2010 FHRA Nitro Nationals
Friday
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The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news. Click here to go back to the event index 22:15 Christer has posted another set of pit notes including Risto Poutiainen's and Stig Neergaard's accounts of their collision in Top Fuel qualifying this afternoon. We have also posted today's gallery which features shots by both Christer and our good buddy Markus Ek to whom many thanks. There are sixty five pictures in all, if you do not see all sixty five updated thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. Tune back in the morning and we will bring you all the news from day three of qualifying. It has been confirmed that, as mentioned below, we start at 10:00 and that the Pro sessions take place at 13:00 and 17:00. 19:50 That's qualifying finished for today. We start again at 10:00 tomorrow and the first Pro session is at 13:00. Christer has posted some more pit notes and we are now going to work on today's pictures. As Pro qualifying has finished for today this would be a good time for a reminder that copying anything from this coverage is theft, and we will come after anyone who does it. Unless you have standing permission from us please do not copy our reports, results, pictures or pit notes and post them on web sites, forums, Facebook etc. Posting our Pro results on Facebook and then claiming that you did them yourself and then lying and lying in front of all your Facebook friends when pulled up on it and then removing the evidence when you get too close to being exposed and subsequently lying and lying to everyone you encounter, including members of the Eurodragster.com staff, to try to save face is particularly reprehensible. But we're sure that no-one would stoop so low, or at least not again. We'll let you know when the pictures are ready so stay tuned. 19:45 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Top Fuel is running over 1000 feet here at Alastaro this weekend. Andy Carter 4.359/328.13 bye; Stig Neergaard 4.059/473.80, Risto Poutiainen 4.167/443.48; Janne Ahonen 4.399/437.98, Timo Lehtimmaki 8.778/127.60; Micke Kågered 4.627/288.87, Anita Mäkelä 4.366/370.53; Urs Erbacher 9.178/120.87, Jari Halinen 4.428/391.56 Great run for Andy to start with, 0.879 to sixty feet and going great guns with huge header flames and the tyres sticking to the track, then at about 450 feet it looked from here as if the right side headers broke as some of the exhaust was going downwards. Andy shut off around the eighth, 3.289/377.09 but still moved up to third place. Drama in the next pair. A great match between Stig and Risto with Stig having the advantage all the way, 0.876 to sixty feet to Risto's 0.891, 3.240/414.77 at the eighth to Risto's 3.310/397.47. But then just past the 1000 foot mark Stig's dragster went right and Risto's dragster went left at the same time and they collided. From here it looked as if the cars tangled, everything disappeared into a huge dust cloud with pieces flying, from the dust cloud the sound of a motor zinging then blowing. That was a bad one and an awful hush descended upon the race track. Boy did the safety crews move quickly, it was only a few seconds before every emergency vehicle on the facility was there to help. Well done guys. Word very quickly came back from the top end that both drivers were out of their cars and OK. Just a moment ago Stig walked down the return road to the applause of the crowd followed by Risto in his support vehicle. Risto's car is reportedly in two pieces and pretty badly smacked about whilst Stig's dragster has pieces hanging off but looks relatively intact. On the re-start a huge holeshot for Janne over Timo, Timo had cylinders out and was off the throttle by about 200 feet, Janne disappeared into the distance but there was a flash of flame from his motor just past the eighth. Track checked and all OK though so hopefully all in order. A good side-by-side to begin with for Micke and Anita, Anita quickly had cylinders out but stayed on it until the eighth, cylinders out for Micke too and then a bang from his motor and oil in his lane. Clean-up complete, Urs and Jari concluded qualifying for today. Urs got a big jump on Jari but hit bad shake which we felt up on the top floor of Race Control and he was off the throttle at about sixty feet. Jari's dragster stuck to the track, from here it looked as if he shut off just a touch early. As things stand both Stig's and Risto's runs have been DQ'd because of boundary violations. This does seem to be piling Pelion upon Ossa in the circumstances but the race officials are of course following proper procedure. However a protest has been tabled and a decision will be made by the FIA Jury later on. Qualifying after this session:
18:00 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Derek Flynn 5.423/438.38 bye; Paul Ingar Udtian 5.677/403.11 bye; Dennis Habermann 5.571/407.31, Dave Wilson 5.568/415.13; Peter Schöfer 5.426/421.53, Krister Johansson 5.528/411.24; Fred Hanssen 5.508/416.20 bye The Gold RV dragster stuck to the track this time, 0.958 to sixty feet, got very close to the guardrail in the second half but Derek stayed with it. From here it sounded for an awful moment as if the throttle had stuck open, I am guessing that what actually happened was that Derek drove it out the back door. Either way Derek got it shut off and stopped without drama and the run was good for second place and the first half of a European speed record, well done Derek! Great run for Paul Ingar, 1.008 to sixty feet and straight down the middle of the lane, no sign of shake and up a place in the ladder. Then a pairing and a superb one it was too, Dennis v Grumpy, Grumpy's Silverline dragster seemed to hesitate just a touch off the line and Dennis' dragster went screaming away, Grumpy reeled him back in and stayed with him all the way, the better ET bu a move up the ladder for both. Another superb match between Peter and Krister, Peter getting the lead but Krister reeling him back in most of the way but just shutting off a touch early. Peter and Krister made up the places they lost to Dennis and Grumpy so it was pretty much as you were after that pair. 0.922 to sixty feet for Fred, as straight as if the car was on rails and the run looked quicker than the 5.508 which came up. Qualifying after this session:
17:40 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Arvid Grødem 8.684/162.77, Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.010/383.98 Arvid and Jaapa side by side until Arvid lifted before the eighth, nothing visible wrong but he has a time on the board. Qualifying after this session:
17:35 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Freddy Fagerstrom shut off, Roger Johansson 8.041/275.41 bye; Robert Joosten 9.724/138.36, Rolf Vogel 8.991/213.53; Mats Eriksson 6.363/369.58, Timo Aikaa 7.088/312.56; Tami Brander 7.743/277.04 bye; Tomi Pontinen 9.211/152.44, Jan Gunnarsson 6.260/364.01; Jari Paren 6.820/318.75, Marko Lantto 6.533/354.13; Bruno Bader 6.252/354.74 bye; Micke Lindahl 9.615/161.40, Urban Johansson 6.980/232.71; Johan Lindberg 6.112/371.86, Adam Flamholc 6.680/267.38; Micke Gullqvist 6.046/388.83, Andy Robinson 6.105/367.61 300-foot burnout from Freddy but then shut off on the start line, from here it looked like premature ejection of a chutes. Roger took the bye, 1.082 to sixty feet and then the Mustang started to move to the right although from here it didn't look shake-related. Roger shut off, not the best run but he is at least on the board now. The tiniest of burnouts from Robert, the tyres hardly smoking. Mind you it is very warm here so I am guessing that that is not as much of a disadvantage as it would be normally. Bit of a strange one with Robert and Rolf, both staged but neither was up on the two-step when the Tree ran. Both cars sat there for the best part of five seconds before leaving. Robert's Camaro got to sixty feet in 1.017 but then made a move out of the groove to the left and he shut off. Rolf hit shake and pedalled, hit shake again and pedalled again, and was on and off the throttle all the way down track. Mats left Timo for dead on the Tree, no shake and straight down his lane. Timo pedalled for shake and then chased but no way was he catching Mats. An improvement though and a move up the ladder. Great burnout by Tami, went all the way to the last photographer who was stood at about 200 feet. Very mild launch, then the car picked up but made a move at the top of second gear and he shut off. Jan rolled the beams very slightly so that was a quicker run. Tomi's tyres shook for quite some distance before he shut off. 300-foot burnout for Marko in front of his home crowd. Great match between Jari and Marko, side by side most of the way, Marko driving through shake and not getting off it for anything whilst Jari took the long way round. Both moved up a couple of spots. Bruno on a bye after Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat did not start. Again the Tree ran before Bruno had gone up on the two-step but he did his thing and put in his run in his own time, and moved up the ladder. Huge shake for Micke L and he shut off by the Tree, good-looking run for Urban until the car started moving around and got close to the centre line then the blower belt departed the car just past half track. Thundering pass from Johan, our first three-second eighth-mile of the weekend at 3.99 and into first place. No visible problem for Adam, just shut off early. Contrary to what a race official told us earlier Micke G's run of this morning was not DQ'd, which is great news. It doesn't matter anyway, Gullan laid down another stormer with a 3.982 eighth mile and into the lead, and his speed is backed up by his previous pass for a European speed record too (388.83 kmh / 241.61 mph), well done Gullan! Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy was right with him most of the way, a 3.9-second eighth too, but some smoke from the motor in the last hundred feet and down the shutdown area. Qualifying after this session:
17:05 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Timo Lahti 6.884/325.41 bye (licencing pass); Bo Pettersson 7.764/284.89 bye; Richsrd Sundblom 6.833/328.73, Michael Malmgren 7.060/281.02; Jimmy Ålund 6.978/314.52, Harald Sturhan no time; Micke Callin 6.803/327.84, Jan Palmqvist 6.874/325.48 Another licencing pass for Timo. Good burnout and a tremendous run, well within the "Expected performance for the class" so I guess that will be his licence signed off. Well done Timo! An improvement for Bo and that was with the car stepping to the left about 200 feet out and Bo feathering the throttle in the second half. Nixxon waited in pre-stage a long time whilst Michael's crew adjusted the wheelie bars. An unfazed Nixxon then laid a superb straight pass on Michael to take #1 spot, Michael moved up the ladder but not the form we are used to from the Lahega team but more to come from them I expect. Harald left as Jimmy staged so no time for him, pity as it looked like a good run. Consistency for Jimmy, no move on the ladder. Consistency too from Jan but Micke C showed the Main Event was no fluke with a tremendous pass and into #1 spot. Qualifying after this session:
16:55 UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Kai Selkamaa 14.583/80.97, Jaska Salakari 6.692/324.02; Petri Paljakka no time, Rene van den Berg 9.642/137.70 All eyes on Kai on this one as the motor started to smoke and then there was a sheet of flame out of the right side at about 330 feet. Kai is A-OK. Great run for Jaska in the other lane, some smoke from the motor in the last couple of hundred feet but in to #1 spot. Petri left before the Tree activated so no time. Rene's motor sounded as if it was being strangled and then started to shed parts just before helf track. Qualifying after this session:
16:45 UEM Supertwin qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jaska Salakari shut off (bye); Svein Olav Rolfstad no time, Martijn de Haas 9.784/191.84; Samu Kemppainen 7.378/274.37, Jan Sturla Hegre 7.014/302.57; Ismo Maenpaa shut off, Trond Hoiberget 7.607/280.48 bye; Job Heezen 6.853/323.01, Lorenz Stäuble 10.275/140.75 Jaska was shut off on the line and the fire crew leapt into action with fire extinguishers. Big explosion and fire on Svein Olav's motor, the start line crew again leapt into action. 1.307 to sixty feet for Martijn, headed for the guardrail and shut off at about half track. Another wild ride for Jan Sturla but he bravely stayed on the throttle as the bike fishtailed violently and was rewarded with a big move up the ladder. Improvement too for Samu and a move up the ladder. Ismo was shut off for a fluid leak before staging. Trond took the bye and it started well enough, 1.180 to sixty feet but then the bike headed for the centre line and Trond feathered the throttle. Great run for Job, improvement and good for one place on the ladder. Lo was going great guns when at about 300 feet his bike decided to start drifting in an unsubtle manner, the back of the bike came out and evn Lo had to shut off. Qualifying after this session:
16:25 UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Timo Savoilainen no time bye; Kenneth Vik 7.345/291.66 bye; Harri Piensalmi 7.389/272.77, Zoltan Toth 7.819/270.68; Stavros Svrachnos 7.627/270.98, Anders Abrahamsson 7.287/280.21 Kalle Lyrén 7.391/287.95, Karl-Heinz Weikum 8.009/275.20; Fredrik Fredlund no time bye; Ulf Ögge 7.213/295.41, Gert-Jan Laseur 7.395/284.67; Timo's motor cut out at the hit. Great run for Kenneth after his previous time was removed, into #2 spot. Harri stepped up big time, PB and into #4 and a nice first run of the weekend for Zoltan. No improvement for Stavros although a good run, but eclipsed by Anders in the other lane, a tremendous pass good for #1 spot. New PB I think for Kalle, well done! Jumped the lights big time but got the ET. An improvement for Karl-Heinz but he stayed in place. Fredrik's motor cut out a few feet off the line. Tremendous pair of passes from Ulf and Gert-Jan, Ulf back into #1 and consistency for Gert-Jan. Qualifying after this session:
16:00 Stock/Super Stock qualifying top five after session 8: Again a slight improvement for Tarmo but he stayed in #4 at that point. An improvement too for Arto to consolidate his #1.
Super Comp qualifying top five after session 8:
We're now collecting the Pros for their second session. 15:45 Outlaw Bike qualifying top five after session 8: No changes to the top five in this session.
Funny Bike qualifying top five after session 6: Rikard Gustafsson into #1 with a far from straight run which had him hanging off the bike to pull it away from the wall. Alongside Rikard on the same run was Pasi who moved up to #2, but only for two runs as Risto Outavaara came in and bumped him down.
15:35 Super Gas Bike qualifying top five after session 8: An improvement for Jyrki in the first pair but he stayed in place.
Pro Street Bike qualifying top five after session 8: No changes to the top five in this session.
Pro Harley Drags qualifying top five after session 8:
15:20 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 8: No changes to the top five in this session.
Junior Drag Bike qualifying top five after session 8 (Reaction Time): A 0.001 improvement for Emmi in the first pair but not good enough for fourth. Two pairs later Sanna Kiskinen came in to the top five at #3.
15:05 Outlaw qualifying top five after session 7: An improvement for Hannu but he stayed in place.
Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 7: Just when you thought Martin's truck couldn't go any quicker it does just that! An improvement for Jani Lindvall moved him up to second.
14:50 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 7: Timo Tamminen into third spot in the fourth pair of the session.
Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 7 (Reaction Time): Jere Rantaniemi's wheelying van sideswiped the guardrail in this session. Jere is A-OK.
N.B. It says "Reaction Time" folks and has done for two days. 14:20 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Top Fuel is running over 1000 feet here at Alastaro this weekend. Janne Ahonen 4.478/416.44 bye; Timo Lehtimaki 4.887/251.11, Andy Carter 6.261/163.75; Jari Halinen 4.340/361.28, Stig Neergaard 4.667/285.23; Anita Mäkelä 4.353/381.46, Micke Kågered 4.466/325.55; Risto Poutiainen 5.726/193.53, Urs Erbacher 4.205/463.49 Janne's motor started to lean out in pre-stage and almost stopped. Janne got it back then hit it, languid launch but nitro flames clearly visible in the daylight and stuck to the track. Timo's first run for some time. Andy was in pre-stage for an age whilst Timo's crew were still preparing the car, tuner Karsten Andersen gesticulated toward's Timo's Crew Chief and then had a little word after the run (no lickle tickles though). Andy pulled a big red but I don't think he could have waited much longer without running out of fuel, clearly visible tyre shake marks in the Lucas Oil dragster's lane and Andy was off it about 250 feet out. Timo was on a good run, tyres stuck to the track but he shut off before the eighth - maybe a planned checkout. Stig had a few things to cope with on his run, driving through shake, cylinders out and a big yellow nitro cloud, then the tyres started to haze at about the eighth and from here it sounded as if the blower plate blew. Strong opener for Jari, no sign of shake, looked to stay on it all the way to the thousand foot mark. Anita had cylinders out from about 300 feet but stayed with it, haze and a flash of flame from Micke's car at about 350 feet and the top end safety crews chased him down. All appeared OK although I am guessing there'll be some work to do for the Bahco Tools team. Final pair then. Risto's car looks great in its new graphics. The run not so great, looking good to about 100 feet then shake and tyres up in smoke and Risto shut it off. No such trouble for Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs, no shake, the car stuck to the track and he drove it out the back door. Qualifying after this session:
13:55 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Arto Hoyla 6.313/342.57 bye; Krister Johansson 5.615/395.20, Paul Ingar Udtian 5.757/403.23; Dave Wilson 5.759/420.07, Peter Schöfer 5.489/419.09; Derek Flynn 15.621/106.09, Fred Hanssen 5.467/421.90; Timo Habermann 5.385/411.71, Dennis Habermann 5.688/365.39 Good pass to open Arto's 2010 account. Incrementals stayed on the console for a couple of moments: 1.037 to sixty feet, didn't see any shake, 4.099/288.06 to the eighth. Paul Ingar's tyres didn't light on the burnout whilst Krister fogged the start line area. Krister was off and running, stuck to the track and all cylinders lit, a great pass. Paul's lack of a burnout didn't seem to hamper the car over much, sounded as if he drove it past the finish line too. Will Hanna an interested spectator in Peter's lane, I guess that's where Fred Hanssen is headed. Peter into stage and revs up before Grumpy's crew were finished preparing the car to go forward. A huge jump for Peter off the line and into #1 spot at that point, clean-looking run for Grumpy and as with Krister no sign of cylinders out, baseline set I'd say. Fred indeed the next into the right lane. Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek's tyres up in smoke and cylinders out at the hit, he played no further part in proceedings. Very rapid launch for Fred, then the Islanders dragster started to move about the lane about 300 feet out but Fred stayed with it and went into #1 spot. Timo left the line as if shot from a gun, 0.90 sixty foot time I just managed to catch, Dennis' run was no slouch but Timo was in awesome form on that one, the car squatting down and running straight as you like. Qualifying after this session:
13:30 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jarmo Kuutniemi 5.935/384.19 bye, Arvid Grødem shut off Big burnout for Jarmo in his new FC, about 100 feet out the engine revs went up a long way almost to zing point and a cylinder went out. Arvid was signalled to shut off on the way back from the burnout, fluid I guess. Jarmo took the bye, a great first pass for the car on a fully-prepped track. Qualifying after this session:
13:20 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Timo Aikaa 9.666/148.84, Robert Joosten 11.354/142.32; Rolf Vogel 13.049/100.86, Jari Paren 7.131/315.48; Tami Brander 7.423/254.55, Tomi Pontinen 7.191/245.45; Jan Gunnarsson 7.007/316.24, Marco Maurischat 6.655/360.12; Urban Johansson 6.355/349.51, Freddy Fagerstrom no time; Bruno Bader 6.466/337.62, Graham Ellis 8.153/310.95; Marko Lantto 6.925/349.51, Micke Lindahl 6.305/360.39; Roger Johansson shut off, Micke Gullqvist 6.126/386.55 bye; Adam Flamholc 6.147/371.95, Mats Eriksson 9.060/160.27; Andy Robinson 6.144/357.98, Johan Lindberg 6.171/371.67 Very out of shape burnout for Timo, followed by an out of shape launch and off the throttle about 400 feet out. Robert sat on the line for some five and a half seconds and then hit instant shake at the hit, shut off and idled through. Instant tyre spin for Rolf, he pedalled and tried again with exactly the same result. Jari drove through a small amount of shake and was off the throttle just a squeak early. Looked like a languid launch for Tami, relatively you understand, the car just looked as if it didn't have enough power. Better run for Tomi but got very close to the centre line and feathered the throttle. Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco rolled the beams triggering a red, something came off the 'Vette at half track although it only looked like a paper towel or similar. Shake for Jan and a move to the right and he lost some time straightening it out. 400 foot burnout for Freddy and then a huge speed reversing it. Freddy lost drive at the hit and stopped a few feet out, good baseline run for Urban with very little sign of shake. 200-foot burnout for Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham then hit shake past the Tree, shut off for a long while then got back on it. Bruno briefly pedalled for shake about 150 feet out. 300-foot burnout for Marko and I think Micke L had every intention not to be outdone but the Camaro was headed for the centre line so Micke got off the burnout just by the Tree. Tremendous pass for Micke L, red light but who cares, straight down the middle of the lane and no sign of shake. Good-looking run for local boy Marko. The R2B2 Camaro next through the start line arches, 100 foot burnout for Gullan. Roger shut off when he got back from the burnout, no visible problem. Great pass for Gullan and some incrementals briefly legible! 0.091 RT, 1.015 to sixty feet, 4.063/300.25 at the eighth where the car looked a touch loose - a lot left in there you'd think. Mats' Crown Victoria started to get seriously out of shape about 300 feet out and he shut off. Stormer for Adam, straight down the middle of the lane and I think he shut off just a touch before the stripe. A great match-up to finish the session, Andy and Johan side-by-side all the way down with no sign of shake and into #2 and #4 spot respectively. Qualifying after this session:
12:55 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Timo Lahti 14.946/91.02 bye (licencing pass); Jimmy Ålund 6.939/315.83 bye; Bo Pettersson 9.484/251.98 bye; Harald Sturhan 7.523/297.35, Tommy Leindahl 13.730/100.67; Jan Palmqvist 6.856/324.97, Richard Sundblom 6.949/325.70; Michael Malmgren 8.061/205.01, Micke Callin 6.862/326.88 Licencing pass for Timo. Shake and smoke off the line and he was off the throttle by about 100 feet. 100-foot burnout by Jimmy to announce his arrival back in Europe, the car recognisable as Jan Palmqvist's former Snowball GTO now owned by Futura Racing. 0.033 RT, straight pass and chutes out in the traps so more to come there. Welcome back Jimmy! Very short burnout by Bo, sounded as if a gear change missed. Shake and a hard right turn off the line, several chicken photographers stepped back and Bo got off the throttle, straightened it out, then took a gentle drive to the top end. Instant shake for Tommy and he was off the throttle by 100 feet, looked as if something came off the car. In the other lane Harald drove through shake and stayed with it all the way. Slight shake for Richard which he drove through, great pass for Jan with no sign of shake and into #1 spot at that point. Judging by some of these ETs I am guessing that the tuners have been a bit conservative and that the track is even better than they expected. We'll soon find out next round. Great launches for both Mickes but Michael M was off the throttle at half track although nothing was visibly wrong. Micke C was on the left side of his lane most of the way but a solid pass and good for #2. Qualifying after this session:
12:35 Christer has posted today's first set of pit notes, which you can access via the Event Index. UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jaska Salakari shut off, Petri Paljakka 7.562/260.36 bye; Rene van den Berg 7.688/302.69 bye; Jaska's bike wasn't interested in burning out so he shut off after a couple of tries. Petri took the bye, nice run but the motor sounded to be misfiring on the way down the track. Rene not happy with something, summoning his crew before the run but nothing obviously wrong. The bike headed for the centre line and Rene sounded to be feathering the throttle just a touch whilst pulling it straight and then on full throttle in the second half. Qualifying after this session:
12:30 UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jan Sturla Hegre 11.858/116.30, Samu Kemppainen 10.727/252.51; Trond Hoiberget 7.314/290.43, Ismo Maenpaa 8.286/224.76; Roel Koedam 6.982/291.78, Hans Olav Olstad 6.741/328.06; Lorenz Stäuble 7.183/273.03, Job Heezen 6.976/330.38 Jan Sturla's bike got into a real tankslapper and he did a good job of staying on it. Off the throttle by about 300 feet, then another stab of the throttle and shut off. Samu's bike headed for the centre line and he shut off, gave it some throttle in the second half. All eyes on Ismo in the next pair as his bike went closer and closer to the guardrail and it was a game of chicken with the throttle. From here he just looked to miss the rail. Trond feathered the throttle slightly but stayed with it and went into #1 at that point. Superb match-up between Roel and Hans Olav, both on the throttle all the way down and I don't know that Hans Olav's front wheel came down at all. Hans Olav didn't get stopped in time and went into the grass at the end of the track, word from the top end is that he is OK. Very quick recovery of the wayward bike and off we went again. A great match between Lo and Job, Lo's bike with nitro flames visible in the strong sunshine got very close indeed to the finish line reflectors, he was off the throttle a touch early. Nice straight pass for Job and a good baseline. Qualifying after this session:
12:15 UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Harri Piensalmi 7.620/240.51 bye; Gabriella Nikolovska 7.662/283.33, Kalle Lyrén 7.497/283.89; Karl-Heinz Weikum 8.270/265.61, Stavros Svrachnos 7.602/277.47; Fredrik Fredlund 7.474/285.96 bye; Gert-Jan Laseur 7.370/285.56, Kenneth Vik 7.423/286.30; Anders Abrahamsson 12.149/101.06, Ulf Ögge 7.307/291.07 Incrementals are going to be a bit hard to come by in these reports since the timing system clears them in moments. Great opener for Harri, 0.060 RT and a good baseline. Eurodragster.com Blogger Kalle sat on the line for about two and a half seconds but then put in a stormer for #1 spot at that point. Nice run for Gabbi, first quarter mile pass on her new motor. Karl-Heinz' bike sounded to lose power in the second half, no such problems for Stavros into #2 at that point. Great run for Fredrik, right down the middle of his lane and like Kalle a superb ET for first run off the trailer. OK, so 7.3 is pretty good off the trailer too! Gert-Jan straight down the lane with a clean run and Kenneth not far behind him. Anders was off the throttle and sat up by half track, in the other lane Ulf laid down a stormer for the #1 spot. That was a tremendous first session. Kenneth's time subsequently disappeared from the standings, we're told a Blue Line violation. Qualifying after this session:
11:55 The first session of Pro qualifying is now collecting in the pairing lanes. 11:45 Stock/Super Stock qualifying top five after session 7: Slight improvement for Tarmo but he stayed in #4 at that point.
11:40 Outlaw Bike qualifying top five after session 7: Mika up into third from fourth in the second pair of the session.
Funny Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
11:35 Super Gas Bike qualifying top five after session 7: An improvement for Jarkko N but he stayed in place.
Pro Street Bike qualifying top five after session 7: No changes to the top five in this session.
Pro Harley Drags qualifying top five after session 7: Jani up one place to third in the second pair of the session. Next pair and Staffan Nordman came into the top five at #5.
11:20 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 7: Turo Vitie into the top five, fifth in the second pair.
Junior Drag Bike qualifying top five after session 7 (Reaction Time): Miro Gratschew into the top five in the second pair, #2 at that point.
11:05 Outlaw qualifying top five after session 6: Sampsa and Hannu both broke out in this session, breaching the class' 7.50 index.
Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 6: An improvement for Per-Erik in the first pair but he stayed in second. But it's quite an achievement to go so far under index with a totally new combination, well done Per-Erik!
10:50 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6 (Reaction Time): Mikko took over the lead from fifth spot in the fourth pair of the session.
10:35 Funny Bike qualifying top five after session 4: Juha into the lead in the third pair of the session. First appearance of the weekend for Rikard Gustafsson on his 6.4-second Funny Bike, his motor cut out at the hit.
Stock/Super Stock qualifying top five after session 6: 0.003 RT for Anders Holmerg. Arto into the lead with the last run of the session.
Super Comp qualifying top five after session 6: Markus Engberg had a day off in this session, clocking 8.054. Bad boy, but we thoroughly approve. The top eleven are separated by 0.090.
10:15 Pro Street Bike qualifying top five after session 6: No changes to the top five in this session.
Pro Harley Drags qualifying top five after session 6: No changes to the top five in this session.
Outlaw Bike qualifying top five after session 6: Mika up into third from fourth in the second pair of the session.
8:45 Good morning and welcome from Alastaro for our coverage of the FHRA Nitro Nationals brought to you in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam is on-line and will be posting a picture every sixty seconds until the track closes on Sunday. Right now it's overcast and 15 C but the forecast is for the cloud to burn off and then it's going to be a scorcher. A big Hello to everyone who is stuck in the workplace today. We will do our best to make your day go better with all the results as they happen. A particular Hello to our good buddy and colleague Sharkman who wrote yesterday. Hope you are OK today Shark and hope you continue to enjoy the coverage. Hello also to Gittli Koller who is tuned in from Bavaria, thanks for the text messages and we will likewise do our best to keep you entertained today. We have had some good feedback on yesterday's coverage which is much appreciated; Christer is the undoubted star of the show having done both trackside pictures and pit notes yesterday. Where he gets his energy I don't know. Today we will be joined by photographer Markus Ek. News from the pits is that, as kind of hinted-at in the recent news item, Micke Gullqvist will be driving the R2B2 Camaro in Pro Mod this weekend rather than his own '57 Chevy. Christer will be around to see Gullan and he has other pit note victims on his list also. Qualifying is due to start at 10:00 with the rest of qualifying cycle 6. The Pros are due at 12:00 and 16:00 (10:00 and 2:00 UK, 11:00 and 15:00 CET). Stay tuned and as soon as the wheels start to turn we'll be here with the results. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |