GILLMAN OUTFOXES FIELD FOR POLE POSITION!
KUNITCH AND CAPPELLINI TAKE TOP 3!

CAGLIARI, SARDINIA, Italy (30^th July) - Current World Champion Scott Gillman came out early in the first timed session and ran off a 59.32 second lap at a speed of 151.71 kph while the course was clear and calm in what turned out to be the fast lap of the day to take pole position for the 4^th Annual Grand Prix of the Mediteranean.

The 8-pin inner harbour course on the edge of the Mediterranean on the southern end of the island of Sardinia turned rougher and more challenging as the afternoon continued giving the lead driver of the Emirates team an edge and forcing the competition to push hard to run a sub 1 minute time, something only Latvian driver Victor Kunitch could do with a 59.43 effort.

World Championship points leader Italian Guido Cappellini of the Assicom team tried to close on Gillman and Kunitch but realized that even in the last session of the day, the top 6 "shootout" for pole position, the conditions would be impossible to improve and settled with a 1:00.81 time. The native of Como has 80 points and leads the chase for the title by 31 points with less than half of the season remaining.

Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne was 4^th in the Fuchs DAC with a time of 1:00.86 for his best performance of the season and his first top 5 qualifying effort. The 39 year old from La Rochelle is 2^nd in the title with 49 points and needs to finish on the podium to continue his charge for this seasons title.

Italian Francesco Cantando will start 5^th with a 1:00.91 time looking for his first win of the season and holding down 3^rd in the championship with 47 points and still a shot at the title in the Singha Beer machine.

Saudi Arabian driver Laith Pharaon will start 6^th with a 1:01.73 time and looks to reach the podium for the 3^rd time this season coming off a 3^rd in the last race in Campione.

Seventh spot goes to Italian Massimo Roggiero who is tied for 4^th in the championship with 32 points and two pole positions thus far and still in the title picture. Eighth will be Portugal driver Duarte Benavente with a 1:02.06 12^th in the championship and looking for his first podium of his career.

Rookie driver and 3-time South African champion Vernon Smith will start 9^th in the Michael Werner prepared Mueller Transport DAC with a time of 1:02.89. Rounding out the top 10 is Japanese driver Yutaka Sugihara 7^th in the World Championship with a pair of 4ths in the last two rounds did a 1:03.16 and looks for his first top 3 since his comeback from the 1997 season.

So, the American Gillman looks for his 2^nd straight victory in Sardinia and tries to turn around a season he soon hopes to forget, one in which he has failed to finish in the first five events of the year and is still looking for his first championship point of the current campaign.

Cappellini, who leads the championship with a comfortable margin looks to take a step closer to his 6^th championship if he can come away with his 3^rd victory in four tries on the beautiful Mediteranean island, the 6^th stop on the 2001 U.I.M. World Championship tour. Race time will be 17:00 local CET and 11:00 am EDT in North America.