didn't win an event for his first five seasons in F1, came on with a roar enjoying his best season in 1996 when he captured eight of the nine races.
His ten titles, in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2009 along with a speed record of 256.25 kph in April of 2005 on Lake d'lseo for a Formula 1 boat are standards that will long be ingrained in the sport of F1 racing.
Both John Hill and Guido Cappellini will be honored for their achievements at the season ending Gala Awards Evening in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on the 13th of December and be enshrined in the "Lap-of-Honor" marking the fifth class and the ninth and ten person's now in the "HALL-OF-FAME."
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