FIA European Finals
Friday (qualifying)
Coverage by Eurodragster.com

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20:55

Today's pictures have now been posted; you can reach them from the raceday update index. That's all from us for tonight then, thanks for tuning in. We'll see you tomorrow, have a good evening.

20:45

Well, the track crews worked and worked for no less than four and a quarter hours without let-up, but one stubborn stretch of track at the top end just would not dry and to make matters worse the evening damp came down, leaving race director Darren Prentice with no choice but to call off qualifying in the interests of safety.

So we reconvene tomorrow for what should be a hectic and hard-fought day's qualifying.

We're just working on today's pictures; stay tuned.

18:05

The track drying is going well, we reckon you have got about an hour to get here if you want to see the evening qualifying, so get your skates on. An interesting snippet of information reaches us from the pits where TMFC racer Micke Kågered was sitting in Knut Soderquist's Top Fueller during a warm-up. There's obviously a story behind that so we'll chase it up and let you know as soon as we do.

16:30

Some good news - Rune Berg's rig has just arrived.

Some more good news - the guys are out drying the track.

Stay tuned.

14:45

Unfortunately the first FIA, FIM and Pro Mod qualifying session has fallen victim to the weather. The next qualifier in these classes is scheduled for 17:30.

14:00

Still raining here we're afraid but we've just heard that Kjetil Hauge's Pro Stocker has failed tech. Kjetil of course is in a borrowed car after the coming-together with Jacob Ferrer at Gardermoen; the Probe is to be flat-bedded to Hauser Race Cars for the addition of some tubing to the chassis.

Keep coming back and we'll let you know when the action re-starts.

12:00

We're currently stopped for drizzle but we've had some great qualifying so far.

Tony Clark leads Super Street Bike at 8.41/172.38, followed by Graham Dance at 8.52/165.64, Germany's Frank Hetscher at 8.79/165.11 and Karl Larcombe at 8.84/160.30. It was great to see all of the European SSB competitors taking a turn on the track, a lot of them seemed to be taking it easy for familiarisation so we can be assured of some more hard qualifying next session.

Paul Ellingham and Dan Birch lead 10.90 and 9.90 bike respectively.

Custom Car Street Eliminator had got going before the drizzle started, so far Jeff Meads leads the pack at 9.49/145.58 from John Sleath 9.55/150.73 and Steve Nash 9.89/140.38.

Stay tuned.

10:15

Good morning and welcome from a slightly damp Santa Pod Raceway, for our first race day's coverage brought to you in association with E-Manumit.com and High Performance Heaven. Overnight rain has dampened the track surface but we have a warm breeze, two dryers on the track and the jet dryer is cued up for the finishing touches. A lot more racers have arrived overnight and space is at a premium in the pits. We still have no sign of Rune Berg's Pro Stock team, hopefully the customs guys aren't giving him the full treatment and he'll be here soon.

There are also a couple of gaps left in the Pro Mod pits, although Jallo Makima and Henri Joosten turned up overnight which doesn't leave too many to come.

Big Eurodragster thanks to Tommy Möller, Peter Lantz, Kenneth Lorenzon and the crew for their hospitality last night, and to Pat and Stephen Talbot for the hospitality after that. Made the evening fly!

The first guys out of bed and into action in the pits this morning were John Ellul and crew, who were working on their car at half past seven this morning. "We're running the same set-up as we did at the Cannonball", John's crew chief told me. "We had some problems with the clutch and tyre shake when we tested last Sunday but we think we have cured them". The Fontana engine which John runs in his TMD is visibly different from other methanol engines, if you are coming here this weekend then be sure to take a look. John has two hundred Maltese fans headed for Santa Pod this weekend, and Manty Bugeja has a similar number coming along.

Anita Mäkelä was brief, succinct and to the point when we met in the pits this morning. "It's going to be a good weekend!", she said.

Peter Calwer, who originated the European Super Street Bike Challenge, told us that he is very happy with the way his informal race series has turned out this season. "A lot of people are interested, we may have a round at the Cannonball and maybe even a round in Italy next year - we'll have to see how it goes", he said.

Our buddies in the Nemesis pit have had a real thrash since they got here. Henry, one of their two engines, was placed in the chassis last night and then a head stud was found to be broken. So Henry came back out again and all of its running gear is currently being put into Billy, their other engine. They didn't want to use Billy as-is since that engine revved to 12500 rpm after the clutch blew at Shakespeare County Raceway a couple of weekends back. So we now have a hybrid engine - I guess Barry or Hilly. The Nemesis team also have a new clutch in the car replacing the blown item, which is on display in the pits and as you will have seen from yesterday's pictures it is a bit of a sorry sight. "We don't have a set-up for this new clutch, because it is completely different", said crew member David Wilson.

Leif Helander tells us that his TMFC is to be repainted for next season. In what is probably the first European example of a limited-edition body, the Saab is to have a paintscheme designed by a famous artist. "He is going to paint his signature on the car, so that will make it a work of art and it will be quite valuable", said Leif. I asked him if he thought he was John Force, bringing out a limited-edition body. "I am John Force!" he replied.

TMFC racer Steph Milam's Dodge Daytona has a new clutch and rear end gears. "That's the equation, or so they tell us in the USA!" said crew chief, Steph's husband Dave. "At the last race we were leaving the line in high gear to drive through the clutch and it didn't work", he said. "So we bought an AFT clutch from Dave Wilson, and a guy at AFT gave us a set-up. We want to get new cylinder heads to increase the power, but it would be too big a step before Steph's used to the car. We're going to get out there and get a licence this weekend!".

Super Street Bike racer Matt Nixon has a magic towel on his SSB, or to be more accurate a magic flannel, covering a control box. "I've got new progressive nitrous, new cams, a Dyna2000 ignition, and a Mickey Thompson tyre on a new rim", he said. "Hopefully it will go..." said Matt demonstrating an 8.15 with a sweep of his hand. Matt has a prospective sponsor with him this weekend, John Pease Motorcycles who are interested in getting involved with Matt's operation. Welcome to the track,John, we hope you enjoy what you see.

The track is almost dry so I don't think it will be too long before we get going. Pro Mod, Methanol, Pro Stock and the FIM classes are due on just after one o'clock, and again at six o'clock with Top Fuel running in the second cycle. Everyone is also eagerly awaiting the Super Pro ET qualifying session when we will see Freddy Fagerstrom and Patrik Wikstrom take to the track in their wild blown-alcohol machines.

Stay tuned and we'll be back later on with the latest from the track.