FIA European Finals
Sunday (eliminations)

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19:30

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

We have had a couple of rain showers in the last hour, enough to wet the track beyond drying in time to get everything finished so Race Director Darren Prentice had to call a halt. We had got as far as semi-finals in all Sportsman classes.

So that's the end of the 2002 FIA European Finals, thanks very much for tuning in in such large numbers and staying with us throughout the weekend.

We've been here at Santa Pod a number of times since last Saturday reporting on the run-up to the race and on the race itself. We couldn't have done it without the help of the following, to whom many thanks:

Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Andy Marrs, Lisa Smart, John Hackney and Martin Wallis of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall and his crew; Chief Fire Marshal Bob Day and his crew; track announcers John Price, Graham Beckwith and Jerry Cookson; Bjorn Sundquist; Erik Zettervall; Christer Abrahamson; SPR track manager Kjell Petterson; Jon Cross; Dave Alexander; Jim Broome; Ivan Sansom; Spencer Tramm; Robin Shone; Sue Morris in the SPR Media Centre; Roger Gorringe; Ian Turburville; Remco Scheelings; Keith Bartlett; Caroline Day; Paula Marshall; the Peter Schofer Racing TMD team; Lindsay Deuchar and his TMD team; the AC Delco Racing Pro Stock team; Bruno Bader and his team; Lex Joon and his team; the Napper family; and of course to all of the racers for giving us quotes and action to write about and photograph.

Your reporters this week have been Tog and Sharkman of Eurodragster.com, and your photographers this week have been Sharkman and Tog of Eurodragster.com.

Our next event coverage will be from the UK National Finals here at Santa Pod Raceway in three weekend's time. See you then!

Eurodragster's event coverage is brought to you in association with American Car Imports.

18:20

Congratulations to Micke Kågered who has won the 2002 FIA Top Methanol FC Championship. Micke and Urs Erbacher ended up tied on points, but Micke wins 2-0 on head-to-head meetings this year.

Here is a list of the 2002 Champions, subject to ratification:

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Kim Reymond
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Peter Schöfer
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Micke Kågered
FIA Pro Stock: Michael Malmgren

FIM/UEM Comp Bike: Sverre Dahl
FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike: Anders Karling
FIM Pro Stock Bike: Øivind von Essen

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: Håkan Nilsson

British Nitro Funny Car: John Spuffard

18:10

FIM/UEM Comp Bike final

Roel Koedam 6.64/211.83 def. Sverre Dahl 6.70/171.77

Sverre got away first but Roel caught him up by half-track, and then Sverre lost a cylinder.

18:05

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike final

Øivind von Essen 7.48/177.41 def. Roger Pettersson 7.75/145.30

Øivind was ahead all the way down the track, Roger backed out of it just before the finish. Øivind von Essen is 2002 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike Champion.

18:00

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike final

Anders Karling 6.68/203.79 def. Per Bengtsson 6.79/202.24

The bikes were side-by-side all the way and Anders and the team found form at just the right moment to win by 0.053 seconds.

17:55

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified final

Freddy Fagerstrom 6.50/215.28 def. Roger Johansson 6.52/213.89

The fairytale ending for Fast Freddy as he takes the event win two days after a high-speed impact with the guardrail. Freddy was weaving left and right but wasn't getting off it for anything and took the win by 0.093 seconds, the side window blowing out right on the finish line.

17:50

FIA Top Fuel Dragster final

Kim Reymond 5.16/284.72 def. Susanne Callin 5.69/170.41

Kim finds the top end speed at just the right moment, Susanne was heading for the centreline and got out of it at about 1000 feet.

FIA Top Methanol Dragster final

Peter Schöfer 5.61/249.59 def. Doug Bond 6.40/207.59

A man on a mission, Peter drove through a small amount of tyre shake and left Doug in his wake.

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final

Urs Erbacher 5.79/243.73 def. Steph Milam 6.91/201.75

Urs runs within hundredths of his form all weekend again. Steph gave it all she had but it wasn't enough. Urs and Micke Kågered are now tied in the Championship; it goes down to head-to-head results, stay tuned for news.

FIA Pro Stock final

Michael Malmgren 6.98/197.49 def. Jan Muren 7.11/193.58

The event win was a great way for Michael to celebrate the FIA Championship, Jan slipped out of the 7.0s just when it counted.

Fuel Funny Car final

John Spuffard 5.56/216.13 def. Gary Page 6.22/180.69

Spuff takes the win, Gary tried hard but was off the throttle well before the finish line.

British Nitro Funny Car Championship final standings

Championship co-ordinator Jim Broome kindly supplied us with the final standings in the 2002 British Nitro FC Championship:

1. John Spuffard 471
2. Gordon Smith 348
3. Gary Page 284
4. Smax Smith 91

17:10

Dutch Open Super Gas Championship

Floris Hilgerroord and Robert Joosten have gone through to round three of Super Gas. David Vetger went out in round two.

16:45

FIM/UEM Comp Bike semi-finals

Sverre Dahl 7.03/144.41 def. Neil Midgley no time recorded

Neil was all set for a six, which would have won him this one, but the bike went adrift and hit the timing reflectors.

Roel Koedam 6.85/205.35 def. Jon Leret 6.73/177.81 red light

Jon tried to get the jump on Roel but overdid it, handing Roel the win. This result means that Sverre Dahl is provisionally 2002 FIM/UEM European Champion.

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike semi-finals

Per Bengtsson 6.85/171.08 def. Kai Selkamaa 7.40/169.52

Another personal best for Kai but Per was way ahead and goes into the final.

Anders Karling 6.90/176.37, Rob van Geffen no show

Anders' engine popped at the top end and the bike got on a wicked wobble, but he kept hold of it.

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike semi-finals

Roger Pettersson 7.47/177.81 def. Chris Hope 7.54/175.19

This looked very close from the start line, but Roger pulled ahead.

Øivind von Essen 7.45/176.05 def. Janne Antiaien 7.60/168.68

The Championship leader and second place are in the final, Roger has to set a new European record and win the event to take the title.

10.90 Bike rider Steve Coombs is OK after parting company with his bike at the top end after a 10.91 victory. He got himself up off the track and walked to meet the rescue crews.

Micke Kågered is to be kept in Kettering Hospital overnight for observation after complaining of pain in his spine. A member of Kagered Racing passed on a message of thanks from Micke to the safety crews, track officials and fans.

Jari Konola has announced his retirement from Pro Stock racing. His Avenger has been sold to a Comp Eliminator racer in Sweden.

16:35

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified semi-finals

Roger Johansson 6.59/211.78 def. Hakan Nilsson 7.05/215.80

A shock here as the 2002 Champion hits bad tyre shake, pedals and then tries to chase Roger down. Despite the huge terminal speed it was just too much and Roger took the win and a place in the final.

Freddy Fagerstrom 6.50/215.76 def. Andy Robinson 9.64/110.49

Freddy went straight and true to keep the possible fairytale ending alive. Andy had severe tyre shake, gave it one go at pedalling, then backed off as Freddy disappeared into the distance.

15:05

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car semi-finals

Steph Milam 6.94/207.48 def. Leif Andreasson 9.45/86.05

A huge shock as Leif Andreasson's FC jumped forward as the lights ran, lighting the red. For a definition of 'gutted', see Leif's crew. Steph's crew set an altitude record as the win light came on in her lane.

Urs Erbacher 5.82/244.74 def. Lex Joon 12.50/63.12

Lex appeared to have oil on his slicks, the car turned hard left off the start line and he had his hands full getting it back. Urs was long gone with another consistent pass. The Championship becomes ever more convoluted...

14:55

FIA Top Fuel Dragster semi-finals

Susanne Callin 5.08/287.65 def. Andy Carter 5.87/172.66

Susanne put in a superb full pass, her best ET and speed. Andy again didn't light the tyres in the burnout and appeared to hit shake, getting off the throttle early.

Kim Reymond bye, no time recorded

A fuel line broke off the start line, spraying fuel onto the track. Kim did however take the green so the 2002 Champion is into the final.

14:50

FIA Pro Stock semi-finals

Michael Malmgren 6.97/198.25 def. Jari Konola 7.08/194.01

Michael Malmgren takes the FIA Championship with this victory. Congratulations to the AC Delco team!

Jan Muren 7.07/194.33 def. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.25/189.85

Consistency from Kenneth but Jan was long gone.

14:45

Fuel Funny Car eliminations round 1

Gary Page 5.91/224.32 def. Gordon Smith 10.67/80.04

Jubilation in the left hand lane as Gary gets the North Herts Engineering FC into the fives. Gordon's FC emitted a yellow cloud at about 300 feet and he was off the throttle.

John Spuffard 11.31/70.27 bye

The engine leaned out and almost stopped in stage, it came back to life and Spuff put in a sixty-foot squirt.

FIA Top Methanol Dragster semi-finals

Peter Schofer 5.58/250.11 def. Rob Turner 5.63/248.08

A great side-by-side race, Rob away first 0.53 to 0.54, but Peter overhauled him and got to the stripe 0.039 ahead.

Doug Bond 9.05/99.21 bye

After the nightmare of the last couple of weeks, Doug and the team are in the final round here.

14:35

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 2

Hakan Nilsson 6.42/219.14 bye

Another 6.4 from Hakan, no sign of shake.

Roger Johansson 6.54/212.75 def. Thomas Nataas 6.69/177.40

The cars were side-by-side until Thomas' engine started to smoke and Roger pulled ahead. The shutdown area was blanketed in smoke and word came through from the top end that Thomas' engine now has a huge hole in it.

Freddy Fagerstrom 6.68/214.52 def. Stefan Pettersson 6.87/202.93

Freddy is on a dream return from his accident on Friday. Stefan put in a good one but Freddy got there first by 0.083 seconds. Could it be the fairytale ending for Freddy?

Andy Robinson 6.65/202.48 def. Patrick Wikstrom 7.75/149.61

Patrick's engine appeared to be misfiring and Andy was long gone. The result of this race means that Hakan Nilsson is provisionally NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Champion for 2002.

Dutch Open Super Gas Championship

Floris Hilgerrorrd, David Vetger and Robert Joosten are through to round two of Super Gas. Eric Pellegrom, Paul Vrind and Jan Hardekopf went out in the first round.

14:20

FIM/UEM Comp Bike eliminations round 1

Sverre Dahl 6.37/207.02 def. Dave Holland no time recorded

Dave Holland tried very hard indeed, the bike getting very close to the centreline, and Dave hit one of the top end timing reflectors. Sverre runs another 6.3.

Neil Midgley 7.01/183.64 def. Tim Blakemore broke

Neil got so close to the sixes, Tim's engine popped at 200 feet and he was freewheeling from then on.

Roel Koedam 6.56/213.02 def. Ken Cooper 17.53/35.39

This was all over very quickly, Roel was on one and Ken's engine had flames from the exhaust and sounded very roungh from about 200 feet.

Jon Leret 6.68/210.27 def. Nils Ole Lund 6.70/194.14

A storming run from Jon puts out one of the Championship contenders.

It's Sverre Dahl v Neil Midgley and Roel Loedam v Jon Leret next round.

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 1

Per Bengtsson 6.76/169.46 def. Svein Gottenberg 12.26/63.16

Another stormer from Per but with a relatively low speed. Bike photo-journalist Ian Turburville said that Svein's problem appreared to be a belt breakage.

Kai Selkamaa 8.76/177.88 def. Ton Pels 16.39/42.07

A shock here as Kai takes the win with a far from perfect pass. Ton lost a chain and is on the trailer.

Anders Karling 6.73/174.54 def. Ronny Aasen 7.33/186.12

We think that this victory has secured Anders the 2002 Championship. There was vapour from both sides of the headers at the top end.

Rob van Geffen 6.78/203.02 def. Erik Nielsen 7.64/162.37

A new best for Rob's new bike and a passage into the semis.

The next round is Per Bengtsson v Kai Selkamaa and Anders Karling v Rob van Geffen.

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 1

Roger Pettersson 7.44/177.29 def. Chris Tombleson 7.71/172.01

Best times of the weekend for both racers, Roger was way ahead at the stripe.

Chris Hope 7.51/174.45 def. Nick Pepper 8.16/171.67

A weekend best for Chris Hope, Nick Pepper's bike was slow off the line although the respectable terminal speed shows that he was on his way in the second half.

Øivind von Essen 7.54/177.69 def. Martin Bishop 7.71/170.85

Øivind made no mistakes, Martin's pass a good one bit not quite good enough.

Janne Antiaien 7.59/169.82 def. Anders Larsson 7.51/176.85

Anders' bike was trailing smoke to half track, Janne got away first and never looked back.

It's Roger Pettersson v Chris Hope and Øivind von Essen v Janne Antitien next time.

14:00

FIA Pro Stock eliminations round 1

Michael Malmgren 6.98/197.85

A clean straight pass from Michael which gets him lane choice in the next round.

Jari Konola 7.04/194.28 def. Magnus Hansson 7.16/192.23

Jari books his second round race against Michael Malmgren with a straight pass and his quickest of the weekend.

Kenneth Soderstrom 7.27/190.20 def. Jacob Ferrer

An upset here as Jacob Ferrer hits bad tyre shake and comes to pay your reporter a visit right by the guardrail.

Jan Muren 7.06/194.79 def. Christer Andersson no time recorded

Christer appeared to have some sort of problem, his Crew Chief swapping gestures with him before he staged, but he would have to have gone some to take Jan out.

It's Michael Malmgren v Jari Konola and Kenneth Soderstrom v Jan Muren next round.

12:55

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 1

Leif Andreasson 5.98/238.94 def. Arvid Grodem 6.29/225.74

Leif drove through tyre shake whilst Arvid recorded his best time of the weekend.

Steph Milam 7.23/196.98 def. Dennis Wratten 7.78/177.18

Stpeh and Dennis were in as alternates for Ulf Leanders and Micke Kagered. Steph pedalled and pulled ahead of Dennis right at the end of the track - it was a close one!

Urs Erbacher 5.79/243.99 def. Leif Helander 6.08/224.41

Urs is running very consistently this weekend and streaked ahead of Leif to take this one.

Lex Joon 5.77/242.30 def. Jorg Johnsson 5.91/234.14

A new personal best for Lex and we think a European record backed up by his 5.82 in qualifying. There was a bang and a flash of flame from Lex's engine at the finish line, and a trail of oil down the shutdown area so Lex has a thrash to make the next round. A nice pass from Jorg, a new PB for him.

It's Leif Andreasson v Steph Milam and Urs Erbacher v Lex Joon next round.

11:55

FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 1

Andy Carter 5.53/199.89 bye

Andy was on the throttle to about nine hundred feet.

Susanne Callin 12.64/69.64 def. Peter Lantz broke

Peter's car wouldn't start despite several attempts, Susanne took the win with a sixty-foot squirt, 0.908 sixty-foot time.

Micke Kagered 4.97/282.58 def. Darryl Bradford 5.85/188.00

Micke's engine exploded right on the finish line, the car turned hard right and the front half with the safety cell went into the field whilst the rear end and the engine went separate ways. Darryl Bradford said that he was dodging parts as he went through the shutdown area. Micke was awake, alert and talking to the safety crews after the crash and was cut out of the car and taken to the medical centre for a check-out. Of course this could also put an end to Micke's TMFC Championship hopes, it depends how far Lex Joon goes in eliminations.

Kim Reymond 5.13/257.23 def. Tommy Moller 5.47/188.54

Kim shot down the track, a very straight pass but again a relatively low terminal speed. Tommy pedalled a couple of times and eventually got off it when he was inches from the guardrail at the top end.

It's Carter v Callin and Reymond on a single next round.

FIA Top Methanol Dragster round 1 eliminations

Peter Schöfer 7.01/125.44 bye

Peter was on the throttle to about 400 feet, a small amount of shake off the line.

Rob Turner 5.62/250.03 def. Lindsay Deuchar 6.55/222.88

Rob's pass looked absolutely effortless, clean and straight. Lindsay's car was not too quick off the line but the speed was up at the top end.

Doug Bond 9.66/90.91 def. Dave Wilson shut off

Dave pulled a huge burnout but pulled into the side of the track as he was reversing. A trail of oil traced Dave's progress. Doug crept off the line and was only on the throttle for a second or two. This means that Peter Schöfer is provisionally 2002 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion.

It's Schofer v Turner and a bye for Doug Bond next round.

We're on a hold for clean-up at the moment, stay tuned for more news.

Stay tuned and we'll be back when action re-starts.

10:00

Good morning everyone and welcome back from Santa Pod on another fine late summer's day. Action has already started and we're here to bring you the news in association with American Car Imports.

The traditional good mornings to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman in New Hampshire, USA. Ed is attending the IHRA race at Epping this weekend and wrote to us yesterday that he wishes that he was at Santa Pod instead. Well, Ed buddy, we wish that you were here too! Hello also to Steve and Jacky Young who are tuned in from Shakespeare County Raceway.

Another big Hello and a bigger apology to our friends in Holland for not posting the standings in Super Gas last night. As you will have seen we had a late night and it got put aside and never picked up again. Here are the qualifying standings in Super Gas, which includes the Dutch Open Super Gas Championship:

1. Ritchi Smith 9.900/133.55
2. Peter Lane 9.902/141.12
3. Luke Ramage 9.914/140.78
4. Dave Townsend 9.915/136.67
5. Shaun Lathan 9.920/144.84
6. Floris Hilgerroord 9.920/142.92
7. David Vetger 9.920/no speed
8. Martin Curbishley 9.924/141.43
9. Frank Mason 9.925/138.10
10. Robert Joosten 9.933/137.84
11. Tim Adam 9.946/143.56
12. Eric Pellegrom 9.960/134.05
13. Paul Vrind 10.042/133.17
14. Stuart Peck 10.047/124.84
15. Jan Hardekopf 10.053/131.53
16. Paul Hudson 10.189/134.97
17. Sarah Day 10.205/144.33
18. Malcolm Francis 10.341/137.00

We will keep you informed of your colleagues' progress, the first round of Super Gas is scheduled at 12:00 UK.

We have had the draw for the Eurodragster.com/Scorpion Racing award, and the TRS harness and Rock Oil will go to the winners of Super Pro ET and 9.90 Bike respectively.

With the early start this morning and the FIA, FIM/UEM and Pro Mod scheduled to start very shortly we had the briefest of turns around the pits this morning, lots of very busy racers out there so we were inclined to leave them to their work.

Top Fuel Dragster racer, and provisional 2002 FIA European Champion, Kim Reymond and his team have been working on the clutch of the USA Autodele Top Fuel Dragster to get more top end speed. "We've taken more weight off", he said, "but we only have a two-element rear wing. We've taken some downforce off to get more speed, it's a bit more lively which I don't like. But what the hell, we're Champions now!".

Neil Midgley's crew chief Cannon said that the 7.11 pass which Neil put in on the Funny Bike yesterday should have been a 6.80 according to the incremental times. "Towards the top end it fell flat on its face and I turned away in disgust", said Cannon. "But then I turned back and saw the scoreboard! The bike is over-fuelling at the top end but we have sorted that out and if all goes to plan it will run a six today."

We encountered Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson on his way back from the showers. Grumpy looked very tired indeed and he explained that the American Car Imports Racing team had a very late night, having to change engines after a crack was found. "This engine has parts of our number one, and parts of our number three, so I suppose you can call it number four!", he said. Hybrid engines at the European Finals are becoming a tradition with the ACI team.

When we passed by the P&G/PLR Top Fuel pit, Peter Lantz explained the real reason for having so many Junior Dragster racers about the place. "You aren't allowed to smack children in Sweden, so we have brought them all over here because you can do it in England", he said. Pelle Lindelöw told us that everything is under control on the Top Fuel front.

The Leanders Brothers pit is a very sorry sight. The ex-John Force body is missing an entire quarter after yesterday's slick explosion, and the chassis appears to be bent. One welcome sight, though, was a lot of money in the collection pot which had been put out.

Let's take you through today's first round of FIA and FIM/UEM pairings.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster

Barry Sheavills v Andy Carter (Andy Carter single)
Peter Lantz v Susanne Callin
Micke Kagered v Darryl Bradford
Tommy Moller v Kim Reymond

FIA Top Methanol Dragster

Peter Schöfer bye
Rob Turner v Lindsay Deuchar
Dave Wilson v Doug Bond

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car

Leif Andréasson v Arvid Grodem
Micke Kagered v Ulf Leanders
Urs Erbacher v Leif Helander
Lex Joon v Jorg Johnsson

FIA Pro Stock

Michael Malmgren bye
Jari Konola v Magnus Hansson
Jacob Ferrer v Kenneth Soderstrom
Jan Muren v Christer Andersson

FIM/UEM Comp Bike

Sverre Dahl v Dave Holland
Neil Midgley v Tim Blakemore
Roel koedam v Ken Cooper
Jon Leret v Nils Ole Lund

FIM/UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike

Per Bengtsson v Svein Gottenberg
Ton Pels v Kai Selkamaa
Anders Karling v Ronny Aasen
Rob van Geffen v Erik Nielsen

FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike

Roger Pettersson v Chris Tombleson
Chris Hope v Nick Pepper
Øivind von Essen v Martin Bishop
Anders Larsson v Janne Antiaien

Fuel Funny Car

John Spuffard bye
Gordon Smith v Gary Page

The first cycle of FIA, FIM/UEM and Fuel Funny Car is scheduled between 10:15 and 12:00 so assuming that everything runs to time tune back at about 12:15 and the first results should be posted.