FIA Main Event
Sunday (qualifying)

The latest updates are at the top. Click on your Browser's Reload button periodically to be sure of picking up the latest news. Click here to go back to the race update index.

22:15

Here are the top two qualifiers in all classes:

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: 1. Anita Makela 5.177/251.32, 2. Micke Kagered 5.221/269.42
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: 1. Rob Turner 5.900/239.18, 2. Manty Bugeja 5.902/233.44
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: 1. Leif Andreasson 5.889/241.90, 2. Leif Helander 5.932/233.98
FIA Pro Stock: 1. Michael Malmgren 7.051/195.54, 2. Niclas Andersson 7.065/194.13
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Steve Green +0.026 (8.746/154.28), 2. Paul Davis +0.033 (8.633/157.76)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Rick McCann +0.000 (10.900/123.12), 2. Al Golding +0.008 (9.108/148.99)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Chris Isaacs +0.008 (18.608/67.74), 2. Gareth Mogford +0.031 (12.681/108.87)
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Zane Llewellyn 8.928/148.81, 2. Tim Adam 8.929/147.16
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Dave Townsend 9.902/140.88, 2. Frank Mason 9.912/135.99
Super Street (10.90): 1. Bob Lees 10.920/121.39, 2. Stuart Peck 10.922/122.99
Competition Eliminator (index): 1. Bruno Bader -0.823 (7.827/173.66), 2. John Tebenham +0.101 (8.901/142.86)
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Jay Hauser 0.504, 22. Scott Hauser 0.507
Custom Car Street Eliminator (subject to Cruise): 1. Steve Pateman 8.814/166.62, 2. Ian Hook 8.992/154.86

UEM Comp Bike: 1. Roel Koedam 6.624/194.31, 2. Ian King 6.646/197.42
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike: 1. Anders Karling 6.801/203.38, 2. Per Bengtsson 6.928/192.78
UEM Pro Stock Bike: 1. Roger Petterson 7.615/173.38, 2. Kenneth Stromberg 7.661/172.23
Super Street Bike: 1. Graham Dance 8.514/165.55, 2. Tony Clark 8.633/170.04
9.90 Bike: 1. Lee Baxendale 9.906/140.97, 2. Pete Cameron 9.913/137.66
10.90 Bike: 1. Lewis Honey 10.902/123.92, 2. Ady Reade 10.902/113.56

Today's pictures have now been posted; they are available via the Raceday Update index. If the pictures do not appear on the picture page, then click on your Browser's Refresh button. Please note that the pictures are not available via our mirror site.

So that's the end of qualifying, tune in tomorrow and we'll bring you the action as it happens. Racing starts at 9:00. See you then!

21:30

The final round of FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying went as follows: Darryl Bradford broke, Rob Turner 5.92/239.75, Wendy Baker 8.96/122.68, Dave Wilson NTR, Manty Bugeja 5.90/233.44

There was another bizarre episode in this qualifying session when Dave Wilson and Manty Bugeja had a serious burndown. It was of course very entertaining, but the outcome was that after Manty gave in first and staged, Dave Wilson sat there and then suddenly the TMD jumped forward a couple of feet and right through stage. Dave was consequently bulbed and Manty got the lights.

The final standings in FIA Top Methanol Dragster are as follows: 1. Rob Turner 5.900/239.18, 2. Manty Bugeja 5.902/233.44, 3. Dave Wilson 6.012/235.42, 4. Doug Bond 6.454/206.98 5. Wendy Baker 7.109/191.86, 6. Darryl Bradford 7.190/129.33

The final qualifying session of UEM Comp Bike went as follows: Klaus Sarembe NTR, BJ lost fire after burnout, Eric Teboul broke, Roel Koedam 6.84/186.26, Jean-Claude Draperi, 9.06/120.68, Roald Dogge 8.40/161.01, Ken Cooper 7.69/149.74, Klaus Brinkmann 8.71/154.09, Oivind Dahl 12.05/64.08, Dave Abraham 7.77/163.14, Luigi Ferretti 9.15/144.94

So the final standings in UEM Comp Bike are as follows: 1. Roel Koedam 6.624/194.31, 2. Ian King 6.646/197.42, 3. Oivind Dahl 6.743/194.34, 4. Steve Woollatt 6.937/197.62, 5. Ken Cooper 7.392/168.63, 6. Dave Abraham 7.771/163.14, 7. Eric Teboul 8.381/151.97, 8. Roald Dogge 8.404/161.01, DNQ Jean-Claude Draperi 8.697/160.29, DNQ Klaus Brinkmann 8.711/154.09, DNQ Antonio Ferretti 8.717/149.68, DNQ Luigi Ferretti 8.836/148.83, DNQ Klaus Sarembe 10.516/129.18

The final qualifying session of FIA Top Fuel Dragster went as follows: Anita Makela 10.66/78.07, Kim Reymond 10.43/73.79. Anita Makela was under power for sixty feet, sounding very strong indeed, we don't know whether it was a planned squirt. Kim Reymond was going great guns until the blower belt came off at three hundred feet.

So the final standings in FIA Top Fuel Dragster are as follows: 1. Anita Makela 5.177/251.32, 2. Micke Kagered 5.221/269.42, 3. Andy Carter 5.286/212.68, 4. Barry Sheavills 5.533/176.54, 5. Peter Beck 5.582/191.39, 6. Kim Reymond 10.434/73.79

We're just about to upload today's pictures, and in the meantime we'll get hold of the first and second qualifiers in those classes upon which we haven't been concentrating today.

21:00

The final round of FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying went as follows: Micke Kagered 5.95/240.96, Ulf Leanders 6.17/229.43, Leif Andreasson 5.88/241.90, Urs Embacher 6.73/205.62.

So the final standings in FIA Top Methanol Funny Car are as follows: 1. Leif Andreasson 5.889/241.90, 2. Leif Helander 5.932/233.98, 3. Micke Kagered 5.954/240.96, 4. Ulf Leanders 6.086/226.95, 5. Dezsoe Krivan 6.179/231.73, 6. Urs Embacher 6.605/207.96, 7. Lex Joon 6.800/140.83.

The final round of UEM Supertwin Top Fuel qualifying went as follows: Willem Been 7.29/185.12, Erik Nielsen 10.11/109.02, Per Bengtsson 6.99/188.59, Svein Gottenberg 10.97/76.00, Jaka Salakari 7.77/140.25, Carsten Andersson DQ

So the final standings in UEM Supertwin Top Fuel are as follows: 1. Anders Karling 6.801/203.38, 2. Per Bengtsson 6.928/192.78, 3. Ton Pels 6.954/198.61, 4. Willem Been 7.299/185.12, 5. Svein-Olaf Rolfstad 7.335/179.41, 6. Svein Gottenberg 7.534/167.07, 7. Jaka Salakari 7.770/180.36, 8. Erik Nielsen 9.598/118.71, DNQ Carsten Andersson 10.945/122.79

Next up are FIA Top Methanol Dragster, UEM Comp Bike and FIA Top Fuel Dragster, come back shortly.

20:30

We're now done for the day, having had the second complete cycle of FIA and UEM qualifying.

We had a scare in UEM Supertwin Top Fuel qualifying as Carsten Andersson bailed out of his badly out-of-shape bike at the top end, going through the speed traps at 140 mph on his back. The good news is that the sum total of Carsten's injuries was some scratches and a broken hand. It could have been so much worse and we're all glad it wasn't.

A major shock in UEM Comp Bike as Brian Johnson has failed to qualify, which is just about unthinkable. BJ put in a burnout in the last session of qualifying and then the bike lost fire on the pushback. We also had a bizarre incident in Comp Bike when Klaus Sarembe lost the exhausts from his bike at half-track. Klaus looked over his shoulder and you could read the disbelief in his body language.

So let's get on with the sessions and stats. The final round of UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying went as follows: Martin Bishop 8.35/157.25, Anders Larsson 7.93/167.29, Kenneth Stromberg 7.82/169.35, Roger Petterson 7.67/172.12, Remo Nassi 8.42/154.83, Luigi Chinarello 8.40/155.65

So the final standings in UEM Pro Stock Bike are as follows: 1. Roger Petterson 7.615/173.38, 2. Kenneth Stromberg 7.661/172.23, 3. Anders Larsson 7.929/164.45, 4. Martin Bishop 8.168/157.51, 5. Luigi Chinarello 8.272/159.19, 6. Remo Nassi 8.428/154.83, 7. Chris Tombleson 14.560/52.55

The final round of FIA Pro Stock qualifying went as follows: Michael Malmgren 7.06/194.77, Rune Berg 7.51/184.41, Jari Konola 7.13/192.64, Niclas Andersson 7.09/193.36, Kenneth Soderstrom 7.44/185.01, Jacob Ferrer 7.14/191.13

So the final standings in FIA Pro Stock are as follows: 1. Michael Malmgren 7.051/195.54, 2. Niclas Andersson 7.065/194.13, 3. Jacob Ferrer 7.090/195.04, 4. Jari Konola 7.091/194.40, 5. Rune Berg 7.206/185.84, 6. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.409/184.45, 7. Christer Andersson 7.585/185.25

Stay tuned because next we'll be posting the final sessions and standings in FIA Top Methanol FC and UEM Supertwin Top Fuel.

17:30

UEM Comp Bike, third qualifying session: Roel Koedam 6.62/194.31, Brian Johnson broke, Eric Teboul broke after burnout, Jean-Claude Draperi 8.69/160.29, Ken Cooper 7.56/161.96, Oivind Dahl 6.74/194.34, Roald Dogge 8.48/165.41, Klaus Brinkmann 8.80/152.37, Luigi Ferretti 8.83/148.83, Dave Abraham 12.60/132.86, Klaus Sarembe 12.48/134.25, Antonio Ferretti 13.19/35.05, Steve Woollatt 6.93/197.62

UEM Comp Bike now stands as follows, with one session remaining: 1. Roel Koedam 6.624/194.31, 2. Ian King 6.646/197.42, 3. Oivind Dahl 6.743/194.34, 4. Steve Woollatt 6.937/197.62, 5. Ken Cooper 7.392/168.33, 6. Dave Abraham 7.819/155.49, 7. Eric Teboul 8.381/151.97, 8. Roald Dogge 8.480/165.41, 9. Jean-Claude Draperi 8.697/160.29, 10. Antonio Ferretti 8.717/149.68, 11. Klaus Brinkmann 8.802/152.37, 12. Luigi Ferretti 8.836/148.83, 13. Klaus Sarembe 10.516/129.18

FIA Top Fuel Dragster, second qualifying session: Barry Sheavills 5.53/176.54, Peter Beck 5.58/191.39, Micke Kagered 5.22/269.42, Anita Makela 5.17/251.32, Andy Carter 5.28/212.68, Kim Reymond NTR. Barry Sheavills didn't light the tyres on the burnout but the car still launched very strongly, Barry was clocked at 241 mph at the eighth and got off it just past half-track. Peter Beck likewise was off it at half-track but was looking very strong to that point. Anita Makela and Micke Kagered had a great match-up, both drivers lifting at about 1200 feet but they were more or less side-by-side all the way down. Andy Carter had to wait whilst Kim Reymond had problems staging, eventually Kim was bulbed and Andy put in a hard pass although shut off very early, there is more to come there.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster stands as follows with one session remaining: 1. Anita Makela 5.177/251.32, 2. Micke Kagered 5.221/269.42, 3. Andy Carter 5.286/212.68, 4. Barry Sheavills 5.533/176.54, 5. Peter Beck 5.582/191.39

The next complete FIA/UEM cycle is due to start at 6:00, come back at about 7:30-8:00 and we should have the numbers for you.

17:00

UEM Supertwin Top Fuel third qualifying session: Ton Pels 6.95/198.61, Svein Gottenberg 8.20/128.77, Jaka Salakari 10.09/127.80, Anders Karling 6.80/203.38, Carsten Andersson DQ (hit timing reflector), Erik Nielsen 9.59/118.71, Svein-Olaf Rolfstad 7.41/179.31, Willem Been 7.38/181.80

UEM Supertwin Top Fuel now stands as follows, with one session remaining: 1. Anders Karling 6.801/203.38, 2. Per Bengtsson 6.928/192.78, 3. Ton Pels 6.954/198.61, 4. Svein-Olaf Rolfstad 7.335/179.41, 5. Willem Been 7.381/181.80, 6. Svein Gottenberg 7.534/167.07, 7. Erik Nielsen 9.598/118.71, 8. Jaka Salakari 10.097/127.80, 9. Carsten Andersson 10.945/122.79

FIA Top Methanol Dragster, third qualifying session: Doug Bond 6.45/206.98, Manty Bugeja 6.13/222.98, Dave Wilson 6.07/213.98, Rob Turner 5.93/239.18

FIA Top Methanol Dragster now stands as follows, with one session remaining: 1. Rob Turner 5.900/239.18, 2. Manty Bugeja 5.948/213.28, 3. Dave Wilson 6.012/235.42, 4. Doug Bond 6.454/206.98, 5. Wendy Baker 7.109/191.86, 6. Darryl Bradford 7.190/129.33

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car, third qualifying session: Micke Kagered 5.98/240.69, Ulf Leanders 6.08/226.95, Urs Embacher 6.60/207.96, Leif Helander 5.99/231.57, Leif Andreasson 5.89/238.27, Deszoe Krivan 6.17/231.73, Lex Joon 6.87/193.76

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car now stands as follows, with one ssession remaining: 1. Leif Andreasson 5.891/238.27, 2. Leif Helander 5.932/233.98, 3. Micke Kagered 5.985/240.69, 4. Ulf Leanders 6.086/226.95, 5. Deszoe Krivan 6.179/231.73, 6. Urs Embacher 6.605/207.96, 7. Lex Joon 6.800/140.83

Next we'll be posting UEM Comp Bike and FIA Top Fuel Dragster. Stay tuned!

16:50

We've just made it through an entire cycle of FIA and UEM qualifying, the first of two sessions today, and what a session it was, rounded off by Martin Hill in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC putting in a fantastic 5.94/264.60.

Let's go straight into the qualifying statistics. A number of places have changed hands including number one spots, these are in the order in which the session went.

UEM Pro Stock Bike, third qualifying session: Remo Nassi 8.43/183.39, Anders Larsson 7.92/164.45, Martin Bishop 8.63/149.36, Luigi Chinarello 8.93/153.90, Roger Petterson 7.61/173.38, Kenneth Stromberg 7.69/170.48, Chris Tombleson broke.

UEM Pro Stock bike now stands as follows, with one session remaining: 1. Roger Petterson 7.615/173.38, 2. Kenneth Stromberg 7.661/172.23, 3. Anders Larsson 7.929/164.45, 4. Martin Bishop 8.168/157.51, 5. Luigi Chinarello 8.272/159.19, 6. Remo Nassi 8.436/153.39, 7. Chris Tombleson 14.560/52.55

FIA Pro Stock, third qualifying session: Jari Konola 7.09/194.40, Christer Andersson 7.58/185.25, Jacob Ferrer 10.93/80.22, Niclas Andersson 7.06/194.13, Kenneth Soderstrom 7.40/184.45, Michael Malmgren 7.05/195.54, Rune Berg 7.20/185.84

FIA Pro Stock now stands as follows, with one session remaining: 1. Michael Malmgren 7.051/195.54, 2. Niclas Andersson 7.065/194.13, 3. Jacob Ferrer 7.090/195.04, 4. Jari Konola 7.091/194.40, 5. Rune Berg 7.206/185.54, 6. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.409/184.45, 7. Christer Andersson 7.585/185.25

Stay tuned, and in a few minutes we'll have posted UEM Supertwin Top Fuel and both Top Methanol classes.

12:45

We've got some good news now as the rain has stopped, the track is drying extremely quickly, and the call has come over the radio that we'll be kicking off with the 11 o'clock FIA and UEM session some time within the next hour or so. Stay tuned and we'll bring you the qualifying news once things get going.

12:15

Hi there and welcome back. We're still on rain hold here.

Sharkman had a stroll down to the Bike pits and whilst there picked up a few snippets. Super Street Bike number two qualifier Tony Clark ground the undertray off the Team Cooperised machine in the shutdown area, when the wind caused the bike to lean over. The damage was fibreglassed overnight and the team are ready to go today.

Steve Venables has unfortunately trashed the gearbox on his SSB. With no spares he has called it a weekend and gone home. Meanwhile, UEM Comp Bike racer Ken Cooper ran his 7.30 yesterday on four gears. He was fighting the bike towards the top end and didn't hit fifth gear.

Fellow UEM Comp Bike racer Ian King, who leads qualifying, has changed the head on his Puma engine. The King Racing team will be putting more fuel into the bike when they get to make another pass.

Futher to our notes about Lex Joon earlier, we understand that Lex's crew finished re-aligning the motor on his TMFC at 6:30 this morning. There's dedication for you.

We're going to have a spot of lunch and then take another look around the pits. Stay tuned and we will let you know what's occurring.

10:00

Good morning and welcome back to Santa Pod Raceway for the second day of qualifying for the FIA Main Event. The wet stuff came overnight and we're currently on hold.

Before we start, a couple of hellos; firstly to Jennipher in Middlewich, UK, who we know is tuned in this morning, and secondly to Steve Hiatt who is tuned in from Tenerife or somewhere similar.

After yesterday's fast-paced qualifying we sought out some of the players to see what they had to say about their day's action.

Vincent Pels, crew chief for Supertwin Top Fuel Bike racer Ton, said that the Zodiac team have done a lot of work on the bike over the off-season. "We've changed everything", he said. "New clutch, new fuel system, new ignition - did you notice that we have two mags?". The work has certainly made a difference since Vincent told us that the bike is busing two more litres of fuel on a pass this season. For today the clutch will be changed so that both stages come in immediately, and the Nitro percentage will be upped to 99%. "Hopefully I will make some changes which will scare my Dad!" said Vincent.

UEM Comp Bike racer Steve Woollatt told us that he's having problems with the rear wheel on his Top Fuel Bike. The new tyre isn't properly aligned and is taking a bit of adjusting. "We're trying to get it sorted", said Steve.

Italy's Ferretti brothers are having a great time on their first visit to Santa Pod. Through an interpreter they explained that the amount of grip on the track took them by surprise since they are used to airport runways and the like. "It's super here, we will be back for the Finals" said Antonio. If you were with us yesterday you will recall that Antonio was shut off on the line for some sort of clothing infraction, it turned out that he was wearing two-piece leathers which is legal but only if they are zipped together, and he had no zip.

Fully-fledged Top Fuel pilot Micke Kagered had a confession to make about his early shut off pass yesterday. "I was steering too much", he said. "I'm used to the steering on the Funny Car, but this is a lot easier. It felt very good". The Quaker State/Bahco Tools team had a problem with the Top Methanol Funny Car yesterday afternoon when the transmission broke during a warm-up and they missed the call for qualifying by five minutes. "But we've had a relaxing evening", said team administrator Asa Kinnemar, "the crew were all sitting down by seven thirty!". Micke very kindly gave each of the Eurodragster staff one of the new Kagered Racing Top Fuel t-shirts, these shirts are very nicely designed and are bound to become collector's items so be sure to get yours before they run out.

When we went to visit fellow Top Fuel pilot Anita Makela, she was being filled in on the latest plot developments in Emmerdale (inasmuch as soap operas have plots, you understand) since her beloved soap was pulled from Finnish TV a few months back. Anita lost another cylinder on her pass yesterday, this time it was number eight. "I have a routine on the start line", said Anita. "I put the computer on, I put the other fuel pump on, I lowered my visor and all the time I was thinking where are the horses! It left like - in Finland we have a saying, it was like a cow coming out of a swamp! After about one second it felt as if the power was there but I wasn't sure if something was wrong so I lifted, better safe than sorry. If we blow it up, we're back to zero, in fact I'd rather lose a race than blow it up since at least then we have a baseline.

Anita was not surprised by Micke Kagered's progress. "If anyone can drive two cars then Micke can", she said. "I am looking forward to meeting him on the track!".

Pro Stock racer Jari Konola's crew chief Susie Bjorkman was not particularly happy with the Abergs team's fifth placing. "I wrote on the valve covers '6.97 please'!", said Susie. "If they don't produce the six then I'll get a sledgehammer!". Jari Konola and Michael Malmgren were the only improvements between the first and second sessions of Pro Stock qualifying. "The weather changed and the track changed", explained Susie. If you get the chance to see Jari's car them check out the new style scoop. "It looks like a seal" said Susie, and we can see the resemblance.

Anders Magnusson of Leif Andreasson's TMFC crew told us that the Kamasa Tools team reversed some changes in the FC's set-up. "We changed it to leave softer", said Magnus, "it didn't work so we changed it back and ran the 5.94. But we lifted the blower at 1000 feet which is why the speed was down. It should have been 240. On Sunday we'll be heading for the 5.80s!". Leif Andreasson was to the point in his summation. "We need to run better ETs rather than act like a bunch of kids getting it all wrong", he said. We could run much better if we put all the power down. Sunday's morning session will be very important to us, we want to run before it gets too hot. I think that we should run a 5.85 and it should be easy". Leif has a number of guests from sponsor SECO here today, and they should get to see him make three runs.

Lex Joon has suffered broken engine mounts on his TMFC for the second time in three runs. Severe tyre shake was the culprit and it wasn't only the chassis which suffered. "My brain cells are all in there somewhere but I can't feel them", said Lex. About his car's problems he said "We need a longer first gear but we don't have it. You can work around it but you have to be careful because if you take too much out then you burn the clutch. I have a few ideas and I'll spend the night thinking."

Manty Bugeja said that he didn't notice the tyre shake on his last TMD qualifying pass. "Where did it shake?" he asked, and he was serious. Joe Carabott and the team have been working on the rear end of the dragster, with work done on the diff and new rear tyres fitted.

Peter Beck and crew were very busy indeed on the Nitrolympics Top Fueller. However they were over the moon with yesterday's squirt since they suffered no damage at all and the fuel system had come around. Regula had a smile a mile wide and everyone looked as if a huge weight had come off their shoulders. "It's a big relief for everyone", said Regula. The team have put in the newer block and are all set for today's qualifying. "We've finally got a baseline where it stays together!" said Regula. The team are planning one full pass today and will then check everything thoroughly for tomorrow's eliminations.

Our friends at Talbot Racing had the second thrash in three races after a hole was blown in the head of their Super Pro dragster yesterday. Pat felt that something was not right and got off the throttle, by all accounts her quick thinking saved the engine. Jon Webster welded up the head whilst Pat and crew member Robin drove to Crewe and back for a spare gasket, a round trip of some 260 miles. Staunch Mopar man Stephen Talbot was last heard trying to find a reason to blame Chevy parts.

Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook had problems after his eight-second pass yesterday. On a subsequent run the car stopped feet off the line. The FB Racing crew stripped the transmission and found the residue of damage from a previous problem, and they are confident that their transmission woes are sorted.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you the latest news as soon as things get going.