2010 NitrOlympX
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 23:30 We have now posted today's pictures, which you can view via the Event Index page. There are 150 pictures in all; if you do not see all 150 thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. We realise that the picture from the webcam today was not ideal so one of tomorrow's jobs will be to reposition it slightly so that there are at least no obstacles to the picture. There is not a lot we can do about the sound since, as we were not expecting to be able to run the webcam live, we did not bring the requisite audio cables. We will try to do something about the volume level, though, so you can at least hear what we in Race Control hear. Tune back in the morning and we will bring you all the news from day two of qualifying. The action starts at 9:00. 19:00 Nitro Bike Thunder qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Roman Sixta 9.400/159.71, Rene van den Berg 6.842/337.99 Fuel Altered and Nostalgia FC session 1: Bob Glassup (blown-alcohol altered) 7.109/291.66; Wendy Baker (Nostalgia Fuel FC) 7.611/242.53; Tony Betts (Fuel Altered) 7.870/223.75 In the middle of this afternoon your reporter was told to report to the Eagle Racing Two Seat Dragster pit when the Pro qualifying session had finished since the Hockenheimring had decided that I should be taken for a ride. This duly happened after the Nitro Bike Thunder session, Shelley Pearson drove me to an 8.353/260.19 which she seemed to think was out of shape but which seemed perfectly OK to me. Just goes to show how switched-on Shelley and other drivers are and how little I notice! Anyway thank you to Yvonne Blaull, Christine and Peter Calwer, Shelley Pearson and all the guys at Eagle Racing for a fantastic experience. I can highly recommend it. We're now going to work on today's pictures so tune back in a couple of hours for those. 18:25 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Paul Ingar Udtian aborted run, Dennis Habermann 5.601/408.00 bye; Derek Flynn 8.339/123.78 bye; Fred Hanssen 5.381/428.10, Dave Wilson 5.506/426.50; Timo Habermann 5.393/416.52, Peter Schöfer 5.468/419.58 Paul Ingar's team got here right at the last minute after a thrash, then his tyres didn't light on the burnout and from here it looked as if he had problems getting reverse so he drove to the end of the track. Dennis took the bye; 0.965 to sixty feet, 3.679/330.48 at the eighth, an improvement but no change in place. Tyres up in smoke at the hit for Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek and he was off the throttle by the Tree. First 5.3 of the weekend for Fred who left Grumpy for dead off the line, tuner and Eurodragster.com Blogger Will Hanna's plan coming together again as Fred took #1 spot back. The Silverline car put in a stout top end charge but Fred was way ahead. An improvement for Grumpy but no change in position. Timo into the 5.3s too but not quite enough to take the lead back from Fred. A very consistent pass for Peter, 0.003 on his previous run. Qualifying after this session:
18:05 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Dan Larsen 5.966/383.98 bye; Danny Bellio 13.277/107.58, Rob Turner 6.724/298.43; Dezsoe Krivan no time DQ, Jürgen Nagel 10.292/138.91; Arvid Grødem no time, Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.126/316.24 Dan into #1 in ths first run of the session and I think a bit more to come from the Boxter FC as the sixty foot time was a little lazy. Gentle burnout for Rob. Danny rolled the beams quite significantly and then his tyres went up in smoke when he hit the throttle. Languid launch for Rob and the car sounded lazy during the gear changes, but he is now in the ladder. Dezsoe's FC drifted to the right and crossed lanes in front of Jürgen, taking out the 330 foot reflector on the way. Jürgen off the throttle at that point but he too has a number on the ladder. Arvid's tyres didn't light on the burnout and just for a moment the car was headed for the Tree. Looked like problems staging for Arvid, Jarmo up on the revs and Arvid was bulbed. Full pass for Jarmo, slight improvement but stayed in place. Qualifying after this session:
17:45 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Janne Ahonen 5.134/426.58 bye; Stig Neergaard 5.832/271.44, Urs Erbacher 4.996/472.10; Anita Mäkelä 4.852/444.56, Micke Kågered 5.466/334.86; Andy Carter 4.909/426.42, Jari Halinen 6.263/228,40; Risto Poutiainen 4.883/478.76, Timo Lehtimäki 5.032/466.32 Tremendous pass for Janne, into #1 spot with the first run of the session. The car stuck to the track, 0.938 sixty foot time, and Janne stayed with it right to the stripe even when the car made a move in the last hundred feet or so. Great match between Stig and Urs to begin with but then Stig's motor started to drop cylinders and from here it looked as if the blower panel blew and that was his run done. Urs started to pull away visibly from Stig about 300 feet out, he too had cylinders out in the second half but stayed with it, first into he fours this weekend and into #1. Anita left Micke for dead off the line and what a tremendous pass. A cylinder out at the launch but it cleared and the car stuck to the track until the blower panel blew at about 1200 feet. Micke looked to have cylinders out and he was off the throttle at about half track. 0.891 to sixty for Andy, 0.931 for Jari, Jari's race was over by about 300 feet as there was a flash of flame and then vapour from the headers. 3.303/405.48 at the eighth for Andy and a storming 3.976 at 1000 feet, off the throttle before the stripe. Another superb match-up between Risto and Timo, I believe a PB for Timo - if so then well done guys! Risto on it all the way: no cylinders out, no shake, clean as you like and good for #2 spot. Qualifying after this session:
17:25 Simon has posted his second set of pit notes, which you can view via the Event Index page. FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Roger Johansson 6.234/364.34, Adam Flamholc 9.639/133.86; Henri Joosten 14.111/106.63, Patrick Wikström 6.465/355.46; Johan Lindberg shut off, Marc Meihuizen 6.380/368.61 bye; Urban Johansson 7.915/192.41, Marcus Hilt 7.693/226.03; Marco Maurischat 7.180/333.22 bye; Micke Lindahl 6.188/374.97, Mats Eriksson 6.161/375.36; Rolf Ammann 10.659/128.39, Jean Dulamon 6.936/334.24; Andy Robinson 6.198/370.68 bye; Jan Gunnarsson 6.477/342.41, Freddy Fagerström 6.327/365.75; Melanie Troxel 6.099/386.86, Micke Gullqvist 6.173/376.60 Looked like shake for Adam, the Camaro heading to the left and the engine note hardly changing, off it by about 150 feet. Much better pass for Roger, approaching his storming form at Mantorp and into second place. Instant shake, smoke and a right turn for Henri and off the throttle. Big improvement for Patrick, maybe the baseline run he meant to make earlier, some of the gear changes sounded a bit lazy though. Johan shut off within seconds of starting, the crew were prodding the front of the blower so maybe the belt broke. Marc took the bye, a little shake and a pedal at about 100 feet and then stuck to the track and straight as you like, up into #4 at that point. 1.028 to sixty feet and then shake for Urban and he slowed just after half track, thought I heard a blower plate go. Marcus' run just looked a bit lazy, 1.187 to sixty feet and 4.721/242.07 at the eighth. Lazy 1.4-second sixty foot time for Marco, sounded as if the car was reluctant to change gear. Great side-by-side match-up between Micke L and Mats, 1.0-second sixty foot times and certainly more to come from Mats as the Green Goblin took a slightly long way round, his run good for #1 spot at that point and Micke L's good for #2. Rolf's tyres didn't smoke in the burnout and he paid for it as the Coup turned hard right and he had to shut off. Jean got close to the centre line but he stayed with it, flames from the exhausts again towards the finish line. Andy asked us to thank all those who were involved with the rebuild of the Smokin' Stude: son Luke, all the guys at work who did extra overtime, especially Wayne, the crew who worked Sundays, Bodytone Paint, Prosign (who did the detailing at very short notice) and other sponsors who pulled out the stops, BMRS Hoses, Titan Steering Rack, Racepak, Stroud Safety Equipment, Aurora (rod ends for suspension) and Hoosier who supplied new tyres all round. great pass for Gus, 1.0-second sixty foot time, 4.087 to the eighth and into #4 spot. Some smoke in the shutdown area. 500-foot burnout for Freddy, you could hear the cheers and whistles of the crowd over the motor idling. Great pass for Freddy, the truck drifted towards the centre line but you know how he views such things, he stayed with it and made a big move up the ladder. Consistency for Jan but a little off his usual pace. Tremendous match-up between Melanie and Micke G who to all intents and purposes are team-mates. 0.99-second sixty foot time for Melanie, 4.0 seconds at the eighth. Micke was right with Mel but the Camaro's top end charge kicked in again and she was visibly pulling away in the second half. Qualifying after this session:
16:55 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jonas Engdahl 9.878/139.90 bye; Jan Palmqvist 6.925/325.87, Richard Sundblom 7.026/325.24; Michael Malmgren 6.835/326.51, Micke Callin 6.944/324.36; Tommy Leindahl 17.169/74.78, Jimmy Ålund 6.792/329.93 Not that it matters by dint of his earlier 7.018 but that ET for Jonas was suspect as his sixty foot time came up as 0.738. The motor revs shot up at the hit, Jonas went to the top of second gear and shut off. Jan up to #4 with a nice pass, Nixxon's car sounded as if it ran out of puff at the top of first gear, an audible hesitation before second engaged. 250-foot burnout by Michael M which went down very well with the crowd. 1.05-second sixty foot times for both Michael and Micke, Micke's tyres looked to turn just a little off the line. Michael up to second. Instant shake for Tommy, the Carpet Slipper turned right and he shut off. Another great pass for Jimmy and an increased speed. Qualifying after this session:
16:25 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 2: TBC shortly. 16:25 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 2:
15:50 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 2:
15:40 Nitro Bike Thunder practice session (left lane first): Lorenz Stäuble 6.843/329.38, Hans Olav Olstad 6.831/327.94; Antonio Ferretti 23.068/47.19, Roman Sixta 7.825/287.72; Rene van den Berg 7.078/330.03 bye; Petri Paljakka 7.302/301.29, Ian King 6.861/326.26 Nice first run by Ian King on the former Imperial Wizard. 15:25 Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 1:
15:10 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 1:
Super Comp qualifying top five after session 1:
14:50 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Krister Johansson 5.600/375.62, Paul Ingar Udtian 5.753/402.48; Dave Wilson 5.553/355.40, Derek Flynn 5.709/317.77; Peter Schöfer 5.465/416.28, Fred Hanssen 5.427/425.75; Dennis Habermann 5.626/406.55, Timo Habermann 5.410/420.64 Paul Ingar just slightly rolled the beams before he hit it so that added to the ET. Good-looking pass though, no real sign of shake. Nice run for Krister, looked like the tyres were hazing in the second half and he shut off and had the chutes out a touch early. Race of the day between Grumpy and Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek, side-by-side but then Derek shut off at about 1000 feet and had the chutes out hence the terminal speed. Grumpy into #1 spot at that point although again looked as if he shut off early. Another great side-by-side between Peter and Fred, no real sign of shake for either and looked welded together all the way down the track. Will Hanna's game plan to get Fred into top qualifying spot for points is working out thus far. Great paired burnouts from Germany's fastest brothers. Storming 0.933-second sixty foot time for Timo, no sign of shake, 1.000 sixty foot for Dennis similarly shake-free but Timo was visibly pulling away. Timo into #1 spot. Qualifying after this session:
14:35 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Dezsoe Krivan 7.026/258.95 bye; Rob Turner no time DQ, Danny Bellio 8.495/176.47; Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.137/376.73, Dan Larsen 19.427/95.62; Jürgen Nagel no time, Arvid Grødem 6.302/383.51 Checkout pass for Dezsoe, front wheels up and down, on and off the throttle, then off it and chute out at about 1000 feet as the Celica drifted towards the wall. Bad shake for Danny but he feathered the throttle and got back on it, the car was still moving around though. Good launch for Rob, then the car moved to the right and took out the eighth-mile reflectors. Danny shut off and took avoiding action. 1.180 to sixty for Dan, huge shake and smoke and shut off as the car turned hard left. 1.014 to sixty for Jarmo, 4.025/295.19 at the eighth and into top spot. Arvid was in stage and up on the revs for a long time and Jürgen didn't move forward, eventually he was bulbed. Arvid drove through shake then looked to shut off a touch early. Qualifying after this session:
14:15 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Marc Meihuizen 22.410/55.12, Rolf Amman 6.565/347.56; Jean Dulamon 9.280/308.60, Henri Joosten 16.976/102.58; Marcus Hilt 17.606/102.15, Jöran Persåker 7.310/265.04; Patrick Wikström 24.726/88.97, Robert Joosten 6.516/312.42; Norbert Kuno 11.619/116.03, Melanie Troxel 6.183/385.42; Marco Maurischat 14.927/125.91, Jan Gunnarsson 6.422/337.93; Freddy Fagerström 6.699/273.07, Bruno Bader 7.684/200.87; Andy Robinson 7.617/235.28, Micke Lindahl 6.574/300.95; Adam Flamholc 26.834/41.57, Roger Johansson no time; Mats Eriksson 10.498/150.45, Urban Johansson 8.318/169.85; Micke Gullqvist 6.316/361.55, Johan Lindberg 8.493/144.12 Tyre shake and smoke for Marc and he got off the throttle by about 100 feet. Languid launch for Rolf, the Coupe moving about its lane some but he stayed with it and a good return. Henri hit shake at the hit and shut off for a long time before getting back on it for a couple of gear shifts. Jean's car relatively crept off the line and he gave it more throttle as he went down th etrack, flames from the exhaust at the end. Similar story next pair, one of Marcus' crew got a big shock when he hit the throttle as h was stood a bit close, instant tyre spin and motor zinged then he shut off. Jöran pedalled for bad shake and then got back on it. Instant tyre spin for Patrick, off the throttle immediately. A small amount of shake for Robert but he drove through it, 0.053 reaction, 1.092 to sixty feet and 4.240/232.12 at the eighth, into #1 spot but the car moved around and the motor started to smoke towards the stripe and he shut off and had the chute out slightly early. Relatively gentle launch for Melanie and the Camaro was blackstriping its lane between about 330 feet and half track, then a little wiggle from the car but Melanie stayed on it. Shake for Norbert and sounded to be a bit light on the throttle. Tyres didn't smoke for Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco then he rolled the beams just slightly and his tyres went up in smoke, he tried to drive out of it but the Vette turned towards the guardrail and he got off the throttle. Nice run for Jan, a pedal for shake and shut off a touch early. 400-foot burnout for Freddy which brought the crowd to its feet. Dramatic match-up between Freddy and Bruno, both hitting shake and drifting towards the centre line, both under throttle and getting very close. Bruno pulled it back to the middle of his lane but then the Vette started to make big moves left and right and he shut it off. Freddy shut off and had the chutes out at about 1000 feet. Great to see Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy back in town, that Stude looks stunning. Almost got the paintwork scraped though as after Andy drove through shake the Stude started to make violent moves about its lane and he had to shut off. Looked like a faultless run for Micke L, front left wheel didn't come down until about 250 feet. Huge burnout for Roger but then he left before the lights ran. Tyres didn't smoke for Adam, inevitable result at the hit as they went up in smoke. Instant shake for both Mats and Urban, Mats tried one pedal and got off it by 100 feet. Urban got back on it but then the driver side door flapped open and he shut off. Micke G and Johan were side-by-side to begin with but Johan was trying to drive through shake and he had to shut off as the car got close to the centre line. Micke stayed with it, this is going to sound weird but it looked like a relatively gentle pass, not aggressive - new motor so maybe a slightly conservative tune-up to bed in parts. Qualifying after this session:
13:45 We're now on the live webcam which you can check out by clicking here or go back to the event index and hit Refresh. The audio is indoors in Race Control right now so you can hear what your reporter hears. 13:05 Pro Bike Eliminator session 1: Gert-Jan Laseur 7.380/291.31, Karl-Heinz Weikum 8.144/265.50; Bob Brooks 7.602/289.37, Haralambos Bousinis 8.218/264.46; Otto Knebl 8.304/229.76, Filippos Papafilippou 8.043/280.33; Sven Fagan 9.688/161.18, Stefan Schmidt 9.884/158.99; Len Paget 7.755/274.80, Davide Ricci 18.890/43.17; Alexander Rose 9.440/244.30, Thomas Joswig no time; Christian Jäger shut off, Luc Raeymaekers shut off; Rikard Gustafsson 7.377/294.47, Szabolcs Borsay 9.028/231.72 We're now on a half-hour break. 12:55 Euro Serie Top Gas qualifying top five after session 1:
12:40 Simon has posted his first set of pit notes which you can check out via the Event Index page. FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jonas Engdahl 7.019/319.50 bye; Jimmy Ålund 6.757/328.93, Tommy Leindahl 6.920/322.77; Richard Sundblom 7.011/325.04, Jan Palmqvist 14.195/87.21; Micke Callin 6.898/322.35, Michael Malmgren 7.511/321.82 Hesitant burnout for Jonas but the motor new in this car. 1.105 to sixty feet, languid-looking launch so plenty more left in there but a Personal Best for Jonas, well done Jonas! Great side-by-side between Jimmy and Tommy, the incrementals cleared from the screen before I had the time to look at them - the way this particular timing system works I think that's going to be the case during qualifying at least. Problems burning out for Nixxon, would that affect his run? Not too much, some blackstriping off the line but not at all a bad baseline. Headache-inducing shake for Jan at the hit, the car made a move to the left and he shut off. 200-foot burnout for Micke C which brought the crowd to its feet cheering and whistling. Wheelspin and shake for Michael M, he drove through it but although the car was really moving at the top end the spin it lost him some time. Great run for Micke, tyre marks show no sign of shake, good baseline and good for second place. Qualifying after this session:
12:25 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Janne Ahonen no time bye; Jari Halinen 9.884/105.60, Stig Neergaard 14.108/111.70; Micke Kågered 11.143/138.37, Andy Carter 6.823/201.41; Timo Lehtimäki 6.257/229.42, Anita Mäkelauml; 9.086/148.22; Urs Erbacher 12.560/121.21, Risto Poutiainen 5.307/359.34 Great burnout from Janne but he just slightly rolled the beams before the lights ran. Pity since it was a great run, the car stuck to the track, header flames visible in the strong sunlight, shut off at about 1000 feet and the chutes out before the traps. 0.970 to sixty for Jari but then shake and cylinders out and off the throttle about 300 feet out. Stig's tyres up in smoke at the hit and he shut off almost immediately. Micke in possession of a couple of new motors after his problems at Mantorp Park. Andy pedalled a couple of times and the car was sticking to the track for a while but then the tyres went up in smoke and from here it looked as if the blower belt broke just before the eighth. Micke was off the throttle about eighty feet out, I would not be surprised if that was a planned launch. 0.92-second sixty foot times for both Timo and Anita, her tyres started to haze and she pedalled once but then the tyres went up in smoke about 250 feet out and Anita shut off. A couple of pedals for Timo but then it looked like the blower banged at about half track. Instant tyre smoke for Urs and off the throttle by 100 feet. Risto's tyres stuck to the track until about sixty feet and then shook, a long pedal and back on it but the dragster started to move around its lane in the second half and Risto was off the gas by about 900 feet. Qualifying after this session:
12:05 Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 1:
Schedule change, next up is Top Fuel Dragster. 11:45 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 1:
11:30 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 1:
10:35 The crew are just doing some track work on the shutdown area and then we're into Pro ET. 10:35 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 1:
09:35 Good morning and welcome from the Rico Anthes Quarter Mile at Hockenheim for our coverage of the NitrOlympX brought to you in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam is on-line and is currently posting a picture every sixty seconds. The management here at Hockenheim have kindly given us permission to run the webcam live, but as a live stream gobbles up CPU and memory and requires a laptop of its own we can't use this laptop to do it as we need to use this one for reporting. However another laptop is available and once we have set it up for live streaming then we will switch it on. That will hopefully happen during the day today, stay tuned. We would like to say a big Thank You to our sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car, particularly Andy Wheeler, who gave us a great deal on a rental car and that was one of the things which meant that we could afford to come here. We must also say a big Thank You to Christine Calwer who is in charge of media relations and who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide us with facilities. We had heavy rain here yesterday and overnight; it stopped at about 8:00, the sun is now out, and it's pretty warm out there. Track prep is underway and we are due to start at 10:00 with Junior Dragster. As things stand we will be working out the qualifying manually and so we will be tracking the top fives in Sportsman classes and full results in Pro classes. Pros are due to start with Pro Stock at 11:38, then Top Fuel Dragster at 11:48, then a lunch break until 13:10, then the rest of the Pros at 13:15 starting with Pro Modified. The second Pro session is scheduled at 14:43. A couple of hellos before we start, firstly to our good friend Gittli Koller who is tuned in from Bavaria; wish you were here Gittli. Hello also to our good friend and occasional team member Markus Ek who is unfortunately unwell. Get Well Soon from all the team Markus. Stay tuned and when qualifying starts we'll be back with the news. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |