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he serpentining saga that is
the longest running race in
the history of the UIMF1H2O
World Championship, the
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi,
dates back to 1993 and is still
one of the premiere events of
the racing calendar not only
for its beauty but for what it
stands for in the sports lore.
Why so special? This year will
mark the 25th Grand Prix,
with 11 different drivers from
six various nations having
won in the last 24 years
along the corniche, facing the
downtown center of the crown jewel of theGulf region that is AbuDhabi.
The race is famous for its “unknown” results that can turn the table of a
world championship upside down in a flick of an eye and dash the hopes
of one driver while giving hope and dreams to another.
Why? Because Abu Dhabi has become the all-important “beginning of
the end” of a drivers championship since it’s the penultimate race of a
Grand Prix season.
It hasn’t always been that way.
Take the first time drivers on the tour came to Abu Dhabi back in 1993.
Italian Hall-of-Fame driver Guido Cappellini won the event at the start
the season. The victory would propel him to his first of 10 world titles
with American driver Felix Serralles taking second.
The series returned to the corniche for the final race of that year with
Serralles, a part time driver who raced mainly on the North American
tour, winning and doing so again the following year in 1994 before
retiring from F1 powerboat racing for good.
Welshman Jonathan Jones was a strong player in the early years in Abu
Dhabi. He won the event in 1995 and went on to capture his final world
title in 1998. It would be his first and only time that season at the year’s
final race after both Cappellini and American Scott Gillman dropped out
losing their hopes of a title while doing so.
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