Sami Seliö
Sami Seliö (left) in 2008
Nationality	Finnish
Born	(1975-05-05)May 5, 1975 (age 50) Lohja,Finland
F1 Powerboat World Championship career
Debut season	1998
Current team	BaBa Racing
Former teams	Team Europe Velden Racing Team Seliö F1 Powerboat
Starts	138
Wins	13
Poles	25
Fastest laps	10
Best finish	1st in2007,2010
Previous series
1996 1988-90	World Formula 4 Finnish SJ-15
Championship titles
2007, 2010 1990	F1 Powerboat World Championship Finnish SJ-15

Sami Seliö (born 5 May 1975 inLohja,Finland) is aFinnishpowerboat racer and two-timeFormula 1 Powerboat World Champion. Seliö races for the Mad Croc BaBa Racing team and has competed in the series since 1998.^[1]

Seliö began his career in Finland in the national SJ-15 class in 1988, a category which he won 1990. By the mid 1990s he had progressed up the classes and in 1996 finished third overall in the Formula 4 World Championship. In1998 he made his debut in Formula 1 and a string of points finishes brought with it the Rookie of the Year award for 1998. Over the following years Seliö gained experience and in2005 enjoyed his best season to date as he finished second in the championship. Two years later in2007, Seliö won the first of his World Championships. He was 16 points behindItalianGuido Cappellini entering the last race of the season inSharjah, but as Cappellini wrecked his boat with ten laps to go, Seliö won the race to give him the championship by a margin of just four points.^[2]

The 2007 season began a sequence of four consecutive years where Seliö never ended lower than third in the championship. In his title defence year of2008, he finished runner-up and he slipped one place to third at the end of2009. The2010 season would see Seliö clinch his second world title, again coming from behind in the points, this time to beatJay Price, at the final race of the year.^[3]

In October2011 inLiuzhou,China, Seliö lost control of his boat at 200 km/h and was concussed, broke hisribs andcoccyx, and his right eye developed ahematoma.^[4] He missed the final two races of the season, but was able to return in time for2012, where he eventually finished fourth overall. In2013 Seliö would also finish fourth at the end of the season but entered the final race leading the championship. Having crashed out of qualifying^[5] he started well down the field and a retirement in the race meant no points, and the chance at a third title was lost.^[6]

* Season still in progress.

• ^1 The 1999 Grand Prix of Russia was halted after 12 laps with results annulled and no points awarded.
• ^2 The starting grid for the 1999 Grand Prix of Turkey was formed on the basis of current championship standings following theİzmit earthquake, with the race held as planned on Sunday 22 August.
• ^3 The 1999 Grand Prix of Austria was stopped after seven laps, with the results taken from the completion of the seventh lap, and no points awarded.
• ^4 The 2004 Grand Prix of Korea was run under the 'match race' format, and the event thus did not count towards the final championship standings and no points were awarded.
• ^5 The 2005 Grand Prix of Singapore was halted after 18 laps, with half points awarded.

• Finnish motorboat racers
• 1975 births
• Sportspeople from Lohja
• Living people
• Formula 1 Powerboat drivers