CAPPELLINI DOMINATES IN POLE BATTLE AT CAMPIONE d' ITALIA
COMPARATO & PHARAON IN TOP THREE!

CAMPIONE d'ITALIA, ITALY (18th of May) – Local driver Guido Cappellini captured his 1st pole position by dominating the competition with a time of 50.87 and a speed of 134.81kph and will lead the field through for the 6th Annual Grand Prix of Campione, the 2nd round of the 2002 U.I.M. F1 World Championship for  powerboating.

Cappellini, lead driver of the Zepter Racing Team, took his 43rd pole in his 17 year career in F1 and his 5th in Campione d' Italia which is just 30 kilometers from his home in Como, Italy. Guido, is looking to win for his 3rd straight race here in the his 41st in his storied career and will lead the field of 21 drivers from 12 different nations around the tricky 8 turn 2 kilometer course on Lake Lugano.

Italian countryman Fabio Comparato of Padova, a city near Venice, qualified strongly for the second straight event and will start 2nd with a time of 51:35 and a speed of 133.55kph. Comparato, who had moved to the front of the field with his time ended up .48 of a second behind Cappellini  and is hoping to lead his 2nd race of the season, something he did three weeks ago in Portugal only to fall of the pace with a trim problem and taking 4th place.

Saudi Arabian driver Laith Pharaon once again proved that all his hard work in Florida's Lake X paid off with a 3rd place time of 52.34 and 131.27kph and reached the top 3 for the first time since the Emirates of 2001. The driver of the Team Green Machine is hoping for his first top 3 since Abu Dhabi in October.

Newcomer Mike Seebold of Marco Island, Florida continues to improve his qualifying with a 4th fast time of 53.23 and 128.23 kph in his Mueller Car Transport Seebold boat. Mike continues to work with his first ever carbon fiber hull in his 30 year racing career and the first season of running right hand pin courses.

Starting next to Seebold is young Italian ace Francesco Cantando who was 5th quick with a 54.43 and couldn't go quicker in the top-6 shootout when a fly wheel sheered stopping him on the course and a speed of 125.99kph in his Mercury 2.5 litre powered machine. Cantando finished 2nd here a year ago and looks to reach the podium again this year.

Sixth off the dock will be another American, Scott Gillman of Glenwood Springs, Colorado with a speed of 124.60kph in his Emirates Team Burgess hull built in England. Gillman, tied for his worst effort in his 5 plus years on the F1 tour after taking the pole for the opening round in Portugal.

Portugese driver Duarte Benavente in the Interpass Castrol Burgess just missed the shootout, being bumped by Gillman for the 6th position in the final two minutes of the 2nd qualifying session with a speed of 124.48kph.

Starting 8th is Swedish driver Jari Honkala, teammate of Benavente in the ABG Castrol hull while Frenchman Philipppe Dessertenne in his Charente Maritime Eiggsi Ab Moteur DAC will start 9th. Rounding out the top 10 will be Thani AlQamzy of the Emirates Team with a time of 56.02 and a speed of 122.42kph.

The 2nd round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating, the 6th Annual Grand Prix of Campione will begin at 14:30 CET local time and 8:30 Eastern Daylight Time in North America.