2006 FIA Main Event
Saturday (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 00:05 We have now posted today's pictures, which you can view from the event index page. If you do not see the pictures when you load the Gallery page, click on your Browser's Refresh button. Simon is still out in the pits collecting notes but we rather suspect that he will post those first thing in the morning. We'll be back tomorrow with all the news from day three of qualifying. 22:00 Qualifying for today finished with Pro Mod. Sharkman is working on today's pictures so stay tuned for those in an hour or two. In the meantime we checked out Håkan Nilsson's and Lex Joon's passes, both of which were shut off early, against Kim Reymond's 4.645 in 2003:
Check back later on for today's pictures. 21:30 FIA NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Sami Saapola 7.973/166.79 bye, Ray White 9.703/122.27 bye, Marcus Hilt 8.097/157.45 bye, Robert Joosten 8.413/122.95 bye, Niclas Andersson 6.630/207.46 bye, Ulf Rapp 12.533/65.72, Bert Englefield 7.658/154.52, Jan Arve Nygård 6.720/199.17, Robert Koper 12.001/79.50, Urban Johansson 15.079/48.68, Marko Lantto 7.175/144.64, Seppo Saapola 8.105/113.30, Bruno Bader 12.322/63.58, Gordon Appleton no time, Marc Meihuizen 6.518/214.11, Danny Cockerill 6.599/214.57, Norbert Kuno 7.890/163.70, Jörgen Karlsson 12.445/65.51, Mats Eriksson 7.264/159.61, Andy Robinson 21.941/45.68, Freddy Fagerström 6.658/207.23, Micke Gullquist shut off, Roger Johansson 8.584/145.13 Sami's Coupe hit shake and headed for the centreline, a brief pedal and then on the throttle all the way to the end. A nice straight run for Ray White, off the throttle for a second at about 200 feet and then back on the throttle but taking it gently. A squirrely run for Marcus, squeezing the throttle gently off the line and a pedal in the first half of the track before getting back on it for the second eighth. Robert again had Lex Joon supervising on the start line, on the green Robert drove through shake, pedalled and then the car made a move to the left and got very close to the guardrail in the second eighth. A great burnout by Niclas and then a tremendous pass, the tiniest pedal just after sixty feet (1.032) and then straight as you like and into #1 spot at that point. Wild passes for both Ulf and Bert, Ulf had the car up on one wheel off the line and there were sparks when it came down, Bert's Coupe was determined to go for the centre line and Bert did a great job of keeping it in his lane, the car making a serious move to the left in the traps. A great run for Jan Arve, the car left as if shot from a bullet, 1.072 to sixty feet and straight as you like all the way. Robert took it gently, checking something out I would guess. Urban hit shake off the line and gave up very quickly, Marko drove through shake and then right on half track (4.350/166.78) there was a huge flash of flame as the blower burst panel blew. Both Seppo and Bruno drove tried to drive through shake, Bruno gave up as the car headed for the centreline, at the same time Seppo's Chrysler was also going for the centreline but he stayed with it until there was a grunt from the engine just after half track and he put the chutes out. Gordon rolled the beams just before the lights ran but still hit the throttle, the car started to move about and Gordon got off the throttle. Meanwhile Marc was on a good one, a straight and hard pass, into number one qualifier but the car disappeared in a cloud of smoke right on the finish line, the lane was checked and found to be clean so hopefully nothing terminal. Danny was most of the way back from his burnout before Norbert pulled his burnout, on the green Danny was long gone, 1.099 to sixty feet, 4.310/171.15 at half track and a superb pass. There were sparks from Norbert's Avenger more than onece on his run. Simultaneous shake from Jörgen and Mats, Jörgen got off the throttle very quickly but Mats gave it everything he had, only giving up towards the finish. Andy's tyres spun at the hit, he got off the throttle for a few seconds and then drove up the track, Freddy drove through shake, the car made a move to the right at half track but he stayed with it as you'd expect. Micke shut off just before staging, Roger's tyres spun up at the hit, he pedalled and then stayed on the throttle to the second half of the track. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions in this session were 14.3 C, 89% humidity and 30.00 inches of air, track temperature at sixty feet was 12.9 C. 20:50 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): John Parkinson 7.845/169.19, Timo Habermann 7.157/214.07, Krister Johansson 5.974/240.42, Peter Schöfer 5.859/244.71, Rob Turner 5.734/231.97, Dave Wilson 5.677/238.34 Long burnouts for both John and Timo, on the green Timo's tyres started to spin and the car hardly moved, he pedalled and then off he went, overtaking John at half track. A nice straight pass for John and his best so far in TMD. Long burnouts again from Krister and Peter, Krister balancing the throttle very nicely on the nitro car. Peter left way before Christer, 0.149 to 0.149, the sixty foot in Peter's favour 0.937 to 1.004 as were all the incrementals. Peter looked to be taking the long way round, moving around his lane a little, Krister kept all the pipes lit all the way down the track - both runs actually looked quicker than the ETs which came up. A great pairing to finish this session, Dave got a jump on Rob 0.199 to 0.509, 0.928 to sixty feet to Rob's 0.928, Rob was visible catching Dave in the last part of the track, Dave put the chutes out in the traps. Qualifying standings after this session:
20:40 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Kjell Sjöblom 7.052/140.67 bye, Jurgen Nagel 7.265/203.66, Leif Andréasson 5.957/233.23, Ulf Leanders no time, Dan Larsen 6.647/201.93 Kjell hit shake at the Tree, feathered the throttle and then at half track the blower burst panel blew and the body relief panel flew up into the air. Jurgen was on his way back from his burnout when Leif appeared round the corner but Leif didn't hang about getting back and Jurgen didn't have to wait. Leif left first by a long way, a very brief feather for shake, the FC was really bouncing around half track and was moving about the lane. Jurgen drove through some shake and then got off the throttle in the second half of the track. Just after Ulf fired up and the body was lowered he stopped rolling and gestured to his crew, who leapt forward and cleaned the front windshield. Long burnouts for both Ulf and Dan, on the green Dan drive through shake and then the rear tyres went up in smoke, Dan pedalled and then got back on it and put the chutes out right in the traps. Ulf's car stopped dead off the line, Sharkman at trackside said that the saw the butterflies open but the car just stopped moving. Qualifying standings after this session:
20:20 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Håkan Nilsson 4.860/306.35 bye, Rene Hersland 6.534/148.46 bye, Urs Erbacher 5.555/195.45, Håkan Fällström 5.725/177.91, Smax Smith 10.715/62.40, Thomas Nataas 11.590/71.19, Andy Carter 6.368/135.94, Micke Kågered 5.262/221.65, Tommy Möller 10.208/72.80, Lex Joon 4.870/239.31 Håkan N backed up quite quickly and the steering flopped over to one side but he recovered very well. A tremendous run, though, 0.886 to sixty feet, 3.308/252.89 at half track, off the throttle a touch early and just as yesterday a lot of smoke in the shutdown area but the track was checked and found to be clean. Can you believe that Håkan was 0.028 seconds above and 0.01 mph below the current European speed record - not too shabby for his first run in competition! The was also Rene's first run in FIA competition, a great burnout and a very cautious back-up, a fair time to get back and into stage. 0.939 to sixty feet, the right-hand bank of cylinders looked to be going out and the car drifted right and then the blower burst panel blew and the blower belt exited the car right on half track. Two FIA first-timers in the next pairing, their first FIA competition passes for Urs and Håkan F, Urs left literally as the lights ran, -0.400 reaction time. 0.887 to sixty feet for Urs to Håkan's 0.976, cylinders were going out on Urs' dragster and then it looked like another head gasket with a big flame on the right side, Håkan was drifting to the left all the way down the track and almost touched the centre line, smoke from his engine too. A nice sixty foot time of 0.860 for Smax then he was off the throttle, I'm guessing a checkout. Thomas hit shake before the Tree and got straight off the throttle and idled through. Andy strapped a 0.081 to 0.272 holeshot on Micke, Micke's header flames were very orange and very visible. 0.881 to sixty feet for Andy, 0.932 for Micke. Andy hit shake at about 200 feet and he pedalled it, the tyres went up on smoke and the car made an abrupt move to the left at half track where Andy was clocked at 3.544/196.54. Andy was off the throttle and got very close to the guardrail but steered it away. Meanwhile Micke looked to be on a good one, 3.422/238.94 at half track but then there was a big puff of smoke from the engine, through the smoke there was a stab of flame. Gary Page who is colour commentating guessed a head gasket or a rod out. Nothing was found on the track so hopefully nothing untoward. 0.872 to sixty feet for Lex, a real stormer on the cards, 3.183/258.79 at half track and then it looked like a gasket with fire from the rear of the engine, Lex got off the throttle before 1000 feet and still ran a four! Tommy clocked 0.892 to sixty feet then hit shake and was off the throttle at about 300 feet. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions during this qualifying session were 15.3 C, 83% humidity, 30.00 inches of air, track temperatore at sixty feet was 17.3 C. 19:35 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Eero Knihtilä 7.324/165.96 bye, Tommy Leindahl 9.204/120.92, Kenneth Soderström 7.259/169.06, Richard Sundblom 7.546/188.41, Michael Malmgren no time, Magnus Hansson 7.073/190.85, Jimmy Ålund 7.245/195.62 Eero's first pass in Europe with his new car, a great burnout and then what looked like a pretty serious adjustment to the wheelie bars before staging. 1.044 to sixty feet, 4.606/150.51 at half track but the engine sounded a little rough towards the top end and Eero shut it off a little early. Kenneth deep-staged,a nice straight run and off the throttle before the strip, Tommy's Camaro made a jump to the left off the line as the tyres shook, he was off the throttle for a moment and then got back on the power. Richard's new Cobalt looks just perfect and Michael's Grand Am very smart in its new Lahega colours. On the green Richard pedalled for shake, judging by his tyre marks Michael's left tyre started to shake at about 120 feet and then hooked up and the car suddenly turned hard right, started to go up on one side, and went nose-first into the guardrail at quite some speed, the chute deployed and Michael was doubtless a passenger as the car bounced across the track and hit the left guardrail, then slid over to the right guardrail coming to rest just past the traps in the right lane. Word quickly came back from the top end that Michael got out of the car under his own power and is quite OK. "I have no idea what happened", said Michael afterwards. "It was hauling ass, I pulled second and pulled third and then in third it suddenly took off. It happened so fast that I couldn't get off the throttle or steer out of it. After I hit the wall I had no steering, I tried but I hit the other guardrail. The car is probably junk." Hard and straight passes from both Magnus and Jimmy, Jimmy shut off and put the chutes out a little early. Qualifying standings after this session:
18:55 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Chris Hall 9.876/121.23 bye, Kev Charman 7.782/168.54 bye, Dave Bailey 7.687/146.46, Steve French 7.290/177.68, Ken Cooper 10.451/135.93, Rikard Gustafsson 10.539/131.25, Dave Holland 7.735/148.91, Luigi Ferretti 7.080/195.77, Tim Blakemore 9.519/124.24, Sandra Chaplain 8.847/151.04, Steve Carey 12.819/60.81, Eric Teboul 8.101/116.61, Steve Woollatt 22.595/39.57, Neil Midgley 7.637/189.82, Roel Koedam 6.575/155.16, Shaun Branch shut off Chris Hall was off the throttle very early. A nice straight pass for Kev, continuing his seven-second form. In the other lane Richard Gipp on Sarah Jane Head and Dave Varey's Funny Bike shut off after the burnout. Steve F put in a cracking straight pass to take #1 spot at that point whilst Dave Bailey will be pleasd to get a time after last week's problems. The first time in competition for Ken on TJ O'Brien's bike, a big hesitation off the line but Ken calmly got it all together and carried on down the track, Rikard looked to be taking it easy and the bike was trying to run down the left side of the lane. Luigi reaped the benefits of his testing with a superb straight pass into #1 at that point, Dave went very close to the guardrail but stayed with it. Tim took a bucking bronco ride off the start, Sharkman reports that he has a picture of Tim with both wheels off the ground! A straight and solid pass from Sandra and husband Roland looked very pleased with it. Eric had a cylinder go out almost immediately off the line and the bike drifted to the left, Eric got off the throttle just before he hit the eighth mile reflectors and then got back on the gas. In the other lane Steve C was off the throttle very quickly. Steve W's engine banged and shot a huge gout of flame across the track at about 70 feet, but the engine remained running as Steve rolled down the track, Midgo lost some time to tyre spin. Shaun took two attempts at a burnout then shut off. Roel on his bike with great new paint clocked 1.056 to sixty feet, 4.003/190.13 to half track and then he got off the throttle at about 900 feet but still went into #1 spot. Qualifying standings after this session:
18:35 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): We know that Monique, Ton, Marianne and Vincent Pels and their families are tuned in to today's coverage: we are all thinking of you guys, and the Supertwin racers have asked us to say that you are all very much missed here at the track. Ton Pels having retired from riding, his close friend, Top Fuel Bike racer Roel Koedam anounced that he will be riding Ton's Supertwin next season. How about that for a combination? Tuned in from Sweden is Anders Karling's daughter Viktoria who had a baby daughter on 20th May. We understand from Stefan Boman that Viktoria and the as yet-unnamed baby are doing just fine. Congratulations to Vitkoria and Christian on the new arrival, and of course to Charley on becoming a grandfather. Anders Karling 6.882/163.58, Gunther Sohn 7.514/163.09, Svein Gottenberg 7.299/181.49, Lorenz Stäble 7.282/176.40, Svein Olav Rolfstad no time, Joachim Riemer 7.428/177.80, Hans Olav Olstad 7.921/121.33, Ronny Aasen 6.989/198.50 Anders is on his "old" bike, there was vapour streaming from the front of the engine all the way down the track until Anders got off the throttle at about 1000 feet. Gunther was off also off the throttle at about 1000 feet. Lorenz got a big jump on Svein, 0.101 to 0.199 and his incrementals were building up from 0.1 to 0.2 seconds in his advantage as they went down the track but it sounded as if both racers were off the throttle just before the finish. Svein Olav had gone about a hundred feet before there was a bang and a huge sheet of flame from his engine, the front wheel came down quite violently and Svein Olav had his hands full for a moment before rolling to a stop just before the finish line. Meanwhile Joachim's bike started to stream vapour at about 200 feet and then all the way down the track before there was a hige cloud of smoke right on the finish line. There was oil all the way down the right hand lane and into the shutdown area in Joachim's lane. The paramedics went to Svein Olav's aid but he was A-OK. One pair left after the clean-up, Hans Olav and Ronny. A very short burnout for Hans Olav, on the green Hans Olav was away first but was off the throttle after half track whilst Ronny took a slightly long way round but that was a great first run for the new engine. Qualifying standings after this session:
18:00 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Anders Jakobsson 7.916/167.27 bye, Paul Watson no time, Luigi Chinarello 17.054/40.72, Martin Newbury 10.285/71.06, Ray Debben no time, Len Paget 7.933/149.42 bye, Martin Bishop no time, Anders Abrahamsson 7.471/177.83 A very long burnout from Anders J before his pass and there didn't seem to be as many gear shifts as you'd expect until after half track. Paul went into stage and then his stage light went out just before the lights ran so no time, Luigi's tyre spun off the line, he feathered the throttle and then the bike drifted right and he got off the throttle and rolled through. Ray's engine cut out off the line, in the other lane Martin seemed to have trouble selecting gears and was off the throttle before half track. Len made a nice first pass for the new bike, leaning off the right side towards the top end. Orjan Gustafsson didn't make the burnout box before his scheduled run against Len. Martin's engine cut out off the line, meanwhile Anders A was on a hard and straight pass and into #1 spot. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions for this session were 15.5 C, 86% humidity and 30.00 inches of air, track temperature on the start line was 18.3 C. 10:45 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 4:
Chris Johnson moved into #4 spot and Pete Creswell #5 in this session. The top fourteen qualifiers are in the 8.9s. Zane Llewellyn looked to have a hairy moment at about 1000 feet when there was a cloud of vapour, it looked as if the Zannetec dragster made a big move to the left but thankfully it turns out that that was actually Zane pulling over to the side of the lane. The crank broke and a couple of rods exited the block, resulting in a trail of oil from 1000 feet and into the shutdown area. Trackside conditions are 14.7 C, 71% humidity and 30.06 inches of air, track temperature on the start line is 17.1 C. 10:20 As well as the oil trail the track crew are also having to deal with rain in the air. As we said earlier a number of readers have been in touch to say Hi so whilst we have some down time it is only courteous to say Hi back to Viveca and Håkan Averstedt, Hannele Höydén (sorry Hanski, I couldn't bring myself to hug Tapsa), Kenneth Hellén, Barbara and Charlotte Kirk, Mack, Jon Crawford, Barry and Ali Bohannon, Iain Burns, Sean Bowe, Chris Hope, Ian Caseley, Fay and Grace, and Jason and Mike Shalders. An orderly queue is forming next to me to give pit notes to Simon, Patrick and PiPPi have given him plenty so stay tuned to the Pit Notes page for that. 9:15 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 4:
No changes to the top five in this session. Trackside conditions for this session of Pro ET were 14.1 C, 75% humidity and 30.09 inches of air. Track temperature on the start line was 14.1 C - same as the air temperature! 8:30 Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. It's day two of qualifying for the FIA Main Event, the first day 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 broadcasting a picture every two minutes. A big Thank You to everyone who got in touch yesterday to say Hi or to compliment us on the coverage. We really appreciate it. Hopefully a lot of you who were trapped in the office yesterday are on your way to the track even now. Sparky on the Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster team has asked us to say Hi to Sindy. No sooner said than done, hope you are having a good day Sindy. Trackside conditions right now are 14.1 C, 75% humidity and 30.06 inches of air. It's overcast but doesn't feel at all cold. Sportsman qualifying commences at 9:00, and the first Pro session is due at 10:30 am. Stay tuned and we'll be right back as soon as the track opens, and stay tuned to the Pit Notes page. Today Simon has been joined by Patrik Jacobsson of the European Pro Mod Association and PiPPi of Harleydrags.com who will both be channelling pit notes to him so there should be plenty to read again today. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |