2011 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 23:00 Today's pictures have now been posted and can be viewed via the Event Index page. There are 145 pictures in all; if you do not see all 145 updated thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. Simon has posted some more pit notes which you can also access via the Event Index page. Tune back in the morning and we'll bring you all the news from day 2 of qualifying. 19:40 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Risto Poutiainen 10.370/108.69 bye; Jari Halinen 6.469/212.66, Thomas Nataas 7.453/146.94; Urs Erbacher 5.164/474.57, Timo Lehtimäki 8.566/154.74; Anita Mäkelä 4.959/439.71 bye 0.899 to sixty feet for Risto, shake and off the throttle about 200 feet out. A great pair of runs to about 300 feet for Jari and Thomas, then Jari's tyres smoked and Thomas shut off as his tyres blackstriped. Improvement for Jari moved him off the bump spot. Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs with dropped cylinders on the left side, header flames getting a darker and darker orange and I feared the motor might blow but Urs stayed with it pretty much all the way. Shake for Timo about 100 feet out, smoke and off the throttle. Superb run for Anita, header flames above the wing all the way down then looked to shut off just after 1000 feet. Qualifying after this session:
Kenni Neergaard went for a licencing pass but as soon as he hit the throttle for his burnout a fuel hose came loose on the left side of the motor and sprayed fuel everywhere. The motor groaned and Kenni was off the throttle very quickly. Lots of nitro on the track. That's it for today, tune back in a couple of hours for today's pictures and Simon is working on more pit notes for you. 19:20 UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Kai Selkämäa 7.413/308.60 bye; Nate Gagnon 9.070/158.46 bye; Peter Svensson no time DQ bye; Slight improvement for Kai but the motor sounded to be labouring some. Good launch for Nate but then his motor stopped about 300 feet out. Peter on a good pass but the Kendall bike was headed towards the centre line and took out the 1000 foot and both top end reflectors. We are meant to be on a 19:30 curfew so the timing crew have sprinted into action to get the reflectors back on station so that we can have Top Fuel Dragster Q2. Qualifying after this session:
19:15 UEM Supertwin qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Pettri Mattsson no time DQ (bye); Samu Kemppainen no time, Jaska Salakari 7.538/204.75; Roman Sixta 8.835/224.07, Joachim Riemer 8.369/256.23; Per Bengtsson 6.792/341.60, Hans Olav Olstad 6.884/325.04; Lorenz Stäuble 8.894/167.66, Job Heezen 6.950/335.12 Header flames clearly visible from Pettri's bike but it was out of shape off the start and he crossed lanes taking the 330-foot reflector with him. Strange days in the next pair, red came up in Samu's lane, certainly he had not moved so I am guessing he got Autostarted. Jaska was on a real good one, header flames everywhere, but the motor stopped at half track. Joachim looked to be on a stormer too but the motor stopped as the front end came down, Joachim was back on the throttle but had lost time. Nothing obviously wrong for Roman, motor just not up to the job this time. Picture-perfect pair between Per and Hans Olav, Per looked to be riding a cushion of nitro flame all the way down the track and from here it looked as if he shut off a touch early so more to come, good for #3 spot. Nice run for Hans Olav but lost some from his previous pass. Lo's bike was going for the centre line whether he liked it or not and he had to shut it off before 330 feet. Straight run for Job, lost some from his previous pass but stayed in #1. Qualifying after this session:
19:00 UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Elvira Karlsson 7.768/258.45 bye; Len Paget no time, Anders Abrahamsson 7.635/284.74; Stavros Svrachnos 7.559/247.11, Karl-Heinz Weikum 7.516/285.45; Martin Newbury 7.861/230.34 bye; Charalambos Bousinis 7.565/281.20, Gert-Jan Laseur 7.696/278.00; Jesper Thiel 7.239/309.44 bye; Fredrik Fredlund 7.131/300.33 Rasmus Olesen 7.164/302.84 Top Fuel still turning round so Pro Stock Bike slotted in first. Nice run for Elvira and either a PB or close to it, well done Elvira! Len's turn to have the motor cut out at the hit after it happened to Anders last time out, no mistake this time for Anders, into the top half of the ladder and plenty more to come I'm sure. New PB for Karl-Heinz and a big move up the ladder, well done Karl-Heinz! Martin N sounded to shut off a touch before the stripe. Up one place for Charalambos, no improvement for Gert-Jan. Nice run for Jesper, fastest ever PSB run in Europe I believe (PiPPi?) and will be a new speed record if he can back it up, well done Jesper! Slight improvement in ET but stayed in place. Great match between Fredrik and Rasmus, consistent passes, a slight improvement in ET for Fredrik but he stayed in second. Qualifying after this session:
18:50 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Oliver Azzopardi 6.502/228.40 bye; Timo Habermann 5.644/372.59, Derek Flynn 8.793/144.72; Peter Schöfer 5.480/421.94 bye; Fred Hanssen 5.396/428.10, Dave Wilson 5.373/423.01 Nice run to start with for Oliver, then it sounded from here as if the second gear shift didn't happen, the motor was labouring, lots of smoke and then at the eighth the blower burst panel blew and a chute deployed. Good communication between Timo's crew and Eurodragster.com Derek's crew during the fire-up, Timo's guys waiting whilst Derek's motor got going and then an exchange of thumbs-up and nods between the two. Great run for Timo with a nice wheelie off the line, running down the right side of his lane but staying with it and now in the ladder after his problems earlier. Derek looked to be going OK towards half track but got off the throttle - nothing visibly wrong from here. Improvement for Peter, another nice straight run with no sign of shake, 0.979 sixty foot time and down the middle of the lane. Stayed in third. Good communication also between Grumpy's and Fred's crews during start-up. Grumpy's motor sounded to hesitate just a tad during the burnout but I don't think that was anything wrong, I think that was trying to keep the revs down as far as possible. Fantastic match-up between the two and a great advertisement for Top Methanol Dragster. Wing-high header flames from Grumpy's car, the two pretty much side-by-side all the way down. Fred improved, but Grumpy improved too, maintaining the earlier one-two only now in the 5.3s. That, folks, is why those two are #1 and #2 in the Championship. Qualifying after this session:
18:35 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Danny Bellio 17.312/70.79 bye; Jarmo Kuutniemi 5.886/332.20, Rob Turner 6.100/385.76; Ulf Leanders 13.304/96.56 bye Wheels up launch for Danny and off the throttle by the Tree, didn't look like shake from here so that one a bit of a mystery. Jarmo drove through about 100 feet of shake after the Tree, the car made a slight move to the right but he stayed with it, looked from here like an early shut-off. Rob's baseline pass made, good for a few places up the ladder. Smoke and shake at the hit then a hard left turn for Ulf and he was off the throttle about 100 feet out. Qualifying after this session:
18:25 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Marco Maurischat 6.557/359.88, Jürgen Schomann 7.489/297.74; Norbert Kuno 6.222/373.75 bye; Robert Koper 6.906/322.10, Robert Joosten 6.503/360.83; Adam Flamholc 6.296/367.86 bye; Rolf Ammann 6.748/341.60, Andy Robinson 6.225/371.13; Tami Brander 7.831/274.70 bye; Urban Johansson 6.362/361.74, Roger Johansson 21.137/37.42; Micke Gullqvist 6.046/347.39, Peter Ritscher 6.692/350.36; Marc Meihuizen 6.200/376.15, Bruno Bader 6.166/372.66; Johan Lindberg 6.077/382.23 bye First runs of the day for both, good baseline for Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco, good for the top half of the ladder, a lot of smoke from his motor at the top end though. Smoke and then something came off Jürgen's car at half track, he got off the throttle and put the chutes out. First run of the day and into #2 spot for Norbert, front left wheel was up in the air to 300 feet or so, no sign of shake or other problems and the only smoke came from the front left wheel touching down. PB for Norbert we believe, well done Norbert! Battle of the Roberts next, Robert J aborted his burnout pretty sharpish as the car got crossed up. 0.001 RT for Robert J having a go at the Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars money, front left wheel up, driving through shake and into the middle of the list, a good start to his weekend. Robert K's exhausts belched flame at each gear change and he looked to shut it off a touch early. A slight improvement but stayed in place. Big improvement for Adam, good for sixth place above Urban's identical ET, very slight shake marks in the first sixty feet or so but obviously had it covered. Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy up into his more familiar top half placing with a very good-looking run, front left corner in the air past the Tree and straight down the lane, meanwhile Rolf drove through shake and had to pedal briefly as the Coupe made a hard move. Shake, smoke, and driver side door trying to come open for Tami, he had to pedal a couple of times and then slowly rolled off the throttle in the second half. Big shake and smoke for Roger, off the throttle about 100 feet out and rolled down the track. No such problems for Urban, slight shake marks between 100 feet and 150 feet but he stayed with it, no improvement on his earlier time though. You could tell that Micke was on a good one when a 3.9-second eighth-mile time came up on the screen, disappeared before I could get any more details though. The car just squatted down and went, and into #1 spot it went by quite a long way. Improvement for Peter, good for one place on the list. Bruno with a big jump up to #3 spot with a great-looking run, Marc up into #4 with a far-from-straight run, the car was moving left and right most of the way down the track and was close to the left guardrail, so more to come when Marc runs it on the rails. Johan closed out the session with a big improvement, 1.000 sixty foot time, the Firebird made a move at half track but Johan stayed with it and moved up to #2 spot. Qualifying after this session:
17:55 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Tommy Leindahl 6.924/322.68 bye; Jonas Dantanus 7.838/218.39 bye; Ulf Wagnhester 6.956/320.77 bye; Richard Sundblom 6.779/330.43 bye; Micke Callin 6.783/329.88, Sampsa Palos 12.119/115.12; Jimmy Ålund 6.750/331.59, Jan Palmqvist 11.759/115.51; Thomas Lindström 6.744/330.48, Michael Malmgrem 6.814/329.43 Much better run for Tommy, no sign of shake, straight down the lane and up three places in the ladder. Bizarre launch for Jonas, wheels-up in the proper manner but then the motor sounded to die when it came down, the motor note was as if Jonas' foot had been pushed off the throttle. Jonas back on the gas and the front end went up again. A lot of time lost to this so no improvement. Big improvement for Ulf, nice wheelie from him too, no shake and a straight run, good for a couple of places up the ladder. Richard from zero to hero, bottom of the field to top of the field in one very easy-looking run, he too had the front wheels up a fair way. Next run and finally a pair. Big move up the ladder for Micke, up to #2 with a straight shake-free run, in the other lane Sampsa was off the throttle by about 100 feet. Jimmy up to #1 spot with a superb, clean pass, front end in the air to the Tree, came down gently and straight as you like. Jan shut off by 100 feet. Could Michael get his #1 spot back? No he couldn't, but Thomas could take it away from Jimmy with a superb pass, nothing obviously wrong for Michael, just a touch off his previous pace. What a great session that was! Qualifying after this session:
17:35 UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Kai Selkämäa 7.857/198.75 bye; Steve Woollatt 8.146/181.76, Nate Gagnon 6.863/319.92; Jaska Salakari 11.283/122.50, Peter Svensson 6.111/336.21; Petri Paljakka 6.557/345.29, Ian King 7.346/210.38 Gentle launch for Kai and then a straight hard run until the motor note dropped and he got off the throttle just after half track. Steve was in pre-stage before Nate pulled his burnout but he didn't hang about afterwards. Front wheel high in the air for Nate, thumped down to the ground about 400 feet out and the motor pretty much sounded to stop, Nate got back on it after about a second. Steve on the throttle to half track, I guess maybe a planned checkout pass. Quick trip back to the start line for Jaska and ready to take Peter on. Jaska was on a good pass until it appeared from here that a drive belt broke about 300 feet out - the bike made a move right at that point. Superb run for Peter especially off the trailer, straight down the centre of the lane and looked to be on the throttle all the way. Nice pairing between Petri and Ian to begin with, side-by-side until about half track when there was smoke and then flame from Petri's motor, meanwhile Ian had feathered the throttle and sounded to be off it just past the eighth. Qualifying after this session:
17:25 UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Roman Sixta 7.634/301.62 bye; Joachim Riemer 7.353/303.47, Petri Mattsson 9.157/192.94; Job Heezen 6.697/350.08, Samu Kemppainen 7.874/282.15; Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.835/306.30, Lorenz Stäuble 6.845/341.92; Jaska Salakari 8.583/273.49, Christian Jäger 11.580/252.89; Hans Olav Olstad 6.789/332.25, Jan Sturla Hegre 6.915/294.31; Per Bengtsson 6.963/256.56 bye Baseline pass for Roman, won't put him in the top eight but something to work with for the second session later on. Bit of a staging duel betwen Joachim and Petri, reds lighting briefly whilst both were in pre-stage. Baseline for Acka, into #1 spot at that point, straight and clean-looking run. Petri rode down the right side of his lane, the bike sounding to run out of power in the second half. Fantastic run for Job, from here he made that look very easy. Down the middle of his lane and both candles lit for #1 spot. Samu got close to the centre line and was leaned right over on the bike trying to pull it back, had to shut it off. Superb match-up between Svein Olav and Lo, Svein Olav's bike fishtailing violently whilst he stayed on the throttle, shut it off a little way before the stripe. Clean run for Lo, on the throttle all the way. Jaska's tyre up in smoke at the hit but he stayed on the throttle, a second burnout most of the way to the eighth and then shut it off. Christian's bike headed for the right guardrail and got very close - he had to lean it over to get it away. Nice pairing between Hans Olav and Jan Sturla, looked quicker than the times which came up on the screen, both straight and down the middle of their lanes, Jan Sturla's terminal speed betrays an early shut-off. Per's run started well, clean and straight, rolled off the throttle in the second half. Qualifying after this session:
17:10 UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Stavros Svrachnos 7.857/283.55 bye; Martin Newbury 7.760/278.93, Charalambos Bousinis 7.635/283.66 Gert-Jan Laseur 7.534/278.25, Len Paget 7.973/270.84; Anders Abrahamsson no time bye, Elvira Karlsson shut off; Karl-Heinz Weikum 8.802/274.25, Martin Bishop 7.638/271.27; Rasmus Olesen 7.123/303.64, Fredrik Fredlund 7.195/295.67; Kalle Lyrén 7.213/297.61, Jesper Thiel 7.254/296.11 Nice launch for Stavros then on the limiter before the third and fourth gear changes. Martin ran very close to the centre line but stayed with it. Charalambos into #1 spot at that point, your reporter lost reporting time chasing his ET and speed which cleared as soon as the bikes crossed the line. From here it looked as if Len's rear slick was hazing just a little, good clean run for Gert-Jan to take the lead. Next pair and Elvira shut off after the burnout and pushed back. Anders took the bye and his motor cut out at the hit. Nice baseline run for Martin, straight down the middle of his lane whilst Karl-Heinz's bike got out of shape off the line and got very close to the centre line, Karl-Heinz had to feather the throttle to get it straight. Great pair of runs for Rasmus and Fredrik, into #1 and #2 with a daylight lead over the rest of the field. Kalle got a visible jump on Jesper and had a much better sixty foot time, Jesper looked to be reeling him in but Kalle had the advantage, #3 and #4 respectively. Qualifying after this session:
16:55 Race Director Jerry Lackey has just told us that today's remaining Sportsman qualifying has had to be cancelled. An extension has been granted to run to 19:00 (usually on a Friday it is 17:00) so we are going into UEM qualifying session 1 then straight back into FIA qualifying with session 2 followed by UEM session 2. 16:50 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Thomas Nataas 5.080/450.09 bye; Stig Neergaard 4.956/412.49, Andy Carter 10.349/126.19; Micke Kågered 6.111/248.04, Jari Halinen 9.558/132.91; Timo Lehtimäki 5.053/437.14, Anita Mäkelä 5.053/453.00; Risto Poutiainen 6.547/227.57, Urs Erbacher 5.172/432.36; TJ Jr walked the start line joking with John Smith before the session started, not a bad feat for a man who was either ill or had a broken leg depending upon which rumour you believed...if you really want to know then you know which web site to read. Thomas officially on a familiarisation pass but he has driven this car before. Motor sounded very crisp on fire-up. Visibly gentle tune-up, 0.904 to sixty feet and looked as if there were cylinders out on the right side by the time the car got to half track. Great run for Stig, 0.908 to sixty feet, small amount of shake past the Tree, stayed with it and then shut it off just past 1000 feet. Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy got a visible holeshot on Stig and was on a stormer until he got about 200 feet out when the tyres blazed and Andy had to get off the throttle. Jari's operation overseen by US tuner Mike Domagala who is co-Crew Chief for Clay Millican. Good launches for Micke and Jari, Jari's tyres went up in smoke about 200 feet out and he shut it off. Micke on a good one to half track then from the car's behaviour it looked as if the blower belt broke. 150-foot burnout for Anita. Good baseline passes for Anita and Timo, both with all candles lit out to about 1000 feet when there was a bang, not easy to tell from here as the cars disappeared under the gantry but we are guessing Timo's motor as he had the lower terminal speed. Identical ETs, Anita above Timo by dint of her higher terminal speed. Risto got the jump on Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs, tyres blackstriping from about 250 feet, the motor screaming and then Risto pedalled then got off it. Urs hit shake about 100 feet out and pedalled, then was back on it, disappearing behind Risto's cloud of smoke but off it a little early judging by the terminal speed. Qualifying after this session:
Kenni Neergaard 5.690/310.99 bye Kenni running out of session to licence, his first run I've seen by Kenni and a good-looking pass to start with, clean past sixty feet, pedalled about 300 feet out, the car twitching as Kenny got back on the throttle then the blower belt left the car at half track. 16:20 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Oliver Azzopardi 7.372/229.05, Esko Raisvuo 5.848/422.19; Peter Schöfer 5.567/415.81, Paul Ingar Udtian no time; Krister Johansson 5.747/373.70, Dennis Habermann 5.704/342.14; Derek Flynn 5.822/411.71, Timo Habermann no time; Dave Wilson 5.441/423.67, Fred Hanssen 5.451/426.42 Randy Anderson overseeing Oliver's operation this weekend. Second burnout for Oliver, the tyres up in smoke and the motor screaming, Oliver stayed on the throttle as the dragster moved left and right, getting off the throttle just before the motor said "Enough!" I think. Straight clean run for Esko, a great baseline and good for #1 spot to start with. Great pair of burnouts for Peter and Paul Ingar. Tyre spin for Paul Ingar at the hit, motor screamed, the burst panel blew and the chute deployed, from here it looked as if the blower lifted too. Paul Ingar pulled over and stopped at about 300 feet. Peter ran alongside the centre line all the way but stayed with it and took over top spot. Good baseline for Krister, clean run with no spin or shake, looked to be off the throttle just a touch before the stripe. Dennis was on a good one too, but his blower burst panel popped at about 1000 feet. Three goes at firing up the motor for Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek, the motor stopping twice. The team kept their heads and got it going - nitro can be very unforgiving if you don't do the re-start properly but those guys know their stuff and got it lit. Timo's motor lost drive for no visible reason and he shut if off before the Tree then pulled over at 330 feet. Derek's motor sounded lumpy off the line but the dragster picked up as it went down the track, good baseline pass. Start of his penultimate race event for Grumpy, coming off a successful test session at Tierp a couple of weeks back. Fantastic side-by-side run, Grumpy's dragster visibly moved first but not by much. Straight down the middle of his lane for Grumpy and into #1 spot, Fred down the right hand side of his lane but the car really moving in the second half and unusually the blown car had the higher terminal speed. Grumpy and Fred #1 and #2. Qualifying after this session:
15:55 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Dezsoe Krivan 7.947/171.26 bye; Rob Turner 19.316/62.94, Jürgen Nagel 14.159/87.27; Danny Bellio no time, Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.624/281.35; Arvid Grødem 5.980/303.90, Ulf Leanders 5.745/400.03 150-foot burnout by Eurodragster.com sponsor Dezsoe with Fred Hanssen's tuner Will Hanna looking on. Great-looking launch but then enough shake to deploy one of the parachutes. Dez realised something was wrong as he pedalled and tried again, then started to feather the throttle in the second half and eventually got off it altogether. Cheers for Jürgen audible over the car as it pulled around the corner. Instant tyre spin for both Rob and Jürgen, both off the throttle before the Tree. Danny rolled the beams as the car went up on the revs so no time. Jarmo drove through shake, then a brief pedal, the car was really speeding at half track but then Jarmo was off the gas before the stripe. Fantastic match-up between Arvid and Ulf, a pair of 0.98 sixty foot times, looked pretty much side-by side at half track, then a puff of smoke and a thud from Arvid's motor, the blower relief panel came off the front of the body and a chute deployed, the auto shut-off doing its job. Great run for Ulf, daylight lead at the top of the ladder. Qualifying after this session:
15:35 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Rolf Ammann 6.526/354.13 bye; Peter Ritscher 6.891/339.04, Robert Koper 6.955/297.37; Roger Johansson 10.229/128.27, Marcus Hilt 7.877/321.15; Marco Maurischat shut off (bye); Tami Brander 10.637/169.49, Linda Thun Tønseth 6.668/331.09; Jan Gunnarsson 6.472/353.67 bye; Andy Robinson 12.434/114.05, Urban Johansson 6.296/366.00; Adam Flamholc 26.497/54.71, Marc Meihuizen 6.234/374.52; Johan Lindberg 6.247/372.59, Mats Eriksson 6.142/389.07; Bruno Bader 6.770/350.25, Micke Gullqvist 6.291/378.70 Great opener and first run of the year for Rolf who has unfortunately announced his retirement. One cylinder out off the line but that cleared by sixty feet, straight for the first half, a few gentle moves in the second half but stayed on it. Blown v nitrous next pair. First time we have seen Peter in a while also. Daylight holeshot for Peter, two straight runs and good baselines. Same story next round, nitrous v blower. Pat Musi in attendance watching over Roger Johansson's operation this weekend. Roger rolled the beams before hitting the throttle and was off the gas very quickly. Marcus' tyres went up in smoke off the line, he stayed on it as the motor screamed but then got off it as the car made a hard turn. Straightened the car out and hit the throttle again, shut it off just a touch before the stripe. Nice burnout for Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco but then shut off before staging. Hard right turn for Tami's Camaro as he got off the burnout but he had it covered. Tami's tyres up in smoke at the hit, off the throttle and watched Linda blow away her Pro Mod Personal Best and blast into #2 spot, well done Linda! Small puff of smoke from the car in the second half and looked to be shut off just a touch early so more to come. Fantastic run for Jan, I think that's the furthest I've ever seen anyone drive through shake, it was shaking out to 330 feet or more. Jan stayed with it as the Caddy moved towards the right guardrail and went into #1 spot. Next up, two cars you might usually expect to see later on in the qualifying session. Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy hit shake and then from here it looked as if something broke rather than Andy getting off the throttle. Great run for Urban, the car moving about its lane some and getting close to the centre line past half track but Urban stayed with it and grabbed #1 spot. Huge shake and a violent right turn for Adam, off the throttle and rolled down the track probably seeing about fifteen lanes to choose from. Great run for Marc, the car bounced some at half track and again in the second half but he stayed on the gas and went into #1. Could Johan get down what is looking like a tricky left lane? He could to start with, great launches for both Johan and Mats but Johan hit shake about 300 feet out and had to pedal after the car made a hard right turn. Mats' Crown Victoria was really moving about its lane in the second half, the back end swinging around, but Mats wasn't getting off it for anything and blasted to the top of the ladder. Shake for Bruno and had to get off it for a moment just past the Tree. No such trouble for Micke, straight down the middle of the lane and a good baseline. Qualifying after this session:
15:05 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): Ulf Wagnhester 9.835/115.15 bye; Conrad Stanley 7.010/313.91, Micke Callin 6.918; Jonas Dantanus 6.912/323.44, Tommy Leindahl 13.312/103.67; Jan Palmqvist 6.846/326.75, Richard Sundblom 7.038/325.43; Michael Malmgren 6.795/329.73, Thomas Lindström 6.815/329.48; Sampsa Palos 6.857/326.90, Jimmy Ålund 6.826/329.63 We're losing the incrementals very quickly so there won't be much to say about those but the ETs and speeds are staying on the screen for long enough, thankfully. 1.083 to sixty for Ulf, no shake, nice-looking run but then the chutes both deployed about 300 feet out. Ulf drove against the chutes but was off the throttle by half track. 100-foot burnouts for Conrad and Micke to cheers from the crowd. Clean runs for both, visible holeshot for Conrad but Micke with the quicker ET. Shake off the line for Tommy, hard right turn and off the throttle. Clean run for Jonas, a small move to the left about 100 feet out but he had it well covered and into #1 spot at that point. Great driving job by Nixxon, the car fighting him most of the way down the track wanting to go left and getting very close to the centre line. Wheels-up for Jan and down the middle of his lane, into the lead. Huge, daylight holeshot for Michael over Thomas, Thomas looked to be catching him in the first half but Michael was the quicker. Michael and Thomas into #1 and #2 at that point. Brief burndown between Sampsa and Jimmy, -0.012 red for Sampsa, Jimmy was pulling Sampsa in all the way down the track and went into #3 spot. Qualifying after this session:
14:45 Supertwin Top Gas qualifying top five after session 1
14:30 Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 1 Thomas Stiefel into the sixes in his big Chevy, 6.979, well done Thomas!
Super Street Bike qualifying top five after session 1 We believe a new Personal Best for Nichlas Sverin, if so then well done Niclas!
14:15 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 1 Gerd Hambermann is running his Two Seat Dragster (without a passenger) in Super Comp. There is a precedent for this as Susanne Callin ran a two-seater in Super Pro ET and won the event at Santa Pod some years back. Gerd's run in this session was an 8.814 breakout.
13:45 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 1
13:35 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 1
Michael Vogt the first to take a tilt at the Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars Perfect Light Award with a 0.006 RT in this session. Bits and pieces picked up from the second half of Michael's lane after the run, hopefully nothing serious. 13:05 As mentioned below we are struggling with our internet access so we've had to go onto a 3G stick and unless anyone wants to pay what would be a huge bill we can't run the webcam through that. We'll see what can be done about it as soon as we can but with the Pros due soon the reports and results take priority right now and we have stopped the webcam. 13:00 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 1
Sam Young can't run in competition with his electrically-powered Beetle as the local rules don't allow for electric motors but he closed out the session with a 10.290/174.11 demonstration pass in perfect silence - brought the house down! 12:45 Cheers and air horns from the crowd when the first pair fired up, Erika Leanders and Sally Ekerst. Then they promptly shut off again! Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 1
We're struggling a bit with a weak wireless signal which is why the webcam doesn't update every time. 11:50 Latest word from race officials is that we start at 12:15. 11:30 Junior Dragster and Pro ET have been called to the lanes. 10:00 The track crew are out there doing their stuff and the quarter mile looks to be drying quite quickly. A number of street cars are doing up-and-down laps in the shutdown area to move the water which brings back memories of Blackbushe. The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam is now up and running, posting a picture every sixty seconds. As things stand what you will see is exactly what your reporter sees. We will likely tweak its position later on since if the sun comes out then there may be some reflection on the window but we'll deal with that when it happens. 09:00 Good morning and welcome from the Rico Anthes Quarter Mile for our coverage of the NitrOlympX brought to you in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. We are pleased to report that the powers-that-be here at Hockenheim have kindly agreed that we can use the Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam. We will be setting the camera up shortly and it will be posting a picture every sixty seconds. Our coverage of this event is dedicated to the memories of Stig Udtian and Krister Peterson, two dear friends whom we recently lost. So long as we are thinking of Stig and Krister, they are here with us. Right now it is raining but it is already brightening up; those who know about such things tell us that it will stop soon and then we will be set fair. As we are doing qualifying manually we will be tracking the top fives in Sportsman qualifying, and full standings in Pro qualifying. There may be a short delay after each Sportsman session whilst the paperwork is printed and passed to us but we will post lists as soon as we can. Stay tuned and as soon as there is something to report we'll be back with all the news. Simon, whose first FIA event this is in 2011, is eager to get going and is kitting himself ready to go out into the pits to get some notes. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |