2006 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 22:30 Today's pictures are now available, you can view them via the event index page. If you don't see the pictures when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh key. Simon has also updated today's pit notes page with the latest from the pits. Thanks to those people who have already written to say Hello or to say nice things about our coverage. We'll be back tomorrow with all the news from day three of the FIA European Finals. 19:40 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 6:
Zak Johnson moved back into the top five at #2. A few pairings later Tom Watts came into the top five at #4, and a couple of pairings after that Peter Walters moved back into the top five at #5 at that point. That's all the qualifying for today, but stay tuned as Sharkman is working on today's pictures and Simon is working on another tranche of pit notes. 19:35 Comp Eliminator qualifying after session 6:
A great pass for Andy Frost, into the sevens with his street-legal Vauxhall, well done Andy! Jon Webster was back on track today after getting his turbo fixed and improved his performance against index but not his standing. 19:30 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 6:
Mick the Fish moved up the top five again, into #2 spot at that point. Martin Lewis then moved into #3 spot and in the next pairing Sandie Gobb moved into #5. That lasted one pairing as Teresa Letchford took over #5 spot in the next run. 19:20 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 6:
Paul Knight improved his ET but stayed in fifth spot. The top fifteen qualifiers are in the 8.9s. 19:15 9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five, but it was great to see Fred Furlong make his return to 9.50 Bike after his accident at the FIA Main Event. Fred put in a gentle pass of 11.375 for his first time out. The top fifteen qualifiers are in the 9.5s. 19:05 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. Chris Orthodoxou can always be replied on to entertain us and he did it this round by making his entire run with a chute open - surprisingly it only cost him 0.5 seconds, I had imagined it would be more. 18:40 Super Street qualifying top five after session 6:
John Grant improved his ET but remained in place. 18:35 Martin Hill followed Pro Mod with a 6.513/261.54 in the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car. Next up was Max Croot on his snowmobile, 18.525/51.98, the machine didn't sound at all well. Super Gas qualifying top five after session 6:
Stu Doignie moved into the top five, in at #3 at that point. 18:20 FIA/NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Ray White 9.610/97.15, Bruno Bader 6.454/215.41, Ulf Rapp 6.972/198.30, Micke Gullquist 9.869/93.92, Roger Johansson 12.578/68.24, Marko Lantto 8.774/105.86, Jörgen Karlsson no time, Bert Englefield 6.564/215.15, Robert Joosten 6.461/219.61, Robert Koper 6.733/206.43, Norbert Kuno 6.534/221.81, Henri Joosten 6.775/207.23, Jan Arve Nygard 6.462/222.64, Seppo Saapola 12.086/68.79, Mats Eriksson 11.029/78.13, Danny Cockerill 6.455/221.65, Urban Johansson 6.968/147.60, Andy Robinson 9.250/103.45 Ray put in a nice launch but the Zephyr started to veer towards the centre line so he backed off at about 400 feet. Bruno meanwhile was long gone and clocked a personal best, well done Bruno! Micke's Chevy rolled the beams as he put it up on the two-step but luckily the lights were running this time, Micke quickly hit shake and had to back off as the car turned to the right, meanwhile Ulf put in a straight and solid pass, back into the sixes. Roger v Marko was another shake-fest, Roger hitting the worst Pro Mod shake I think I've ever seen, the car hardly moving and every straight edge blurred from where I'm sat. Marko also hit shake but tried to drive through it until the car started to head for the guardrail. Jörgen had a brainstorm and left the line out of the blue, Bert was held until Jörgen had cleared the track. When he was unleashed Bert ran a new Personal Best, well done Bert! There was some smoke from the car towards the top end, hopefuly nothing serious. A very nice match-up between the two Dutch Roberts, both very clean passes with no sign of problems, Robert J taking a very slightly long way round but getting there first by 0.288 and moving right up the standings. A new PB or close to it for Norbert, a great pass which moved him up the standings, Henri left Norbert for dead at the Tree 0.093 to 0.280 but Norbert was first by 0.053, Henri stayed in place despite the improvement. A good pass with a big speed for Jan Arve, driving through a little shake and a puff of vapour from the 'Vette right on the stripe, Seppo shut off after hitting shake. Mats' Victoria hit shake and headed for the left guardrail so he shut off, in the other lane Danny was on a stormer, 1.055 to sixty feet, the car started to move around towards the finish line and you could hear Danny feathering the throttle at the stripe. Another shakefest between Urban and Andy, both cars heading for the centre line and almost going doorhandle to doorhandle at 250 feet, Andy was off the throttle by about 300 feet, Urban pedalled and gave it another go and the 'Vette really moved around so he eventually called it a day. Qualifying standings after this session:
18:00 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Rickard Persson 7.115/186.00 bye, Rob Turner 9.053/87.07, Krister Johansson 5.881/251.38, Dave Wilson 9.951/78.65, Peter Schöfer 5.491/260.41 A good opening pass for Rickard after rolling the beams earlier, the car tried to wander to the right a couple of times but Rickard had a handle on it and that run was a Personal Best ET and speed. A great weekend opener for Krister, looks like he's found that elusive tune-up, in the other lane Rob hit shake and he quickly shut off. Peter got the jump on Grumpy 0.157 to 0.270, Grumpy hit shake and shut off at about 300 feet, a tremendous pass from Peter even with a small amount of shake, and a huge Personal Best speed, well done Peter! Qualifying standings after this session:
17:45 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Dan Larsen 5.861/248.48 bye, Arvid Grødem 5.964/241.07, Ulf Leanders 6.059/238.04, Leif Andréasson 6.567/155.17, Kjell Sjöblom 6.457/185.21 A much better run for Dan this round, 1.005 to sixty feet, driving through minor shake and then through bounce, but the car went straight. There was some concern about Dan's lane but everything checked out OK. Ulf pulled a huge burnout to 300 feet or so before his match-up with Arvid. Arvid laid down another superb run, but all eyes were on Ulf as the IronCAD FC made a move to the right in the second half of the track and went closer and closer to the guardrail and just tagged the wall right on the finish line. Ulf is A-OK and the FC body has a six-inch scar. Next pairing same thing, Kjell got out of shape and sideswiped the guardrail just past half track then put the chutes out to keep it stable. In the other lane Leif was going great guns until about half track when the Swedish Armed Forces FC started to bounce and vapour appeared from under the car. Qualifying standings after this session:
17:10 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Tommi Haapanen 9.652/81.23, Stig Neergard 13.583/47.91, Håkan Nilsson 9.922/71.08, Håkan Fällström 6.730/131.94, Lex Joon 7.402/108.39, Thomas Nataas 10.784/77.18, Tommy Möller 22.304/66.26, Micke Kågered 6.366/144.66 Tommi's dragster arched up at the hit, cylinders went out and the tyres went up in smoke and stuff started to shake off the desks in race control. Stig clocked 0.960 to sixty feet and then he hit shake at about 100 feet and got off the throttle as the back of the car disappeared in a cloud of clutch dust. 0.838 to sixty feet for Håkan N, then the tyres went up in smoke, meanwhile Håkan F's tyres started to smoke and then there was a bang and a fire all the way down the shutdown area with the safety crews in hot pursuit. Word came back on the radio from the top end crew: "He has blown the entire blower clean off!". Next up after the recover of Håkan F's car were Lex and Thomas, both had their tyres go up in smoke at about 80 feet after 0.861 and 0.880 sixty foot times for Lex and Thomas respctively. Thomas called it a day there and then, Lex pedalled and the tyres went back up in smoke and the MPM Oil dragster turned right so Lex got off the throttle. Tommy's tyres went up in smoke off the line and he got straight off the throttle. It's probably just as well that Tommy's first round pass was reinstated after it transpired that he had been waved past the scales by a member of the Security team. Micke in the other lane looked to be a stormer, 0.920 to sixty feet and firm blackstriping, until the engine started to smoke, the engine note started to go down, and then the blower panel blew. Oil was found in Micke's lane so we're on hold for clean-up before going into Top Methanol FC. Qualifying standings after this session:
16:35 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jimmy Ålund 6.956/200.74 bye, Peter Dahlin 17.411/43.90, Kenneth Söderström 7.000/199.13, Tommy Leindahl 6.987/198.30, Magnus Hansson 6.960/198.22, Eero Knihtilä 6.937/201.89, Michael Malmgren 6.870/200.96 A great pass for Jimmy after his problems earlier on, sounded to me as if he was in first gear a touch longer than is normal but into the sixes and looking good for the title. Peter hit shake off the line and was off the throttle by about 100 feet although there was smoke drifting from the car all the way down the track. Kenneth had the tiniest shake but drove through it and got as close to the sixes as you can without actually doing it, staying in place. A nice match-up between Tommy and Magnus, very consistent runs and both stayed in place. After another burndown Michael backed up his 6.850 and 202.58 from session 1 for a European records, well done Michael! Eero improved but stayed in place. Qualifying standings after this session:
16:25 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Sandra Chaplain 8.825/148.93 bye, Chris Hall 10.955/76.78 bye, Eric Teboul 7.059/195.44, Ian King 6.748/171.72, Otto Knebl 9.516/153.57, Roel Koedam 6.899/201.88, Shaun Branch 7.307/182.78 bye, Steve French shut off, Kai Selkamaa 7.826/167.92, Michal Ponca 8.900/149.54, Rikard Gustafsson 6.821/200.76, Kev Charman 7.673/169.85, Richard Gipp no time, Neil Midgley 7.345/186.60, Steve Woollatt 6.662/182.20, Steve Carey 7.235/183.70 Sandra put in her first run and it was a pretty good pass for the Think Pink bike, a small backfire at about half track. Chris Hall asked us to thank Mats Eriksson for mending his broken wheelie bars, or he would not have been able to run. Chris' bike was misfiring from about 200 feet onwards and he eventually got off the throttle. Eric had a cylinder go out at about 300 feet and his bike left a full quarter mile of oil on the track. A nice-looking pass from Ian, feathering the throttle towards the top end. On the restart the track temperature was 34.3 C, air temperature 20.6 C and air pressure 30.42 inches. First up were Otto and Roel, Otto went down the left side of his lane whilst Roel's rear slick went up in smoke no less than three times, Roel very calmly feathered the throttle each time and carried on. Steve F shut off before staging so Shaun took the bye and a great pass it was, a big improvement and a move up the standings. An improved run from Kai, the bike much more straight this time, but he stayed in place. A great run by Rikard, Sharkman at trackside said that he didn't think the front wheel came down at all! A lot of smoke again from Neil's bike before the run and a little hestation on the run, in the other lane Richard's bike coughed and spluttered off the line and he shut off and stopped at 300 feet. The two Steves to finish the session, Steve W shut off early, Steve C slower but nothing visibly wrong. Qualifying standings after this session:
15:10 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jaska Salakari 8.530/124.68, Per Bengtsson 7.068/160.64, Job Heezen 8.245/163.10, Ronny Aasen 7.208/197.10, Gunther Sohn 6.731/206.21, Hans Olav Olstad 8.845/110.07, Lorenz Stäuble 6.664/182.51 Jaska gave the grandstand a wave after his burnout, a better run this time but the engine stuttered a little and he backed off at half track. A big improvement for Per moved him up to fifth at that point, Job improved too but stayed in place on his Top Gas bike. A great pass for Gunther moved him up to second, Ronny improved too but his bike still sounded troubled. A hairy moment for Lo as the bike was pretty determined to visit the right guardrail, Lo backed off and leaned it over - that would have been even better than his first round time had he not had to back off. Hans Olav appeared to torch a head. Qualifying standings after this session:
15:00 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Luigi Chinarello 7.658/174.35, Anders Jakobsson 7.572/176.41, Martin Newbury 8.007/167.76, Len Paget 7.706/169.06, Martin Bishop 7.709/171.00, Orjan Gustafsson 7.477/178.01, Anders Abrahamsson 7.382/180.02, Tom Tinndahn 7.228/181.37, Paul Watson's bike started and then stopped. A big improvement for Luigi and Anders J got a great time on the board. An improvement for Martin but he stayed in place. A very consistent pass for Orjan and an improvement for Martin B although he stayed in place. Tom went smoother and quicker still to consolidate his number one spot and is on an ET record if he can back it up, whilst Anders A improved and moved up to second. Qualifying standings after this session:
14:45 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6:
Matt Eley broke out big time with a Personal Best 9.819 on an 11.99 dial-in! Also on a PB and breaking out was Jason Weir with a 9.226 on a 9.40. 14:30 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Brian Huxley moved into #4 spot, and then in the next pairing Ian Jackson moved into #3. Mick Smith broke out a bit with a 10.562 on a 12.01 dial-in! Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. Comp Eliminator qualifying after session 5:
Andy Frost improved to consolidate his #1 spot. 14:10 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 5:
Dave Day moved into the top five, in at #5 at that point. A few pairings later Jon Morton came in at #2. 13:55 Fuel Funny Car match race round 1: John Spuffard 5.972/167.40 bye Gordon Smith 8.364/110.27 def. Leif Helander 14.228/88.02
Next up was Roger Goring in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car. A great flame and thunder show and then a new PB ET for Roger, 6.212/254.28, well done Roger! Track temperature is now 36.4 C, air temperature 19.9 C and air pressure 30.45 inches. 13:45 FIA/NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Henri Joosten 6.778/190.84, Rolf Ammann 6.604/217.79, Bert Englefield 10.292/82.10 bye, Ray White shut off, Robert Koper 6.868/203.77, Robert Joosten 7.593/129.17, Danny Cockerill 6.383/215.08, Ulf Rapp no time, Jörgen Karlsson 10.285/83.94 bye, Marko Lantto 12.681/61.08, Norbert Kuno 6.867/204.55, Seppo Saapola 6.492/215.63, Mats Eriksson 6.248/227.15, Marc Meihuizen 6.568/219.34, Roger Johansson 12.176/72.71, Andy Robinson 6.250/209.52, Jan Arve Nygård 6.468/220.56, Micke Gullquist no time, Urban Johansson 6.226/226.88 Just take "great burnouts from both cars" as read all the way through this report! Henri will need to work on his wheelie bars, the car was up on three wheels to about 200 feet then banged up on the bar again, in the other lane Rolf's coupe used up the whole lane but he stayed with it and clocked a new Personal Best, well done Rolf! Ray's car is now sporting grille and headlights, striping and lettering and looks great but to no avail as he had to shut off for a fluid leak. Bert took the bye and got to sixty feet in 1.069, a little shake and he got off the throttle. The two Roberts from the Netherlands next, both cars going great guns until Robert J's revs briefly went up and vapour appeared from the headers, I am guessing the blower belt broke. A great run for Robert K, that's got to be somewhere near a PB. A stormer from Danny, wiping out his personal best by some two tenths and into #1 spot at that point, the car moved around some at the top end but Danny was on the case, well done Danny! Ulf rolled the beams slightly and then the car made a hard move to the left, there was smoke from the engine and Ulf shut off and stopped at half track. Bruno Bader was next up, but was signalled to shut off as Ulf had to be rescued, Bruno's 'chutes popped and the team worked frantically to repack them but he didn't make the call so Jörgen took the bye. 1.046 to sixty feet but the Mustang was headed pretty purposefully for the centre line so Jörgen backed off. Drama in the next pairing as Marko pulled a huge wheelie and the car headed to the left, Marko stayed with it and the Vette sideswiped the guardrail, Marko stood on the brakes and idled through. A nice run for Norbert, sounded as if he was feathering the throttle a little towards the top end. A great match-up for Seppo and Mats, 1.026 and 1.021 to sixty feet respectively, Personal Bests all round and into #1 spot for Mats, well done guys! Huge shake which made the Tower rattle for Roger, in the other lane Marc hit shake and pedalled very briefly, the car hooked up and shot down the track and then there was a huge cloud of smoke from the Coupe at the finish line, nothing found on the track so hopefully nothing serious. Another classic match-up for Andy and Jan Arve, Andy drove through shake and the Stued was weaving left and right but he stayed with it - but check out that terminal speed, Andy shut off early. Jan Arve went straight and true and we think a PB or very close to it. Micke rolled the lights so no time, in the other lane Urban laid down the quickest-ever Pro Mod pass in Europe, all set for an ET record and more points if he backs it up. Qualifying standings after this session:
13:15 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Rickard Persson no time, Rob Turner 8.729/92.84, Peter Schöfer 5.512/257.13, Dave Wilson 5.453/252.88 Rickard's first appearance at Santa Pod, celebrated with a very nice burnout. He then rolled the beams before the Tree ran. In the other lane Rob ran 0.921 to sixty feet and then hit shake from seventy to about 150 feet and got off the throttle. A huge burnout for Grumpy, past the Tree and then roling to half track. Then a tremendous match-up, Grumpy away first 0.133 to 0.175, Peter had the better sixty foot 0.918 to 0.930, Peter drove through some shake, the eighth mile in Grumpy's favour at 3.559/209.30 to 3.619/206.54, and Grumpy took the stripe by 0.101. Qualifying standings after this session:
Air temperature is 18.5 C and air pressure up again at 30.47 inches. 13:00 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Arvid Grødem 5.894/241.98 bye, Kjell Sjöblom 6.193/229.22, Dan Larsen 11.258/73.42, Ulf Leanders 6.377/206.72, Leif Andréasson 5.723/247.45 A tremendous pass for Arvid, the car moving left and right but Arvid stayed hard on the pedal, a new Personal Best, nice one Arvid! Dan rolled through stage but then hit the throttle only to suffer shake about fifty feet out and he got off the throttle. Kjell was shaking by the time he got to the tree, but he pedalled and got back on it, a very decent pass given the pedal. A tremendous pass from Leif, driving through a little shake as the car moved around the lane. Ulf hit shake and not unlike Kjell pedalled for a long moment and then got back on the pedal. Qualifying standings after this session:
12:45 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Stig Neergard shut off (bye), Smax Smith 4.978/296.14, Tommy Möller 5.083/261.21, Micke Kågered 9.409/88.54, Urs Erbacher 4.965/288.39, Håkan Fällström 17.402/55.81, Lex Joon 6.604/119.96, Thomas Nataas 10.027/79.92, Håkan Nilsson 15.078/56.48 Track temperature at the start of Top Fuel was 27.3 C, air temperature 18.6 C and air pressure 30.45 inches. No Rene Hersland, he was a late withdrawal, but still ten Top Fuellers on the facility fighting for eight places and a very tight Championship. A very shaky burnout for Stig and the engine sounded very mild, no cackling until after the burnout and then he could not select reverse. Short burnouts for both Smax and Tommy, I am guessing that the track and their tyres were quite warm enough already. Smax shot forward and went straight into stage, and he was away first 0.223 to Tommy's 0.528. 0.888 to sixty feet for Smax to Tommy's 0.865, 3.353/237.83 at half track to Tommy's 3.303/235.73, Smax's engine started to smoke and then the McDonald Racing car disappeared into a white cloud at the finish line. Tommy also looked to be on a real stormer, from here it looked as if the tyres started to turn at half track and there is clear blackstriping in the second half of the track, although judging by Tommy's speed he backed off early. Congratulations to Stu and Rich McDonald on the first four with their car. Tommy's run was subsequently disqualified after he bypassed the scales at the top end. Micke and Urs next up, Gary Page seeing Micke into the burnout and tuner Glenn Mikres overseeing Urs. Urs was away first 0.120 to 0.216, 0.888 to sixty feet to Micke's 0.894, Micke's run was all over just past the Tree as the Bahco dragster hit shake. Urs clocked 3.330/244.89 at half track, cylinders started to go out and there were licks of flame around the back of the engine but into #1 spot for Urs at that point. Håkan F and Lex followed, a big start line advantage for Lex. 0.907 to sixty feet for Lex, 1.080 for Håkan whose tyres were up in smoke by that point. Lex was on his way and on a strong one but at about 330 feet his clutch locked up and his tyres went up in smoke and he got off the throttle. Nicely co-ordinated start routines for Thomas and Håkan N, arriving back from their burnouts at the same time. Almost co-ordinated tyre smoke on the run, too, Thomas' tyres going up in smoke at the Tree after a 0.874 sixty foot time, Håkan was at sixty feet in 0.920, then got to about 300 feet and from here the Veidec/Landmeco dragster disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Qualifying standings after this session:
11:45 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Peter Dahlin 7.041/194.43 bye, Kenneth Soderström 7.025/197.42, Tommy Leindahl 6.947/198.91, Michael Malmgren 6.850/202.58, Eero Knihtilä 6.946/200.05, Magnus Hansson 6.936/198.95, Jimmy Ålund no time. Richard Sundblom's engine is due to turn up today, he did not appear for his first scheduled run against Peter. Peter did a great driving job as the Avenger made a pretty hard move to the right but he stayed with it and gently pulled the car back to the centre of the lane. Congratulations to Tommy on his first six, there is more to come from the Camaro as the car was moving around the lane some. A solid straight pass from Kenneth, who looked to have Christer Gustafsson overseeing. A long burndown betweem Michael and Eero, Eero staged first and Michael got away first and laid down the quickest and fastest ever European Pro Stock run, also the first-ever side-by-side Pro Stock 200 mph. Michael is on new European ET and speed records if he can back up this run. A new Personal Best for Magnus, well done Magnus! Jimmy's car hit shake and pieces of metal were found on the track as he rolled to a halt at the eighth. Qualifying standings after this session:
11:35 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Otto Knebl 9.312/146.13 bye, Richard Gipp 7.229/180.78 bye, Kev Charman 7.650/170.50, Sandra Chaplain no time, Dave Bailey 7.127/185.30, Steve Woollatt 6.492/214.31, Steve Carey 7.035/193.33, Chris Hall no time, Michal Ponca 8.831/151.98, Sverre Dahl shut off, Neil Midgley 7.061/193.95 bye, Kai Selkamaa 7.977/174.28 bye, Shaun Branch 8.966/90.01 bye, Steve French 11.329/78.10, Eric Teboul 9.630/81.40, Roel Koedam no time, Rikard Gustafsson 7.304/194.09 Otto's bike hesitated off the line and then he seemed to have a problem selecting gears. A great pass for Richard, straight as you like and a new PB. Kev's bike was drifting very slightly to the centre line but he stayed with it and put in a solid pass on the Comp Bike. Sandra's bike didn't move on the green, and she shut off and pushed back. Great to see Steve W back after his woes earlier this season, and what a return, we think a new PB ET. A personal best too for Dave on his Pro Mod Bike, well done guys! Steve Carey told us last night that he is happy that the bike is now going straight and true to his word the Purple Princess went like an arrow. Meanwhile the rear end of Chris Hall's bike tried to slip out from under him and pitch him off, it looked very violent from here but Chris did a great riding job to keep the bike upright. Sverre Dahl was shut off for a fluid leak after returning from his burnout. Michal took the bye and we think that's a PB for him. Lots of smoke from Neil's bike as he staged but all looked OK on the run. There's a lot more in Kai's bike, lots of popping and banging on the line, sounded to be misfiring a little on the run and also screeched the tyre. Shaun's run looked and sounded good but then there was some hesitation in the engine and he shut off at about 600 feet. Steve F is toting an ex-Super Street Bike engine from Steve Venables, he was off the throttle at about 500 feet. Eric was also off the throttle early as a cylinder went out at about half track. Roel had a drive belt break off the line, in the other lane Rikard was on a good one but there was a cloud of smoke from the Funny Bike at half track and he shut off. Qualifying standings after this session:
Track temperature is 23.8 C, air temperature 18.0 C and air pressure 30.45 inches. 11:05 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Per Bengtsson 9.122/97.78 bye, Job Heezen 8.523/158.48, Jaska Salakari 12.819/71.44, Joachim Riemer 6.983/198.28, Hans Olav Olstad 6.834/208.23, Gunther Sohn 9.768/92.95, Anders Karling 7.041/160.77, Lorenz Stäuble 6.648/196.52, Ronny Aasen 8.937/99.54 A good launch for Per, 1.120 to sixty feet, but then the engine note started to falter and he shut off before helf track. Job's engine sounded to be misfiring in the middle of the track. Jaska couldn't get the tyre to light on the burnout and he was off the throttle pretty quickly on the run as the engine was hesitating. Great side-by-side sixes from Joachim and Hans Olav, 0.211 in it at the line. Gunther was off the throttle pretty quickly, in the other lane Anders was on a good one - 1.136 to sixty feet, 4.335/174.47 at half track - but the bike was fishtailing some and then headed for the centre line and Charley shut off. A tremendous pass from Lorenz, the front wheel not coming down until at least half track, the bike was aiming for the centre line and Lo was leaning it over to stay in his lane, great control. Ronny shut off at about 500 feet. Qualifying standings after this session:
10:55 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Martin Newbury 8.014/166.13 bye, Len Paget 7.606/174.34, Luigi Chinarello 8.028/173.76, Tom Tinndahn 7.361/182.22, Paul Watson 10.308/78.65, Orjan Gustafsson 7.474/177.14, Martin Bishop 7.893/169.89, Anders Jakobsson no time, Anders Abrahamsson 7.481/176.41 Martin's bike tried to make a move to the right but Martin held on to it. A nice pass for Len, close to a PB I think. Luigi got the jump on Len but his incrementals were slipping away all the way down. A great pass for Tom, very smooth gear changes I noticed, in the other lane Paul backed off at about half track. Orjan showed the benefit of testing at Press Day with a great, straight pass, Martin has changed the engine since Wednesday so this was a test pass. Anders J's bike stopped before the Tree, Anders A's bike appeared to hesitate very slightly off the line but then dug in and went. Qualifying standings after this session:
10:45 9.50 Bike qualifying top five after session 5:
Jonas Mohren moved back into the top five, #4 at that point. In the next pairing Phil Surridge improved and moved up to #2. Well into naughtiness territory was Steve Venables who set a new PB of 7.667 on his Super Street Bike. The top thirteen qualifiers are in the 9.5s. Next up is the first Pro qualifying session. 10:35 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Pat Talbot into the sixes again and into #2 spot in the second pairing of the session. Jöran Persåker took another wild ride in his Trans Am which resulted in oil the length of the shutdown area but the track crew got the job done in about twenty five minutes, great job guys. Al Golding's Firenza again disappeared into a cloud of smoke in the shutdown area, the track was checked and all was found to be OK. Track temperature on the start line is 22.8 C, air temperature 22.2 C and air pressure is 30.45 inches. 9:40 Super Street qualifying top five after session 5:
Ful Lievaart finally had to concede #1 spot as Martyn Sanger took over the lead in this session. A couple of pairings later Tim Adam moved into the top five at #3. The top twelve qualifiers are in the 10.9s. 9:35 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 5:
Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Malcolm Francis took over the lead in the Air Sea Logistics Grand Am and check out that speed! A couple of pairings later Frank Mason moved back into the top five at #4 at that point, a few pairings later Pete Cresswell took over #4. The top fifteen qualifiers are in the 9.9s. 9:25 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session, but you have to be within 0.038 of dial-in to be qualified right now. Roel Van Den Hout's bonnet came off at 300 feet and did a nice double somersault before landing gently on the track. Carla Pittau and Rick McCann made it back to the track after spending yesterday changing the engine and Carla drove the Heaven and Hell Camaro straight into #18 spot, safely qualified +0.015 on dial-in, well done guys! At the start of this session the trackside temperature was 17.3 C, air pressure 30.42 inches, track temperature 13.8 C and, get this, the adjusted altitude is -250 feet. 8:45 Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. It's day two 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 is posting a picture every two minutes. You can reach the webcam from the Event Index. It's another nice day here, cloud cover but plenty of sun breaking through. Trackside conditions right now are 15.4 C and 30.42 inches of air - that air pressure has been going up steadily since Wednesday. Today's plan is for two cycles of Pro and Sportsman qualifying. We start at 9:00 with Pro ET, Pro qualifying starts at 10:30 with the FIM/UEM classes and then the FIA classes, back into Sportsman between 12:30 and 14:30, cycle two of the Pros between 14:30 and 16:30, then Sportsman qualifying up to 17:05. Simon has worked out the combination on his office chair so he is with us today, so be sure to check out the pit notes page every so often for the latest from the pits. If you've not checked out yesterday's pit notes then Chris Jones gave us some very entertaining 9.50 Bike notes which are well worth a read. Stay tuned and we'll be back as soon as qualifying commences. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |