Raceday Updates

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

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22:40

Today's pictures have now been posted. You can, as usual, get to them from the raceday update index.

Stop Press from the qualifying ladders is that Anita Makela and Barry Sheavills are to meet in the first round of Top Fuel Dragster tomorrow, how's that for a Championship decider?

So that's the end of qualifying at the FIA European Finals, a frenetic day not least for your reporter who only just managed to finish typing up each FIA/FIM/PM qualifying cycle in time to get down to the start line to cover the next one!

We'll be back in the morning with the latest news from Santa Pod. Thanks for staying with us, have a good evening and we'll see you tomorrow.

22:30

Here are the top two qualifiers in the classes we haven't been covering in detail today. We are indebted to Steve Horn of TSI Timers for going above and beyond the call of duty to get us these figures, since the original timing sheets had to be taken away to be duplicated.

Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Steve Green 8.695/157.26 (8.69), 2. Steve Johnson 6.959/188.84 (6.95)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Chris Johnson 9.358/145.30 (9.35), 2. Al Golding 9.517/138.10 (9.50)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. David Dony 13.334/100.71 (13.33), 2. Al Platt 13.756/102.87 (13.75)
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Jon Hogarth 8.922/157.93, 2. Alex Nicol 8.959/149.38
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Ritchi Smith 9.900/134.32, 2. Tim Adam 9.906/145.67
Super Street (10.90): 1. Stuart Peck 11.015/123.60, 2. Dave Cherrett 11.030/117.33
Custom Car Street Eliminator: 1. Steve Pateman 9.272/151.32, 2. Jeff Meads 9.361/145.53
9.90 Bike: 1. Grant Perrin 9.903/144.23, 2. Pete Cameron 9.909/141.17
10.90 Bike: 1. Paul Hambidge 10.903/121.30, 2. Ady Reade 10.914/121.67

Junior Dragster qualifying is to be completed tomorrow morning.

21:30

We're still working on the sportsman qualifying and the pictures so let's take you through some more of today's highlights. Freddy Fagerstrom and Patrik Wikstrom threatened to steal the show from the Pro guys, bringing the crowd to their feet on both runs. Freddy has run 6.83/202.53 and 6.66/203.33, and Patrik has run 6.58/218.52 and, get this, 6.35/220.17. Excellent stuff.

John Spuffard and Gordon Smith have put in one match race in their Fuel FCs. Gordon Smith pulled the usual huge burnout whilst Spuff seemed to have some trouble getting the tyres to light on the burnout. But on the green Spuff stuck to the track and was away, shutting off at about 1000 feet to clock 5.68/222.88 to Gordon's early shut off 7.45/140.82.

Martin Hill put on a great show in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC and clocked a great 6.22/255.15.

Ritchi Smith ran a perfect 9.900 in Super Gas this morning, and in Super Pro ET congratulations to Steve Johnson who ran his long-threatened six, at 6.959.

The UK Super Street Bike racers had a presentation at the end of today for Klaus Brinkmann and Klaus Sarembe who have attended every round of the UK Championship this season.

On the subject of SSB, as this is a round of the informal European Super Street Bike Series, here is the complete qualifying list.

1. Graham Dance 8.329/170.25, 2. Tony Clark 8.382/172.94, 3. Pete Bellinie 8.550/166.76, 4. Rudi Thurmayr 8.596/165.08, 5. Teddy Boehmer 8.744/162.34, 6. Klaus Sarembe 8.759/159.06, 7. Frank Hetscher 8.770/166.88, 8. Guy March 8.814/154.20, 9. Dave Bailey 8.838/159.75, 10. Karl Larcombe 8.841/160.30, 11. Stefan Hagenstein 9.015/157.42, 12. Bradley O'Connor 9.030/164.03, 13. John Smith 9.073/153.88, 14. Helen Curran 9.083/164.07, 15. Matt Nixon 9.113/154.03, 16. Steve Venables 9.178/159.68, 17. Mark Pointer 9.352/149.99, 18. Martin Voltz 9.360/146.76, 19. Thorsten Riese 9.513/149.09, 20. Lionel Lalague 9.590/149.06, 21. Klaus Brinkmann 9.997/137.70, 22. Bob Wood 10.958/125.74, 23. Mark Watkins 11.719/64.33 24. Paul Wing 13.831/64.02.

21:30

Phew, what an excellent set of qualifying sessions we've had. Amongst the highlights were another 6.49 from Hakan Nilsson, the Top Methanol Dragster lead changing hands in a few minutes, and of course the nitro flames and unique spectacle of night racing. Let's get straight into the figures.

The second session of Top Fuel Dragster went as follows. Barry Sheavills 5.49/192.31, Anita Makela 5.71/183.57, Andy Carter 7.46/119.74, Tommy Moller 5.61/181.32, Peter Beck 5.24/267.52, Pelle Lindelow 8.65/80.76, Alan Jackson broke reverser after burnout. So the final standings in Top Fuel Dragster qualifying are as follows.

1. Tommy Moller 5.161/239.03, 2. Alan Jackson 5.190/222.87, 3. Peter Beck 5.242/267.52, 4. Barry Sheavills 5.497/192.31, 5. Anita Makela 5.587/247.08, 6. Andy Carter 7.464/119.74, 7. Pelle Lindelow 8.654/88.76.

The final session of Pro Mod went as follows. Lars Olsson 6.59/210.61, Hakan Nilsson 6.49/216.02, Micke Gullquist 6.61/211.13, Tami Brander 6.95/200.43, Gordon Appleton 6.88/202.80, Jallo Makimaa 7.09/191.51, Roger Johansson 6.86/199.79, Henri Joosten broke after burnout. So the final standings in Pro Mod are as follows.

1. Hakan Nilsson 6.493/216.02, 2. Micke Gullquist 6.586/212.80, 3. Lars Olsson 6.596/210.61, 4. Roger Johansson 6.863/199.79, 5. Gordon Appleton 6.887/202.80, 6. Tami Brander 6.955/200.43, 7. Jallo Makimaa 7.091/191.51, 8. Henri Joosten 7.331/187.41.

The final session of Pro Stock went as follows. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.47/186.57, Christer Andersson 7.37, Jacob Ferrer 7.94/132.71, Michael Malmgren 7.02/196.59, Niclas Andersson 7.10/193.02, Jari Konola's time vanished from the board before we could copy it. So the final standings in Pro Stock are as follows.

1. Michael Malmgren 7.029/196.59, 2. Jari Konola 7.055/195.55, 3. Jacob Ferrer 7.078/193.63, 4. Niclas Andersson 7.102/193.02, 5. Kjetil Hauge 7.264/188.91, 6. Christer Andersson 7.306/189.40, 7. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.439/186.35.

The final session of Top Methanol Funny Car went as follows. Micke Kagered 8.19/110.39, Ulf Leanders 5.98/236.45, Lex Joon 7.51/145.60, Leif Andreasson 5.87/247.28, Leif Helander 9.11/91.95, Urs Erbacher 5.92/240.79. So the final standings in TMFC are as follows.

1. Micke Kagered 5.864/240.73, 2. Andreasson 5.872/247.28, 3. Urs Erbacher 5.928/240.79, 4. Leif Helander 5.942/238.80, 5. Lex Joon 5.950/241.24, 6. Ulf Leanders 5.955/234.38

The final session of Top Methanol Dragster went as follows. John Ellul 5.85/230.66, Dave Wilson 5.72/242.99, Manty Bugeja 5.87/234.10, Jarmo Roivas 5.68/247.72, Rob Turner 6.49/170.47, Andy Frost 7.13/129.11, Eero Kilpelainen broke. So the final standings in TMD are as follows.

1. Jarmo Roivas 5.689/247.72, 2. Dave Wilson 5.724/242.49, 3. John Ellul 5.855/230.66, 4. Manty Bugeja 5.780/234.10, 5. Rob Turner 5.967/231.02, 6. Kim Reymond 6.091/206.67, 7. Eero Kilpelainen 6.099/235.25, 8. Andy Frost 6.321/215.49, 9. Doug Bond 6.420/199.76, 10. Peter Schofer 6.680 211.44.

The final session of FIM Competition Bike went as follows. Shaun Branch 8.01/165.01, Oivind Dahl 6.84/198.23, Ken Cooper 7.35/177.49, Eric Teboul 6.74/212.20, Dave Abraham 7.48/162.32, Erik Biljaart 12.06/73.92, Roel Koedam 10.13/76.76, Steve Woollatt 10.54/97.64. So the final standings in FIM Comp Bike are as follows.

1. Brian Johnson 6.149/216.40, 2. Roel Koedam 6.639/220.74, 3. Eric Teboul 6.744/212.20, 4. Ian King 6.756/194.52, 5. Steve Woollatt 6.769/198.78, 6. Oivind Dahl 6.812/186.83, 7. Ken Cooper 7.357/177.49, 8. Dave Abraham 7.485/162.32, 9. Shaun Branch 8.017/165.01, 10. Erik Bijlaart 9.899 130.99

The final session of FIM Supertwin Top Fuel went as follows. Jaka Salakari 7.20/194.53, Ton Pels 8.13/168.37, Joachim Riemer 8.89/131.79, Svein Gottenberg 9.52/91.10, Radek Hutla 9.45, Willem Been 7.49/183.76, Vaclav Hutla 13.45/70.90, Svein-Olaf Rolstad 7.39/84.46, Anders Karling 9.13/91.59. So the final standings in FIM Supertwin Top Fuel are as follow.

1. Anders Karling 6.694/189.86, 2. Stefan Junerud 6.918/208.25, 3. Per Bengtssson 6.940/196.94, 4. Ron van Geffen 7.062/175.80, 5. Jaka Salakari 7.209/194.53, 6. Svein-Olaf Rolfstad 7.382/185.81, 7. Willem Been 7.406/181.28, 8. Svein Gottenberg 7.518/160.49, 9. Ton Pels 8.139/168.37, 10. Joachim Riemer 8.263/171.05, 11. Vidar Ravnsborg 8.438/151.89, 12. Radek Hutla 9.457/139.27, 13. Vaclav Hutla 10.897 115.81

The final session of FIM Pro Stock went as follows. Len Paget 8.47/158.77, Paul Willis 8.19/165.84, Kenneth Stromberg 7.65/170.50, Stefan Mejerwall 8.70/108.96, Roger Petterson 7.55/175.61, Herman van Driel 7.84/167.96, Martin Bishop 8.12/160.37, Richard Gipp 8.84/108.96. So the final standings in FIM Pro Stock Bike are as follows.

1. Roger Petterson 7.547/176.47, 2. Kenneth Stromberg 7.604/171.20, 3. Paul Willis 7.614/172.89, 4. Herman van Driel 7.805/168.77, 5. Stefan Mejerwall 7.831/168.27, 6. Richard Gipp 7.920/165.77, 7. Len Paget 8.070/159.35, 8. Martin Bishop 8.121/163.37.

Stay tuned as we are working on today's photos and we will also round up the classes which we haven't been following today.

17:30

A couple more stunners in qualifying, congratulations to Jarmo Roivas on being the first ever European Top Methanol racer to top 250 mph with a run of 5.76 at 250.18 mph. Congratulations also to Brian Johnson on a superb 6.149/216.40 in FIM Comp Bike.

Without any further ado let's run through the qualifying.

The second session of Pro Mod went as follows. Tami Brander 6.99/200.46, Henri Joosten 7.45/184.10, Jallo Makimaa 7.18/186.64, Micke Gullquist 6.61/207.72, Gordon Appleton 7.17/189.19, Roger Johansson 8.40/113.58, Hakan Nilsson 6.49/215.46, Lars Olsson 6.61/203.80. So Pro Mod now stands as follows:

1. Hakan Nilsson 6.499/215.46, 2. Micke Gullquist 6.586/212.80, 3. Lars Olsson 6.612/203.70, 4. Tami Brander 6.993/200.46, 5. Roger Johansson 7.088/193.12, 6. Gordon Appleton 7.117/191.26, 7. Jallo Makimaa 7.185/186.64, 8. Henri Joosten 7.331/187.41.

The second session of Pro Stock went as follows. Jari Konola 7.05/195.81, Niclas Andersson 7.12/193.24, Kjetil Hauge 7.26/188.91, Christer Andersson 7.30/189.40, Michael Malmgren 7.03/197.12, Jacob Ferrer 7.09/194.25, Kenneth Soderstrom 7.43/186.35. So Pro Stock now stands as follows:

1. Michael Malmgren 7.031/197.12, 2. Jari Konola 7.055/195.55, 3. Jacob Ferrer 7.078/193.64, 4. Niclas Andersson 7.129/193.24, 5. Kjetil Hauge 7.264/188.91, 6. Christer Andersson 7.306/189.40, 7. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.439/186.35, 8. Rune Berg 7.525/176.22.

The second round of Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying went as follows. Urs Erbacher 5.92/240.33, Lex Joon 6.07/232.68, Ulf Leanders 5.95/234.28, Leif Helander 5.94/238.30, Leif Andreasson 7.06/131.68, Micke Kagered 5.86/240.73. Steph Milam licencing pass 9.78/147.79. So TMFC now stands as follows:

1. Micke Kagered 5.864/240.73, 2. Urs Erbacher 5.928/240.33, 3. Leif Helander 5.942/238.30, 4. Lex Joon 5.950/241.24, 5. Leif Andreasson 5.955/242.88, 6. Ulf Leanders 5.955/234.28.

The second round of Top Methanol Dragster qualifying went as follows. Eero Kilpelainen 6.38/212.63, Manty Bugeja 5.91/231.86, Rob Turner 5.96/231.02, Jarmo Roivas 5.76/250.18, John Ellul 5.88/236.07, Peter Schofer crossed centre line, Dave Wilson lost fire after burnout. So TMD qualifying now stands as follows:

1. Jarmo Roivas 5.765/250.18, 2. Dave Wilson 5.769/238.41, 3. John Ellul 5.880/236.07, 4. Manty Bugeja 5.914/231.86, 5. Rob Turner 5.967/231.02, 6. Kim Reymond 6.091/206.67, 7. Eero Kilpelainen 6.099/235.25, 8. Andy Frost 6.321/215.49, 9. Doug Bond 6.420/199.76, 10. Peter Schofer 6.680/211.44.

The second round of FIM Competition Bike went as follows. Brian Johnson 6.14/216.40, Dave Abraham 9.93/153.93, Ken Cooper 7.67/175.30, Roel Koedam 6.63/220.74, Ian King 6.75/194.52, Erik Biljaart 9.89/130.99, Oivind Dahl 6.82/196.45, Steve Woollatt 6.76/198.78, Shaun Branch 8.02/164.17. So FIM Comp Bike now stands as follows.

1. Brian Johnson 6.149/216.40, 2. Roel Koedam 6.639/220.74, 3. Ian King 6.756/194.52, 4. Steve Woollatt 6.769/198.78, 5. Oivind Dahl 6.812/186.83, 6. Eric Teboul 6.880/207.37, 7. Ken Cooper 7.435/177.92, 8. Shaun Branch 8.023/164.17, 9. Erik Biljaart 9.899/130.99, 10. Dave Abraham 9.938/153.93.

The second round of FIM Supertwin Top Fuel went as follows. Joachim Riemer 8.26/171.05, Rob van Geffen 7.06/175.80, Willem Been 7.40/181.28, Per Bengtsson 6.98/198.29, Radek Hutla 11.90/69.92, Anders Karling 6.93/198.44, Vaclav Hutla 10.89/115.81, Svein-Olaf Rolstad 7.38/185.51, Vidar Ravnsborg 8.43/151.89, Jaka Salakari 7.39/188.46. So FIM Supertwin Top Fuel stands as follows.

1. Anders Karling 6.694/189.86, 2. Stefan Junerud 6.918/208.85, 3. Per Bengtsson 6.940/196.94, 4. Rob van Geffen 7.062/175.80, 5. Jaka Salakari 7.062/175.80, 6. Svein-Olaf Rolfstad 7.382/185.51, 7. Willem Been 7.406/181.28, 8. Svein Gottenberg 7.518/160.49, 9. Joachim Reimer 8.263/171.05, 10. Vidar Ravnsborg 8.4438/151.89, 11. Vaclav Hutla 10.897/115.81, 12. Radek Hutla 11.901/69.92.

The second session of FIM Pro Stock Bike went as follows. Paul Willis 7.62/170.00, Herman van Driel 7.80/168.77, Richard Gipp 8.06/164.07, Roger Petterson 7.61/172.42, Martin Bishop 8.15/162.15, Kenneth Stromberg 7.80/162.933, Len Paget 8.11/158.44, Stefan Mejerwall crossed centre line. So FIM Pro Stock Bike now stands as follows.

Stay tuned, the next cycle of FIA, FIM and PM is up soon.`

16:00

An stunning run from Hakan Nilsson in the second Pro Mod session as he clocked 6.499 at 215.46, superb stuff. Also we have an all five-second field in Top Methanol Funny Car.

We are half way through the second PM/FIA/FIM cycle so stay tuned and when it's done we will be here with all the latest standings.

14:00

An absolutely stupendous day's qualifying under sunny skies, it doesn't get much better than this. Here are the standings in FIA, FIM and Pro Mod after the first round of qualifying.

Top Fuel Dragster: 1. Tommy Moller 5.161/239.03, 2. Alan Jackson 5.190/222.87, 3. Peter Beck 5.244/254.66, 4. Anita Makela 5.587/247.08, 5. Pelle Lindelow 10.143/94.29, Barry Sheavills and Andy Carter no show.

Top Methanol Dragster: 1. Dave Wilson 5.769/238.41, 2. Jarmo Roivas 5.812/239.80, 3. John Ellul 6.002/228.89, 4. Kim Reymond 6.091/206.67, 5. Eero Kilepelainen 6.099/235.25, 6. Manty Bugeja 6.306/218.13, 7. Andy Frost 6.321/215.49, 8. Doug Bond 6.420/199.76, 9. Peter Schofer 6.680/211.44, 10. Rob Turner 10.041/79.59

Top Methanol Funny Car: 1. Lex Joon 5.950/241.24, 2. Leif Helander 5.950/237.63, 3. Leif Andreasson 5.955/242.88, 4. Micke Kagered 5.993/236.63, 5. Ulf Leanders 6.119/228.05, 6. Urs Erbacher 6.990/137.95. Steph Milam licencing pass 9.576/148.17

Pro Stock: 1. Jari Konola 7.055/195.55, 2. Jacob Ferrer 7.078/193.64, 3. Chrster Andersson 7.443/188.98, 4. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.484/184.44, 5. Rune Berg 7.525/176.22, 6. Kjetil Hauge 12.923/69.04, 7. Niclas Andersson 16.044/49.80, Michael Malmgren did not show.

Pro Mod: 1. Hakan Nilsson 6.546/209.43, 2. Micke Gullquist 6.586/212.80, 3. Lars Olsson 6.615/208.54, 4. Roger Johansson 7.088/193.12, 5. Gordon Appleton 7.117/191.26, 6. Henri Joosten 7.331/187.41, 7. Jallo Makimaa 7.361/184.30, 8. Tami Brander 13.891/81.71, Bill Weston broke off line.

FIM Competition Bike: 1. Roel Koedam 6.745/212.00, 2. Oivind Dahl 6.812/186.83, 3. Eric Teboul 6.880/207.37, 4. Ian King 6.971/197.75, 5. Ken Cooper 7.435/177.92, 6. Shaun Branch 8.059/161.79, 7. Erik Biljaart 11.070/111.03, Brian Johnson left before tree activated, Dave Abraham broke off line.

FIM Supertwin Top Top Fuel (Sponsored by Harley Davidson/Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts): 1. Anders Karling 6.694/189.86, 2. Stefan Junerud 6.918/208.85, 3. Per Bengtsson 6.940/196.94, 4. Jaka Salakari 7.213/195.20, 5. Svein Gottenberg 7.518/160.49, 6. Willem Been 7.621/182.71, 7. Svein-Olav Rolfstad 7.979/142.77, 8. Vidar Ravnsborg 8.633/127.23, 9. Joachim Riemer 8.888/165.09, Rob van Geffen did not show, Radek Hutla shut off on the line, Ton Pels broke off line.

FIM Pro Stock Bike: 1. Roger Petterson 7.547/176.47, 2. Kenneth Stromberg 7.604/171.20, 3. Paul Willis 7.614/172.89, 4. Stefan Mejerwall 7.831/168.27, 5. Richard Gipp 7.920/165.77, 6. Len Paget 8.070/159.35, 7. Herman van Driel 8.079/169.91, Martin Bishop broke.

Stay tuned, we'll be back after the second cycle of the above classes.

9:30

Well, good morning and thanks for joining us at a bright, mild and above all dry Santa Pod Raceway. Yesterday's problems are but a memory, there is a buzz in the pits and everyone is up for it today.

The last thing we'll say about yesterday is that Jeff Quaife of the track crew told us that he had clocked up thirty miles in the track sweeper, not bad for three quarters of a mile of track.

Yesterday we promised that we would find out just why Micke Kagered was sitting in a Top Fueller during a warm-up. We spoke to Micke last night. "I just wanted to see how it felt", he said. We accused him of being coy and he smiled and shrugged his shoulders, then went off to play a practical joke on Anita Makela, whose licence plate on her rig is currently reading "www.kagered-racing.com".

US and Canadian tuners Bob Meyer and Bob Hafner are here working with TMD racers Rob Turner and Jarmo Roivas respectively. "I brought a whole load of summer clothes with me", said Bob Meyer, "I just opened a window and threw them out". Bob Meyer described himself as a 'ticket whore' (his words - Ed); "I'll go anywhere if I can get a cheap ticket", he said.

Something wasn't quite right in the Nemesis TMD pit last night as Dave 'Grumpy' Wilson was making jokes, which is amlost unheard-of. "We're doing very well in the face of adversity", said crew chief Barry Redstone. You will remember that in the last 24 hours the Nemesis team have changed engines, taken the engine out again and then made up a hybrid of parts from both of their engines. We asked if they had fired up the hybrid engine yet. "Sort of", said Barry.

In the Supertwin Top Fuel Bike pits last night we had what looked like a drag bike dealership, with Ton Pels', Roel Koedam's and Rob van Geffen's bikes lined up side by side in the same pit. All it needed was a salesman. The guys are very much looking forward to getting out on the track today.

Horst Pauli of Peter Beck's Top Fuel Dragster team told us that the plan today is for Peter to stay on the throttle as long as it feels OK. "Our season's been OK", he said, "it's been a cheap season for a Top Fueller! We're trying to make the car faster; we ran a 5.3 at Hockenheim with wheelspin. A run in the 5.2s would be just fine because we think that that is as quick as the car will go as it is. Next yeear we'll make some improvements to the car to go faster. But if you change one thing then you have to change everything, and if you buy anything new then you have to buy new spares too! In 2000 our goal was to get into the final at Hockenheim and to run consistently, and we have done that."

Super Street Bike racer Mark Pointer had his first outing yesterday on his new SSB, which is actually Len Paget's old Pro Stock Bike minus wheelie bars and with treaded tyres. But he almost got smoked out on his first run yesterday when the new treaded front tyre rubbed on the mudguard. "The smoke came up under the screen and over my head as if I was in a wind tunnel!", he said.

Qualifying is coming thick and fast now, stay tuned and we'll be back with the news. The first round of FIA, FIM and Pro Mod is due at 11:05, and we are bang on time right now. We'll be back.