FIA Main Event
Monday (race day)
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20:00
Today's pictures have now been posted. You can get to then via the Raceday Update index. If the pictures do not appear on the page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. Please note that the pictures are not available on our mirror server.
That's the end of our FIA Main Event coverage, thanks for staying with us through the weekend. Your reporters and photographers this weekend were tog and Sharkman of Eurodragster.com.
Many thanks for their help this weekend to Race Director Darren Prentice; Andy Marrs, Steve Horn, Lisa Smart and John Hackney of Santa Pod's timing crew; chief starter Ian Marshall and his crew; Chief Fire Marshal Bob Day and his crew; track announcers Graham Beckwith, John Price and Paul Venners; SPR track manager Kjell Petterson; Kathy Taylor, Carol Ismail and Paula Marshall; Ivan Sansom; Dave Alexander; and of course to all of the racers for giving us quotes and action to write about and photograph.
Eurodragster's next event coverage will be from Super Series 3 at Shakespeare County Raceway on 16th-17th June; our next event coverage from Santa Pod Raceway will be the Cannonball on 30th June-1st July. See you then!
19:15
The Main Event is now finished, and what a superb race it's been. Here are the final results in all classes:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Anita Makela 5.18/285.83, Peter Beck no show
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Manty Bugeja 5.90/211.67 def. Rob Turner 5.88/235.84
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Leif Andreasson 5.87/238.23 def. Leif Helander 6.00/231.91
FIA Pro Stock: Niclas Andersson 7.10/193.01 def. Michael Malmgren 7.13/194.17
Super Pro ET: Pat Talbot 7.789/171.49 (7.77) def. Steve Green 8.831/139.52 breakout (8.84)
Pro ET: Dave Potter 10.414/124.79 (10.38) def. Rick McCann 11.048/115.46 breakout (11.05)
Sportsman ET: Simon Chalkly 13.999/96.92 (13.86) def. Martin Lewis 16.882/75.94 (16.78)
Super Comp: Zane Llewellyn 8.958/137.57 def. Phil Bennett 8.839/135.66 breakout
Super Gas: Tim Adam 9.979/137.28 def. Frank Mason 9.967/136.25
Super Street: Stuart Peck 10.902/121.31 def. Leigh Morris 10.896/123.59 breakout
Comp Eliminator: Bruno Bader 7.924/146.12 (8.65) def. John Tebenham 9.578/140.73 (8.80)
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Pateman 8.882/164.44 def. Steve Nash 9.454/154.40
Junior Dragster: Nicholas Mugridge 15.856/35.06 (15.80) def. Adam Gleadow 9.615/58.13 breakout (9.68)
UEM Comp Bike: Roel Koedam 7.40/192.64 def. Dave Abraham 7.83/147.28
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike: Ton Pels 7.66/185.18 def. Willem Been NTR
UEM Pro Stock Bike: Roger Petterson 7.89/166.46 def. Kenneth Stromberg 9.45/151.86
Super Street Bike: Graham Dance 8.470/164.94 def. Tony Clark 9.417/141.97
9.90 Bike: Jamie Sneddon 10.121/106.49 def. Grant Perrin 10.167/136.51
10.90 Bike: Steve Templeman 11.10/120.76 def. Lewis Honey 11.08/121.54
We're just uploadfing today's pictures, stay tuned.
18:30
We've now had our FIM and UEM finals, here's how they went in the order in which they ran:
UEM Pro Stock Bike
Roger Petterson 7.89/166.46 def. Kenneth Stromberg 9.45/151.86
Kenneth got into a tankslapper off the start line and had to get off the throttle briefly, giving Roger all the opportunity he needed.
FIA Pro Stock
Niclas Andersson 7.10/193.01 def. Michael Malmgren 7.13/194.17
The burndown we've come to expect from these two racers was followed by a great race, Niclas winning by a few inches.
FIA Top Methanol Dragster
Manty Bugeja 5.90/211.67 def. Rob Turner 5.88/235.84
This great race was won on the start line as Manty got away first, 0.43 to 0.5, and stayed in front all the way down the track. Manty's burst panel blew at the top end but the race was won by then.
UEM Comp Bike
Roel Koedam 7.40/192.64 def. Dave Abraham 7.83/147.28
Roel's bike still not in perfect shape but he had enough to deal with Dave.
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike
Ton Pels 7.66/185.18 def. Willem Been NT
Ton's bike again hesitated at half-track but Willem had his own problems, a huge bang and sheet of flame as the rear cylinder hydraulicked. Willem steered the bike across the track to the waiting fire crew.
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car
Leif Andreasson 5.87/238.23 def. Leif Helander 6.00/231.91
A great race between these two, Leif Helander just dropping off his weekend-long five-second form.
FIA Top Fuel Dragster
Anita Makela 5.18/285.83, Peter Beck no show
Anita could have taken this easily but didn't, putting in a full pass, great times and speeds even with a cylinder out all the way down the track.
We've just completed our Sportsman finals, check back soon for full results.
17:00
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike
Willem Been 7.12/184.40 def. Anders Karling 8.51/101.47
Anders' chance to set a new European ET record vanished as he got off the throttle at half-track; no obvious problem but Willem wasn't hanging around to find out.
Ton Pels 7.25/185.91, Per Bengtsson no show
Ton's bike seemed to falter a little at half track, vapour coming from the headers. We understand that Per Bengtsson's engine was sporting a sizeable hole hence his no-show.
UEM Comp Bike
Roel Koedam 9.16/100.43 def. Steve Woollatt 7.01/194.89 red light
Roel Koedam knew that something was wrong as he was shaking his head as soon as his crew came to back him up after a stuttering burnout. Steve Woollatt unfortunately wasted a fine run as he would have had Roel covered with ease.
Dave Abraham 7.97/149.72, Eric Teboul broke
Eric Teboul started his Top Fuel bike and then shut it off again, got off the bike and walked away. Dave Abraham got an e-ticket into the final and with Roel appearing to have trouble with his bike it's by no means impossible that Dave could be leading the UEM Championship very shortly.
UEM Pro Stock Bike
Roger Petterson 7.68/172.04 def. Martin Bishop 8.20/156.01
Martin Bishop knew that he was up against it and a long burndown was the result. Both riders kept their nerve though, no red lights, and Roger was there first by over half a second.
Kenneth Stromberg 7.76/171.52 def. Anders Larsson broke off line
A bizarre repetition of the earlier round for Anders Larsson as the bike moved off the line then the engine cut out. Kenneth was straight and true and advanced to the final against Roger Petterson who could have the perfect start for his new bike.
We'll be back soon with the final results in FIA and UEM classes, and all other classes.
16:30
We've now had the FIA and UEM semi-finals and as usual we had a mixture of action and incident. Without any further ado let's get into the stats, this is in the order in which the classes took place.
FIA Top Fuel Dragster
Anita Makela 6.38/137.61 bye
Anita was going to stay on this one as long as it felt good. The tyres started to smoke at 330 feet and Anita got off the throttle.
Peter Beck 5.60/246.36 def. Barry Sheavills 5.66/158.05
This was a great race to just before half-track when Barry's blower belt came off and flew across the track, just as he was beginning to establish a lead. Peter stayed with it to the top end when there was a cloud of oil vapour and suddenly a huge explosion just after Peter crossed the finish line. It would have been a Makela v Beck final except that Regula of Top Fuel Team Switzerland was straight on the PA after the race to announce that Peter couldn't run in the final since the team have no spares left. So it's a bye for Anita in the final.
FIA Top Methanol Dragster
Rob Turner 5.86/239.62 bye
The car seemed to creep very briefly off the line before the full throttle kicked in and Rob was gone. A hard straight pass.
Manty Bugeja 5.84/235.43 def. Dave Wilson 5.86/234.14
One of the races of the weekend. No psychology on the start line this time, Dave first into stage and on the green the cars seemed glued together down the track. Should be a great final!
FIA Pro Stock
Niclas Andersson 7.14/193.11 def. Jacob Ferrer 7.30/186.10
It's warmed up considerably since this morning and both cars seemed a little off-form, maybe the heat was the reason. It was all over by half-track as Niclas pulled away.
Michael Malmgren 7.07/194.32 def. Jari Konola 7.20/193.14
No apparent problems with the heat for Michael as nothing was going to stop him on this run, straight as you like. Jari's crew chief Susie Bjorkman said on the PA that Jari's car was back on last year's tune-up.
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car
Leif Andreasson 5.86/238.22 def. Dezsoe Krivan 6.02/234.25
A picture-perfect pass from Leif although Dezsoe wasn't giving in easily with new personal bests on both time and speed, congratulations to him.
Leif Helander 5.97/233.11 def. Micke Kagered 6.22/212.86
A great race between these two close friends although there wasn't much question about who was going to win as Leif Helander was visibly pulling away as the cars went down the track. The final is between two Leifs, one with the performance advantage and one with very many years of experience.
We're now going to type up the UEM results, come back very soon.
13:50
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel
Anders Karling 6.70/186.98 def. Erik Nielsen broke
Erik Nielsen couldn't get his bike started, but he would have had very little chance against Anders who was on a mission. A quick check with the European Drag Racing Database shows that Anders' 6.70 will be a new European record if he can back it up - 6.767 or quicker will do it.
Willem Been 7.39/173.32 def. Svein-Olaf Rolfstad 7.47/181.46
Per Bengtsson 7.14/164.56 def. Jaka Salakari 8.08/181.26
Jaka away from the line very slowly, Willem was long-gone.
Ton Pels 6.95/196.18 def. Svein Gottenberg 7.71/174.07
Ton was on a hard, straight pass, the front wheel not coming down on the Zodiac bike until nearly half-track. The track announcers just passed on Monique Pels' thanks to everyone for their gifts and good wishes after the birth of her daughter Nikita, doubtless some of those are tuned in too so consider yourselves thanked.
UEM Comp Bike
Roel Koedam 9.32/95.61 def. Luigi Ferretti 17.92/52.95
Luigi had problems starting the bike and had to rush to the line chivvied along by race officials. Roel's bike seemed to have trouble getting off the line and he did the bike equivalent of pedalling a few times before getting off the throttle altogether. Luigi's bike bogged off the line and then slowed almost to a stop.
Steve Woollatt 6.94/188.30 def. Ken Cooper 7.67/150.17
Eric Teboul 7.01/154.05 def. Ian King 15.21/46.41
Ian's engine stopped abruptly not far off the line. Eric's bike was by no means on perfect form, smoking a lot on the start line, but he made sure of his place in the next round.
Dave Abraham 8.58/147.90 def. Oivind Dahl shut off on start line
A shock here as Oivind's bike started to shed pieces of its rear brake caliper on the way to the start line. A good spot by the start line crew prevented what could have been a very nasty situation on Oivind's six-second bike.
UEM Pro Stock Bike
Roger Petterson 7.60/174.77
Martin Bishop 8.25/158.54, Luigi Chinarello no show
No word on Luigi's non-appearance. Martin will have a real job on in the next roudn as he races Roger Petterson.
Kenneth Stromberg 7.78/169.99 def. Chris Tombleson 8.00/164.43
Anders Larsson broke off line, Remo Nassi no show
A weird one here as Anders' bike died a few feet off the line, but he took the green light and left the line so he is through to the next round to race Ken Stromberg.
We'll be back after the FIA and UEM semi-finals.
13:30
Hi there and welcome back. As you are probably able to work out from the delay to the update we've had an incident-filled morning here at Santa Pod. Let's get straight into the action and let you know how all the first rounds went. We'll go through the classes in the order in which they ran.
FIA Top Fuel Dragster
Anita Makela 7.43/104.82 def. Kim Reymond broke
Kim Reymond couldn't get back into forward gear after reversing from his burnout. Anita was off the throttle at about 330 feet. Anita gets a bye next round.
Barry Sheavills 5.00/285.72 def. Andy Carter 5.08/286.20
A classic side-by-side drag race which was decided by a mere 26 inches at the top end. Both cars went straight and true and no sign of damage.
Peter Beck 5.25/263.48 def. Micke Kagered 5.53/206.02
Peter and Micke were side-by-side until Micke's engine expired and started dumping oil on the track. It's Sheavills v Beck in the next round.
FIA Top Methanol Dragster
Rob Turner 5.87/230.35 def. Darryl Bradford 6.29/210.21
Darryl got away first but Rob reeled him in and then shut off slightly early. Rob gets a bye next round.
Manty Bugeja 5.87/232.76 def. Wendy Baker 9.22/110.57
Manty long-gone on a solid pass whilst the Krypton dragster was quite slow off the line.
Dave Wilson 5.93/231.71 def. Doug Bond 6.79/181.84
Dave went straight and true with no sign of problems, likewise no sign of trouble for Doug. It's Bugeja v Wilson in the next round and after yesterday's fun and games the start line could decide that race.
FIA Pro Stock
Jari Konola 7.05/194.66 def. Rune Berg 7.22/189.06
Niclas Andersson 7.07/193.42 def. Christer Andersson left before lights ran
Jacob Ferrer 7.08/193.81 def. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.31/180.69
Michael Malmgren 7.04/194.56 bye
0.04 seconds separate all four semi-finalists.
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car
Leif Andreasson 5.93/236.55 bye
Dezsoe Krivan 6.65/212.21 red light def. Ulf Leanders boundary violation
The words "boundary violation" don't really describe what happened in the Krivan v Leanders race. Dezsoe pulled a red light and Ulf left very strongly but quickly hit tyre shake and broadsided the guardrail. The rear right wheel failed and Ulf had his hands full staying in control of the car, eventually getting it stopped at about 1000 feet trailing extinguisher from the fire bottles which triggered at the impact. Ulf is quite OK.
Leif Helander 5.96/233.51 def. Lex Joon 6.01/235.99
The Helander v Joon race was another side-by-side classic with Lex stepping straight back up to form and Leif only just holding on at the finish line.
Micke Kagered 6.03/233.37 bye (Urs Embacher no show)
It's Helander v Kagered, Andreasson v Krivan next round.
Stay tuned and we'll post UEM bike results very shortly.
9:30
Good morning and welcome to Santa Pod on eliminations day of the FIA Main Event. It's cloudy but we have a warm breeze and the track is looking just great.
A couple more hello's this morning, firstly to our friends Ed and Kathy in Rye, NH who we know are tuned in; and secondly to Lee Baxendale's daughter Amy who is watching events all the way from New Zealand.
As you will have seen from the timestamp on last night's reports, we had a bit of a late finish last night and when we took our stroll down the pits they were for the most part closed! But we picked up a few snippets and here's what we got.
Nemesis TMD driver Dave Wilson has reportedly had a telling off from his team about the burndown against Manty Bugeja in qualifying yesterday. Crew chief Andy Bissett told us that the crew carried out a normal turn-round on the dragster last night and that everything is OK with the engine.
TMFC pilot Leif Helander had a minor problem with his Lenco yesterday which prevented his appearance in the final qualifying session. "I had a burnt gear", he said, adding that everything was fixed and that he was looking forward to eliminations this morning.
Fellow TMFC pilot Lex Joon, whom Leif Helander will be racing in round one this morning, had an ignition problem before the final qualiying session in addition to a loose fuel return line. The crew also found a broken wheelie bar.
Anita Makela and team changed blocks in her Top Fuel Dragster overnight after the crank was found to be marked after her last qualifying pass yesterday. As Anita told us on Saturday, the team would rather be safe than sorry. It turns out that Anita wasn't planning a 60 foot pass yesterday afternoon; what actually happened was that the throttle cable broke. Anita will be facing Kim Reymond in round one this morning.
Micke Kagered will also be running with a new block this morning. A main bearing was damaged and although it was repaired the team also decided to be cautious. Micke will be facing Peter Beck in the first round of eliminations. the other pairing on Top Fuel will be Andy Carter and Barry Sheavills.
UEM Comp Bike racer Ian King, who qualified second on his Top Fuel Bike, told us that cylinder head problems and then a cracked blower pulley kept him out of qualifying yesterday. Crew member Roger Forsythe fabricated a new blower pulley and Ian is all set.
We won't be seeing any more of the Fireforce 2 Jet FC this morning. As Martin Hill went through the top end on his five-second pass yesterday the FC's body cracked in several places. There is a huge crack on the right hand side of the body, plus smaller cracks at the front and back. "I went through the traps, and when the chute hit I saw daylight through the body in front of me!" said Martin. "I didn't feel threatened though, as long as the body stayed on I knew I would be OK. It's annoying and expensive".
The first rounds of FIA and UEM eliminations will be at 10:30 this morning, check back later on this morning and we'll bring you the results and news.