CAPPELLINI POWERS WAY TO 4TH STRAIGHT POLE IN 2003!
GILLMAN AND ROGGIERO 2ND AND 3RD IN GERMANY!

STRALSUND, Germany: (2nd of August) - Italian Guido Cappellini captured his 4th straight pole position and will lead the field of 24 drivers from 13 different nations in the 3rd Annual Grand Prix of Germany on the coastal city of Stralsund in the Eastern part of Germany.

The lead driver of the Zepter Team was the only driver to set a sub 35 second lap with a 34.93 around the 7-pin 1.53 kilometer course in the inner harbour for the 4th round of the U.I.M. F1 World Championship for power boating. Cappellini now has 4 straight on the season and 51 in his 18-year career in F1 racing.

2nd off the dock will be American Scott Gillman lead driver of the Emirates Team and 3rd in the World Championship with 27 points and 28 behind Cappellini, will look for his 3rd straight podium finish of the season with a 35.48 time and a speed of 172.99 kph. Gillman led here a season ago before his engine died ending his bid to win for the first time in Germany.

Starting next to Gillman in 3rd will be Italian Massimo Roggiero of the Baba Seaquest effort with an identical time as Gillman, .55 seconds behind Cappellini. Roggiero will be looking for his first finish and points of the season as we head closer to the halfway point of the campaign.

In the 4th position is a disappointed driver from Milan, Francesco Cantando who was 2nd going into the final "shootout" round of the day and with a fuel pickup problem couldn't get his boat to complete a lap, thus not improving his time of a 35.86 and a speed of 171.16 kph. Cantando won the race from the pole back in 2001 and led last year before dropping out with a mechanical problem.

Starting in the 5th spot will be Fabio Comparato of the Nautica Comparato team with a speed of 168.58 kph as he reached the top 6 for the first time this season.

In the 6th position will be Saudi Arabian driver Laith Pharaon in a brand new DAC boat that he is still dialing in. The new 2004 version sports new 3000 neauton thickness and bracing. The 36.86 time was good enough for his 3rd shootout in his 4 starts this season.

Thani Al Qamzi of the Emirates Team did a strong 37.51 second time for 7th and his best qualifying effort of the year, while Danish driver Gert Ladefoged did a career best 8th with a 38.01 second lap in his Lindab sponsored machine.

Rounding out the top 10 is Italian Fabrizio Bocca in the Corona Extra sponsored machine in 9th with a 38.29 second effort while Russian pilot Stanislav Kourtsenovsky was 10th with a 38.34 time.

The 3rd annual event in the inner harbour of Stralsund will begin at 15:00 local CET, 13:00 GMT and 9:00 Eastern Daylight Time on the East coast of North America.

Cappellini, Cantando and Gillman all led last year and all have an equal shot of winning in 50+ laps of hard racing in the small "ring" in Stralsund. It will be worth the wait.