2005 FIA Main Event
Sunday (qualifying/Sportsman eliminations)
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16:00
Hans Christian Nilsen (SuperTwin) said "We missed the first run because on the warmup a spark plug flew up into our canopy. We improved to a 7.82 this morning but won't be out in the final session, so we hope we are in the field." Han Christian runs a Fast Cat motor which is a Harley copy.
Richard Sundblom (Pro Stock) said his shut off was for a few drips of water. "We'll have our horns on for the next session", joked Richard.
Peter Wacker (Pro Mod) was over the moon about his NPB 6.71. "It is our best time by 2 tenths. My left leg started shaking because we were in stage for so long, but we held it and want to improve to a 6.6."
Jon Webster (Top Fuel) said of his 5.09 run "We shut it off after 1000' as I felt it lose acceleration and didn't want to damage it. We hope to run it further next time."
Micke Gullqvist (Pro Mod) had a wild ride after a protracted time staging. He said "We have a new staging procedure with the Line-Loc but unfortunately it failed to disconnect properly and consequently we shook the tyres badly. We will run without it next time. We want to run another 6.4, but the track is so good, the car needs to get up on its tyres to work well."
Rolf Ammann (Pro Mod) said of his 6.77/215, "It's our first six, and we still had to lift as the car made a move to the right. We will adjust the 4-link to hopefully cure this. We changed our Lenco back to the old one last night and worked until 2am. We thank Usseglio Housebuilders (where Rolf has worked for more than 20 years), and Midland Oil Switzerland for their support."
Gordon Appleton (Pro Mod) said after his NPB 6.549/213, "You really have to drive the car with all this extra power. There is a big learning curve, but I've got a great crew with Adrian Spencer, Simon Payne, Dave and Rob. No-one's got better equipment, but there's no substitute for experience. The car needs a completely different technique for burnout and launch with a blower, and we haven't tested before this meeting." Gordon said the blower has 20% overdrive whereas some other competitors have 25% - the maximum will be reduced to 20% in August.
Ian Bishop (Pro Mod) said he was pushed back because he had burnt a pushrod. "We did this earlier and have run out of pushrods. We have 4 damaged ones and want to fabricate 2 good ones from them. We have put more power in the Chrysler B1 motor to get further into the field, and hope we can run again."
In the CBD Top Fuel stable, Chris Andrews' team was finishing off the rebuild, not having run in the first session today, whereas Gary Page was busy working on Joran Persaker's car. Chris and Gary are due out first in the final qualifying session, before Micke Kagered - who is the better funded stable member, and on bump spot.
Smax Smith said of his run "Due to the malfunction with the timing system, we were in stage for a long time, wearing the clutch down. When we had the time to prepare for the rerun, it was not sufficient to do anything other than change the adjustment. So on the rerun, the clutch was so worn that all the fingers flipped together. The clutch is damaged and have replaced this, but the motor is fine as I got off the throttle in time. However with 4 hours to build up a new clutch we are unfortunately not going to make the final session and could even be bumped from the field."
15:00
Magnus Hansson (Pro Stock) said of his ex-Greg Anderson NHRA-Championship winning Pontiac Grand Am, "You can't drive a better car, and we can't blame the car any more. How we run depends on how much horsepower we put in it and the tuning of the chassis. Bigger rear wheels affect the chassis adjustment and the usual adjustments we made in the past don't always work any more. Yesterday, for instance we put almost no clutch in it but on our old car it would have been at the top end of the settings. The car is very steady - even if it is out of shape, compared to the previous one which tended to wiggle. Today, we will put more clutch in. Every team member is equally important, but Marcus Svensson brings with him 10 years of experience working in the US with NHRA teams such as Mike Thomas, George Marnell and Mark Whisnant. I thank my sponsors Teknos, Ume Assistance, and Dakia. I would also like to thank Jimmy Karlsson of JAMS who has helped us with our Barry Grant motor on the dyno." Magnus improved to a 6.941 in the first session, his first six - well done!
Krister Johansson (TMD - nitro) was surprisingly less than delighted after his 5.537/244.73 NPB. "We shook the tyres and then pedalled it - unfortunately the result is two cracked wheel hubs and we have no spares. We'll see what we can do and hopefully can come back."
Jurgen Nagel (TMFC) was delighted with his 6.3s run after the previous problems. "We think we can improve. We have a datalogger and will use the data as a baseline to work from."
Dan Larsen (TMFC) said after a 5.874/240 "We have a new motor and want to drive it in. It shook, but not too much. It needs more clutch but we want to get the fuel system right first and then will give it more clutch. The track is better than last year as it is not too sticky for us at the top end."
Trev Capewell (TMFC) said after his traction-free run "We were quite confident to step it up, so we stepped up both the motor and the clutch. Unfortunately it was too much - I pedalled it in both first and second. We will back the clutch off but leave the motor as it is. Our target is the UK TMFC record held by Alan Jackson."
Urs Erbacher (TMFC) had the trans removed but it was for routine maintenance. He said "There was no damage. We are going for a new record. The testing helped and it is good to have the team back together after 6 months being away from the track. Our thanks go our sponsors Techno, SCS and Midland Oil (Switzerland)."
10:30
Good Morning, and welcome to the third day of pit updates. A few hellos before we start: hi to Jerry, Ozzy and Wendy and all the team at Shakey, who are there for the Rotorstock RWYB - have a good one!
Get well soon wishes go to Junior Dragster recer Jayne Kay who broke her arm in a non-racing related fall yesterday evening. Jayne is back at the track today with dad Gary. Hope to see you back racing soon Jayne!
Our first visit to the pits encountered two teams who had burnt the midnight oil, and them some. Steve Turner said that Rob drove the long way round yesterday with the TMD due to the drivetrain combination having changed, with new ratios and clutch. He encountered a slipping clutch and the team rebuilt this and put new rods in the motor. Steve said "We are looking for sponsors to help us run the FIA tour".
Gordon Smith (Fuel F/C) said "A hydraulic line blew off the clutch cannon causing all 15 "fingers" on the clutch to engage simultaneously." This resulted in the car going up in smoke on the hit. The team rebuilt the clutch system and also replaced a number of cylinder head valves, again working to the early hours. Gordon said the fuel funny cars will be running their second match race today and third tommorrow.
Steph Milam (TMFC) was pleased with the NPB speed of 231mph. "We're also really happy to have done 183mph at the eighth." The KB motor is producing more power with lower compression and more overdrive on the PSI blower, which outputs 60psi (compared to 45psi for the traditional roots type). Steph said "I would like to thank our sponsors Torco Oils and Nimbus Motorsports, and also Carbonex Racewear."
Lex Joon's Top Fueler now has a replacement front axle fitted following the massive wheelstand yesterday. The donor vehicle is the SPR display car. "I would like to say a Big Thankyou to Jon Webster, who worked to 3am to fix it."
Jon Webster, who also had his own car to attend to said "We shook the tyres on our second pass and have made changes to the clutch and ignition settings to calm it down."
Smax Smith said "We're the silent underdogs! We were pleased with our half passes yesterday and the motor was clean, with the old blower. We've installed a fresh Gibson-Miller blower and plan to run a 1000' pass. We've had no tyre shake at all, have taken some rear wing out, and re-welded the steering system which was being affected by the headwind."
Roger Petersson (Pro Stock Bike) said "We are using the same frame that we used to win the championship in 2001 and 2002, and was run by Remo Nasci last year. Meanwhile, we have sold the 2004 bike to a Greek racer called Stavros and are giving him some advice too. We are running one bike at the moment and the possibility of a multi-bike team depends on whether Remo can get support and also us getting a bike ready for Tony Clark. I would like to thank the team, Henke, Lasse and Jorgen (who owns the Supertwin company). My sponsors, including Veidec and Whiterace.it have given great support and I wouls also like to thank NGK, Standox and Fairgraphics." On the performance side, Roger said "The wind hurt us yesterday, but we feel much safer with the concrete wall there."
Patrik Wikstrom (Pro Mod) said of his wild ride yesterday, "We had a problem with traction yesterday with a new more powerful KB Stage 15 Motor, which has altered the weight balance. We will take some weights off the front of the car and place them on the rear." Patrik also mentioned that he himself has changed the weight balance as he has lost 12 kilos in weight. "We expect to run easy 6.2s and hope we can go under 6.2."
The CBD stable suffered some serious attrition yesterday, with both Joran Persaker and Chris Andrews having serious motor damage. After a late-night thrash, the motor of Joran was being fired up as I walked by at 9:30 and that of Chris Andrews was back together and the ignition system was being assembled. Chris joked "I hope the throttle stop works this time."
Micke Kagered meanwhile has a clean motor but sufferred serious tyre shake. He said "We've addressed it by putting more power into it, changing the fuel pump and altering the clutch setting."