CAPPELLINI CAPTURES POLE AT HOME GRAND PRIX!
GILLMAN 2ND , CANTANDO 3RD & ROGGIERO 4TH ON LAKE COMO!!

Como, Italy (September 2nd) - It's great to be able to race at home! For 5-time World Champion Guido Cappellini, he hit the "Daily Double" by getting his appeal heard, thus allowed a one race delay on his 2 race disqualification, while at the same time showing the rest of the 20 boat field that living here does have it's advantages, as he took the pole for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Italy the 9th round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating on Lake Como in Northern Italy.

Cappellini, lead pilot of the Laserline/Castrol Team powered his DAC built Mercury 2.5 litre powered machine to a 1.1 second margin, by powering his way to a time of 47.18 seconds and a speed of 141.16 kph on the six pin 2.0 kilometer course. The native of the city wasn't sure if he would be able to race at his home Grand Prix, but received a repreave from the U.I.M. the worldwide governing body of racing based in Monaco, to race one more time before serving his 2 race ban for distroying the series timing equipment during a dispute over his qualifying time at the Bulgarian Grand Prix last month. His two race ban will begin next week at Vienna and then be followed at the newest event scheduled for the 17th of November in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Promoter of the series Nicolo di San Germano stated, "I'm happy for the organization and the sponsors of the Grand Prix of Italy in Como because they really wanted their local driver in their race as the sponsors and the organization want the best show. Unfortunately, the same respect for the Bulgarian sponsors and organization was not given to them, as each sponsor should receive the same respect."

As Cappellini was congratulated by the many hundreds of fans and friends, it was a 6-boat "shootout" that almost saw his main rival the top billing as American driver Scott Gillman of the Abu Dhabi based Adnoc Lubes/National Bank of Abu Dhabi Team pushed Cappellini hard matching his previous mark with a 48.28 and 137.94 kph and forcing Guido to push hard for his pole setting lap. Gillman, who is 14 points behind Cappellini in 3rd place in the World Title chase with 86 points, realizes that Cappellini must continue to be perfect as he must sit out 2 of the series last 4 races in 2000. Gillman, who has lived part of the last 3 season's in Italy, loves to win here and is looking to make it a clean sweep after winning in Sardinia earlier this season.

Another Italian who is already making his mark this season is Francesco Cantando of the Singha Beer/Waircom group finishing up in the top 3 once again and is looking to move ahead of Gillman in the race tomorrow like he did in Turkey and get a little closer in the World Championship. Francesco, who lives just an hour away, sees this as his home race and is sitting in the championship with 77 points. His 48.66 time was set earlier in the day and not surprisingly in the "shootout" with a speed of 136.86 kph.

Massimo Roggiero of the Petrobras Racing Team powered his DAC Mercury 2.5 litre up to 4th with a shootout lap of 48.77 or 136.55 kph. Massimo, a winner in nearby Stresa 2 years ago, would love to make it another victory in the "Italian Alps".

The driver who has made "hay" here in Northern Italy over the years is 4-time World Champion Jonathan Jones of Cardigan, Wales. Jones in his Fuchs/Eurobet Burgess OMC powered 3.0 litre powered machine, missed the shootout because of minor problems that couldn't be corrected in time for his run, settling for 5th and a 49.38 second lap and 134.87 kph. The story with Jones is he has won here in the Italian "lakes" 6 times in his career including the last two times the race has been held in Como in 1992 & 1993. If he can get reliability out of his setup, he may be the man to beat.

Hungarian Rudy Mihaldinecz in his Dunaferr/EMA Power Seebold boat reached the top 6 with a 49.71 second lap, running ahead of Cappellini's teammate Fabio Camparato, who is 2nd in the World Championship with 87 points. Latvian pilot Victor Kunitch in the Kalciers R.Team was 8th, while Awad Al Qubaisi of Abu Dhabi was 9th in the Adnoc Lubes/National Bank of Abu Dhabi team with a 52.23 second lap. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers was Argentinian driver Carlos Maidana in the Texaco Havoline RVS OMC powered 3.0 litre machine with a 52.45 second circuit.

The 9th Round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship while start at 14:30 CET and 8:30 Eastern Daylight Time in North America. The first of back to back races with Vienna and the Grand Prix of Austria next weekend on the Danube. Cappellini neads to win, Gillman neads more points….who will smile the largest at the end of the day?