CAPPELLINI CAPTURES POLE IN FINLAND!!
LEPPALA 3RD IN WINDSWEPT QUALIFYING SESSION!

TAMPERE, FINLAND: June 13 th - Italian Guido Cappellini needed just one minute of bravery in the opening of 3 qualifying sessions to set a quick lap of 47:18 seconds for 137.34kph to gain his 3 rd pole position in 4 races on this years U.I.M. F1 World Championship for powerboats.

The native of Como, Italy along with the 18 other drivers from 10 different countries, watched the weather and the windswept conditions only worsen, making it impossible for the competitiors to improve on their opening session times.

The World Championship leader looked like the clear choice for the pole, however American Scott Gillman the defending World title holder from Basalt, Colorado put in a sizzling effort of a 47.23 second tour and missed beating Cappellini's time by 5/100's of a second on the 2 kilometer circuit.

Gillman, who has not had a pole all season, found a nagging engine problem and now feels on pace with Cappellini for tomorrow's race. "We have been looking for speed all season long, and now we have found our problem and are ready for a battle with Guido and Perrti."

Leppala, who had his first pole a week ago at the French Grand Prix in Chalon-sur-Saone, was .99 of a second from making it two in a row and will start in the top 3 for the 4 th race of the season. The native of Helsinki, who is racing racing in his home Grand Prix in Finland's first event ever on the tour, is hoping to improve on his 4 th place as his best finish of 1998.

Three time World Champion Jonathan Jones of Cardigan, Wales was 4 th quickest with a time of 134.78kph and is starting for the 4 th race straight in the top 5. Swedish driver Goran Karlof was 5 th fastest at 133.14kph while Italian Massimo Roggiero was 6 th at 130.64kph.
Rounding out the top 10, Rudy Milhaldinez of Hungary at 128.77kph starting 7 th ; Italian Cipriano Lambri 8 th at 128.52kph; Italian Francesco Lambri at 128.52kph 9 th and Norweigan Frode Sundsdal reached the top 10 for the first time in his career with a 126.73kph lap.

Starting time for tomorrow's 1st Annual Grand Prix of Finland is 16:10 local time and 9:10am EDT.