FIA European Finals
Saturday (qualifying)
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Final qualifying
Congratulations to Rob Turner (FIA Top Methanol Dragster) and Leif Andreasson (FIA Top Methanol Funny Car) who, subject to ratification, have become European Champions in their respective classes by dint of their qualifying positions.
The final qualifying standings in FIA classes are as follow:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster
1. Micke Kagered 4.977/296.22
2. Andy Carter 5.212/265.51
3. Kim Reymond 5.502/184.50
4. Anita Makela 5.626/172.17
5. Tommy Moller 6.411/138.14
6. Barry Sheavills 6.417/175.83
7. Alan Jackson 8.662/82.01
8. Pelle Lindelow 9.793/84.11
FIA Top Methanol Dragster
1. Rob Turner 5.765/242.47
2. Manty Bugeja 5.772/245.90
3. Dave Wilson 5.781/233.37
4. Lindsay Deuchar 6.117/203.95
5. Doug Bond 6.341/213.15
6. Darryl Bradford 7.794/125.10
7. Wendy Baker 7.897/170.28
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car
1. Leif Andreasson 5.849/237.11
2. Micke Kagered 5.853/243.02
3. Lex Joon 5.892/236.71
4. Ulf Leanders 5.897/227.72
5. Urs Erbacher 5.979/238.78
6. Leif Helander 5.988/236.71
7. Dezsoe Krivan 6.169/233.70
8. Arvid Grodem 6.516/222.84
DNQ: Urs Embacher 6.645/209.75
DNQ: Jorg Johnsson 6.954/146.01
DNQ: Steph Milam 7.834/174.66
FIA Pro Stock
1. Michael Malmgren 6.967/198.67
2. Niclas Andersson 7.021/196.29
3. Jacob Ferrer 7.057/195.66
4. Rune Berg 7.114/193.24
5. Christer Andersson 7.160/188.74
The final qualifying standings in all UEM classes are as follow:
UEM Comp Bike
1. Brian Johnson 6.195/223.75
2. Roel Koedam 6.420/224.25
3. Ian King 6.522/182.94
4. Sverre Dahl 6.825/208.96
5. Steve Woollatt 6.871/198.81
6. Ken Cooper 7.237/178.89
7. Roald Dogge 7.577/181.82
8. Dave Abraham 7.636/163.66
DNQ: Antonio Ferretti 7.710/171.01
DNQ: Nick Pepper 7.729/169.82
DNQ: Gary Jones 7.980/166.53
DNQ: Shaun Branch 10.148/101.62
DNQ: Joey Bon 10.295/76.54
DNQ: Klaus Sarembe 10.551/139.33
DNQ: Klaus Brinkmann 16.742/61.10
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike
1. Anders Karling 6.590/210.28
2. Stefan Junerud 6.838/191.72
3. Per Bengtsson 6.938/198.57
4. Ton Pels 7.034/179.10
5. Jaska Salakari 7.226/198.35
6. Svein Gottenberg 7.527/180.55
7. Willem Been 7.615/171.99
8. Vaclav Hutla 9.402/141.04
DNQ: Ronny Aasen 9.950/110.55
DNQ: Vidar Ravnsborg 12.450/79.99
DNQ: Svein-Olav Rolfstad 12.845/59.19
DNQ: Lars Wahlberg 13.858/70.90
UEM Pro Stock Bike
1. Roger Petterson 7.585/174.87
2. Chris Hope 7.614/171.73
3. Kenneth Stromberg 7.679/170.40
4. Anders Larsson 7.721/175.91
5. Chris Tombleson 7.850/171.17
6. Richard Gipp 7.886/161.33
7. Martin Bishop 7.995/162.93
8. Len Paget 8.223/152.92
DNQ: Michal Ponca 9.972/129.46
DNQ: Bo Thorselius 20.712/26.43
The final standings in Pro Mod are as follow:
1. Patrik Wikstrom 6.323/221.45
2. Micke Gullquist 6.493/195.27
3. Lars Olsson 6.624/209.56
4. Roger Johansson 6.690/191.03
5. Jan-Arve Nygard 6.789/202.31
7. Urban Johansson 6.921/185.26
6. Jallo Makimaa 7.062/197.66
8. Henri Joosten 7.108/191.50
DNQ: Robert Koper 7.759/165.49
DNQ: Steve Hall 8.284/181.52
DNQ: Michael Lindahl 9.664/92.14
The top two qualifiers in all other classes are as follow:
Comp Eliminator: 1. Kenneth Feldthusen -0.702 (7.008/191.31), 2. Bruno Bader -0.689 (7.761/174.76)
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Ashley Bell +0.000 (8.900/154.58), 2. Martyn Jones +0.007 (7.617/173.04)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Dave Ward +0.007 (10.407/127.14), 2. Rick McCann +0.007 (10.867/125.64)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Chris Hodgkins +0.000 (16.410/80.19), 2. Spencer Tramm +0.013 (17.713/76.43)
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Mark Flavell 8.910/150.91, 2. Phil Bennett 8.917/133.77
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Martin Curbishley 9.901/137.85, 2. Dave Townsend 9.905/141.46
Super Street (10.90): 1. Neil Grant 10.908/122.44, 2. Bob Lees 10.908/121.98
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Ricky Emms 0.503, 2. Marcus Habermann 0.523
9.90 Bike: Andy Stephens 9.901/126.15, 2. Grant Perrin 9.903/142.81
10.90 Bike: Ady Reade 10.906/118.68, 2. David Warren 10.922/138.94
That's all for tonight, come back in the morning and we will bring you all the action from eliminations.
20:00
Although the rain is long stopped, it's cold and damp out there and the track just isn't drying. Race Director Darren Prentice has just called qualifying, so that's all for today and we'll be straight into eliminations tomorrow.
Today's pictures have now been posted, you can get to them from the race update index.
Come back in a little while and we will bring you the final qualifying standings in all classes.
18:30
We're on a rain hold here at Santa Pod, the rains came half way through the final FIA Pro Stock qualifying session.
We had the final round of Top Fuel qualifying under threatening skies and this is how it went:
Andy Carter 13.03/52.82, Tommy Moller 11.02/79.44, Anita Makela 5.62/172.17, Micke Kagered 5.07/268.03, Alan Jackson 14.38/74.56, Kim Reymond 11.54/74.66, Pelle Lindelow 14.54/77.54, Barry Sheavills 7.21/112.45.
As with the earlier session, most racers hit tyre shake just off the line, with the exception of Micke Kagered who was going great guns until the car made a move at the top end and he backed off, and Anita Makela who was powering down the track until suddenly getting off it, although word from the top end indicated that there may have been a problem with the mags causing the engine to cut out.
The final standings in FIA Top Fuel Dragster are as follow:
1. Micke Kagered 4.977/296.22
2. Andy Carter 5.212/265.51
3. Kim Reymond 5.502/184.50
4. Anita Makela 5.626/172.17
5. Tommy Moller 6.411/138.14
6. Barry Sheavills 6.417/175.83
7. Alan Jackson 8.662/82.01
8. Pelle Lindelow 9.793/84.11
The final session of UEM Pro Stock Bike went as follows:
Richard Gipp 7.88/161.33, Martin Bishop broke, Bo Thorselius no show, Anders Larsson 7.72/175.91, Chris Tombleson 8.00/165.93, Roger Petterson 7.58/174.87, Kenneth Stromberg no show, Len Paget 8.27/154.41, Chris Hope 7.61/171.73, Michal Ponca 9.97/129.46
The final standings in UEM Pro Stock Bike are as follow:
1. Roger Petterson 7.585/174.87
2. Chris Hope 7.614/171.73
3. Kenneth Stromberg 7.679/170.40
4. Anders Larsson 7.721/175.91
5. Chris Tombleson 7.850/171.17
6. Richard Gipp 7.886/161.33
7. Martin Bishop 7.995/162.93
8. Len Paget 8.223/152.92
DNQ: Michal Ponca 9.972/129.46
DNQ: Bo Thorselius 20.712/26.43
Stay tuned and as soon as we get going again we'll bring you the rest of the qualifying action.
16:30
A big thank you from Sharkman to Martyn Jones who brought a cup of coffee all the way down to the top end for him. We always did like Sid.
We've just had the fourth round of qualifying in FIA and UEM classes apart from Top Fuel, whose third session is due soon. We'll go through them in the order in which they took place.
The fourth round of UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying went as follows:
Roger Petterson 9.27/89.61, Bo Thorselius broke, Len Paget 8.26/152.78, Chris Tombleson broke, Michal Ponca 11.67/110.97, Kenneth Stromberg 8.07/157.24, Martin Bishop 8.32/139.19, Chris Hope 7.63/170.96, Anders Larsson broke, Richard Gipp broke.
After four rounds of qualifying, UEM Pro Stock Bike stands as follows:
1. Roger Petterson 7.593/172.25
2. Chris Hope 7.615/172.71
3. Kenneth Stromberg 7.679/170.40
4. Anders Larsson 7.764/172.96
5. Chris Tombleson 7.850/171.17
6. Richard Gipp 7.981/163.54
7. Martin Bishop 7.995/162.93
8. Len Paget 8.223/152.92
9.Michal Ponca 11.675/110.97
10. Bo Thorselius 20.712/26.43
The fourth qualifying session of FIA Pro Stock went as follows:
Rune Berg 7.11/193.24, Christer Andersson 7.16/188.74, Niclas Andersson 7.04/194.14, Jacob Ferrer 7.07/191.13, Michael Malmgren 6.96/198.67.
Michael Malmgren is sweeping all before him this weekend with new European records in both ET and speed, 6.967/198.36. That's his second speed record of this event, congratulations to the AC Delco team.
After four sessions of qualifying, FIA Pro Stock stands as follows:
1. Michael Malmgren 6.967/198.67
2. Niclas Andersson 7.021/196.29
3. Jacob Ferrer 7.057/195.66
4. Rune Berg 7.114/193.24
5. Christer Andersson 7.160/188.74
The fourth qualifying session in FIA Top Methanol Funny Car went as follows:
Urs Erbacher 6.01/230.78, Jorg Johnsson 7.14/159.29, Urs Embacher 6.64/209.75, Leif Helander 5.98/236.71, Arvid Grodem 6.51/222.84, Leif Andreasson 5.84/237.11, Micke Kagered 5.85/244.10, Steph Milam 8.52/161.35, Ulf Leanders 5.89/227.72, Lex Joon 5.89/236.71.
Leif Andreasson takes over the lead, whilst Leif Helander, Ulf Leanders and Lex Joon step up. Micke Kagered's TMFC is, as Asa herself says, running like clockwork. Ulf and Lex's qualifying pairing was the quickest-ever side by side TMFC run in Europe.
After four sessions of qualifying, FIA TMFC stands as follows:
1. Leif Andreasson 5.849/237.11
2. Micke Kagered 5.853/243.02
3. Lex Joon 5.892/236.71
4. Ulf Leanders 5.897/227.72
5. Urs Erbacher 5.979/238.78
6. Leif Helander 5.988/236.71
7. Dezsoe Krivan 6.169/233.70
8. Arvid Grodem 6.516/222.84
9. Urs Embacher 6.645/209.75
10. Jorg Johnsson 6.954/146.01
11. Steph Milam 7.834/174.66
Only three racers made it onto the track for the fourth session of UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike qualifying. To save you reading through a whole bunch of no-shows, we'll just list those racers who turned out for the session:
Per Bengtsson 6.93/198.57, Jaska Salakari 8.16/127.73, Vaclav Hutla 9.76/142.46, Willem Been broke after burnout.
Per Bengtsson found his six-second form again, and Jaska Salakari rode out a fireball after what looked like a blown gasket. Jaska was A-OK.
After four sessions of qualifying, UEM STTF stands as follows:
1. Anders Karling 6.590/210.28
2. Stefan Junerud 6.838/191.72
3. Per Bengtsson 6.938/198.57
4. Ton Pels 7.034/179.10
5. Jaska Salakari 7.226/198.35
6. Svein Gottenberg 7.527/180.55
7. Willem Been 7.615/171.99
8. Vaclav Hutla 9.402/141.04
9. Ronny Aasen 9.950/110.55
10. Vidar Ravnsborg 12.450/79.99
11. Svein-Olav Rolfstad 12.845/59.19
12. Lars Wahlberg 13.858/70.90
The fourth session of UEM Comp Bike qualifying went as follows:
Roald Dogge 8.17/175.81, Dave Abraham 7.72/165.81, Antonio Ferretti 15.02/46.80, Ken Cooper 7.22/180.87, Sverre Dahl no show, Roel Koedam 10.45/75.83, Ian King no show, Nick Pepper 7.74/167.37, Gary Jones 7.98/166.53, Paul Knapp no show, Joey Bon broke, Shaun Branch 10.14/101.63, Brian Johnson 6.19/223.75, Klaus Brinkmann 16.80/82.14, Klaus Sarembe 10.55/139.33, Steve Woolatt no show.
No question about the highlight of this session, BJ's pass which set a new European speed record of 223.75 mph, backed up by yesterday's 229.20, congratulations BJ! There was a little tyre shake on this pass and BJ was off the throttle just before the finish line, so there is more to come yet!
After four sessions of qualifying, UEM Comp Bike stands as follows:
1. Brian Johnson 6.195/223.75
2. Roel Koedam 6.420/224.25
3. Ian King 6.522/182.94
4. Sverre Dahl 6.825/208.96
5. Steve Woollatt 6.871/198.81
6. Ken Cooper 7.237/178.89
7. Roald Dogge 7.577/181.82
8. Dave Abraham 7.636/163.66
9. Antonio Ferretti 7.710/171.01
10. Nick Pepper 7.729/169.82
11. Gary Jones 7.980/166.53
12. Shaun Branch 10.148/101.62
13. Joey Bon 10.295/76.54
14. Klaus Sarembe 10.551/139.33
15. Klaus Brinkmann 16.742/61.10
The fourth round of Pro Mod qualifying went as follows:
Robert Koper no show, Jan-Arve Nygard no show, Henri Joosten broke, Micke Gullquist 6.49/195.27, Lars Olsson no show, Steve Hall broke, Roger Johansson 6.69/191.03, Mikael Lindahl 10.47/84.71, Patrik Wikstrom broke, Urban Johansson 6.92/185.26, Jallo Makimaa 7.22/168.19.
The low terminal speed on Micke Gullquist's run betrays an out-of-shape pass, Micke must have missed the top end reflectors by an inch, but the car looked a lot healthier than on its run this morning and there is obviously a lot more to come. Patrik's Camaro lost fire immediately after the burnout.
After four rounds of qualifying, Pro Mod stands as follows:
1. Patrik Wikstrom 6.323/221.45
2. Micke Gullquist 6.493/195.27
3. Lars Olsson 6.624/209.56
4. Roger Johansson 6.690/191.03
5. Jan-Arve Nygard 6.789/202.31
7. Urban Johansson 6.921/185.26
6. Jallo Makimaa 7.062/197.66
8. Henri Joosten 7.108/191.50
9. Robert Koper 7.759/165.49
10. Steve Hall 8.284/181.52
11. Michael Lindahl 9.664/92.14
The fourth session of FIA Top Methanol Dragster went as follows:
Dave Wilson no show, Wendy Baker left before lights ran, Manty Bugeja 5.77/245.90, Darryl Bradford 7.79/125.10, Rob Turner 5.76/242.47, Doug Bond 6.47/181.91, Lindsay Deuchar no show.
Again the lead in TMD changed hands in a few runs, Manty Bugeja running a new personal best to take over the lead before Rob Turner took it away! Darryl Bradford put in his mandatory moderate pass in the ex-Turner Racing TMD, he looked in full control so doubtless the wick will be turned up next run.
After four sessions of qualifying, FIA TMD stands as follows:
1. Rob Turner 5.765/242.47
2. Manty Bugeja 5.772/245.90
3. Dave Wilson 5.781/233.37
4. Lindsay Deuchar 6.117/203.95
5. Doug Bond 6.341/213.15
6. Darryl Bradford 7.794/125.10
7. Wendy Baker 7.897/170.28
We're just about to get into our last cycle of FIA and UEM qualifying, starting with FIA Top Fuel Dragster. Tune back in an hour or two for more news.
14:00
The third session of UEM Comp Bike qualifying went as follows:
Ken Cooper 7.66/154.29, Sverre Dahl 6.82/208.96, Roel Koedam 7.22/139.74, Ian King 14.84/49.55, Nick Pepper 7.72/169.82, Gary Jones 8.61/159.36, Paul Knapp no show, Joey Bon no show, Shaun Branch 10.71/89.84, Brian Johnson 6.33/229.20, Klaus Brinkmann 16.74/61.10, Klaus Sarembe 12.64/127.89, Steve Woollatt 6.87/198.81, Roald Dogge broke, Dave Abraham broke, Antonio Ferretti no show.
Another 6.3 and a huge speed for the retiring BJ, and Sverre Dahl and Steve Woollatt go straight into the ladder.
After three sessions of qualifying, UEM Comp Bike stands as follows:
1. Brian Johnson 6.315/223.70
2. Roel Koedam 6.420/224.25
3. Ian King 6.522/182.94
4. Sverre Dahl 6.825/208.96
5. Steve Woollatt 6.871/198.81
6. Ken Cooper 7.237/178.89
7. Roald Dogge 7.577/181.82
8. Dave Abraham 7.636/163.66
9. Antonio Ferretti 7.710/171.01
10. Nick Pepper 7.729/169.82
11. Gary Jones 8.611/159.36
12. Joey Bon 10.295/76.54
13. Shaun Branch 10.684/91.47
14. Klaus Sarembe 12.648/127.89
15. Klaus Brinkmann 16.742/61.10
The third qualifying session of UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike went as follows:
Svein Gottenberg 7.87/155.64, Stefan Junerud 6.83/191.73, Per Bengtsson 8.85/96.48, Jaska Salakari 7.63/192.11, Vaclav Hutla broke, Ton Pels 7.54/144.09, Willem Been shut off, Anders Karling no show, Ronny Aasen no show, Trond Alm no show, Rob van Geffen no show, Lars Wahlberg no show, Svein-Olav Rolfstad no show, Vidar Ravnsborg no show.
Stefan Junerud stepped up in a big way and his 6.83 was shut off early. We understand that Anders Karling is changing engines, hence his absence, and that breakages have hit just about everyone else who didn't show.
After the third qualifying session, UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike stands as follows:
1. Anders Karling 6.590/210.28
2. Stefan Junerud 6.838/191.72
3. Ton Pels 7.034/179.10
4. Jaska Salakari 7.226/198.35
5. Svein Gottenberg 7.527/180.55
6. Willem Been 7.615/171.99
7. Per Bengtsson 8.858/96.48
8. Vaclav Hutla 9.402/141.04
9. Ronny Aasen 9.950/110.55
10. Vidar Ravnsborg 12.450/79.99
11. Svein-Olav Rolfstad 12.845/59.19
12. Lars Wahlberg 13.858/70.90
The third qualifying session of UEM Pro Stock Bike went as follows:
Chris Tombleson 8.19/163.31, Michael Ponca 12.68/107.39, Kenneth Stromberg 9.95/85.69, Martin Bishop 8.08/155.31, Chris Hope 8.55/121.90, Anders Larsson 7.78/148.62, Richard Gipp 7.92/158.98, Roger Petterson 7.84/174.43, Bo Thorselius no show, Len Paget 8.22/152.93.
After three rounds of qualifying, UEM Pro Stock Bike stands as follows:
1. Roger Petterson 7.593/172.25
2. Chris Hope 7.615/172.71
3. Kenneth Stromberg 7.679/170.40
4. Anders Larsson 7.764/172.96
5. Chris Tombleson 7.850/171.17
6. Richard Gipp 7.891/163.54
7. Martin Bishop 7.995/162.162.93
8. Len Paget 8.223/152.92
9. Michael Ponca 12.680/107.39
10. Bo Thorselius 20.712/26.43
As we started to type up this posting, Bruno Bader had a top end crash in his Comp Eliminator 'Vette. The car turned hard right in the shutdown area and started to roll when it went into the field. Bruno was conscious and talking after the crash; the safety crew took every precaution in extracting him from the car and the good news is that Bruno does not need to go to hospital - a checkout by the site doctor confirms that although shaken he is OK.
The second complete cycle of FIA, UEM and Pro Mod is due to start soon so check back in a couple of hours and we'll bring you all the news.
13:40
The third session of FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying went as follows:
Leif Helander 6.13/232.22, Arvid Grodem rolled through stage, Leif Andreasson 5.85/241.33, Micke Kagered no show, Steph Milam 11.69/78.48, Ulf Leanders shut off, Lex Joon 7.10/146.23, Dezsoe Krivan 6.16/233.70, Urs Erbacher no show, Jorg Johnsson 6.95/146.01, Urs Embacher 6.72/205.49.
After three rounds, FIA TMFC stands as follows:
1. Micke Kagered 5.853/243.02
2. Leif Andreasson 5.859/241.33
3. Urs Erbacher 5.979/238.78
4. Leif Helander 6.134/232.22
5. Ulf Leanders 6.146/229.58
6. Dezsoe Krivan 6.169/233.70
7. Urs Embacher 6.720/205.49
8. Arvid Grodem 6.950/153.67
9. Jorg Johnsson 6.954/146.01
10. Lex Joon 6.964/144.52
11. Steph Milam 7.834/174.66
The third session of FIA Pro Stock qualifying went as follows:
Jacob Ferrer 15.20/52.83, Michael Malmgren 6.99/197.86, Rune Berg 7.16/193.01, Christer Andersson 7.18/190.22, Niclas Andersson 7.04/195.29.
After three sessions of qualifying, FIA Pro Stock now stands as follows:
1. Michael Malmgren 6.976/198.36
2. Niclas Andersson 7.021/196.29
3. Jacob Ferrer 7.057/195.66
4. Rune Berg 7.160/193.01
5. Christer Andersson 7.185/190.22
The third session of Pro Mod qualifying went as follows:
Micke Gullquist 20.12/34.43, Lars Olsson 6.64/200.43, Steve Hall 9.88/146.68, Roger Johansson broke, Michael Lindahl 9.66/92.14, Patrik Wikstrom 6.32/221.45, Urban Johansson broke, Jallo Makimaa 7.06/197.66, Robert Koper 8.05/134.96, Jane-Arve Nygard 6.83/201.80, Henri Joosten 7.13/188.11.
So as we said, the first half of a European record for Patrik Wikstrom and a backed-up Dutch record for Henri Joosten who has been looking very strong this weekend.
After three sessions of qualfifying, Pro Modified stands as follows:
1. Patrik Wikstrom 6.323/221.45
2. Lars Olsson 6.624/209.56
3. Jan-Arve Nygard 6.789/202.31
4. Jallo Makimaa 7.062/197.66
5. Urban Johansson 7.108/203.28
6. Henri Joosten 7.108/191.50
7. Robert Koper 7.759/165.49
8. Roger Johansson 7.842/113.87
9. Steve Hall 8.284/181.52
10. Michael Lindahl 9.664/92.14
11. Micke Gullquist 20.129/34.43
We'll be back shortly with all the stats for UEM classes.
13:00
Hi there and welcome back to Santa Pod Raceway. We've now had our first complete cycle of FIA, UEM and Pro Mod. One of the undoubted highlights of the day has been Patrik Wikstrom doing the first half of the job of a new European Pro Mod record at 6.323/221.45, an astounding run with a little tyre shake so there is probably more to come from the Camaro.
The second round of FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying went as follows:
Kim Reymond 5.50/184.50, Anita Makela 10.35/89.59, Barry Sheavills 12.17/62.31, Alan Jackson 8.66/82.01, Tommy Moller 11.37/81.24, Pelle Lindelow 9.79/84.11, Micke Kagered no show, Andy Carter 5.21/265.51.
As you can see from the times, just about everyone hit tyre shake although Andy Carter did a great pedalling job and wasn't giving up for anything.
After two qualifying sessions, FIA Top Fuel Dragster stands as follows:
1. Micke Kagered 4.977/296.22
2. Andy Carter 5.212/265.51
3. Kim Reymond 5.502/184.50
4. Tommy Moller 6.411/138.14
5. Barry Sheavills 6.417/175.83
6. Alan Jackson 8.662/82.01
7. Pelle Lindelow 9.793/84.11
8. Anita Makela 10.350/89.59
The third qualifying session of FIA Top Methanol Dragster was very exciting with the lead changing hands twice in as many runs. The session went as follows:
Manty Bugeja 5.79/244.96, Darryl Bradford no show, Rob Turner no show, Doug Bond 6.34/213.15, Lindsay Deuchar no show, Dave Wilson 5.78/233.37, Wendy Baker no show.
Manty Bugeja ran new personal bests on both ET and speed on what was his first full pass with the new Brad Anderson Fat Heads, and took the qualifying lead until Dave Wilson's run. Dave Wilson's dragster disappeared in a cloud of smoke at the end of his run, no word yet on any damage.
After three qualifying sessions, FIA Top Methanol Dragster stands as follows:
1. Dave Wilson 5.781/233.37
2. Manty Bugeja 5.793/244.96
3. Rob Turner 5.821/242.48
4. Lindsay Deuchar 6.117/203.95
5. Doug Bond 6.341/213.15
6. Wendy Baker 7.897/170.28
Stay tuned and we will bring you FIA TMFC and FIA Pro Stock.
10:00
Good morning and welcome again from Santa Pod Raceway on day two of qualifying for the FIA European Finals. The weather is just as it was yesterday, bright and dry with a bit of a chill wind but the qualifying is hot enough!
We had our customary walk around the pits last night and another this morning, and here is what we found out.
Manty Bugeja's tuner Charley Draper said that Manty's half-pass yesterday equalled his best-ever eighth mile in the Top Methanol Dragster. "It's looking pretty good", he said, "that would have been a 5.8". Joe Carabott's car now has Brad Anderson Fat Heads. "They're what we wanted to run, but they came earlier than we thought they would!" said Manty. "We'll keep the set-up the same and work on the clutch", said Charley.
TMFC racer Ulf Leanders told us that his Mustang suffered excessive clutch slippage on his first pass yesterday, and then had too much clutch on the second pass. "We got some data from the second run, though, so we will run better today", he said. A stall by Ulf's pit is selling t-shirts, caps, bottle openers and rods. "The rods are ten pounds each", said Ulf. "We change them after fifteen runs - ten pounds is a lot less than a new block!".
Fellow TMFC racer Lex Joon had a bizarre problem in qualifying yesterday. "The rear slicks were not the same size", he said. "So we put new tyres on the car and they were out of balance. I had to pedal on the first pass, but the sixty-foot time and the eighth-mile were the same as on my 5.85 in the USA. It's frustrating knowing that the car can run 5.8 on full throttle. It's like having a toy you can't open until your birthday!". Lex is also helping out Urs Embacher who has yet to put in a pass in the Hawaiian TMFC. "It's a long way to come not to race, so I am trying to help him out", said Lex.
TMFC racer Leif Helander had the appearance of a worried man last night. "I had tyre shake with my new tyres, so I am putting my old tyres back on", he said. "If that doesn't work then I will put the old Lenco back on. But I will sleep on it". Leif pretended to be unimpressed by close friend Micke Kagered's four-second pass in Top Fuel Dragster. "They're girls' cars. You just hit the throttle and steer it!", he said.
Micke Kagered himself was over the moon with his four-second run and new personal best in his TMFC. "It's my best day ever - so far!", he said. "It did feel quick. I was hoping it was a four, but I was not sure". "He looked like a big question mark when we got to him", said Micke's team administrator and partner Asa. Micke confirmed that this will definitely be the last time that he races both cars at one event. "Again", joked Asa. "We have a lot of options for next year", she said. It depends upon what our sponsors want us to do. It's very important what they think - they know it means more money!".
Fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Makela had a bad day yesterday, the car sticking in reverse after the burnout. Anita had gone to bed when we reached her pit last night, but husband and crew chief Tommi Haapanen made a face said it all (and which would have won him a gurning championship). We understand that Anita will be running both sessions today.
Tommy Moller had a clutch problem in his Top Fuel Dragster yesterday. "We've fixed it, it will be better today!", said Tommy.
Pro Mod racer Patrik Wikstrom tells us that he had an ignition problem on his blown-alcohol Camaro yesterday. "We've found the problem now", he said. "Even with the problem, I ran a 1.00 sixty-foot time yesterday!". Patrik was pulling his customary long burnouts yesterday, but he said that the track was so good that he was having trouble getting the tyres to smoke.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter broke Santa Pod's sixty-foot track record yesterday. It was previously held by Viveca Averstedt at 0.857, but Andy ran 0.854 yesterday before the car shook. "This car never shakes here", he said. "We're checking the car for cracks, because it shook so hard". Andy's car has a great new paintjob by an Austrian guy named Pompi. "He came up to the crew at Hockenheim and offered to paint the car for nothing. So he took the body panels and UPS'd them back to us. I knew nothing about it until I arrived here and saw the panels!".
We're currently on hold for a huge oildown from Jamie Sneddon's 9.90 Bike, stay tuned as today's first cycle of FIA and UEM classes starts very shortly.