GILLMAN CAPTURES POLE IN MALAYISA!
ROGGIERO 2ND AND CAPPELLINI 3RD !!

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: (4th of October)- Two-time World Champion Scott Gillman of the Emirates Team was the only driver in the Top-6 "Shootout" racing for pole position to improve his time and pushed himself to the top of the order with a sizzling effort of 52.46 seconds around the 7-turn 1.955 kilometer course to take his 1st pole of the season and his 20th of his career and will lead the field of 24 drivers for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Malaysia.

The native of Los Angeles, California struggled early finally working his way up to 3rd position in the closing moments of the first of two qualifying sessions. The challenging circuit which is one of the longest laps to be taken of the season was windswept for most of the afternoon forcing the drivers to put their quick times early in the first moments of the early afternoon session. Gillman, saved his best for last and powered his way to a speed of 137.24 kph in his first of two laps of the shootout. The one driver who most would take pole and who had taken full effort of running fast early in the day was Italian Massimo Roggiero the defending race champion as he set a ultra quick time of 52.56 and a speed of 136.98 kph to lead the field for most of the afternoon. Roggiero couldn't go quicker in the shootout and settled for 2nd on the grid.

Co-championship leader Guido Cappellini of Como, Italy and lead driver on the Zepter Team was pushing for his 5th straight pole of the season but had to settle behind Gillman and Roggiero finishing with a time of 52.73 seconds and speed of 136.54 kph in his brand new 2004 DAC hull.

Cappellini, is tied with 4th place finisher Francesco Cantando of the Singha Racing Team with 55 points and each holding down two victories each after the first half of the 2003 U.I.M. F1 World Championship season. Cantando, who is hoping for rough water in tomorrow's event, found himself struggling with fuel pickup problems and hopes to get these solved before tomorrows event.

Starting in the 5th position is 1992 World Champion Fabrizio Bocca of the Corona Extra Team reaching the top-6 shootout for the first time in 31 events dating back to the 2000 Latvian Grand Prix. The native of Casalle, Italy has finished in the top 10 in all four of his starts this season and is coming off his season best 5th at the Grand Prix of Germany.

Danish driver Gert Ladefoged reached the top-6 for the first time in his 2nd full season with a time of 53.72 and a speed of 134.28 kph in his DanIta Racing team Mercury 2.5 litre powered DAC hull.

In the 7th position and just missing the shootout for only the 2nd time this season is the Portugese driver Duarte Benavente who improved 4 places in a very rough and windy 2nd session for a time of 54.16 and a speed of 132.93 kph.

Fabio Comparato of Italy will start 8th in his Comparato Racing DAC hull with a time of 54.26 and a speed of 132.69 kph. The native of near Venice is 3rd in the championship and must do well tomorrow in order to still have a realistic shot at the title as must polesitter Gillman.

Saudi driver Laith Pharaon was disappointed with is 9th place qualifying spot running a 54.32 second 132.54 kph lap in his Green Team DAC hull, while rounding off the top 10 is Finnish driver Sami Selio who left the Velden Team after Germany and switched to a Mercury 2.5 litre after being the last driver to run a Johnson V-6 3 litre powered boat on the circuit.

The race on the Mines Resort City complex will begin at 15:30 local time, 9:30 CET and 3:30 am Eastern Daylight Time in North America. It is the 4th Annual Grand Prix of Malaysia and the 5th round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboating.