2004 FIA European Finals
Sunday (eliminations)
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19:30
Today's pictures have now been posted, you can view them via the Event Index page.
That's the end of our FIA European Finals coverage. Thanks very much for tuning in, we hope you have enjoyed it. Your reporters during the last week have been Tog of Eurodragster.com, Simon Groves, Christer Abrahamson and Erik Zettervall of Svensk Dragracing, and Hannele Höydén of the Finnish Hot Rod Association. Photographs this week have been by Sharkman of Eurodragster.com with the exception of the Press Day photographs which were by Tog.
For all of their help in FIA European Finals week we would like to thank Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Martin Wallis, John Hackney, Andy Marrs and Sharon Norris of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall and the start line and track crews; Chief Fire Marshal John Cross and the safety crew; track announcers John Price, Graham Beckwith, Björn Sundqvist and Benni Voss; Paula Marshall; Kjell Pettersson; Spencer Tramm; David Anniwell; Roger Gorringe; Steve Moxley; Jim Broome; Keith Bartlett, Caroline Day and David Lloyd-Jones; and Sue Morris. Thanks for hospitality to Lex Joon and Gerda Dijkstra; Knut Söderquist; Gittli Koller; Anders Envall and family; Mark Pointer; and the staff of the Coffee, Pizza and Acorn Hog Roast wagons.
Eurodragster's next Event Coverage will be from the UK National Finals back here at Santa Pod Raceway on 2nd-3rd October.
This week's Event Coverage has been brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
18:20
2004 Champions
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Andy Carter
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Dave Wilson
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Urs Erbacher
FIA Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: Håkan Nilsson
MSA British Nitro Funny Car Championship: Gordon Smith
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike: Roel Koedam
FIM/UEM Supertwin: Ton Pels
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike: Roger Pettersson
We're currently uploading today's pictures, stay tuned.
18:15
Here are the final results in Sportsman classes:
Comp Eliminator: 8.520/143.71 Torben Stenström (8.40) 8.490/158.35 def. George Chiarella (8.40)
Super Pro ET: Barry Giles (7.90) 7.997/159.60 def. Gary Malin (7.70) 7.719/171.76
Pro ET: Chris Isaacs (9.97) 10.013/132.04 def. Darren Hulkes (11.99) 12.035/111.94 red light
Sportsman ET: Martin Lewis (15.77) 16.811/73.16 def. Mark Anderson (13.00) 12.918/103.48 red light
Super Comp: Phil Bennett 8.992/136.73 def. Malcolm Francis 9.062/155.72
Super Gas: Frank Mason 9.941/135.11 def. Conrad Stanley 9.886/131.61
Super Street: Mark Watkins 10.882/122.69 def. John Grant 10.834/122.68
Junior Dragster: Nick Mugridge (8.23) 8.323/73.88 def. Tom Watts (11.28) 11.314/54.40 red light
9.90 Bike: Andy Burfitt 10.141/122.59 def. Julian Harris 10.192/130.82
10.90 Bike: Dave Burfitt 11.086/118.52 def. Phil Pratt 11.037/115.55
Martin Hill followed the Pro finals with a 6.159/213.26 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC, whilst Angelica Westholm and Thomas Pettersson followed on with a 9.995/126.05 and 11.308/117.79 on their snowmobiles.
Stay tuned for a round-up of this year's Champions.
17:55
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike final
Roger Pettersson 7.451/177.13 def. Chris Hope 9.394/88.41
Roger got away first, not finding the footpegs, his feet were flailing in the air all the way down.
Chris' bike drifted left and he was off the throttle as he got closer to the guardrail.
17:50
FIM/UEM Supertwin final
Ton Pels 6.638/203.50 def. Ronny Aasen 9.784/89.12
Ronny left first but the bike's engine stopped within a few feet, Ton was on a mission, a clean straight
pass and another 6.6 for his new bike.
17:47
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike final
Steve Woollatt 6.655/200.08 def. Antonio Ferretti 7.127/198.20
Steve left way before Antonio and plain outran him, a very straight and clean pass. No obvious problems
for Antonio but not on his form earlier this weekend.
17:45
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified final
Patrick Wikström 6.331/221.81 def. Håkan Nilsson 7.191/205.60
Håkan got away first but almost instantly hit shake and the car veered to the left, how he missed the
centreline I'll never know. Håkan stayed on the throttle, but Patrick was already way ahead having
taken the much straighher route and took the win by 0.822
17:40
FIA Top Fuel Dragster final
Andy Carter 5.236/296.13 def. Thomas Nataas 5.539/264.79
Andy Carter took the event title and the 2004 Championship for GoTalk, 0.112 to 0.145 off the start line, both cars
hitting shake and moving about their lanes, Thomas' engine started mixing cylinders and he was off the
throttle a little early. Andy went a slightly long way round but he got there first and took the title.
17:35
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final
Ulf Leanders 5.753/246.08 def. Urs Erbacher 5.828/247.45
Urs' Crew coloured their hair in their sponsor Midland's colours! Urs got away first 0.099 to 0.105,
both cars made a move at half track by which time Ulf was already ahead, he recovered better and
stayed out in front for the win. However, Urs is 2004 FIA European Champion.
17:30
FIA Pro Stock final
Jimmy Ålund 6.974/196.44 def. Ulf Jonsson 7.126/191.46
Superb RTs from both drivers, 0.013 for Jimmy and 0.058 for Ulf. Jimmy kept pulling away all
down the quarter, the car made a move to the left just past half track but he stayed with it
and ran the first six this weekend.
17:20
FIA Top Methanol Dragster final
Dave Wilson 5.457/255.34 def. Peter Schöfer 5.594/245.84
Peter pulled a 0.152 red light handing the win to 2004 Champion Dave, who with another 5.4-second pass
would have been difficult to get round.
17:10
Fuel Funny Car final
Gordon Smith 5.493/234.47 def. John Spuffard 6.617/142.97
Whoever wins the race wins the Championship! Paired burnouts then on the green Gordon was away first, 0.371 to 0.410,
the car shook a little and drifted right, Gordon pedalled at 300 or so feet then got back on the throttle,
pulling the car back to the left. Spuff also pedalled, the car started mixing cylinders and then there
was a flash of flame, Spuff triggered the fire bottles. Congratulations to Gordon Smith and the
Shockwave team on their Championship.
Thanks to British Nitro FC Championship Co-ordinator Jim Broome for giving us the final points standings in the Championship:
17:05
Simon got the thoughts of a couple of today's finalists.
Thomas Nataas, Top Fuel Finalist, declared himself happy with the weekend. "We are not looking to step up and have the consistency that is needed." Of course he can help determine the championship outcome if he wins.
Urs Erbacher's team are also in confident mood and have tinted their hair red and blue to match the car!
Bjorn Sundqvist kindly informed us that Patrik Wikstrom had been short-shifting on his runs to oversome tyre shake which hurt his ETs earlier. Meanwhile Hakan Nilsson has leaning the fuel system and put in new piston rings and pistons to help gain additional power in the final against Patrik.
17:00
Pro ET eliminations semi-final winners: Darren Hulkes (11.99) 12.214/98.23, Chris Isaacs (9.99) 10.109/114.46
Sportsman ET eliminations semi-final winners: Mark Anderson (13.00) 13.097/98.05, Martin Lewis (15.76) 15.809/82.87
Super Gas eliminations semi-final winners: Frank Mason 10.092/113.01, Conrad Stanley 10.003/130.45
Super Pro ET eliminations semi-final winners: Barry Giles (7.90) 7.957/151.00, Gary Malin (7.70) 7.764/169.86
Super Street eliminations semi-final winners: Mark Watkins 11.028/119.98 bye, John Grant 10.923/120.99
10.90 Bike eliminations semi-final winners: Phil Pratt 11.009/120.66 bye, Dave Burfitt 11.298/119.73
9.90 Bike eliminations semi-final winners: Andy Burfitt 10.283/131.53 bye, Julian Harris 10.019/119.99
Junior Dragster eliminations semi-final winners: Tom Watts (11.30) 11.310/54.89, Nick Mugridge (8.37) 8.329/74.38
16:15
Martin Hill followed up this Pro session with a 6.120/207.23 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC. Such is the headwind that Martin was stopped at the first turnout!
Super Comp eliminations semi-final winners: Malcolm Francis 9.063/147.94, Phil Bennett 8.910/146.41
Malcolm Francis had a scary ride after his back axle broke towards the top end. The car was weaving left and right and Malcolm did a great job to hold on to it and get it stopped.
16:00
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 3
Patrick Wikström 6.529/218.32 def. Patrik Pers no time
Patrick W hit shake but drove through it, there was a shower of sparks from Patrik P's car at about a hundred feet then
the prop shaft appeared from under the 'Vette.
Håkan Nilsson 6.450/216.67 def. Christer Jacobs 6.473/216.49
One of the candidates for Race Of The Weekend, side-by-side 6.4s, both cars blackstriping their lanes,
2004 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Champion Håkan Nilsson took the win by 0.064 seconds.
15:50
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 2
Roger Pettersson 7.574/173.26 def. Paul Watson 7.857/167.14
Paul got away first 0.144 to 0.284, Roger's bike hesitated briefly off the line but then he got into his
stride and overhauled Paul.
Chris Hope 7.615/172.50 def. Anders Abrahamsson 7.701/166.00
Chris got away first and the Pinnacle-sponsored bike outran Anders.
15:40
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 2
Antonio Ferretti 7.130/198.28 def. Roel Koedam 7.608/143.75
Antonio whacked Roel on the Tree, 0.410 to 0.696, Roel's tyre was spinning and he just couldn't catch up.
There was a puff of smoke from Antonio's bike at the top end and he left a trail of oil right the way
down the shutdown area.
Steve Woollatt staged, Steve Carey no show
No sign of Steve Carey, so Steve Woollatt staged for the round win and advanced to the final.
15:30
Whilst clean-up is underway and the rain in the air goes away, here are the notes from Simon's latest visit to the pits.
In Pro Mod, Patrik Pers' team said there were no big problems with the '63 Corvette. In the second round, Patrik had run a 6.55/215 to defeat Henri Joosten, but Patrik lifted once. There are some problems with tyre shake and are trying a different clutch setup for the semi-final against Patrik Wikstrom. The team are very pleased as the meeting was planned as a test session.
Hakan Nilsson, who ran a 6.47 in round two is up against Christer Jacob in the semi final, and Christer ran a 6.40 in round two. Hakan said "We are stepping up the tuning gradually and are having no problems getting down the track. We think Christer is close to shaking the tyres, but don't want to step up too much this time as we will probably meet Patrik (Wikstrom) if we reach the final."
Christer Jacobs is similarly looking to step up the horsepower but admitted, "We're not really satisfied and the clutch is the key."
In Pro Stock Bike, Roger Petterson confirmed the headwind has affected performance by a tenth or so. Roger said the bike is for sale. He said "It would be fun to have a Pro Stock Harley, but we're not sure about the availability from Screaming Eagle."
15:20
FIM/UEM Supertwin eliminations round 2
Ronny Aasen 6.902/189.82 def. Hans Christian Nilsen 7.622/176.50
Hans Christian got the jump off the line by four thousandths, but Ronny made that up before 330 feet and
pulled away. Nice straight runs by both racers.
Ton Pels 7.278/193.09 def. Hans Olav Olstad 7.704/169.20
Hans Olav knew he was up against it and got a little anxious on the lights, a 0.202 red light
handing the win to 2004 Champion Ton. Ton was there for the taking as his rear tyre went up
in smoke at sixty feet and he had to feather the throttle.
15:15
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 2
Urs Erbacher 7.778/133.87 bye
Urs left very strongly but ran into shake at a hundred feet or so and lifted. Lane choice is up for grabs for the
final round...
Ulf Leanders 5.803/243.00 def. Niclas Andersson 5.864/242.05
A superb race between Ulf and Niclas, Ulf got away first and his incrementals were better all the
way down. Ulf gets lane choice in the final.
15:10
FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 2
Andy Carter 5.330/211.24 def. Lex Joon 10.667/75.51
Andy got away first 0.107 to 0.171, the GoTalk car's tyres shook, the car turned left, and Andy pedalled.
Meanwhile Lex's tyres started to turn a little, the car made a move to the right, and then there was a
puff of smoke and he was off the throttle.
Thomas Nataas 5.004/292.16 def. Micke Kågered 7.017/119.29
Micke's team were working hard on the car even when it was in the collection area, we heard a problem with the
crank trigger. The Bahco Tools car was fine on the burnout, on the green Thomas was away first by
0.021 seconds. The blower pulley then came off Micke's car at about two hundred feet.
As things stand right now, if Andy Carter wins the final then Andy is Champion; if Thomas wins then Micke
is Champion.
14:50
FIA Pro Stock eliminations round 2
Ulf Jonsson 8.151/137.56 def. Kenneth Soderström no time
Both cars left very strongly, Kenneth's car started to drift right and then suddenly turned hard left and
impacted the guardrail head-on, the fuel tank blew in a ball of flame, then the car bounced across the
track and almost in front of Ulf Jonsson who took avoiding action. Kenneth is A-OK, got out of the car under
his own steam, and is just being checked out in the medical centre.
Interviewed on the PA, Kenneth said that the crash was "A bit scary. I hit tyre shake and when I shifted
it went into the wall. It only hurt in the wallet!". He added that the reason that the team had become more competitive this
weekend as the car had a new clutch.
Jimmy Ålund 7.018/196.27 def. Magnus Hansson 7.330/157.79
Jimmy was away first 0.037 to 0.088 and never looked back, Magnus got a little out of shape at a thousand feet
and got off the throttle.
14:00
Smon has made another trip to the pits and here's who he found to speak to.
Patrik Wikstrom said that his winning 6.61 time in the first round of Pro Mod was due to excessive tyre shake. He said "We will adjust the clutch to cure it. We are looking for the record. Yesterday's 6.32 was into a strong headwind and could have been a 6.2 if conditions had been better."
In Methanol Funny Car, Niclas Andersson's Crew Chief, Emil, told us that Niclas blew his clutch on the first round victory against Dan Larsen, but fortunately the engine is not damaged.
Ulf Leanders' diagnostics man, Jonny, told us that he clicked off a little early on the 5.766/238 run in the first round. He said "We have two tenths advantage over Niclas but you can never be sure!"
In Pro Stock, Kenneth Soderström was very happy with the victory over Jackie Hansen. Kenneth said "We have more in the car against Ulf Jonsson and we shook the tyres in the first two gears. We are still dialling in a new clutch that we fitted last night."
Magnus Hansson said "We are running good 60 foot times but need more power at the top end. Our engine was run by Jan Muren last year and did 6.97 in May, but there are problems getting the power to the track. We are planning to visit the U.S. in the winter and want to buy a one to three year old car."
Ulf Jonsson was a bit disappointed with his 7.10 run, although he did beat outgoing champion Michael Malmgren with the run. Ulf said "We didn't have the shocks set right and the car was very loose on the track. The clutch settings are good though - we did not get much tyre shake."
In Top Fuel Bike, Steve Woollatt appeared to have no major problems with the motor but had suffered an oil leak due to a cracked sump. He joked "We need a full time ally welder on the team!"
Steve Carey was investigating low oil pressure when we passed, but the cause had not yet been determined.
Roel Koedam said his weekend had been "Simple and easy." He did admit however that the motor had 4 damaged pistons as a result of attempting to run a five on Friday. He added "We put all the old stuff in, set it softer and it runs faster!" When asked how long a motor would last, he said "It could be be one race or a whole season." I also asked whether the headwind is affecting the performance of the Top Fuel Bikes. The response was "No, we are too low to the ground."
Vincent Pels said he was delighted that Ton had won the Supertwin Fuel Championship. On the first round defeat of Svein Olaf Rolstad, which confirmed the championship, recorded a 6.68, but Vincent revealed that Ton had only been on the throttle for 5.8 seconds after drifting towards the centre line.
Christer is up at the end of the track where he is doing racer interviews for the TV coverage, he sent back word that Micke Kågered was quite OK and that the Bahco Tools car would only need a new front wing and new rear left tyre. Christer also said that Thomas Nataas' tyres were worn after his pass.
13:55
10.90 Bike eliminations round 1 winners: John Hackney 10.980/119.98, Dave Burfitt 11.540/92.20, Phil Pratt 11.060/121.27
9.90 Bike eliminations round 3 winners: Julian Harris 9.942/123.64, Andy Burfitt 10.077/131.90, Fred Furlong 10.066/123.91
Super Comp eliminations round 2 winners: Malcolm Francis 9.150/130.77, Leif Andersson 8.975/143.76, Shaun Lathan 8.977/149.63 (another 0.000 win margin!), Phil Bennett 8.973/147.53 bye
Comp Eliminator eliminations round 1 winners: George Chiarella (8.40) 8.473/153.12 bye, Torben Stenström (8.40) 12.922/80.10 bye
Junior Dragster eliminations round 2 winners: Ross Norris (8.75) 8.844/72.58, Holly Mitchell (9.55) 9.748/65.96 bye, Nick Mugridge (8.25) 8.330/74.02, Tom Watts (11.25) 11.337/52.51
Super Street eliminations round 2 winners: Leigh Morris 11.126/118.76, John Grant 11.030/129.75 bye, Mark Watkins 11.000/114.54
13:40
Martin Hill followed up the Pro session with a 6.149/199.81 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC.
Super Gas eliminations round 2 winners: Al O'Connor 10.031/121.94, Brendan Clancy 10.004/133.08, Frank Mason 9.859/135.95, Conrad Stanley 9.944/132.39
Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners: Chris Isaacs (9.97) 10.010/131.96, Gary Springford (10.28) 10.785/99.99, Paul Baynton (11.20) 11.365/99.53, Darren Hulkes (11.99) 11.960/111.94
Super Street eliminations round 1 winners: Nick Curtis 11.098/104.20, Ian Brown 11.120/106.63, Leigh Morris 11.037/112.77, Mark Watkins 10.899/122.67, John Grant 11.030/126.72
Super Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners: Paul Marston (8.58) 8.561/156.84 bye, Barry Giles (7.90) 7.930/160.20, Gary Malin (7.70) 7.713/169.86, Steve Saunders (8.95) 8.937/150.49
Sportsman ET eliminations round 2 winners: Richard Hillier (12.98) 13.076/102.22, Martin Lewis (15.75) 15.775/82.55, Nick South (14.07) 14.089/92.41, Mark Anderson (12.90) 13.063/101.82 bye
13:00
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 2:
Patrick Wikström 6.449/220.72 def. Norbert Kuno 6.855/186.00
Norbert was away first but Patrick was up with him very quickly, both cars started moving about, Norbert's
car making a particularly violent move towards the top end and he had the chutes out early to straighten it.
Håkan Nilsson 6.470/216.14 def. Bert Englefield 6.743/210.21
Håkan was away first 0.137 to 0.334, Bert had to drive through shake and was giving it everything
he had as the car moved around, but Håkan got there first by just under half a second.
Patrik Pers 6.550/215.47 def. Henri Joosten broke
Henri's car stopped on the track after the burnout, the track crew pushed him to the side. Patrik
took the bye, pedalling briefly as the car got out of shape.
Christer Jacobs 6.408/215.09 def. Micke Lindahl 19.964/51.01
Micke's revs shot up as the car left the line and he got off the throttle. Christer put in a
very solid run, low ET of the round, this year's problems looking to be behind him now.
12:45
Fuel Funny Car eliminations round 1:
John Spuffard 7.749/117.46 def. Leif Helander broke
Leif was pushed back before staging, Sharkman at trackside reported a problem with the body.
Spuff's tyre tracks are solid to the Tree then it's caterpillar tracks, Spuff pedalled and
got back on the throttle, a big yellow nitro haze accompanying the car down the track
and Spuff was off the hard pedal at half track.
Gordon Smith 9.317/89.32 bye
0.893 to sixty feet and looking very good, Gordon was off the throttle early to save parts. The
final decides the Championship.
12:40
FIA Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 1:
Peter Schöfer 5.578/253.08 def. Rob Turner 5.538/244.52
Peter left first 0.133 to 0.187, Rob's incrementals were better all the way down, but Peter's
holeshot won him the race.
Dave Wilson 5.436/253.90 bye
Would Grumpy go for lane choice was the question, a resounding YES the answer, a new European ET record
backed up by his qualifying pass.
12:30
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 1:
Roger Pettersson 7.357/180.03 def. Remo Nasci 7.798/166.59
Roger stamped all over teammate Remo in this race, away first, not
looking back and winning by nearly half a second.
Anders Abrahamson 7.619/169.20 def. Herman van Driel 7.926/165.42
Anders got away first and stayed in front to take the win by 0.371.
Paul Watson 7.669/171.86 def. Martin Bishop 7.742/165.89
A long burndown before this race, Paul got away first by 0.033 and win by 0.105.
Chris Hope 7.627/173.03 def. Anders Larsson broke
Anders' bike broke off the line, the engine died within feet. Chris takes #2 spot in the
FIM/UEM Championship for this year.
12:25
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 1:
Roel Koedam 6.368/208.65 def. TJ O'Brien 9.353/117.18
Roel burnt out and staged left of centre of his lane. TJ was off the line first 0.281 to 0.538
but Roel was past by 300 feet, TJ's engine started to go away and the bike drifted left,
he got off the throttle early. There was some smoke from Roel's engine just as he shut off.
Antonio Ferretti 13.979/52.87 def. Neil Midgley broke
Neil sat up and backed out of stage as the lights ran, Antonio hit shake off the line and
got off the throttle, idling down the track.
Steve Carey no time def. Dave Holland DQ
Ian's bike didn't sound right during the burnout and shortly afterwards I noticed a belt lying
on the track. Dave Holland moved in very smartly to take his first alternate place, Dave
smacked a 0.031 to 0.485 holeshot on Steve and was on a very strong pass,
but the Funny Bike drifted left and crossed lanes,
instant disqualification, Steve saw Dave and got off the throttle.
Steve Woollatt 6.629/211.95 def. Shaun Branch 7.497/162.46
Shaun just left first but Steve was alongside him before 330 feet. Shaun will be pleased with another
pass with the engine intact, Steve Woollatt's crew were very happy with his pass.
12:15
FIM/UEM Supertwin eliminations round 1:
Hans Christian Nilsen 7.609/173.70 bye, Anders Karling no show
Hans Christian took the bye after Charley's unfortunate accident yesterday. Charley is now back at tha track
sporting an impressive cast on his right ankle but was in good spirits when we spoke to him. A nice
run for Hans Christian, just left of centre of his lane, but no sign of problems.
Ronny Aasen 7.256/195.66 def. Svein Gottenberg 7.396/169.72
Ronny left first but Svein was a lot quicker to sixty foot and 330 feet, he was ahead but then his
bike started to head left. As Svein leaned and strained to bring the bike back straight Ronny
rode past him.
Ton Pels 6.681/183.63 def. Svein Olav Rolfstad 7.822/184.44
A tremendous run from 2004 Champion Ton, riding through shake and heading for
the centre line at the top but staying with it and getting there first by 1.234 seconds.
Svein Olav was off the throttle before the finish.
Hans Olav Olstad 7.060/198.45 def. Joachim Riemer 7.564/179.36
A very good-looking straight run from Hans Olav, his left foot not on the peg all the
way down the track.
12:05
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 1:
Urs Erbacher 5.718/248.52 def. Leif Andréasson 7.407/120.67
A big burnout for Urs, and a tiny burnout for Leif. Urs was away first 0.105 to 0.115, Leif's
FC started bouncing and putting out vapour after 330 feet and his incrementals show a car in trouble
before half-track. A tiny amount of shake for Urs but he drove through it and set Low ET so far.
Urs gets a bye next round.
Ulf Leanders 5.766/238.98 def. Arvid Grødem 10.841/72.94
Arvid left first 0.058 to 0.091 but hit very violent shake by the Tree, he stayed with it to 300 feet
or so with the body visibly shaking and then got off it. In the other lane Ulf made no mistakes,
a straight run with no sign of shake and into the next round to meet the winner of the next race.
Niclas Andersson 5.970/238.16 def. Dan Larsen 5.904/240.94
Niclas' car reads "For Sale" on the side if anyone out there fancies going Top Methanol
racing. Niclas strapped a 0.080 to 0.174 holeshot on Dan, Dan was quickest and fastest by half track
but Niclas' head start kept him ahead at the stripe.
11:55
FIA Pro Stock eliminations round 1:
Magnus Hansson 7.123/194.09 def. Tommy Leindahl 7.166/189.82
Neither car wanted to go straight, Tommy's car was ahead to half track but he drifted to the
left and Magnus got past him.
Ulf Jonsson 7.101/193.12 def. Michael Malmgren 7.059/196.66
Ulf won this race on the start line, 0.096 to 0.138, Michael tried everything to chase him down but didn't quite
make it. For the second time today the displayed win margin was 0.000, the actual margin was 0.000076 seconds
or 0.261 inches.
Kenneth Soderström 7.119/192.27 def. Jackie Hansen 7.099/195.60
Another one won on a holeshot, 0.139 to 0.215 off the line, both cars made moves at half track,
Jackie was chasing very hard against the drift but Kenneth's head start did the trick.
Jimmy Ålund 7.012/196.34 bye
A straight, hard run for Jimmy, ensuring him lane choice in the next round.
11:35
FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 1:
Lex Joon 5.002/288.72 def. Jöran Persaker 5.216/274.59
Lex slammed a 0.157 to 0.210 holeshot on Jöran, whose mathematical Championship chance ended with this race.
Lex was blackstriping right the way down, the car edging left and right but Lex was on a mission and took
the win by 0.267 seconds and with a new Personal Best ET. A small amount of shake for Jöran, vapour from the engine and off the
throttle a touch early.
Andy Carter 5.149/226.96 def. Smax Smith 4.996/227.38 red light
A huge red light for Smax, 0.219, Andy also left early, by 0.060, but Smax did it first so the GoTalk
dragster goes through and Andy's Championship hopes are still alive.
Both racers were on a mission, Smax pulled the quickest sixty foot of the weekend at 0.853,
Andy 3.368/240.46 at half track and Smax 3.220/245.92, both cars were making moves left and right.
The terminal speeds betray early shut-offs for both racers, some smoke from both cars in the
shutdown area but nothing serious.
Thomas Nataas 5.007/289.98 def. Jon Webster 5.057/271.28
What a fantastic race! Jon left first 0.143 to 0.192, Thomas was alongside Jon by half track and then
the cars were welded together. Jon's engine started to lose cylinders after half track and
then started eating itself, leaving oil from that point. Thomas'
higher speed allowed him to edge past Jon but it was so close: the win margin displayed was 0.000 seconds,
going to six decimal places the timing system reported a win margin for Thomas of 0.000556 or 2.746 inches.
Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe confirmed that this was the closest-ever Top Fuel race, beating
the previous record of 22.697 inches between Rico Anthes and Barry Sheavills. Jon wiped out his personal
Best time and speed.
Micke Kågered 5.078/264.73 def. Tommy Möller 6.702/135.98
Micke got away first, 0.180 to 0.237 and had a better sixty foot, 0.866 to 0.875, and was not
looking back. Tommy's engine expired at about half-track, Sharkman at trackside said that pieces
of Tommy's blower belt were being shed as he came past at about 150 feet. There was smoke and
a ball of flame from Micke's engine at three-quarter track then parts flew into the air.
It transpired that Micke had a slick blow at the finish line, he is quite OK and we
understand that the car is good.
10:40
Simon also spoke to some bike racers on his morning pit walk, here's what he found out.
Ian King's previously reported supercharger problems have now been sorted, and he has been able to dial in a lot more clutch to the King Racing Top Fuel Bike. He added "We have taken the head off and cut valves in to give us the best opportunity against the competition. Roel (Koedam) is still the favourite to win the event but to get to meet him I will need in the first round to get past Steve Carey who is improving all the time."
Steve Woollatt, who suffered a broken exhaust valve yesterday, also had a cylinder drop and the team were working on the rebuild as we walked by.
In the Pro Stock Bike ranks, Chris Hope has had to replace damaged selector forks and Herman van Driel has been working on gearshift problems, these updates courtesy of Steve Moxley.
Anders Larsson is qualified 6th in Pro Stock Bike with a 7.68, but is far from pleased with his performance. "We have had several problems with the bike and have been working on these. If it works, we will reach the final, if not, we will be out in round one!"
Anders Abrahamsson is in contrast delighted with his 7.553, which puts him into number two position. Anders said "It's a new personal best, our first time at Santa Pod and our first year in Pro Stock Bike, having run in Super Street Bike last year." Anders plans to run the tour next year, funds permitting.
10:35
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 1:
Norbert Kuno 6.686/211.25 def. Andy Robinson 6.796/200.98
Both racers hit shake, Andy had his wheels up whilst Norbert's car drifted to the right, they were side
by side but then Norbert pulled a little way ahead whilst Andy was pedalling.
Bert Englefield 6.609/210.23 def. John Ellis 8.037/132.03
UK v UK, John in as an alternate for Marc Meihuizen. Bert drove through shake, the car swayed left and right,
but he quickly pulled ahead of John who got off the throttle before the stripe. We believe a new PB or very close
for Bert.
Micke Lindahl 15.091/66.19 def. Håkan Fallström broke
Håkan was pushed to the side after his burnout so Micke took the bye. Micke hit shake at the hit,
big caterpillar tracks on the track, he was off the throttle at the Tree and idled through.
Henri Joosten 7.058/199.84 def. Micke Gullquist 7.009/207.47
Henri's tyres didn't light on two attempts at the burnout. Micke sat in stage up on the revs whilst
Henri took his time staging, Henri visibly got away first 0.301 to 0.400 and Micke had a real job on his hands trying
to catch him up. Henri got there first by 0.050, some smoke from his car, Micke's burst panel popped just before the finish line and
there also was a lot of smoke from his car in the shutdown area. Oil was found in both lanes on the shutdown
area.
Patrik Pers 6.529/218.32 def. Peter Wacker 7.140/193.94
Peter had a wounded bullet but he turned out, in Rob Loaring's words, "In case he could nip one" -
after Peter's win at the Main Event he knows that anything can happen. Peter pulled a 0.055 reaction
to Patrik's 0.107 but Patrik was ahead by 330 feet and was pulling away all the way down.
Christer Jacobs 6.456/204.50 def. Mats Eriksson 6.597/213.29
Mats got away first 0.090 to 0.145 and pulled a huge wheelie to about 100 feet, the Green Goblin drifted left,
Christer was ahead before helf track whilst Mats was straightening it out. 0.085 between them at the stripe.
Håkan Nilsson 6.902/207.57 def. Robert Koper 9.505/108.14
This was a pedal fest for the first couple of hundred feet as both hit cars shake and went out of shape,
Håkan got pretty close to the left guardrail, lifted, wrenched it straight and got back on the
throttle. Robert was off the throttle by 330 feet. Our good buddy Erik Zettervall tells us that
Håkan Nilsson is 2004 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Champion.
Patrick Wikström 6.610/209.40 def. Lars Inge Johansson 8.955/119.37
Patrick too had to pedal as the tyres shook, but he quickly got the car to hook up again. Lars Inge
left the line with a cylinder out and the car didn't sound or look right as he went up the track, the revs
shot up at nine hundred or so feet and the blower belt came off.
9:00
Simon took a stroll into the pits this morning and started by talking to the Top Fuel racers.
Thomas Nataas is quite confident about his first round pairing with Jon Webster but admitted "Racing is racing!" He is pleased with the car's performance this weekend.
Micke Kagered had some problems on his last qualifier with a head gasket and broken fuel line leading to a flash of flame at the end of the run. Micke said "One head and the block were damaged. We have replaced these parts and put in the same combination as before." Knowing that his championship depends on beating Tommy Moller in round one, Micke said "We can go as fast as Tommy and beat him."
Joran Persaker said of his first round with Lex Joon "We can take Lex or he can take me!" Joran said the car is running reliably.
Smax Smith said that his matchup with Andy Carter is What the fans need" and is aware that this race could help decide the championship. His lack of traction was attributed to tyres and clutch coming in too quickly and a fresh set of slicks have been installed, which Smax hopes will help.
Jon Webster who was shut down after being unable to reverse on his last qualifier, said "I knew about the problem with the lever just before we fired up but it was too late to fix it." Jon said that all the problems suffered are a result of the severe tyre shake earlier in the meeting. He said "We have worked hard to find all problems and we're in good shape now."
Tommy Moller said of his crucial matchup with Micke Kagered, "We will have him! We are feeling good and think we will win - the car is hooked up really well."
Lex Joon said "This is the first time we have raced Joran this year. Both cars have consistently run 5.0s, but we hope for our first four second pass. Track conditions are good and the cars are really close. I am confident we can do better!"
In Top Methanol Funny Car, Urs Erbacher said of his first round with the struggling Leif Andreasson, "Leif can be fast and has the newest car, so it won't be easy. Yesterday there was too much headwind to run a 5.60, but we can run better today."
Hakan Nilsson was delighted with his final qualifier. "It was our first 6.3 this year. We're happy with the combination and this track suits the car well. We need to win one round to gain the championship. To win the event we will need to rely on our consistency as the ETs are so close." When asked about the blower cars Hakan, a nitrous runner, said "I think they have a slight advantage and think the overdrive should be 20%."
8:30
Good morning again and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. It's the final day of the FIA European Finals and we're here to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every two moments.
Well, we had a bit of a night of it last night. Luckily we got to the end of racing with no more interruptions but the wind which had been blowing all day became a lot stronger and it also rained a fair bit. This morning, though, it's beautiful - not a cloud in the sky. You know what to do, get in your cars and get down here if you can. We still can't bring you any more detail about this morning's weather than the air pressure of 29.88 inches since we still have not had our weather station sensor returned. If you happen to know who took it then you know our E-Mail address - go ahead and shop 'em.
Just before we get going, the traditional raceday greeting to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from Rye, NH. Hope you are enjoying the coverage, guys. Good morning also to Viveca and Håkan Averstedt who are tuned in from Florida, watching the coverage whilst battening down the hatches for the next hurricane. "We are so lucky to have our power back", says Viveca. "We were of power for nine days after Charley and seven days after Frances. We could not watch the Indy race (last weekend). Bad timing Frances! We are now preparing ourselves for Hurricane Ivan. Are we gonna move back to Sweden after this? No way; we are still in paradise! Good luck to all the racers, we wish we were there!"
Super Comp racer Chris Johnson would be interested to hear from anyone who got a picture of his huge wheelstand yesterday. The MGZ stood up almost on its back bumper, be sure to pop round to Chris' pit if you snapped it.
We understand that Supertwin racer Anders Karling was kept in hospital overnight after he sideswiped the guardrail. Anders will not be racing today which hands the FIM/UEM Championship to Ton Pels, and I can tell you that Ton will be the first to say that he would not want to win the Championship anywhere other than on the track. Get well soon Anders!
Just after qualifying finished last night we were visited by Andy Carter, one of four racers with a mathematical chance of winning the FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship (Micke Kågered, Tommy Möler, and Jöran Persåker being the others). Andy explained what Friday's ten-second idle down the track was all about.
"Our strategy this weekend was to be number eight qualifier and hope that Micke was number one", said Andy. "We had no problems in that qualifying session on Friday, we just wanted it to look that way. It didn't work out of course because Micke wasn't number one. We tried to stay at number eight in the first qualifier today and still hoped that Micke would be number one qualifier. But we wanted some data so I went to sixty feet and then got off it, and I was hard on the brakes at the end (which we mentioned in our report yesterday - Ed). In the final session we knew we couldn't rely on Micke to be number one so we went for Plan B which was to qualify number one, set Low ET, and win the event and hope that Micke goes out first round. The good thing is that it's Tommy against Micke in the first round and the only person who is after Micke more than me is Tommy!"
Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson also paid us a visit at the end of the day, and he described his weekend so far as "A mess". Mats has been into the 6.4s with his beautiful Green Goblin Pro Mod but has so far managed a best in the 6.9s this weekend. "The car is shaking all the time", said Mats. "We've changed the suspension and the clutch but it keeps shaking, we will have to do something for tomorrow. Our computer has broken which is a problem. But we showed the power we have when it shook, I pedalled, and ran 216 miles per hour! Tomorrow is another day, it hasn't been our day today."
Carbon By Design Top Fuel team owner Knut Söderquist told us that today could be the most exciting day of his racing career. Two of the four possible Champions, including current leader Micke Kågered, drive CBD team cars. "Looking at the pairings it will be awesome!". Referring to Smax Smith's first round pairing with Andy Carter, Knut said "Suddenly Smax has become the key to the Championship". Knut gave us some other interesting information which you can find on today's Eurodragster News update.
We have the presentation at 9:30, then we kick off with the first round of NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified at 9:45, the first rounds of FIA and FIM/UEM at 10:05, then the second round of Pro Mod, then Sportsman eliminations. Stay tuned.