Event Updates

FIA European Finals
Saturday (qualifying)

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21:45

Here are the top two qualifiers in all of the classes which we have not been featuring this weekend:

Comp Eliminator (index): 1. Bruno Bader -0.625 (7.655/175.82), 2. John Tebenham +0.000 (8.420/158.08)
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Martyn Jones +0.012 (7.672/172.05), 2. John Tebenham +0.050 (8.410/157.93)
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Mats Andersson +0.002 (10.752/122.96), 2. Ray Perkins +0.003 (10.803/120.69)
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Mick Smith +0.015 (14.515/92.58), 2. Rick Denny +0.017 (13.797/95.76)
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Mark Fairhurst 8.912/146.80, 2. Martin Curbishley 8.914/145.05
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Ritchi Smith 9.900/133.55, 2. Peter Lane 9.902/141.12
Super Street (10.90): 1. Conrad Stanley 10.908/128.99, 2. Dave Cherrett 10.928/110.17
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Ricky Emms 0.505, 2. Adam Gleadow 0.520

9.90 Bike: 1. Paul Watson 9.904/133.99, 2. Desmond Mauricia 9.915/133.68
10.90 Bike: 1. Darren Winnard 10.907/127.52, 2. Ilse Lambert 10.934/121.13

9.90 Bike is still the subject of much naughtiness, with Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance consolidating his position as the Godfather of Naughtiness with an 8.32 in qualifying.

More hilarity in Super Pro ET as Barry Giles' crew chief lost the sole of his shoe on the sticky track surface whilst backing Barry's dragster up. On the very next run, Pat Talbot's husband and Crew Chief Stephen lost both of his shoes on the surface. He picked them up, threw them out of the way and continued to back Pat up in his socks.

Erik Zettervall of Svensk Dragracing asked us to say Hi...when we asked to whom, he said "To anybody".

That's all for today, tune back tomorrow and we will bring you the news from the pits and then all the action from eliminations.

21:30

Today's pictures have now been posted, you can get to them from the Event Update index.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster final qualifying standings

1. Barry Sheavills 4.947/277.46
2. Micke Kagered 5.006/295.46
3. Tommy Moller 5.024/282.81
4. Peter Lantz 5.055
5. Susanne Callin 5.137/246.66
6. Kim Reymond 5.240/268.48
7. Darryl Bradford 6.183/150.57
8. Andy Carter 11.062/76.67

FIA Top Methanol Dragster final qualifying standings

1. Peter Schöfer 5.543/249.21
2. Dave Wilson 5.556/249.39
3. Rob Turner 5.570/245.49
4. Lindsay Deuchar 6.297/212.13
5. Doug Bond 9.161/115.62

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final qualifying standings

1. Leif Andreasson 5.728/243.67
2. Urs Erbacher 5.784/244.91
3. Lex Joon 5.828/239.95
4. Micke Kagered 5.846/242.94
5. Ulf Leanders 5.920/231.57
6. Jorg Johnsson 5.979/229.06
7. Leif Helander 6.021/234.66
8. Arvid Grodem 6.397/223.68
DNQ Steph Milam 6.818/200.70
DNQ Dennis Wratten 7.364/178.32

FIA Pro Stock final qualifying standings

1. Michael Malmgren 6.957/196.84
2. Jacob Ferrer 7.036/194.53
3. Jan Muren 7.062/194.38
4. Jari Konola 7.084/193.44
5. Magnus Hansson 7.148/191.33
6. Christer Andersson 7.187/191.06
7. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.267/188.95

FIM/UEM Comp Bike final qualifying standings

1. Sverre Dahl 6.309/213.95
2. Roel Koedam 6.568/212.11
3. Jon Leret 6.770/199.59
4. Neil Midgley 7.118/171.07
5. Tim Blakemore 7.130/182.94
6. Nils Ole Lund 7.146/192.01
7. Ken Cooper 7.179/144.96
8. Dave Holland 7.304/174.46
DNQ Shaun Branch 7.458/173.84
DNQ Mike Chislett 7.488/172.38
DNQ Neil Diggens 7.557/159.96
DNQ Eric Teboul 7.590/136.63
DNQ Ian King 7.632/178.12
DNQ Paul Knapp 7.680/168.27
DNQ Jean-Claude Draperi 7.997/161.73
DNQ Gary Jones 8.485/145.23
DNQ Sarah Jane Head 8.536/155.85
DNQ Martyn de Haas 12.670/100.98

FIM Supertwin Top Fuel bike final qualifying standings

1. Per Bengtsson 6.697/191.07
2. Anders Karling 6.737/195.29
3. Rob van Geffen 6.930/201.74
4. Ton Pels 6.981/193.75
5. Kai Selkamaa 7.500/182.90
6. Erik Nielsen 7.522/174.05
7. Ronny Aasen 7.717/137.13
8. Svein Gottenberg 7.566/183.27
DNQ Jamie Millership 7.698/170.21

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike final qualifying standings

1. Roger Pettersson 7.434/178.23
2. Oivind von Essen 7.449/176.63
3. Anders Larsson 7.513/177.16
4. Chris Hope 7.573/172.78
5. Nick Pepper 7.612/171.78
6. Janne Antiaien 7.623/167.05
7. Martin Bishop 7.692/171.97
8. Chris Tombleson 7.806/166.04
DNQ Helen Curran 7.850/162.15
DNQ Richard Gipp 7.925/162.49
DNQ Ray Debben 8.384/155.19
DNQ Martin Newbury 8.704/148.75
DNQ Michal Ponca 11.022/116.51
DNQ Len Paget 12.130/86.84

Fuel Funny Car final qualifying standings

1. John Spuffard 5.918/166.20
2. Gordon Smith 6.013/180.72
3. Gary Page 6.307/217.17

Stay tuned as we are now working on today's Sportsman qualifying.

21:00

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike final qualifying session

Martin Newbury 8.70/148.75, Janne Antiaien 7.63/166.20, Nick Pepper 7.61/171.78, Roger Pettersson 7.43/178.23, Chris Hope 7.61/172.98, Michal Ponca broke, Richard Gipp 7.92/165.45, Helen Curran 7.85/165.27, Anders Larsson 7.53/173.46, Ray Debben broke, Oivind von Essen broke, Martin Bishop 23.91/29.01

FIM/UEM Comp Bike final qualifying session

Neil Diggens 10.96/74.95, Shaun Branch 7.45/173.84, Gary Jones 8.48/145.23, Dave Holland 7.30/174.46, Eric Teboul shut off, Neil Midgley 7.11/171.07, Nils Ole Lund 7.14/192.01, Sarah Jane Head 8.53/155.85, Jean-Claude Draperi 10.09/86.88, Ken Cooper 7.53/171.16, Ian King 15.42/48.67

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike final qualifying session

Kai Selkamaa 7.50/182.90, Anders Karling 6.73/195.29, Ronny Aasen 7.56/183.27, Svein Gottenberg 11.38/68.62

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final qualifying session

Arvid Grodem 6.71/178.99, Jorg Johnsson 7.30/133.26, Micke Kagered 7.42/118.44, Steph Milam 7.21/146.60, Dennis Wratten 10.00/85.80, Leif Helander 6.10/228.90

FIA Top Methanol Dragster final qualifying session

No cars contested the final qualifying session.

FIA Pro Stock final qualifying session

Kenneth Soderstrom 7.08/178.24, Jari Konola 7.08/193.44, Magnus Hansson 7.17/191.30, Jacob Ferrer 7.06/193.56, Jan Muren 7.06/194.38, Michael Malmgren 6.95/197.75

Stay tuned and we will bring you the final standings in all these classes, plus the top two qualifiers in all other classes.

19:40

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 1

Hakan Nilsson 6.42/210.44 def. Bert Englefield 9.56/100.34

Hakan is on a mission to win that Championship and he showed Bert no mercy with the quickest Pro Mod pass this weekend. Bert got out of shape and backed off rather than repaint his new car a lovely shade of guardrail.

Freddy Fagerstrom 7.02/198.56 def. Robert Koper 7.58/156.89

Freddy was all over his lane in this race, on and off the throttle and wrenching the truck straight every time it went out of shape, even grounding the headers at the finish line.

Thomas Nataas 6.47/217.37 def. Micke Lindahl 6.84/198.55

Thomas pulled a 330 foot burnout again, which gave Micke time to start his car after several attempts. Thomas left Micke standing and recorded a huge terminal speed.

Roger Johansson 6.56/208.64 def. Urban Johansson 7.34/184.21

Urban got very close to the guardrail and got off the throttle. He would have to have gone some to match Roger's pass, in any case.

Patrick Wikstrom 6.69/195.17 def. John Ellis 7.89/160.40

Patrick was up and gone, John gave it his best but had no chance against the flamed Camaro.

Stefan Pettersson 6.80/204.40 def. Henri Joosten 6.81/196.82 red light

Henri redlit by thousandths to hand this race to Stefan - on these ETs it would have been a very close thing indeed.

Andy Robinson no time recorded def. Jallo Makimaa broke

Jallo was shut off on the line. Andy left the line but a few metres into his pass had a massive nitrous burp. As Andy had taken the green there was no need for him to cross the finish line, he is safely through to round two tomorrow.

Tomorrow's second round is:

Hakan Nilsson bye
Thomas Nataas v Roger Johansson
Freddy Fagerstrom v Stefan Pettersson
Patrick Wikstrom v Andy Robinson

We have one more cycle of FIA and FIM/UEM qualifying, stay tuned.

19:15

FIA Top Fuel Dragster FINAL qualifying standings

Fuel Funny Car FINAL qualifying standings

1. John Spuffard 5.918/166.20
2. Gordon Smith 6.013/180.72
3. Gary Page 6.307/217.17

FIA Top Methanol Dragster standings after session 4

1. Peter Schöfer 5.543/249.21
2. Dave Wilson 5.556/249.39
3. Rob Turner 5.570/245.49
4. Lindsay Deuchar 6.297/212.13
5. Doug Bond 9.161/115.62

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car standings after session 4

1. Leif Andreasson 5.728/243.67
2. Urs Erbacher 5.784/244.91
3. Lex Joon 5.828/239.95
4. Micke Kagered 5.846/242.94
5. Ulf Leanders 5.920/231.57
6. Jorg Johnsson 5.979/229.06
7. Leif Helander 6.021/234.66
8. Arvid Grodem 6.397/223.68
9. Steph Milam 6.818/200.70
10. Dennis Wratten 7.364/178.32

FIA Pro Stock qualifying standings after session 4

1. Michael Malmgren 6.957/196.84
2. Jacob Ferrer 7.036/194.53
3. Jan Muren 7.077/193.51
4. Jari Konola 7.135/192.61
5. Magnus Hansson 7.148/191.33
6. Christer Andersson 7.187/191.06
7. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.267/188.95

FIM/UEM Comp Bike qualifying standings after session 4

1. Sverre Dahl 6.309/213.95
2. Roel Koedam 6.568/212.11
3. Jon Leret 6.770/199.59
4. Tim Blakemore 7.130/182.94
5. Nils Ole Lund 7.176/178.59
6. Ken Cooper 7.179/144.96
7. Dave Holland 7.362/173.87
8. Mike Chislett 7.488/172.38
9. Shaun Branch 7.499/174.30
10. Neil Diggens 7.557/159.96
11. Eric Teboul 7.590/136.63
12. Ian King 7.632/178.12
13. Neil Midgley 7.648/165.59
14. Paul Knapp 7.680/168.27
15. Jean-Claude Draperi 7.997/161.73
16. Gary Jones 9.023/149.37
17. Sarah Jane Head 9.264/148.62
18. Martyn de Haas 12.670/100.98

FIM Supertwin Top Fuel bike qualifying standings after session 4

1. Per Bengtsson 6.697/191.07
2. Rob van Geffen 6.930/201.74
3. Ton Pels 6.981/193.75
4. Erik Nielsen 7.522/174.05
8. Kai Selkamaa 7.563/169.26
5. Svein Gottenberg 7.615/173.90
6. Jamie Millership 7.698/170.21
7. Ronny Aasen 7.717/137.13
9. Anders Karling 8.244/131.26

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying standings after session 4

1. Oivind von Essen 7.449/176.63
2. Roger Pettersson 7.497/175.20
3. Anders Larsson 7.513/177.16
4. Chris Hope 7.573/172.78
5. Janne Antiaien 7.623/167.05
6. Martin Bishop 7.692/171.97
7. Nick Pepper 7.699/165.95
8. Chris Tombleson 7.806/166.04
9. Helen Curran 7.850/162.15
10. Richard Gipp 7.925/162.49
11. Ray Debben 8.384/155.19
12. Martin Newbury 9.260/144.67
13. Michal Ponca 11.022/116.51
14. Len Paget 12.130/86.84

18:45

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 4

Chris Tombleson broke, Nick Pepper 7.70/169.29, Roger Pettersson 7.52/173.14, Michal Ponca broke, Chris Hope 7.62/172.17, Richard Gipp 7.92/162.49, Helen Curran 7.97/166.01, Anders Larsson 7.56/173.43, Ray Debben 8.38/155.19, Oivind von Essen 7.44/176.43, Martin Bishop 7.69/171.97, Martin Newbury broke, Janne Antiaien 7.62/167.05

Oivind von Essen stepped up to his season's form with a great pass. Martin Bishop beat his PB whilst Janne Antiaien stepped it up a bit too. Consistent passes from most of the other racers.

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike qualifying

Ton Pels 7.41/173.46, Ronny Aasen 8.15/172.62, Anders Karling 8.24/131.26, Svein Gottenberg 10.37/74.99, Jamie Millership 8.19/158.69, Erik Nielsen 7.74/148.48, Kai Selkamaa 7.56/169.26, Per Bengtsson 6.78/198.55

Anders Karling is still not qualified with one session to go, no visible problem on his pass. Kai Selkamaa set what we think is a new personal best on his run, whilst Per Bengtsson again made it look very easy.

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 4

Micke Kagered 5.85/242.29, Steph Milam 10.96/60.84, Leif Andreasson 5.72/243.67, Leif Helander 9.54/88.62, Lex Joon 7.03/133.87, Ulf Leanders 6.14/235.71, Dennis Wratten 7.36/178.32, Urs Erbacher 5.78/244.91, Arvid Grodem 6.59/217.90

As we mentioned earlier, Ulf Leanders sufferd a rear slick explosion right on the finish line in this session. He had pedalled the car at about 60 feet and the car was really moving when the slick went. Leif Andreasson ran the quickest ever Top Methanol FC pass in Europe, Andy Marrs tells us that Leif will need to run 5.785 or quicker to back it up. However, Urs Erbacher stole the headlines away with his pass which, backed up by his earlier 5.81, has set a new European ET record. Congratulations Urs!

FIM/UEM Comp Bike qualifying session 4

Eric Teboul shut off on line, Dave Holland 7.36/173.87, Shaun Branch 7.55/169.75, Tim Blakemore broke off line, Mike Chislett 7.62/1775.31, Roel Koedam 6.57/205.64, Jean-Claude draperi 7.99/161.73, Sarah Jane Head 9.26/148.62, Ian King 13.92/50.48, Neil Midgley 7.94/121.44, Jon Leret 6.78/206.74, Gary Jones 9.02/149.37, Ken Cooper 7.17/180.50, Neil Diggens 7.55/159.96, Sverre Dahl 7.33/179.89

The match-up between Neil Diggens and Ken Cooper was spectacular, Neil having run a best in the 8.0s this weekend was side-by-side with Ken almost all the way down. Was Neil quick or Ken slowing? The answer was there for all to see with a new PB for Neil. Tim Blakemore broke a couple of feet off the line. Sverre Dahl's pass was very squirrely, the man is patently an expert at handling errant fuel bikes but even he got off the throttle for a moment!

FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 4

Magnus Hansson 7.18/190.66, Jacob Ferrer 7.04/195.56, Jan Muren 7.12/193.08, Michael Malmgren 6.95/196.83, Kenneth Soderstrom 8.66/118.51, Jari Konola 7.13/192.61

Michael Malmgren and Jacob Ferrer are turning their Pro Stocks into bracket cars! Kenneth Soderstrom rode out a scary-looking swerve, getting off it as a pendulum effect started to kick in.

FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 4

Lindsay Deuchar 6.29/212.13, Doug Bond 9.16/115.62, Rob Turner 5.57/245.99, Dave Wilson 5.84/237.85, Peter Schöfer 5.543/249.21

Peter Schöfer took the lead away from Rob Turner with a little turn up of the wick, some shake on this pass wich has set a new European record. Congratulations Peter! Dave Wilson's run looked quicker than it turned out to be, no obvious problems. Doug launched and then got off it, probably a test launch with the rebuilt engine. Linday's car was slow off the line but accelerated harder further down the track.

Fuel Funny Car qualifying session 3

Gary Page 6.71/141.16, Smax Smith broke

Smax didn't light the tyres during the burnout and then could not get the car out of reverse. The escape hatch opened and Smax's gloves flew out of the car. Gary put in a very strong-looking half pass, the crew looked happy with that.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 3

Susanne Callin 5.13/246.66, Tommy Moller 10.02/77.44, Peter Lantz 6.81/114.10, Micke Kagered 11.40/75.30, Kim Reymond 5.24/268.48

You could tell Susanne's pass was a special one, the car was really moving sweet and straight. Susanne was off the throttle at about 1200 feet and had the chutes out in the traps which dropped the speed. Two tenths off your personal best in one easy lesson! Tommy Moller and Micke Kagerd hit shake, whilst Peter Lantz got off the throttle before half track, smoke from the headers, if I'd seen a blower belt I would have said that the belt had broken, but there was no belt to be seen. Kim's engine appeared to be mixing cylinders towards the top end.

Barry Sheavills was interviewed on the PA in Race Control a short while ago. He still looked shaken and said that he had a headache and sore ribs. He thanked all of the safety crews for their help after his accident and confirmed that he is finished for the weekend. Provisionally this means that Kim Reymond is 2002 FIA European Champion; he was almost two rounds ahead of Barry, and with Barry out there is no chance of anyone else catching him.

17:00

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified final qualifying session

Jallo Makimaa broke, Hakan Nilsson 6.89/211.21, Thomas Nataas 6.49/214.88, Stefan Pettersson 6.82/203.83, Micke Lindahl 6.96/197.68, Patrick Wikstrom 6.50/208.85, Andy Robinson 6.68/203.97, Bert Englefield 7.76/183.29, Urban Johansson 6.90/199.77, John Ellis 7.68/177.19, Freddy Fagerstrom 6.45/214.74, Henri Joosten 7.34/193.29, Roger Johansson 9.57/105.76

No doubt about the story of this final qualifying session, Freddy Fagerstrom's return to racing after yesterday's accident. And did he qualify! Into the 6.4s on a storming pass. Jallo Makimaa came a close second in this session's highlights with a big nitrous explosion and fire just as he finished reversing from his burnout. Thomas Nataas pulled a 330 foot burnout and then blasted a great 6.4-second pass.

The final positions in NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying are as follow:

1. Hakan Nilsson 6.432/209.74
2. Freddy Fagerstrom 6.455/214.74
3. Patrick Wikstrom 6.479/214.85
4. Thomas Nataas 6.495/214.88
5. Roger Johansson 6.517/208.94
6. Andy Robinson 6.619/201.36
7. Henri Joosten 6.784/196.57
8. Stefan Pettersson 6.825/203.83
9. Jallo Makimaa 6.836/201.20
10. Urban Johansson 6.906/199.77
11. Micke Lindahl 6.960/197.68
12. John Ellis 7.356/169.44
13. Robert Koper 7.611/171.41
14. Bert Englefield 7.633/191.03

Round one of eliminations follow later on and it's:

Hakan Nilsson v Bert Englefield
Thomas Nataas v Micke Lindahl
Roger Johansson v Urban Johansson
Freddy Fagerstrom v Robert Koper
Henri Joosten v Stefan Pettersson
Patrick Wikstrom v John Ellis
Andy Robinson v Jallo Makimaa

We're on a hold here after Ulf Leanders had a rear slick explode at the finish line, the body has been very badly damaged but Ulf is absolutely fine. Stay tuned and we'll be back with more news in the next hour or so.

14:55

FIA, FIM/UEM, NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod and Fuel Funny Car standings after today's first cycle of qualifying

FIA Top Fuel Dragster

1. Barry Sheavills 4.947/277.46
2. Micke Kagered 5.006/295.46
3. Tommy Moller 5.024/282.81
4. Peter Lantz 5.055
5. Susanne Callin 5.389/253.20
6. Kim Reymond 11.0187/72.68
7. Andy Carter 11.062/76.67

FIA Top Methanol Dragster

1. Dave Wilson 5.556/249.39
2. Rob Turner 5.580/244.45
3. Peter schöfer 5.597/246.87
4. Lindsay Deuchar 6.728/184.64

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car

1. Urs Erbacher 5.813/243.05
2. Lex Joon 5.828/239.95
3. Micke Kagered 5.846/242.94
4. Leif Andreasson 5.852/244.70
5. Ulf Leanders 5.920/231.57
6. Jorg Johnsson 5.979/229.06
7. Leif Helander 6.021/234.66
8. Arvid Grodem 6.397/223.68
9. Steph Milam 6.818/200.70

FIA Pro Stock

1. Michael Malmgren 6.957/196.84
2. Jacob Ferrer 7.036/194.53
3. Jan Muren 7.077/193.51
4. Magnus Hansson 7.148/191.33
5. Jari Konola 7.152/192.65
6. Christer Andersson 7.187/191.06
7. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.267/188.95

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified

1. Hakan Nilsson 6.432/209.74
2. Patrick Wikstrom 6.479/214.85
3. Roger Johansson 6.517/208.94
4. Freddy Fagerstrom 6.557/213.12
5. Thomas Nataas 6.586/206.30
6. Andy Robinson 6.619/201.36
7. Henri Joosten 6.784/196.57
8. Jallo Makimaa 6.836/201.20
9. Stefan Pettersson 6.969/198.97
10. Micke Lindahl 7.163/189.81
11. John Ellis 7.356/169.44
12. Robert Koper 7.611/171.41
13. Bert Englefield 7.633/191.03

FIM/UEM Comp Bike

1. Sverre Dahl 6.309/213.95
2. Roel Koedam 6.568/212.11
3. Jon Leret 6.770/199.59
4. Tim Blakemore 7.130/182.94
5. Nils Ole Lund 7.176/178.59
6. Dave Holland 7.406/171.98
7. Ken Cooper 7.430/144.96
8. Mike Chislett 7.488/172.38
9. Shaun Branch 7.499/174.30
10. Eric Teboul 7.590/136.63
11. Ian King 7.632/178.12
12. Neil Midgley 7.648/165.59
13. Paul Knapp 7.680/168.27
14. Neil Diggens 8.011/172.62
15. Jean-Claude Draperi 8.327/159.20
16. Gary Jones 9.030/120.89
17. Sarah Jane Head 9.512/129.11
18. Martyn de Haas 12.670/100.98

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike

1. Per Bengtsson 6.697/191.07
2. Rob van Geffen 6.930/201.74
3. Ton Pels 6.981/193.75
4. Erik Nielsen 7.522/174.05
5. Svein Gottenberg 7.615/173.90
6. Jamie Millership 7.698/170.21
7. Ronny Aasen 7.717/137.13
8. Kai Selkamaa 7.866/140.79
9. Anders Karling 11.808/64.32

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike

1. Roger Pettersson 7.497/175.20
2. Anders Larsson 7.513/177.16
3. Chris Hope 7.573/172.78
4. Oivind von Essen 7.607/173.52
5. Nick Pepper 7.699/165.95
6. Martin Bishop 7.768/169.14
7. Chris Tombleson 7.806/166.04
8. Janne Antiaien 7.816/163.46
9. Helen Curran 7.850/162.15
10. Richard Gipp 7.947/163.66
11. Ray Debben 8.494/154.16
12. Martin Newbury 9.260/144.67
13. Michal Ponca 11.022/116.51
14. Len Paget 12.130/86.84

Fuel Funny Car

1. John Spuffard 5.918/166.20
2. Gordon Smith 6.013/180.72
3. Gary Page 6.307/217.17

Video footage of Barry Sheavills' top end incident clearly shows the chassis breaking behind the cockpit whilst Barry was under full power, the back end of the car leapt about ten feet into the air and the car folded up.

The next cycle of FIA, FIM/UEM and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying will be starting in the next half hour or so (from 14:55). We are going out onto the start line to get pictures from this cycle, so the updates will come at the end of the session. Stay tuned!

14:05

Fuel Funny Car qualifying session 2

Gary Page 6.307/217.17, Gordon Smith 6.01/180.72, John Spuffard 5.91/166.20, Smax Smith broke

Gary pedalled the car and appeared to have a cylinder or two out towards the end, there was also a brief clean-up in his lane. Gordon left the start line with huge header flames, and then he too appeared to lose cylinders at about half track. Spuff put in a half pass, recording 220 mph at half track, the car looking and sounding very strong. Smax Smith's FC didn't start.

13:35

FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 continued

Kim Reymond 11.01/72.68, Peter Lantz 5.11/276.52, Micke Kagered 5.00/295.46, Darryl Bradford 6.18/150.57, Susanne Callin 5.389/253.20, Andy Carter 11.062/76.67

We're back in business here at Santa Pod. Kim's rear tyres went up in smoke at about 100 feet and as he pedalled the blower belt broke. Peter went a lot straighter than yesterday, it looked as if he was off the throttle just a touch early but the Optima Batteries team were very pleased with that run. Micke Kagered's pass was a real stormer, nitro flames even in the strong sunshine. Darryl was on a strong pass too, but one bank of cylinders went out at half track and the blower belt broke. Susanne was blacktracking all the way down the track, a strong-looking pass and a hairy moment as her chutes opened a long way down the shutdown area. Andy's tyres didn't spin in the burnout, he was off the throttle very quickly after the launch.

12:45

FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2

We're on a hold here as we have had an incident at the top end, Barry Sheavills' Top Fueller has crashed after a 4.94/277.46 pass in qualifying. From race control we saw a cloud of smoke and bits flying so obviously it would be stupid to try to speculate on what happened. Barry is fine but the Triple R car is in at least two pieces and so is history. Tommy Moller in the other lane put in a pass of 5.02/282.81.

The main news is that Barry is OK, we will come back when action re-starts.

12:20

FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 3

Rob Turner 5.58/244.45, Peter Schöfer 5.59/246.87, Lindsay Deuchar 6.72/184.64, Dave Wilson 5.55/249.39

Rob Turner drove through tyre shake to kick his personal best out of the park, the Turners' first 5.5-second pass. Peter Schöfer stepped up, a puff of smoke from the engine at three-quarter track but obviously no problem since the dragster just kept on hauling. Dave Wilson's first pass of the weekend was a stormer as he drove through a small amount of tyre shake, the car was drifting towards the guardrail at the top end but Dave wasn't getting off it for anything with Championship points to catch up.

12:10

FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 3

Kenneth Soderstrom 7.26/188.95, Jan Muren 7.07/193.51, Jari Konola 7.15/192.65, Jacob Ferrer 7.03/195.76, Christer Andersson 7.18/191.06, Michael Malmgren 6.95/196.84, Magnus Hansson 7.14/191.33

A great pass from Jan Muren but the chutes opened just before the finish line so there is more to come from Jan. Jari Konola was another racer having parts flown in overnight, from Sweden in this case, so this was probably a check-out pass. A consistent pass from Jacob, his first six can't be far off. Michael's first six of the weekend was driven the long way round so it could have been even quicker. Magnus put in a fine pass with his second engine.

11:55

FIM/UEM Comp Bike qualifying session 3

Dave Holland 7.40/171.98, Tim Blakemore 7.20/172.66, Ken Cooper 7.43/144.96, Mike Chislett 7.67/169.70, Sverre Dahl 6.39/212.72, Jon Leret 8.99/123.52, Ian King 7.63/178.12, Jean-Claude Draperi 8.32/159.20, Sarah Jane Head no time recorded, Paul Knapp 7.68/168.27, Neil Midgley 8.43/104.86, Gary Jones 9.64/94.87, Neil Diggens 8.05/159.72, Eric Teboul shut off.

Sverre Dahl into the 6.3s again, this wasn't by any means a straight pass, Sverre manoeuvring his body this way and that all the way down the strip. Ian King had to do the fuel bike equivalent of pedalling on his pass, not quite getting into the field which has a bump spot of 7.48. Sarah Jane Head left before the lights ran. Neil Midgley looked to be on a good one but then the engine appeared to stutter from half track. Eric Teboul started his bike but then shut it off a few moments later.

11:45

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 3

Leif Andreasson 5.85/244.70, Lex Joon 5.82/239.95, Ulf Leanders 5.92/231.57, Dennis Wratten shut off, Urs Erbacher 5.81/243.05, Arvid Grodem 6.46/221.90, Micke Kagered 5.84/242.94, Jorg Johnsson 5.97/229.06, Steph Milam 6.81/200.70

The lead changed hands a couple of times in this great session. Lex Joon has a chance of the Championship and is up for it especially after getting a new supercharger rotor flown in from Holland yesterday evening, and he put in a storming pass which sent his crew and the Dutch fans on the bank wild. On the very next pairing Urs Erbacher came to the line needing to run a personal best to take the lead back and that's just what he did. Dennis Wratten was shut off on the line after a superb 200 foot burnout. Leif Andreasson's experiments appear to be working! Jorg Johnsson smashed his personal best with his first trip into the fives.

11:30

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 3

Kai Selkamaa broke, Svein Gottenberg 9.13/94.22, Per Bengtsson 6.69/191.07, Ton Pels 15.30/55.01, Jamie Millership 7.69/170.21, Rob van Geffen 6.93/201.74, Erik Nielsen 7.522/174.05, Anders Karling broke

Per Bengtsson is becoming the class of the field this weekend with another stout pass. Kai Selkamaa stopped on his way back from the burnout, whilst Anders Karling broke a blower belt on his burnout. Right now Anders is not qualified in the eight-bike field which is just about unthinkable. Ton Pels' bike went silent at half track. Rob van Geffen got into the sixes on his new bike.

11:20

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 4

Robert Koper 7.61/171.41, Thomas Nataas 6.74/211.59, Andy Robinson 6.61/201.36, Micke Lindahl 7.16/189.81, Urban Johansson broke, Patrick Wikstrom 6.47/214.85, Bert Englefield 7.63/191.03, Roger Johansson 6.63/207.70, John Ellis 7.58/162.15, Hakan Nilsson 6.43/209.74, Henri Joosten 6.78/196.57, Stefan Pettersson 12.21/67.94, Jallo Makimaa 7.08/197.07

A lot of stepping up in this session, Patrik Wikstrom getting round his tyre shake and grabbing number one spot, only for Hakan Nilsson to step up to the plate a few minutes later to take it off him. Henri Joosten's new personal best was a bit lost in the excitement as he ran it alongside Hakan's stormer, but we noticed - well done Henri! Urban Johansson had a go at the altitude record for a hood scoop with a big nitrous pop off the line, whilst Stefan Pettersson appeared to break at about 330 feet and cruised through. John Ellis launched wheels-up again and headed for the guardrail, but he stayed on it.

11:10

What we're going to do this morning is to give you the results of each session and then go back and post the standings in all classes at the end of this morning's Pro cycle. So here we go:

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 3

Chris Hope 7.61/170.81, Roger Pettersson 7.57/174.27, Richard Gipp 7.97/151.34, Michal Ponca broke, Anders Larsson 7.55/169.76, Helen Curran 7.85/162.15, Oivind von Essen 7.60/173.52, Ray Debben 8.67/154.17, Martin Bishop 7.76/169.14, Nick Pepper 7.69/165.95, Janne Antiaien broke, Chris Tombleson 7.84/157.05

10:45

Good morning and welcome from a very bright and sunny Santa Pod Raceway. This could be the only dry and sunny place in the UK today from what we hear! We've had our coffee courtesy of Bruno Bader and his family and we're all set to bring you the news in association with American Car Imports.

As you will probably have realised from the time between updates yesterday it all got a bit fraught with oildowns, rain showers and Freddy Fagerstrom's incident. Once the Pro session ended we wanted to get the results on as soon as possible so we didn't include any notes about how each class went. So let's take you through some of the notable events in yesterday's second cycle of Pro qualifying.

The Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session opened with Peter Lantz and Darryl Bradford. Darryl could not get reverse after the burnout so he pulled the car across to the guardrail and jumped out. Meanwhile Peter was held on the line gesturing to crew chief Morgan Svensson. I think that everyone was expecting a short pass as a large amount of fuel must have burnt off, but on the green the car hooked up and went with header flames up to the wing. The dragster drifted to the right in the second half of the track but Peter kept with it. Unfortunately no terminal speed was recorded, Peter's half-track speed was 233 mph and he was on the throttle just about all the way.

Peter told us this morning that the car was set very soft and that it didn't shake at all. "It's payback time from the car!", he said. Peter told us that he had arranged to wave to his kids as he passed his trailer, which is at about 1200 feet. "I did wave, but they didn't see me!", he said. No terminal speed was recorded but Peter and the team think from the revs that the speed was about 270 mph. "We've done no damage at all, and I am very pleased so far", said Peter. "The traction is good and so we should run a four". Peter's son Robin, Emil Leijer and Lina Aberg say Hello to everyone at home in Sweden.

Susanne Callin was next up, on a solo pass. As Susanne pulled her burnout, there was rain in the air - the sort of rain which makes you turn your face upwards to see if you were imagining it. Susanne's father Gordon did just that and as Susanne backed up the rain got harder. As soon as Susanne was back behind the start line she was shut off.

After a short break, Micke Kagered and Tommy Moller pulled forward. Two burnouts later the rain started again, heavier this time, and both racers were shut off by the start line crew. The cars were pushed back to cool off whilst we waited for the rain to stop. Luckily it was light rain so the track never got wet, and as soon as conditions were right both racers got another chance. Tommy went first, a short burnout and then a very crisp sixty foot squirt, recording a 0.86 sixty-foot time and 11.29/70.73. Micke then put in his pass, a tremendous pedalling job as the tyres shook and off the throttle slightly early to clock 5.21/265.45.

Tommy said this morning that he hit bad tyre shake after sixty feet, and the shake broke both engine mounts. "It's all fixed now, I think the car will go very quickly", he said. Tommy spent the night in the trailer whilst the rest of the crew were in a hotel. "Someone had to stay to keep an eye on the awning", he said. "One of the supports has had to be patched up and we were worried that it would collapse if it rained and the water weighed the awning down!".

We then had a match-up between Championship protagonists Kim Reymond and Barry Sheavills. Both racers shook off the line, Kim getting out of shape and off the throttle to clock 11.73/69.14 whilst Barry pedalled and gave it another shot but was off the throttle by 330 feet.

Susanne Callin closed the session with a great pedalling job, the header flames off and on again and then off the throttle at about 1000 feet to record 5.40/226.10.

Your reporter then entertained the crowd in the barn by allowing the stiff breeze to strew his day's notes across the collection area, quick action by members of the Carbon By Design and Bahco Tools/Quaker State Top Fuel teams ensured that all papers were picked up off the ground and returned, thanks guys.

Only John Spuffard and Gordon Smith turned out for last night's first Fuel Funny Car qualifier. Spuff's tyres shook almost immediately and got off the throttle whilst Gordon pedalled once and then there was a pop and a shower of sparks from the Shockwave FC.

One of the oildowns yesterday was Top Methanol FC racer Leif Helander whose engine appeared to expire as he got off the throttle in the second qualifying session. The car left oil all the way down the shutdown area. It was a real pity since befoe the engine went away the car was on a good one and was accelerating very hard. Micke Kagered and Ulf Leanders both fell prey to shake, whilst Jorg Johnsson left before the lights ran and so didn't get a time. Leif Andreasson had us all worried getting very close to the guardrail on his pass. Steph Milam's 6.8 included a brief pedal, and the high speed shows that there is more to come there.

In the third session of Pro Mod qualifying, Thomas Nataas got way out of shape and grounded the headers of his Batmobile whilst Patrick Wikstrom and Hakan Nilsson hit shake and got out of shape. Andy Robinson is getting his wish to run consistently, with his third 6.6 in a row. Roger Johansson stepped up big time with a 6.51 to take the lead from Freddy Fagerstrom, whose truck should be running today after his fellow racers stepped in to help after his encounter with the guardrail. Freddy's truck swerved at the top end, he tried to get it back but it was just too much and the truck hit the rail, one of the doors flying through the air. Freddy got the chute out which pulled the truck straight and he got it off the track himself and was later towed back to the pits, so all is not necessarily lost for the fan favourite. John Ellis appeared to have sorted out his earlier problems with a great wheelstand off the line, clocking 7.35.

Our good friend Christer Abrahamson of Svensk Dragracing spoke to Freddy Fagerstrom, and told us that a lot of lot of panel, some work on the chassis, new headers and a new rear tyre were being worked on. "With all this help we are going to make it" said Fredde. "I didn't like Roger Johansson putting me down to second qualifier so we'd better be out there!"

Christer also had a word with Pro Stock racer Magnus Hansson about his bizarre incident at the top end yesteray. From where we were, the car disappeared in a cloud of smoke but the engine was running at top revs. "I heard that the engine was misfired and sounded strange, so I shut it off, but it was still revving taking the car forward", said Magnus. "The driver compartment quickly filled with smoke, so much that I couldn't see the track any more, so I pressed the clutch and tried to go straight. When the car finally stopped I engaged the fire extinguisher and got out of the car. The engine was still revving. Our theory is that oil from the engine was coming in to the combustion chambers and turned it into some kind of a diesel engine! When it finally stopped the engine was completely dry of oil! We are now putting in the second engine 'Tur Ture' which is capable of running decent ETs". Thanks very much to Christer for his help.

Pro Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson recorded the highest terminal speed in the class yesterday. "I'm going to have Roger Pettersson for breakfast", he said.

Supertwin TF Bike racer Anders Karling's absence after the first session yesterday was explained by his crew chief Christian Merlid. "We broke just about everything", he said. "A cam lobe cracked and then fuel got into the rear cylinder, and then...". The spare engine is now in the bike and Anders is all set to chase another Championship.

Funny Bike racer Tim Blakemore, who is this weekend running in Comp Bike, was very pleased with last night's 7.13 which is a new personal best ET. "It would have been an ACU record at another event!", he said. "It's the same set-up but the track is good and we got the power down", he said. "Hopefully we'll creep up on it, we don't want to do anything silly with the set-up we've got".

Fellow FB racer Neil Midgley has been working on the rear wheel of his bike as the bike has been turning right. "We've tweaked it a bit", he said. Neil said that yesterday's headwind slowed down terminal speeds but wasn't otherwise a problem.

Switzerland's Bader family have a dual first place to their credit, Bruno in Comp Eliminator and Yvonne in Junior Dragster. "We're all very happy about it!", said Franzi Bader. Bruno crashed his Golden Vette at this event last year and you would be forgiven for thinking that the team may be a bit nervous about returning. "It's very special to be back here, and then to be number one with the new car is special too", said Franzi. "We want to say thank you to the racers and fans for their concern after the crash", said Franzi. "We collected twelve hundred pounds last year", added Bruno. "It's a good reason to go on", said Franzi. Bruno said that yesterday's strong headwind made his 'Vette's driver-side door ballon out. "But that is better than a crosswind", he said.

Current Pro Mod top qualifer Roger Johansson ran a personal best 6.51 to take the lead from Freddy Fagerstrom. "We'll be working on the speed today, the clutch was slipping a little all the way down the track", he said. "I am trying to run in the 6.4s, this engine has run a 6.42 in Hakan Nilsson's car", he said. "We're not used to tracks this good". Roger gave us a pretty graphic example of how strong the headwind was yesterday. "I usually have to break hard to reach the first exit, but yesterday when the chutes opened it was (here he jumped forward) and I had to drive it to the first exit!".

Hakan Nilsson broke a U-joint, rear axle yoke and driveshaft yesterday. "Andy Robinson sent one of his employees to get tubing to fix it", he said. "The problem is that we don't have any set-ups for this new car. I think I will tune it down because the guys with less power are going faster". Hakan said that this is the best track he's ever run on. "Kjell said we have to get used to this!", he said.

Fellow Pro Mod racer Patrick Wikstrom is fighting tyre shake. Crew member Krister Pettersson told us that the team have been fighting shake since they put on new tyres. One thing they have tried to combat it is to change to a double wheelie bar rather than a single. Patrick lost a blower belt on yesterday's match-up against Freddy Fagerstrom and so he was slowing when the accident happened. "I think it's a blessing that Patrick lost that belt", said Krister. Patrick had his car stopped, got out and started running to help Freddy in a time which would have won him the Olympic 100 metres.

Pro Stock racer Jan Muren, who is in with a chance of the FIA Championship, said that he hasn't really managed to get down the track yet. "I need another five hundredths to be close", he said. "The last run yesterday was awful for shake, but I think we overestimated the track. We're going to try to be a little conservative today and see what happens".

Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer's 5.66 yesterday was, according to team member Gittli Koller, a conservative pass. "We had new parts in the engine so we made it a very rich, safe run", she said. Peter is leading the FIA Championship by two rounds but Gittli said that the team are not looking at it that way. "We're not thinking about that", she said, "We're looking at this as another race".

We have gone straight into Pro qualifying this morning. Stay tuned and we will bring you the news as soon as we can.