Comparato & Pharaon Round Out Top 3!

CAGLIARI Italy: (7th July 2002) - Italian points leader Guido Cappellini took his 3rd pole of the season and his 45th career pole position and will lead the field of 19 drivers around the 2300 meter 8-pin course for the 5th Annual Grand Prix of the Mediterranean.

The beautiful inner harbour of this southern city of Sardinia was washed with sunshine and light winds early in the afternoon and 6-time World Champion Guido Cappellini of the Zepter Team qualified at a speed of 156.39 kph and a time of 49.49 to take his 3rd pole this season and his 45th of his storied career.

Cappellini, the native of Como, watched in the late afternoon 6 boat shootout as the conditions for the 2nd straight year only were worstening as the day wore on. For Cappellini, it is his 3rd pole in Cagliari and is hoping to stop his two year streak of crashing and failing to finish this event.

In the 2nd position will be fellow Italian Fabio Comparato of the Nautica Comparato Team with a speed of 155.48 kph and a lap time of 49.92 seconds. For the driver who lives near Venice, he picks up his 4th top 3 qualifying effort in five attempts as he looks at winning his first ever F1 event.

Saudi Arabian driver Laith Pharaon will start 3rd with a speed of 154.86 kph and a time of 49.98 seconds in the Team Green DAC Mercury 2.5 litre powered entry. Pharaon, who led the race here a year ago before having problems with the boat late in the race, is looking for his 2nd career win and his first of 2002.

Portugese driver Duarte Benavente had a great afternoon running as high as 3rd quickest until finishing in the 4th position and a speed of 152.51 kph. It was his first trip of the season to the Òtop 6Ó shootout after qualifying twice 7th earlier in the season. He brings with him the only Burgess English built boat in the field tomorrow and hopes for his poidum of his career.

In the 5th spot will be Francesco Cantando of the Singha Beer Team who gave it his best in the final moments of qualifying going from the 13th position to the top 5. Cantando, who has led 2 races this season but has just 6 points in the championship looks to turn his luck around with a strong finish at days end.

Rounding out the top 6 is Massimo Roggiero and his first shootout of the season. The northern Italian native who teammates with Cappellini, is hoping to move up tomorrow and reach the podium for the 2nd time this season after finishing 3rd in Helsinki in June.

Missing the "Top 6" shootout for the first time since coming to the f1 tour in 1997 is American Scott Gillman who qualified 7th with a time of 51.35 and a speed of 150.73 kph. Gillman, lead driver of the Emirates Team, switched boats after the practice session after finding his Abu Dhabi craft not to his liking on this shorter straight course, switching to his teammate Awad Al QuibaisiÕs craft in the final two sessions and settling for 7th at the end of the day. Gillman, will now run in a boat that he last won on the tour, here in 2000 having come 2nd a year ago after qualifying on the pole.

Sami Selio of Finland in the only 3.0 litre Johnson powered engined machine will start 8th after missing most of the 2nd session with a time of 51.96 and a speed of 148.96 kph. Selio has a 2nd this season and looks for another podium finish.

Starting in the 9th position will be Frenchman Philippe Dessertenne in the Charente Maritime Ligier Sports DAC with a time 52.02 and a speed of 148.96 kph. Dessertenne gained his first win in his career in Helsinki and is currently 3rd in the championship.

Rounding out the top 10 is Italian Ivan Torta who is coming off his first ever podium finish with a 3rd at the Grand Prix of Hungary. Torta has run strongly in the last 3 races never finishing lower than 7th and would love another trip to Òthe boxÓ.

So, the question tomorrow will be to see if Guido Cappellini can stop his string of crashes at this event while failing to finish the last two events while in the lead and coming away with his 3rd win here in Sardinia. If the 42 year-old Italian can take the win, it would be his 43rd in his career and his 4th in 5 races this season.

Race time will begin at 17:00 local time CET, and 15:00 GMT and 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time on the East Coast of North America.