2005 FIA Main Event
Monday (eliminations)
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19:15
Today's pictures are now available, you can view those via the Event Index.
That's the end of Eurodragster.com's event coverage of the FIA Main Event. Thanks very much for tuning in. Your FIA Main Event coverage team was:
Eurodragster.com's FIA Main Event coverage was dedicated to the memory of the late David Elden, who was a clutch technician on the Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team. David passed away in February after bearing a long illness with good humour, bravery and dignity, but he will always be remembered.
Thanks for their help and hospitality this weekend to Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Martin Wallis, John Hackney, Sharon Norris and Andy Marrs of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall, Fire Chief Jon Cross, and Santa Pod Raceway's track and safety crews; Kjell Pettersson; Paula Marshall, Carole Ismail and Kathy Taylor; track announcers John Price, Graham Beckwith and Björn Sundqvist; David Anniwell; Christer Abrahamsson; Sue Morris; Roger Gorringe; Caroline Day; David Lloyd-Jones; Gittli Koller and Heike Schafer; Lex Joon and Gerda Dikjstra; Steve Woollatt and the Dealer Top Fuel Bike team; Jöran Persåker and the Nasty Toys team; the American Car Imports Racing TMD team; Nigel and Julian of Nitro FM; Andrea Wucher; Yvonne Tramm; Pat and Stephen Talbot; Mark Pointer and Sharon; Nev and Libby Mottershead; Erik Zettervall; Micke Kågered and Åsa Kinnemar; the Acorn Hog Roast and the Coffee Wagon. On a personal note Tog would like to thank everyone who showed concern after his recent health problems, and Shark would like to say a big Thank You to his mother for his new laptop without which his photo gallery work would be next to impossible.
Eurodragster.com's next Event Coverage is scheduled to be end-day reports and galleries from the Shakespeare Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway in mid-June; our next event coverage from Santa Pod Raceway will be from the SPRC Summernationals at the end of June.
This Event Coverage was brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
17:00
Fuel Funny Car match race 4
John Spuffard 5.769/220.45 bye, Gordon Smith shut off
Gordon Smith shut off after returning from his burnout. Spuff clocked 0.931 to sixty feet, pedalled at about 330 feet,
there was a yellow haze from the Showtime FC and cylinders went out on one side pushing the car around, Spuff got
off the throttle just before the stripe.
Martin Hill closed out the FIA Main Event with a 6.074/203.33 half-pass in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. Martin clocked 4.038/199.13 at half-track.
Stay tuned as we are now working on today's pictures.
16:45
Sportsman final results:
Super Pro ET: Steve Johnson (7.30) 7.341/177.08 def. Vince Gibbs (8.84) 8.835/149.06 breakout
Pro ET: Lee Huxley (10.50) 10.530/125.69 def. Chris Isaacs (9.63) 9.717/125.75 red light
Sportsman ET: Rick Denny (13.09) 13.173/95.78 def. Jon Turner (12.50) 12.616/106.58
Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.862/153.03 def. Malcolm Francis 8.817/156.75 lesser breakout
Super Gas: Frank Mason 9.901/133.97 def. Tony Morris 9.948/126.72
Super Street: John Grant 10.966/128.23 def. Paul Spiers 10.978/120.95 red light
Junior Dragster: Peter Walters (8.75) 8.965/72.93 def. Daniel Giles (14.52) 14.732/40.28
9.50 Bike: Steve Knapp 13.086/110.96 def. Paul Hambidge 9.591/143.30 red light
Frank Mason's margin of victory in the Super Gas final was 0.000 - the third of the day. Andy Marrs did the numbers and Frank won by 2.019 inches Brian Pateman followed that up by taking the Super Comp final on a 0.000 margin and a lesser breakout.
16:40
FIA Top Fuel Dragster final
Lex Joon 5.410/219.60 def. John Webster 15.065/27.05
Jon left first 0.096 to 0.111, 0.894 to sixty feet for Lex to 0.953 for Jon, Jon hit vicious shake which left a
chequered pattern on the track and he got off the throttle and pulled over to the side of his lane,
Lex's dragster drifted left and suddenly there was a ball of flame and yellow
haze from the MPM dragster, Lex stayed on the throttle with the dragster streaming flame and then got off
the throttle just short of the finish line. Lex's dragster left a trail of oil from half track.
16:35
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified final
Roger Johansson 6.598/208.27 def. Patrick Wikström 7.932/135.93
Patrick's team had a thrash to make the final after damaging a piston and liner. On the green Patrick was
away first but hit terrible shake which he tried to drive through but eventually gave up. Roger's Mustang drifted a little but
he stayed with it and took the win by 1.316.
16:25
FIA Top Methanol Dragster final
Dave Wilson 5.422/248.83 def. Rob Turner 5.604/249.85
Dave left first 0.097 to 0.110 and stayed ahead all the way down to take the event win with another new
European ET record, well done Grumpy!
16:15
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final
Urs Erbacher 5.725/252.37 def. Dan Larsen 5.783/244.35
0.115 to 0.151 in Urs' favour off the start line, the cars welded together down the track, Dan going
straight whilst Urs moved left and right a little but Urs got there first and set a new Europwan speed
record, well done Urs!
FIA Pro Stock final
Jackie Hansen 7.050/195.52 def. Jimmy Ålund 7.071/195.59 red light
Jimmy pulled a 0.027 red light but Jackie had the better ET anyway despite moving around all over his lane.
16:10
FIM/UEM Supertwin final
Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.924/202.86 def. Joachim Riemer broke
Svein Olav got away first 0.200 to 0.251, Joachim's engine cut out about twenty feet off the line.
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike final
Ian King 6.383/206.19 def. Steve Woollatt 6.597/212.25
Ian got away first 0.192 to 0.379 and his incrementals tell the tale of pulling away from Steve all the
way down. Tremendous straight runs from both bikes.
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike final
Martin Bishop 7.673/168.57 def. Richard Gipp 7.827/169.86
Richard was away first 0.077 to 0.094 but Martin caught up with him by 330 feet and took the stripe by 0.138.
15:35
Ulf Leanders followed up Sportsman ET with an 8.024/109.84 checkout pass in the blue IronCad Top Methanol FC. Ulf, who has been having problems with a new more aggressive clutch, clocked 0.978 to sixty feet before hitting shake at about seventy feet and getting off the throttle.
9.50 Bike eliminations round 4 winners: Paul Hambidge 9.787/139.23, Steve Knapp 9.444/143.28
Super Street eliminations round 3 winners: John Grant 10.924/119.00, Paul Spiers 10.946/121.27
Super Comp eliminations round 3 winners: Malcolm Francis 8.966/165.41, Brian Pateman 8.826/150.09
Sportsman ET eliminations round 3 winners: Jon Turner (12.50) 12.549/107.63, Rick Denny (13.09) 13.112/101.35
Super Gas eliminations round 4 winners: Frank Mason 9.955/129.32, Tony Morris 9.815/144.85 bye
Junior Dragster eliminations round 4 winners: Peter Walters (8.80) 8.809/73.89, Daniel Giles (14.50) 14.544/41.02 bye
15:05
Competition Eliminator final: Per Mikkelsen (8.29) 7.803/178.52 def. Stefan Giese (7.67) 7.870/154.64 red light
Super Pro ET eliminations round 4 winners: Steve Johnson (7.30) 7.303/178.50, Vince Gibbs (8.75) 8.847/149.94 bye
Pro ET eliminations round 4 winners: Chris Isaacs (9.63) 9.620/120.00, Lee Huxley (10.55) 10.532/126.77
14:50
Martin Hill followed up Top Methanol Dragster with a 6.303/170.54 half-pass in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. Martin was clocked at 4.017/199.81 at half track. The body of FF3 was damaged on Martin's earlier pass when the front tyres grew and rubbed against the inside so Martin took it easy on this one.
Junior Dragster eliminations round 3 winners: Peter Walters (8.75) 8.852/73.53, Dan Giles (14.50) 14.549/40.54, Milly Bond (13.98) 13.906/44.49
Super Gas eliminations round 3 winners: Frank Mason 9.955/138.05, Jon Morton 9.971/127.15, Tony Morris 10.158/123.55
Sportsman ET eliminations round 2 winners: Dave Nelson (14.45) 14.763/91.14 bye, Rick Denny (13.20) 13.090/101.59, Jon Turner (12.50) 12.521/107.42, Nick Gay (13.30) 13.332/101.14
14:35
FIA Top Methanol Dragster semi finals
Dave Wilson 5.425/249.54 def. Peter Schöfer 5.933/220.60
Peter was away first by 0.007 but then he hit shake and the car headed left towards the centre line, Peter
pedalled and corrected but then the PSR dragster turned hard right, Peter wrenched it back and it headed for
the centre line again, he tried everything he could to catch Grumpy but Grumpy was long gone, a clean straight
pass and a new European ET record backed up by his previous runs. Well done Grumpy! Peter's tyre tracks
down the right hand lane describe a long and graceful S!
Rob Turner staged (bye)
Rob's team noticed that a rear slick had blistered so Rob staged and took the green. Grumpy of course has
lane choice in the final.
14:30
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified semi finals
Roger Johansson 6.493/193.12 def. Danny Cockerill 6.692/211.29
Danny pulled a 0.098 reaction to Roger's 0.203, but then Roger was past him by 330 feet, backing off just before
the finish line. An improvement for Danny but Rogert had him covered by 0.094 at the stripe.
Patrick Wikström 6.255/227.17 def. Frededy Fagerström 6.689/209.52
Huge burnouts from both Patrick and Freddy and then it was all about Patrick, driving through shake,
clocking the first-ever 6.2-second pass in European Pro Mod history, and setting new ET and Speed
records backed up by his previous runs. Well done Patrick! Freddy gave it everything he had but when
Patrick's on this form there's nothing anyone can do.
14:20
9.50 Bike eliminations round 3 winners: Paul Hambidge 9.827/126.00, Fred Furlong 9.951/114.18, Andy Burfitt 9.514/131.86, Steve Knapp 13.566/83.04
Super Comp eliminations round 2 winners: Brian Pateman 8.904/148.08, Malcolm Francis 14.508/124.33, Phil Bennett 8.879/145.16, Chris Johnson 8.915/148.60
Super Street eliminations round 2 winners: John Grant 10.892/132.85, Paul Spiers 10.910/120.61, Dave Cherrett 10.910/96.17, Elisabeth Bredal 10.902/103.23
14:15
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike semi finals
Martin Bishop 7.675/172.33 bye, Roger Pettersson no show
No sign of Roger Pettersson, Martin took the win with a very good-looking pass.
Richard Gipp 7.666/170.34 def. Ray Debben 7.918/164.96
Richard away first and never looked back, Ray will be pleased with his weekend though. When was the last time
a European Pro Stock Bike final didn't have at least one Scandinavian? Richard has lane choice.
14:10
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike semi finals
Ian King 6.396/200.78 def. Neil Midgley 6.827/193.96
A consistent run for Ian King took the win, Neil got away first 0.167 to 0.219, identical 330 foot times of
2.884, but then Ian pulled away and clocked another 6.3. Our very best wishes to Neil's crew Mike Vickers and H in their new life in Australia.
Steve Woollatt 6.592/211.23 def. Gary Jones 7.725/162.99
The Comp Bike away first, Gary 0.204 to Steve 0.411, Steve was past Gary before 300 feet and took the win
by 0.925, Gary and the Jones and Friend team will be pleased with their run.
14:05
FIM/UEM Supertwin semi finals
Trackside conditions at the start of this session were 17.0 C, 48% humidity, and 30.18 inches of air.
Svein Olav Rolfstad 7.052/199.87 def. Hans Olav Olstad 7.358/196.71
Hans Olav got away first 0.136 to 0.333, but Svein Olav was past by half track and took the stripe by
0.109.
Joachim Riemer 7.437/157.92 def. Hans Christian Nilsen 7.964/157.71
Again the second to leave was the first to the finish line, Hans Christian at 0.178 to Joachim's 0.287,
but Joachim was past by 400 feet and took the win. There was smoke from Hans Christian's engine on the
finish line but nothing found on the track.
13:55
Fuel Funny Car match race 3
Gordon Smith 10.116/79.92 def. John Spuffard 18.259/46.97
Gordon was away first 0.186 to Spuff's 0.355, Spuff's tyres went up in smoke whilst Gordon clocked 0.857 to
sixty feet and looked good to about 200 feet then smoke came out of both sides of headers - I am guessing
the blower belt came off.
13:40
FIA Top Fuel Dragster semi finals
Jon Webster 5.089/264.76 def. Micke Kågered 6.769/131.26
0.120 to 0.129 in Micke's favour on the green, Jon started to pull away as Micke hit shake and then shut off,
flame started to appear from the right side of the Canto Consultancy car and Jon was off the throttle. Word
came back from the top end that the Canto car had spat its right bank of headers. We have one of Eurodragster.com's
webcam sponsors into the final, will he be joined by the other?
Lex Joon 4.930/288.37 def. Tommy Möller 5.867/163.09
And the answer is yes! Lex's Crew Chief Eddie Corr made some last-minute adjustments around the front of the engine of the MPM Oil dragster
before starting, no sign of urgency or concern so I guess it was something routine. On the green Lex was away first
0.129 to 0.178, first to sixty feet at 0.858 to Tommy's 0.896, Tommy's tyres were already shaking at that point, the car moved towards
the centre line. A brief pedal from Tommy then the car headed abruptly for the right-hand guardrail - it was
a very close shave but Tommy pulled it away from the wall and got off the throttle. Lex had a little shake to about 300 feet but judging by his tyre tracks he pedalled and then
the car picked up and off it went, then disappearing in a cloud of smoke at the finish line, and there was oil in
his lane. Lex has lane choice in the final.
13:15
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car semi finals
Urs Erbacher 7.177/131.93 bye, Niclas Andersson shut off
Niclas was shut off for a fluid leak, Urs hit huge shake not far off the line and pedalled as the car
made a move towards the guardrail, then shut off as the engine made a rumbling noise. Lane choice for the final
up for grabs in the next race...
Dan Larsen 5.852/235.75 def. Leif Andréasson 6.048/234.41
A great race! Leif got away first and no hint of the earlier shake in the first half, but Dan was ahead by sixty feet
and pulled away driving through shake as Leif's car looked as if it was bouncing at half-track. Leif stayed with it
but Dan got there first by 0.135. Dan has lane choice in the final.
13:05
FIA Pro Stock semi finals
Jimmy Ålund 7.236/198.12 bye
Jimmy took the bye into the final, the car made a grunting sound and hesitated slightly off the
start line but then picked up.
Jackie Hansen 7.103/195.59 def. Ulf Jonsson 7.149/193.90 red light
This one was done on the start line as Ulf pulled a 0.192 red light, Jackie moved around his lane some
but stayed with it and has lane choice over Jimmy in the final.
13:00
Super Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners: Steve Johnson (7.30) 7.358/177.27 bye, Vince Gibbs (8.79) 8.822/148.56, Gary Malin (7.63) 7.664/172.33
A big Well Done to Craig Owen on making the third round in his first competitive outing in the Mark Flavell Racing dragster, going out to Gary Malin.
Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners: Lee Huxley (10.55) 10.633/115.38 Clive Cox (10.27) 10.325/130.83, Kev Slyfield (11.52) 11.537/116.91, Chris Isaacs (9.63) 9.630/137.68
Congratulations to Chris Isaacs on his 9.630 on a 9.63 dial-in.
12:40
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 2
Trackside conditions at the start of this session were 15.4 C, 58% humidity, and 30.18 inches of air
Patrick Wikström 6.566/219.72 def. Andy Robinson 8.053/135.46
0.114 to 0.115 off the start in Andy's favour, then both cars hit shake, Andy's Stude made a violent move to the right
and he got off the throttle. Patrick drifted towards the centre line leaving caterpillar tracks but he
drove through the shake and took the win by 1.485.
Roger Johansson 6,874/195.03 def. Håkan Fallström 8.278/189.10
Another shake-fest, both Roger and Håkan had to pedal, Roger after blackstriping all the way to 330 feet then
making a move to the right, Roger realised that Håkan wasn't there and Håkan likewise and both
hit it again. Roger's reaction was quicker and he stayed ahead although Håkan gave it his all.
Danny Cockerill 6.778/207.55 bye, Ian Bishop shut off
Ian shut off after his burnout and pused over to the side, Danny's Chevy was slightly hesitant off the line
but then picked up its skirts and ran, Danny drove through a little shake and then the car made a move to
the right but he stayed with it and drove all the way through.
Freddy Fagerström 6.775/209.25 def. Mats Eriksson 12.272/67.74 crossed centre line
Freddy appeared to have trouble starting but got it lit whilst Mats sportingly waited. Freddy then pulled
a 400 foot burnout whilst Mats took it a lot more conservatively, only just burning out over the start line.
Freddy did his usual high-speed back-up and pulled forward at the same time as Mats. One the green
Freddy got out first 0.190 to 0.304, Mats hit shake and the Green Goblin turned left and crossed the
centre line just as Freddy drifted to the right. Mats wrenched the car to the right and just
missed the 330 foot reflector whilst Freddy disappeared into the distance.
Martin Hill followed Pro Mod with a tremendous 5.802/281.43 in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC, backing off at about 1200 feet.
12:25
FIA Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 1
Peter Schöfer 5.680/251.51 bye, Krister Johansson no show
Krister torched a head and could not appear so Peter took the bye, the PSR dragster hesitated a little off
the start line but then quickly picked up.
Rob Turner 5.541/252.85 def. Timo Habermann 10.747/68.40
Timo gave a good account of himself in his first-ever TMD race, until the front wheels of his dragster
lifted up, the tyres shook, and the blower belt came off. He would have had to have gone some
to beat Rob who went straight and true and into a semi-final bye.
Dave Wilson staged (bye)
Dave staged and took the green light and will face Peter Schöfer in the next round.
12:10
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 1
Roger Pettersson 7.287/181.36 def. Len Paget 8.171/154.64
Len pulled a great 0.017 reaction to Roger's
0.098 but he was then a spectator soon after as Roger pulled the quickest run of the weekend.
Martin Bishop 7.591/171.70 def. Chris Hope 7.916/160.78
Martin left first and then never looked back, Chris' bike drifted a little to the left in the second
half but he was already behind.
Ray Debben 7.874/165.40 def. Anders Abrahamsson 7.518/180.13 red light
Anders pulled a 0.014 red light and it was all over, Ray with another new personal best into
the semi-finals, well done Ray!
Richard Gipp 7.701/171.04 def. Martin Newbury 8.772/158.92
Martin in as an alternate for Anders Larsson who melted a piston, he left first but the Crew 22 bike hesitated off the
start line and Richard pulled away.
12:05
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 1
Ian King 6.336/205.47 def. Shaun Branch 7.626/139.82
Shaun got away first but Ian was past him by 330 feet with a very strong, straight run and another personal
best, well done Ian! A nice pass for Shaun but Ian just had too much for him.
Neil Midgley 6.976/173.21 def. Steve Carey 7.126/185.99
Mike Vickers and H are emigrating to Australia later this week and Midgo has given them the best start to
their last UK race, away first 0.168 to Steve;s 0.544 and never looking back with another six-second pass. Steve
chased hard with his straightest run in some time but he couldn't make up the deficit.
Gary Jones 8.287/157.85 def. Sandra Chaplain 9.510/147.09
Sandra strapped a 0.110 to 0.634 holeshot on Gary but he calmly passed by the 330 foot marker and
took the stripe by 0.699, slightly down on his earlier performances but enough to do the job.
Steve Woollatt 6.616/212.23 def. Dave Holland 7.255/165.33
Dave got away first 0.074 to 0.225 but Steve was past him at 330 feet and disappeared into the distance,
Dave backed off towards the top end. Steve told us that he was very please with his new Mickey Thompson
tyre - "It doesn't shake", he said.
12:00
FIM/UEM Supertwin eliminations round 1
Svein Olav Rolfstad 7.694/189.79 def. Tomas Sulek no time
We had another sprinkle of rain during the clean-up from Arvid Grødem's oildown but we're good
to go again with the start of Supertwin eliminations. Tomas broke off the line, Svein Olav's bike turned hard left
off the line, he feathered the throttle and really had his hands full all the way down the track as
the bike fishtailed.
Hans Olav Olstad 7.220/201.00 def. Svein Gottenberg no time
Svein got the jump off the line 0.076 to 0.156, but then his rear slick went up in smoke, there was a bang and
a belt came off. Meanwhile Hans Olav put in a clean straight pass, backed off a touch early.
Joachim Riemer 7.316/168.57 def. Ton Pels 7.329/178.01
A very energetic post-burnout push-back by Ton's son Vincent, the quickest I think I've ever seen for a
Supertwin! There was a brief staging duel then Joachim went in, on the green Joachim visibly left first,
Ton's rear slick briefly went up in smoke and he feathered the throttle then the chase was on, Ton's bike
then headed for the centreline and he just missed the top end reflectors but Joachim had got there
first by 0.142.
Hans Christian Nilsen 7.751/175.03 def. Ronny Aasen 9.437/96.52
Ronny got away first and was pulling away until there was a loud bang from his bike and Hans Christian
caught him and took the strip by 1.550.
11:05
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 1
Urs Erbacher 5.791/251.31 def. Jurgen Nagel 9.184/102.47
Urs was on the way back from his burnout before Jurgen appeared around the corner. Jurgen got away first
but Urs was past him by sixty feet, the car moved around a little but Urs stayed with it to set a
new European terminal speed record. There was a puff of smoke from Jurgen's FC at about 200 feet and he got
off the throttle.
Niclas Andersson 5.877/241.96 def. Trev Capewell 9.090/92.60
Niclas got away first 0.100 to 0.227, Trev had the better sixty foot time but then the tyres started to shake, the
car turned to the right and Trev got off the throttle - Niclas would have been very hard to beat with his
clean, straight pass.
Dan Larsen 5.909/229.23 def. Jörgen Johnsson 5.945/239.12
Jörgen got away first by a touch but Dan chased him down, both cars running straight and clean. The win margin
on the timing display was 0.000 seconds, Andy Marrs crunched the numbers and Dan won the race by 0.000882 seconds
or 3.6 inches!
Leif Andréasson 13.491/66.56 def. Arvid Grødem no time
Arvid rolled through stage and it turns out that he threw away the win as Leif's FC turned hard left off the line,
giving the trackside photographers an intimate close up. Leif wrenched the car to the right and kept it off the
guardrail, and idled through to the semi finals. Arvid hit the throttle anyway, it looked like a good run but the
Mustang again left a long trail of oil down the second eighth and the shutdown area.
10:45
FIA Pro Stock eliminations round 1
Trackside conditions at the start of this session were 13.4 C, 68% humidity, and 30.15 inches of air.
Ulf Jonsson 7.083/193.97 def. Magnus Hansson 7.174/194.04
Great reactions from both drivers, 0.024 for Magnus to 0.040 for Ulf, but then Ulf had the better incrementals
all the way down the track, Magnus' Grand Am made a mvce to the right just past half track and that sealed it
for Ulf.
Jackie Hansen 7.099/194.58 def. Michael Malmgren 7.123/196.49
Michael's Grand Am edged into deep stage as he went up on the revs, identical reaction times of 0.135
and then Jackie's Cavalier went straight whilst Michael's Grand Am moved around losing him time.
Jimmy Ålund 7.214/192.33 def. Rickard Sundblom 7.322/188.40
Jimmy got away first 0.076 to 0.152, both cars then made moves to the left, Jimmy was running very close to the
centre line but stayed with it and kept it in his lane to take the stripe by 0.184.
10:20
FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 1
Micke Kågered 5.824/194.09 def. Thomas Nataas 10.074/90.58
Out goes the #1 qualifier. Micke got the jump 0.128 to 0.171, the front end of Thomas' car came up as he clocked a 0.848 sixty foot time
and then the tyres shook and he got off the throttle. Micke hit shake and pedalled, and then the blower belt
departed the engine at about 900 feet.
Jon Webster 5.078/259.74 def. Andy Carter no time
No burnout at all for Andy, the car just rolled forward. Andy deep staged and pulled a 0.065 reaction to
Jon's 0.077, the Canto Consultancy dragster hooked up and went, some vapour from the engine towards the
top end and Jon was off the throttle a little early, Andy's tyres went up in smoke instantly and that
was his race over, the B&Q dragster rolling to a stop just before the finish line.
Tommy Möller 17.809/65.63 bye, Smax Smith shut off
A great paired burnout, then consternation from Smax's crew as the car came back from the burnout,
Smax could not get out of reverse and had to shut off. Tommy idled up the track to save it for the next
round.
Lex Joon 4.963/282.95 def. Jöran Persåker no time
Jöran in as second alternate as both Gary Page and Chris Andrews had broken. This one was also over on
the start line as Jöran rolled through stage. Lex clocked a 0.855 sixty foot, 3.313/236.41 at half track,
then there were a few flashes from the engine and Lex was off the throttle a touch early.
Next round is Micke v Jon, Tommy v Lex.
9:50
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 1
Mats Eriksson 6.344/223.80 def. John Ellis 7.354/192.22 red light
A very short burnout for Mats, off the throttle even before the start line, whilst John staged off his tracks.
This one was all over on the line as John pulled a 0.069 red light. A straight, clean run for Mats with
no sign of shake.
Freddy Fagerström 6.778/204.68 def. Henri Joosten 15.832/48.59 red light
Henri tried his luck on the lights and just squeaked a red by 0.006. Freddy pedalled after hitting shake at
about 150 feet and then backed off a little early as the truck made violent moves left and right towards
the top end.
Danny Cockerill 6.832/207.31 def. Gordon Appleton 7.607/174.35
Danny and Gordon had a staging duel before this race, both cars in pre-stage building up the revs whilst
Gordon's Crew Chief Adrian stood behind the Camaro gesturing Gordon to move in. Danny went in first but
Gordon got away forst 0.131 to 0.240 only for the Camaro to make a move to the left and only just miss the
centre line, Gordon really had his hands full and was not giving up as the car moved all around the lane.
Danny meanwhile went in a straight line and took the stripe by 0.665.
Håkan Fallström 6.480/212.21 def. Norbert Kuno 6.752/213.02
Norbert got the jump on Håkan 0.144 to 0.170 but Håkan had caught him by about 200 feet and
pulled away all the way down the track, 0.245 at the line.
Patrick Wikström 6.301/225.10 def. Peter Wacker 6.878/196.40
Nitrous v Blower in this one, great burnouts by both racers then on the green Peter was away first 0.055
to 0.158 but Patrick was straight past him and laid down the quickest-ever pass in European Pro Mod history, taking
the stripe by 0.472.
Andy Robinson 6.727/213.00 def. Jörgen Karlsson 6.877/206.35
Andy got away first 0.124 to 0.132, drove through a little shake, and stayed in front even though the Stude
was moving around some, 0.157 at the finish line. J&oum;rgen told us last night that his team had some
decisions to make about tightening up the clutch, looks like he stayed with the soft option.
Roger Johansson 6.549/179.12 def. Rolf Amman 6.796/210.36
Roger strapped a huge 0.194 to 0.553 holeshot on Rolf, Rolf's Coupe going much straighter than previously,
Roger shut off early and there was vapour from the engine towards the top end, Roger's terminal speed betrays an
early shut-off. A nice run for Rolf and he'll be pleased to have gone more or less in a straight line.
Ian Bishop 7.523/187.62 def. Micke Gullquist 12.676/64.01
Another staging duel before this one, Micke got away first 0.336 to 0.471. Both cars hot shake at the same time,
both Ian's and Micke's cars turning hard right. There was a moment of silence until Ian realised that Micke
was nowhere to be seen and he got back on it to take the win whilst Micke idled through.
8:30
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for Eurodragster.com's coverage of day four of the FIA Main Event in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and is broadcasting a picture every two minutes. Simon has also posted the first of today's pit notes.
The weather is very similar to yesterday, again bright and sunny, and a very gentle breeze. Right now trackside conditions are 14.4 C, 63% humidity and 30.12 inches of air.
The traditional Raceday Good Morning to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from New Hampshire, a big Raceday Hello also to our good buddy and honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Erik Zettervall - put those paint brushes down, Erik, and pay attention to this instead. Fru Tog says "tack sa mycket" for the beer. Finally a big Hello and Happy Birthday to Ros, wife of our pit reporter Simon. Hope you are having a great day, Ros!
This morning we are due to kick off at 9:15 with the presentation of #1 qualifiers, then into the racing with Pro Mod and all the FIA and FIM/UEM classes. Stay tuned and as soon as the action commences you'll be the first to know.