CAPPELLINI CAPTURES POLE IN SARDINIA!
WORLD CHAMPION GILLMAN 2ND ; LEPPALA 3RD!

Cagliari, Italy, May 9: 4-time World Champion Guido Cappellini of Como, Italy, accomplished in the opening round of the 1998 U.I.M. F1 World Championship, what took him 9 attempts in last season's series, to win pole position. The lead pilot of the DAC Racing team, made it look easy as he set a blistering pace of 54:38 seconds around the 2500 meter course, capturing the top spot by .88 seconds over defending World Champion Scott Gillman of Basalt, Colorado.

Cappellini, took a back seat to the American in the 1997 campaign, when the driver of the Rainbow Belco Avia Racing team took 6 poles in 9 starts and became the man to beat. But Cappellini, determined to be again atop the timing sheets, was the quickest in every session and went into the special six boat "Shootout" session showing the competition that he had done his homework over the winter and set himself up for leading the field at the start of tomorrow's Grand Prix of the Mediterranean here in Sardinia.

Gillman, who is starting his 4th season in his trusty American built Seebold hull, did his best to take away Cappellini's advantage by doing a quick time of 55:26 which was quicker than the Italian's 56.91 in the second session. Gillman, who has never qualified lower than 3rd in any race of the UIM F1 World Championship, will start 2nd next to the man who finished behind him in the World Title last season in Finland's Pertti Leppala. The native of Helsinki, who is the lead driver of the Star Racing team, did a time of 56.96 is 2.58 second's behind Cappellini, while at the same time in front of Welsh driver Jonathan Jones who did a 57.07 and will start 4th.

Argentina's Carlos Maidana, reached the top 6 and qualified for the shootout for the first time in two seasons with a time of 59.32 for 5th off the start pontoon. Swedish driver Goran Karlof qualified for the shootout but had an engine problem and didn't improve on his 6th quickest time of 58.77. Italian Fabrizio Bocca will start 7th with a 59.54; Francesco Cantando, another Italian is 8th with a 59.86; Hungarian rookie Rudy Mihaldinez was 9th with a 1:00.03 and rounding out the top 10, France's Phillipe Dessertene did a time of 1:01.95 and will start in the middle of the 20 boat field.

Tomorrow's opening round of the UIM F1 World Championship will begin at 14:30 Central Europe Daylight time (8:30 Eastern Daylight Time) as the drivers race for 45 minutes around the busy 8 turn 2.5 kilometer course.