VICTOR KUNITCH WINS FIRST F1 VICTORY IN SARDINIA!
CAPPELLINI CRASHES OUT; GILLMAN TAKES 2ND!

CAGLIARI, SARDINIA, Italy (1^st July) - Latvian driver Victor Kunitch held off a tremendous charge in the final 6 laps to take his first ever U.I.M. F1 World Championship victory in front of tens of thousands of fans at the 4^th Annual Grand Prix of the Mediterranean in Southern Sardinia.

Kunitch, who had qualified 2^nd and chased Italian and points leader Guido Cappellini into the first corner at the start, fell back to as far as 7^th when he was washed down loosing site of the course and was forced to battle his way up to the top 3.

Cappellini, winner of 4 straight events coming into the race, held the margin over Laith Pharaon of Saudi Arabia by as much as 5 seconds early until he crashed while out in front coming into the final turn of the 8 pin 2.5 kilometer course. Cappellini, coming up fast on Brazilian Paul Gaiser quickly tried to turn the boat to the outside of the pin and instead barrel rolled the boat twice and ended his day prematurely for the 2^nd straight year in the inner harbor of Cagliari.

On the restart, will Cappellini gone, Laith Pharaon in the Hyatt Hotel DAC boat took over the lead with Latvian driver Kunitch sneaking past Gillman and Italian Massimo Roggiero for 2^nd. From there it was a matter of time for Kunitch to take the lead from Pharaon and off another rolling restart from Assicom teammate of Cappellini Japanese driver Yutaka Sugihara crashed in almost the same spot around the right handed turn at pin number 7.

After a five lap caution period cleaning up bits and pieces from the Sugihara incident, it left just 6 laps to decide the 40 lap event. Off the restart it was Kunitch holding his ground as both Pharon and Gillman went 3 wide into the first turn trying for first place. Kunitch got the hold shot on the inside, held his ground and went on to a 3.21 second victory his first of his career.

Meanwhile, behind Kunitch, Pharaon and Gillman were tied together in a fight for 2^nd place until the Saudi's engine on the final lap gave up and Pharaon coasted to the line dropping back to 8^th at the finish. The reigning World Champion for the first time in 6 events this season finished a race and took 2^nd place with a well earned effort in a 4 year old boat.

Italian Roggiero was heading for his podium finish until he took out a bouy on the final lap and dropped from 3^rd to 12^th losing valuable championship points after a great ride. Taking advantage of this was Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne, qualifying his best ever in 4^th but dropping back early and climbing back into the picture in the final half of the race, finishing in 3^rd with a consistant run and now is sitting with 61 points, only 19 behind Cappellini for the world championship. Dessertenne is now a real contender for the title at this point of the season.

Young Italian Francesco Cantando battled back from a spin in turn 7 at the right hander to push hard to take 4^th in a great ride that almost brought him a 2^nd straight podium and kept his championship hopes alive moving him to 56 points in 3^rd place now being 24 points back of Cappellini. Cantando's consistancy could pay off by season's end and a title.

Portugal driver Duarte Benavente shook off a season of frustration by taking his first top 5 finish with a 5^th coming up from midpack at the start. Italian youngster Ivan Torta was 6^th after starting back in 16^th on a good run while another Italian Fabrizio Bocca pushed hard from a dissapointing 21^st position all the way to 7^th for his best finish of the year another notable ride of the day.

English veteran Andy Elliott overcame a broken wooden boat and a bad starting position coming all the way from the 19^th start to 9^th, while Italian Franco Leidi ran a steady race in 10^th after starting 12^th.

The U.I.M. F1 World Championship now takes a month off before moving on with the championship all of a sudden back open following Cappellin's miscue and no points. It was the first time in DAC racing history that both boats on the team crashed in the same race. Cappellini neads to regroup while knowing that Dessertenne and Cantando are closing into the shadow of the world championship for 2001. As a one time famous American sportsman once said, "It ain't over till it's over."The story is far from finished for 2001.