GILLMAN CAPTURES 3RD POLE IN 2000 AT SARDINIA!
CAPPELLINI AND ROGGIERO REACH TOP 3 ON GRID!

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy; (July 1st) - Who's the fastest in the World? Well, halfway thru the season and the score is far from settled. Gillman 3-poles, Cappellini 3-poles. Yes, its dead level as the 41 year old American Scott Gillman took his 2nd straight pole and his 3rd of the 2000 campaign of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating at the 3rd Annual Grand Prix of the Mediterranean on the island of Sardinia in Italy.

Gillman, the lead driver of the ABU DHABI TOURISM DAC/Mercury 2.5 litre machine, came out in the late afternoon hours and stole the pole away from Italian Guido Cappellini, the current World Champion and two time pole sitter here at this race by 0.09 tenth's of a second. The native of Basalt, Colorado came around on his 1st of two shootout session laps and circled around the 8-pin 2.5 kilometer course at a 58.61 second lap bettering Guido's best in his Laserline/Castrol DAC/Mercury 2.5 litre boat with a 58.72 lap. For Gillman, he made up over 1 second from his 2nd session time despite having less than ideal water conditions with winds still blowing rollers on the backside of the harbor course. With Gillman moving from 2nd to first, Cappellini was the last out on the water for the day and the drama built until Cappellini struggled with the water nearest the harbor entrance improving only 0.16 tenth's of a second starting 2nd to Gillman.

Another Italian in the battle for the pole was Massimo Roggiero in his Petrobras DAC/Mercury 2.5 litre powered boat finishing with a 1:01.19 time, just ahead of another Italian Francesco Cantando in his Singha Beer/Waircom DAC/Mercury 2.5 liter boat with a time of 1:01.35.

Cappellini's teammate, Fabio Comparato was forced from 5th to 6th by not making it out for the shootout, while Welshman Jonathan Jones in his Fuchs/Eurobet Burgess/OMC 3 litre machine improved to a time of 1:01.7. Jones, a 4-time World Champion will be looking for his first points of the season.

Portugal pilot Duarte Benavente was quickest in the morning practice warm-up session with a sub 1:00 minute time only to finish with 7th fastest and a time of 1:04.76 in his Singha Beer/Siemens Burgess/Mercury 2.5 litre boat while newcomer and rookie driver Laith Fharon in only his 2nd race continues to impress with a 1:05.41 time starting 8th in his Hyatt DAC/Mercury 2.0 boat.

France's Philippe Dessertenne is 9th quickest with a time of 1:05.85 in his Fuchs/Eurobet DAC/OMC 3.0 litre machine while Italian Fabrizio Bocca rounded out the top 10 qualifiers with a time of 1:05.91 in his ill handling Rainbow DAC/Mercury 2.5 litre boat.

Cappellini leads the championship with 80 points, with his teammate Comparato holding down 58, while American Gillman third with 50. Twenty points to the winner and at the halfway point of the season, it will be an ever increasing battle for the top 3 and the pole sitting fastest Cowboy on the circuit.

Tomorrow's 3rd Annual Grand Prix of the Mediteranean will begin at 17:00 local CET time, while 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time (EST) in North America.