2005 FIA European Finals
Friday (qualifying)
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The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news. Click here to go back to the event index 21:00 Martin Hill put on a great flame and thunder show and then ran to 300 feet in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC. Junior Dragster final top five qualifiers:
We ended the day with Junior Dragster qualifying under the lights. A great quote on the track radio from Chief Starter Ian Marshall: "I wonder if we'll see any header flames from these?". There were no changes to the top five in this final session. That's the end of qualifying for today, stay tuned as we are still working on today's pictures. 20:45 The shutdown area is still damp so this session of Pro Mod qualifying will be finished first thing in the morning. Martin Hill will be running a half pass in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC and then the final Junior Dragster qualifying session will be run. Stay tuned. 20:00 Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Gas, 9.50 Bike, Sportsman ET and Super Gas qualifying have all been ended, so here are the final top fives in those classes: Super Pro ET final top five qualifiers:
Pro ET final top five qualifiers:
Sportsman ET final top five qualifiers:
Super Gas final top five qualifiers:
9.50 Bike final top five qualifiers:
Comp Eliminator and Junior Dragster qualifying will finish qualifying this evening. All of these classes will then commence eliminations tomorrow morning. Super Comp and Super Street will have one more qualifying session tomorrow morning and will then go into eliminations. Stay tuned, the track is drying nicely - as ever the work is being done on the shutdown area. 19:50 The track crew are working hard to dry the track. The plan is to run the remaining pairings in Pro Mod session 2, then Comp Eliminator and Junior Dragster qualifying. Stay tuned. 18:25 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first): The first two pairings were the semis of the Swedish Open Pro Mod Championship held over from the Veidec Festival:
Håkan Nilsson 6.438/218.34 def. Micke Gullqvist 6.531/206.59 Jan Arve Nygård 10.252/76.25 bye, Ian Bishop no time bye, Roger Johansson 6.483/204.54 bye, Mats Eriksson 8.528/101.54 bye, Lars Olsson 6.717/205.62, Danny Cockerill 6.681/209.21, Bruno Bader 11.447/68.72, Rolf Ammann 7.000/212.46... Håkan N got the jump on Micke who took the long way round, improvements from both racers but both stayed in place. Marc went through to the Open Championship final after Patrick's Camaro wouldn't start, a bit improvement in ET for Marc and he moved a number of places up the standings. Bunny hops off the line again for Jan Arve and he got off the throttle at about 330 feet. Ian Bishop had a nitrous burp off the line. A much improved run for Roger moved him right up the standings, small spits of flame from the exhausts at each gear change then on the finish line. Some consternation around the ear of Mats' car before his run but he got the OK to go into stage, on the green the Goblin hit shake from about twenty feet and Mats got off the throttle at about 200 feet. Great side-by-side action from Lars and Danny, both improving and moving up the standings. Bruno hit shake and got off the throttle almost immediately, Rolf again went all over his lane but stayed with it all the way. We're now on hold for rain, stay tuned. The qualifying standings at the moment are as follow:
18:05 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Timo Habermann no time bye, Peter Schöfer 5.700/256.01, John Parkinson 10.548/69.58, Dave Wilson 5.491/257.10, Rob Turner 5.580/251.74 A weird one for Timo, about half a second into his run the engine cut out, something came off the engine and flew high into the air and didn't come back down to the ground for an age. Peter pedalled not far off the line and then the car was off and running, an improvement in ET but not placing. John was on and off the throttle and eventually stayed off it. A great match-up between Dave and Rob, Dave took number one spot by five thousandths and Rob improved but stayed in place. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
Trackside conditions are 22.1 C, 68% humidity and 29.50 inches of air. There is a thunderstorm going on to the south of the track, hopefully not coming this way! 17:55 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Trevor Capewell 7.242/218.32 bye, Kjell Sjöblom 6.159/224.03, Steph Milam 6.429/234.50, Martin Lundqvist 10.312/72.35, Arvid Grødem 6.306/186.01, Leif Andréasson did not start, Niclas Andersson 5.898/222.79 bye, Urs Erbacher 6.011/205.65, Dan Larsen 5.950/237.09 Same story as last round for Trev, the tyres went up in smoke and he stayed on the throttle, a brief pedal then back on it and under power to the finish line. Kjell's FC started bouncing towards half track, he stayed on the throttle and the car just touched the centre line past the stripe, from here it looked as if he came very close to Steph but he pulled it back smartly, and moved up the standings. Steph's car left the line lazily - 1.249 to sixty feet against Kjell's 1.113 - but as in the last round when the FC settled down Steph was off and running. Arvid had his hands full on his run, the car moving all over the lane with more and more violent moves, a great driving job by Arvid kept the car in his lane, meanwhile Martin shut off very quickly after leaving the line. Niclas was shut off as he pulled round to burn out as fluid was found from Arvid's car, Leif's TMFC did not start. On the re-start Leif's TMFC refused to start again so Niclas took the bye, a consistent pass although the Sandflex car seemed to have an attraction from the guardrail but Niclas just about kept it away. Dan drove through shake which opened made the escape hatch flap and the car made some violent moves but he stayed with it all the way, Urs' FC started drifting towards the centre line and he got off the throttle at about 1000 feet. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
17:15 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Susanne Callin 4.980/300.10, Thomas Nataas 8.926/86.53, Andy Carter 4.977/294.15, Gary Page 5.058/253.99, Lex Joon 4.991/274.60, Jöran Persåker 5.930/162.51, Jon Webster did not start, Smax Smith 9.772/71.43 bye, Micke Kågered 4.934/279.35, Tommy Möller 5.454/235.84 A stunning pass for Susanne, her first-ever four and her first-ever 300 on the same pass, into number one spot at that point, well done Susanne! Thomas' tyres started to go up in smoke at ninety feet and then the car turned hard left and he got off the throttle and rolled through. Andy's engine took a couple of attempts to start, he got the tyres lit in the burnout this time and he came back from his burnout quite quickly not to keep Gary waiting. Andy pulled a 0.048 red light, but a great pass from the B&Q car put Andy into #1 spot at that point, Gary ran to the right of centre all the way down, the CBD car blackstriping all the way, 3.386/245.71 at half track, then the blower belt came off at about 1000 feet and there was a cloud of smoke from the engine. Lex pulled a huge burnout before his match-up with Jöran, some consternation from Knut Söderquist around Jöran's bug catcher before he ran. Strong launches from both, 0.879 to 0.883 for Lex and Jöran respectively, Jöran's tyres went up in smoke at about 400 feet, he got off the throttle at half track, meanwhile Lex was on a stormer, the car started to make a move towards the top end and then there was a flash of flame from the engine of the MPM car right on the finish line. Jon Webster's team could not get the engine to start so they went back to the pits, Smax took the bye, on the green the front wheels lifted up, Smax pedalled and the wheels came up again so he got off the throttle and rolled through. Tommy's car again didn't run cleanly, it looked like cylinders were mixing towards the finish line, Micke took #1 spot with an arrow-straight run, Micke shut off early so there is more left in the Bahco Tools car. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
Trackside conditions are 25.1 C, 52% humidity and 29.50 inches of air. 16:40 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Magnus Hansson 7.441/152.10, Rickard Sundblom 10.607/84.92, Jan Murén 8.027/126.32, Ulf Jonsson 7.157/193.01, Jimmy Ålund 7.019/197.42, Michael Malmgren 6.972/197.61 Rickard headed for the centre line and was off the throttle very quickly, Magnus was on a stormer but the Grand Am made a sudden move to the left at half track and he got off the throttle. Now here's a strange thing - exactly the same happened to Jan, a move to the left at half track and he too got off it. Ulf improved but stayed where he was. Jimmy's car also made a move to the left towards half track but he stayed with it, an improvement for Michael but he stayed in place. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
16:35 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Tim Blakemore 7.086/182.04 bye, Ian King 6.394/202.81 bye, Pavel Bajer 8.436/157.22 bye, Steve Carey 7.135/182.04, Gary Jones 7.555/174.64, Sverre Dahl 30.966/17.78, TJ O'Brien no time, Nils Ole Lund 7.947/176.59, Steve Woollatt 6.485/213.26, Jamie Sneddon 7.769/184.30, Sandra Chaplain 8.495/154.58, Neil Midgley 6.790/195.59, Roel Koedam 6.502/208.42 Tim Blakemore opened his account after not being able to keep his engine running in session 1, the bike was heading for the centre line towards the top but Tim held onto it and got very close to repeating his six-second form at the Allstar Nationals, into third at that point. A great pass from Ian, 182.25 at the eighth although the engine note started to flatten out towards the top end so there is more left in the Puma. An improvement from Pavel moved him up a few spots into sixth at that point. A nice run from Steve C although a cylinder went out at the top end and then there was a cloud of smoke, nothing found on the track. Gary put in his first pass of the day and it got him into the standings at that point. The engine note on Sverre's bike shot up and cylinders went out off the line, Sverre got off the throttle then back on again but the engine wasn't having any of it so he rolled down the track. TJ got off the throttle off the line and rolled to a halt just before the finish line. A fine straight pass from Steve W put him in third at that point, Nils Ole was off the throttle by 200 feet but improved his ET and moved up. Sandra improved and moved up a place, no improvement for Jamie. An improvement from Neil but he stayed where he was, Roel's rear slick went up in smoke, he got off the throttle and back on and the bike hooked up but he had lost too much time to improve on his ET. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
16:15 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Job Heezen 10.004/96.54 bye, Lorenz Staüble 6.861/189.83, Ton Pels 7.167/148.97, Joachim Riemer 7.109/179.81, Hans Christian Nilsen 7.909/174.49, Ronny Aasen 6.980/202.58, Hans Olav Olstad 7.157/204.50, Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.675/207.55, Svein Gottenberg 7.479/185.23 Job had his hands full on this pass, the bike seemed determined to head for the guardrail and again the engine sounded as if it was misfiring. A nice match between Ton and Lorenz, Lorenz setting a new PB, Ton's bike looked as if it had a cylinder out and it was drifting towards the centre line all the way. Improvments for both, though, and they both moved up the field. Joachim improved slightly but stayed where he was in the standings, Hans Christian's bike was fishtailing a little. No improvement for Ronny who hit a small amount of shake but rode it out, Hans Olav moved above Ton with a solid straight pass. Svein Olav stepped up still further with a new PB to consolidate his #1 spot. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
16:00 Well, that was a clean-up and a half. Half a mile of very heavy synthetic oil which gave the track crew something to think about but as ever they came through for us with their expertise and sheer hard work and we're off ancd running again. Trackside conditions are 26.1 C, 44% humidity, and 29.53 inches of air. First up was Martin Hill in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC, a cracking flame and thunder show and then into the fives at 5.989/266.36. Nice one Martin! FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Ray Debben 8.126/164.81, Len Paget 12.432/106.16, Martin Bishop 7.811/165.41, Richard Gipp 7.787/166.62, Chris Hope 7.469/176.25, Anders Abrahamsson 7.415/179.27, Roger Pettersson no time (bye) A very consistent pass from Ray, Len appeared to have trouble shifting gears but he's now got a time. Martin and Richard were side-by-side, improvements from both and Richard leapfrogged Martin. Big improvements from both Anders A and Chris, Anders taking over the lead at that point and Chris into third. Anders L did not start so Roger took the bye, and his engine cut out off the start line. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
13:20 Fuel Funny Car match race 1: Gordon Smith 15.390/63.24 def. John Spuffard 6.144/160.79 DQ Sharkman at trackside reported that both cars are carrying AAFC1. Great burnouts, on the green Gordon's rear tyres went up in smoke, he stayed with it a while and then the car turned hard left and Gordon almost touched the centreline. Spuff got away cleanly, 0.946 to sixty feet, the tyres blackstriping all the while, the FC started drifting left and sideswiped the guardrail right on the half track mark - the boundary violation handing the win to Gordon. Meanwhile Gordon idled down the track but unbenkown to him the Shockwave FC was leaving a trail of oil all the way down the quarter mile and down the shutdown area. Word came back from the top end that both racers are just fine. 13:15 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Micke Gullqvist 6.570/208.28 bye, Urban Johansson 6.628/212.28, Bert Englefield 6.862/206.43, Jan Arve Nygård 10.847/76.81, Lars Olsson 6.768/203.82, Rolf Ammann 6.743/214.31, Bruno Bader 6.724/186.95, Ian Bishop 8.189/133.82, Henri Joosten 7.214/155.65, Andy Robinson 6.295/222.92, Kent Trenneman 6.578/208.47, Marc Meihuizen 6.848/202.80, Gordon Appleton 6.474/212.23, Danny Cockerill 6.787/208.53, Norbert Kuno 6.718/211.19, Mats Eriksson 6.796/217.19, Håkan Nilsson 6.469/219.43, Freddy Fagerström 6.361/221.53, Håkan Fallström 6.598/211.19, Patrick Wikström 6.339/221.45 bye , Roger Johansson 7.551/129.59 bye A great opener for Micke G, the car drifted to the left and he pedalled, pulled it straight and carried on, chutes out on the finish line. Urban appeared long after Bert had done his burnout and Chief Starter Ian Marshall chivvied him into stage. Bert has Troy Critchley's Crew Chief Darren Mayer overseeing his operation this weekend, Simon will tell you more about that. The breather on Bert's Coupe was giving off smoke in the second half of the track and down the shutdown area but Bert will be pleased with his first run with a four-link and the first run since he swiped the guardrail here a few weeks back. Urban put in a great-looking straight pass in the 'Vette. Jan Arve's car bunny hopped off the line and he was off the throttle by about 330 feet whilst Urban Johansson went straight and true, a good baseline. A lot of consternation around Bruno Bader's 'Vette before he pulled forward to stage, one of his crew pushing the car. Rolf's Coupe hit shake but Rolf stayed with it, the car described a long S all the way down the track making a particularly violent move at the top end, Bruno's 'Vette started to drift towards the guardrail at the finish line then the car made a hard move left - from here it looked as if he and Rolf got very close in the shutdown area and there was a lot of smoke from the 'Vette. Ian hit shake off the line and was off the throttle by half-track, Henri looked to be on a stormer but there was a huge bang and cloud of smoke at the finish line and the hood scoop flew into the air. Henri is just fine and no word of anything untoward on the car. The first pairing after the clean-up was Andy v Kent, an absolute stormer from Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy blowing away his personal best and taking #1 spot, well done Andy! Kent got the jump off the line and got there first, we think a new PB for Kent or very close. Marc and Gordon both drove through small amounts of shake, Gordon taking #2 spot at that point. Good baseline passes for Danny and Norbert, Danny took a slightly long way round. Blower v nitrous next up, Mats had to pedal once for shake whilst Håkan N's car squatted down and went, into #2 spot at that point. The eagerly-awaited run from Freddy was next, up against Håkan F, and Freddy didn't disappoint with a wild pass, wandering about his lane and not getting off it for anything and into second place. Patrick drove through a tiny amount of shake, running down the left side of the lane, taking second place from Freddy. Roger's car left the line in a subdued manner for a Pro Mod, Roger then drove through some shake and was off the throttle at half track. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
Trackside conditions are 25.8 C, 47% humidity and 29.56 inches of air. 12:25 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): John Parkinson 8.301/114.83, Timo Habermann 6.137/228.64, Krister Johansson 5.496/261.29, Peter Schöfer 5.745/242.03, Rob Turner 5.673/250.24, Dave Wilson 5.598/246.10 Good to see that John got his engine fixed after last weekend's problems, a checkout pass to half track, everything lookd fine. A great run from Timo, a new Personal Best, the car made a bit of a move towards the top end and there was a lot of smoke from the engine in the shutdown area. Krister laid down the pass which we knew was in the car, a real stormer with a slight drift to the left towards the top, and the first half of a new European speed record, well done Christer! Peter drove through very visible shake, the tops of the tyres really flapping, and stayed with it all the way. A nice match-up between Rob and Dave, it was difficult to hear from here which one it was but one of the cars' engines was making a grunting noise although there was nothing visibly wrong with either. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
Trackside conditions are 25.4 C, 47% humidity, and 29.56 inches of air. 12:15 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Steph Milam 6.820/226.16, Kjell Sjöblom 6.438/219.51, Trev Capewell 8.841/107.42, Martin Lundqvist 5.958/235.73, Arvid Grødem 6.025/242.05, Ulf Leanders 6.300/235.75, Niclas Andersson 5.906/235.65, Leif Andréasson 5.877/242.98, Dan Larsen 5.823/247.45, Urs Erbacher 5.710/249.93 Kjell rolled through stage, luckily just as the lights ran, the car rolled a few yards and then Kjell hit it and ran all the way through. Steph's FC was doing the kangaroo hops off the line but when the car settled down it hooked up and went. Martin Lundqvist ran a new PB on his pass, his first five, well done Martin! Trev's tyres went up in smoke but he stayed with it past half track, the car was making some serious moves and he eventually got off the throttle. So close to the fives for Arvid but a good baseline and a new PB speed; Ulf hit shake, pedalled, hit more shake, pedalled again and then the FC hooked up and shot down the track really piling on the speed towards the top end. A nice match-up between Niclas and Leif, Niclas strapped a huge holeshot on Leif and got there first although it doesn't matter in qualifying, Leif drove through shake to about 300 feet, the car looked to be bouncing at half track but Leif stayed with it and took #1 spot at that point. Dan and Urs fogged out the start line before their match-up, a great side-by-side pass with Dan driving through shake whilst Urs' FC made a move to the left at half track but both stayed with it. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
12:00 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Smax Smith 6.964/120.67, Micke Kågered 5.082/250.29, Gary Page shut off, Jon Webster 5.159/267.57 bye, Jöran Persåker shut off, Andy Carter 6.515/128.56, Susanne Callin shut off (bye), Tommy Möller 5.316/248.50, Lex Joon 6.180/138.85 Nice burnouts from Smax and Micke, on the green Smax was away first 0.218 to 0.221, 0.897 to sixty feet for Smax to Micke's 0.922. Smax was off the throttle by half track whilst Micke clocked 242.17 at the eighth then it looked as if cylinders started to go out and Micke was off the throttle at about 1000 feet. Gary's dragster left a big trail of fuel in the burnout - Sharkman at trackside said it looked as if a fuel line had broken - and it then looked as if Gary was having trouble getting reverse, but the track crew told him to shut off anyway. Jon took the bye, 0.943 to sixty feet, 3.469/235.67 at half track, the car made a couple of big moves between 1000 feet and the finish line and Jon was off the throttle a touch early. From here it looked as if Jöran couldn't get the car out of reverse after the burnout and he shut off, Andy's tyres didn't light on the burnout but it didn't harm him - 0.886 to sixty foot and then off the throttle at about 400 feet. Susanne was next up with a bye, a nice burnout and as she pulled forward to stage the engine cut out very abruptly. A big burnout from Lex before he and Tommy paired up, Lex got away first 0.126 to 0.141, 0.877 to 0.982 in Lex's favour at sixty feet, Tommy's car really seemed to be struggling. Lex was on a stormer but then his rear tyres started to haze, he pedalled, then the blower belt came off. Tommy stayed with it but looked to be mixing up cylinders and the car was trailed by a yellow haze. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
11:30 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Rickard Sundblom 9.577/95.95, Jan Murén 7.012/198.45, Ulf Jonsson 7.213/191.46, Magnus Hansson 7.014/196.71, Michael Malmgren 6.976/198.06, Jimmy Ålund 6.951/198.05 Jan pulled a 0.087 reaction, a good straight run with the chutes out on the start line, Rickard meanwhile took the long way round and eventually got off the throttle as the car really started to move around. Ulf's Avenger was smoking for the first half of the track but it cleared, meanwhile Magnus laid down a solid, straight baseline run. A great side-by-side match-up from Michael and Jimmy, Jimmy away first 0.109 to 0.140, eleven thousandths in it at half-track, and almost identical terminal speeds. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
11:20 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jamie Sneddon 7.660/188.39 bye, TJ O'Brien 21.510/26.19 bye, Sandra Chaplain 8.728/156.81, Pavel Bajer 8.635/154.10, Joey Bon 17.038/41.92, Steve Carey 8.600/147.97, Gary Jones no time, Neil Midgley 6.879/198.27, Steve Woollatt 9.472/98.44, Nils Ole Lund 8.500/104.84, Sverre Dahl 8.510/217.22 bye, Roel Koedam 6.302/209.03, Ian King 9.274/91.27 A personal best for Jamie Sneddon on the Blackbird Super Street Bike, oil was found on the bike at the end of the track so we had a quick track check, nothing untoward found. TJ took a bye after Tim Blakemore's engine wouldn't stay lit. TJ pulled a wheelie off the line and he wasn't holding his front wheel straight when the front came down, the bike made a move to the right and TJ got off the throttle and rolled through to the end. A nice pass for Pavel on his first run on British soil, Sandra also put down a good baseline pass. TFB v TFB for the next pairing, nitro fumes filling our office up here in Race Control with great burnouts from Joey and Steve C. On the green Steve C was away first but all eyes were quickly on Joey as there was a big sheet of flame and smoke from the MPM bike, meanwhile Steve C's bike headed for the right guardrail and he got off the throttle just after half track. Gary left before the lights ran so got no time, in the other lane Midgo put in a stormer with a new PB speed, well done Midgo! Steve W's tyre went up in smoke almost off the line whilst Nils Ole got to about 200 feet before his tyre started to haze and the bike started to drift towards the guardrail, both tried again but both were off the throttle by half track. Sverre's rear tyre blazed off the line, he feathered the throttle three times with the same result each time, then the bike hooked up and went - check out the huge speed. Numbers one and two in the Championship went head-to-head to finish the session, a storming match-up to begin with with both bikes hooking up and going, but then Ian's bike threw a belt just before half track and Roel disappeared into the distance to take #1 spot. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
Trackside conditions are 23.2 C, 56% humidity, and 29.56 inches of air. 10:50 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Job Heezen 9.836/116.50 bye, Hans Christian Nilsen 7.676/179.45, Lorenz Staüble 18.997/33.26, Svein Gottenberg 7.100/185.85, Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.712/199.13, Hans Olav Olstad 7.289/203.74, Joachim Riemer 7.128/198.46, Ton Pels 8.509/118.97, Ronny Aasen 6.837/202.88 Job got very close to the centre line and it sounded as if the bike was misfiring in the second half. Lorenz got out of shape off the line, the bike trying to pitch him off, and then there was a bang from the engine at about 100 feet, meanwhile Hans Christian got into a real tankslapper at half track but kept the bike upright and in his lane. A great pair of runs from Svein and Svein Olav, Svein Olav recording what we think is a personal best with the bike fishtailing most of the way so there is more to come there. Hans Olav and Joachim had a nice side-by-side run, a big speed for Hans Olav, 0.007 between them at the stripe. The numbers one and two in the Championship then went head-to-head, Ton's slick went up in smoke off the line, he feathered the throttle and tried again but had to give up. Meanwhile Ronny put in a solid baseline pass, very straight indeed. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
10:40 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Len Paget broke (bye), Richard Gipp 8.014/165.59, Chris Hope 7.527/174.47, Ray Debben 8.184/163.52 bye, Anders Larsson 7.428/177.32, Martin Bishop 7.845/167.79, Anders Abrahamsson 7.547/175.04, Roger Pettersson 7.507/154.12 Len Paget's engine cut out off the line. UK v UK in the next session, Chris pulled a great 0.040 reaction and put in a good straight run, Richard was off the throttle a little early. Ray's bike hesitated off the line but then picked up, probably lost a few tenths there. Anders L clocked 0.080 off the line, a nice straight pass and #1 spot at that point, a nice baseline run for Martin. Anders A was out of the groove for a lot of his run whilst it sounded as if Roger shut off a little early but his pass was good for #2. The qualifying standings after this session are as follow:
10:30 Super Street top five qualifiers after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. 10:25 Super Gas top five qualifiers after session 6:
Our good buddy Nev Mottershead had a hairy moment at 1000 feet, the Supra suddenly turning hard left. Nev did a great driving job to pull the car straight and keep it in his lane - that'll be why Sky News described Nev as "One of Europe's leading drag racers". Nev came back after the Super Street session so I am guessing a re-run because it wasn't his fluid on the track and he promptly took number two spot. The top fifteen qualifiers are in the 9.9s. 10:00 Sportsman ET top five qualifiers after session 6:
Steve Phillips moved into the top five in this session, at number three. 9:45 9.50 Bike top five qualifiers after session 6:
Steve Coombs moved into third place in this session. 9:35 Super Pro ET top five qualifiers after session 6:
Vince Gibbs took over the lead in this session, a thousandth from taking the Eurodragster.com/LA Racing Parts Perfect ET Award which is still available today although one suspects not for much longer. John Tebenham moved into the top five, originally at number three but bumped to fourth by Vince Gibbs. Another PB and breakout for John Sleath at 8.065/182.84, well done John! Trackside conditions at the end of the Super Pro ET session were 20.5 C, 67% humidity, and 29.53 inches of air. 9:20 Super Comp top five qualifiers after session 6:
Pete Creswell improved his ET and moved up to fourth, in the next pairing Phil Bennett came into the top five at number three and bumped Pete down a place. 9:15 Pro ET top five qualifiers after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this first session for today. 8:00 Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for day two of qualifying for the FIA European Finals. It's the start of the end of the European Championships 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 is broadcasting a picture every two minutes. You can view the webcam via the Event Index page. Simon is on his way to the pits so stay tuned to today's Pit Notes to see what he finds out. It's a beautiful day, sunny and a little misty but even as I type the sun is burning off the mist and more and more of the shutdown area is appearing. Trackside conditions right now are 16.2 C, 86% humidity and 29.50 inches of air. This morning's Hellos start with a very special greeting to Pro Mod racer Jörgen Karlsson who, our buddy Patrik Jacobsson tells us, will be tuned in from his hospital bed in Sweden. It's great to hear that, Jörgen, we hope that your recovery is going well. We promise that we will post the Pro Mod (and indeed all) results as quickly as we can. Hello also to Anders Envall who is also tuned in from Sweden. Hopefully the toast last night will ensure that things will look up, Bostic. Our good buddy Erik Zettervall is tuned in from his busy home office, hello Erik and get on with your work! Morning greetings also to Hannele Höydén, Ozzy Ewing, Iain Burns, and Perry Antoniou who have been in touch to say Hi and say nice things about the Event Coverage. Thanks for taking the trouble to write guys. We're due to start at 9:00 this morning with Sportsman qualifying. The first Pro session commences at 10:30 and the second at 14:30, and qualifying finishes at 17:35. Stay tuned and as soon as we get going we will bring you all the news. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |