2007 FIA European Finals
Friday (qualifying)
|
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 21:45 Today's pictures have now been posted; you can view them via the Event Index page. Simon has also posted another set of pit notes, and Lex Joon has given us a Blog entry which you can access via the Eurodragster.com Home Page. 17:55 Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 9:
Another improvement for John Tebenham to consolidate his #1 spot. Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 9:
No changes to the top five in this session. That's the end of qualifying for today, stay tuned for today's pictures - and we promise we will do them tonight this time! 17:45 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 9:
Paul Knight moved back into the top five at #2 in the last but one pairing of the session. Steve Wells clocked 9.2281 in his Pop pick-up after having to have parts of his front suspension re-machined during the day today...the landing from a big wheelie caused some damage yesterday. I think that's a PB, well done Steve! Martin Curbishley did a good job of keeping his Direct Plastics-sponsored roadster off the wall after pulling a big wheelie and heading left in mid-air. 17:30 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 9:
Kev Long moved up to #2 in the third pairing of the session. 17:20 Fuel Funny Car session 2 (left lane first): John Spuffard 5.2639/261.64 bye
Martin Hill followed John Spuffard with a great 6.1129/272.69 in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. 17:15 FIA NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Rolf Amman 6.6350/211.33 bye, Ray White 16.1590/59.75, Gordon Appleton 6.7892/167.81, Seppo Saapola 9.1139/144.77, Micke Lindahl 7.4419/130.40, Patrick Wikström 6.8369/217.31, Robert Koper 10.6469/82.17, Bert Englefield 9.1651/156.73, Ian Bishop 7.1017/195.81, Roger Johansson 9.2673/92.23, Henri Joosten 8.6191/96.95, Niclas Andersson 6.4681/208.37, Norbert Kuno 6.3251/227.10, Urban Johansson 6.6380/209.34, Micke Gullquist 10.1923/85.70 Marc Meihuizen 6.2601/223.86, Bruno Bader 6.4181/216.19, Andy Robinson 6.2399/227.01, Robert Joosten 6.2808/228.31, Mats Eriksson 6.4091/223.86, Micke Nord 6.3120/219.60 A nice bye for Rolf, again out of shake but not as seriously as last time, 1.1367 to sixty feet and 4.3508/171.24 to half track. Same story as last run for Ray's Zephyr, really slowly off the line and Ray shut off and idled through. Gordon pulled a -0.1821 red light, 1.0560 to sixty feet and 4.2550/167.29 at half track, the Camaro drifted across its lane, Gordon corrected then shut off a touch before the stripe. Seppo hit shake and the engine revs shot up, he backed out of it. Micke clocked 1.0169 to sixty feet, what looked like a pedal for shake and then off the throttle at half track. An improvement for Patrick although he had to pedal and he ran down the left side of his lane, 1.1131 to sixty feet and 4.5283/162.85 at half track. Robert got to suxty feet in 1.0611 then had what looked like a nitrous burp at 200 feet and shut off. Bert hit bad shake by the Tree, the Coupe turned right, Bert pedalled and straighted it out then got back on it. Ian's crew checked out the chute mount before he staged, 1.1009 to sixty feet, 4.6000/156.59 at half track and a couple of steering corrections, good for a move of one place. Roger hit shake and the Mustang drifted towards the guardrail and he backed off, Henri got to sixty feet in 1.086 and looked to have a backfire at about 300 feet and lifted. A big move up the field for Norbert, 1.0850 to sixty feet and 4.1650/179.50 at half track, the Avenger made a move to the right at 200 feet and the guardrail started to approach but Norbert stayed with it. Niclas got away in 0.0529, 1.0362 to sixty feet and hanging on as the Coupe moved around its lane, a consistent pass. Urban pulled a 0.0561 red light, 1.0260 to sixty feet and then shake towards half track, Urban pedalled and then got back on it, Micke got to sixty feet in 1.0513 and then hit shake and turned hard right and Micke aborted the run. A new Personal Best for Marc, well done Marc! 0.9870 to sixty feet, the big Coupe drifting left and getting close to the rail but Marc got to half track in 4.0572/180.71 and stayed with it. A big improvement but no change in place. Meanwhile Bruno was on a good one of his own, 1.005 to sixty feet, 4.1478/172.49 at half track, shake and a little move to the left but Bruno held onto it. Andy Robinson saves Tog's 50 Kroner note so far with a stormer, driving through shake too, 1.0188 to sixty feet and getting to half track in 4.0718/179.42. Robert stepped up big time, 1.0739 to sixty feet and 4.1228/180.79 at half track, right the way through th back door. No improvement for Mats, 1.0419 to sixty feet and 4.1823/174.36 at half track but this one was all about Micke Nord, 1.0082 at sixty feet, the Mustang made a move to the right at half track but he had it covered and moved up to fifth. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 22.6 C, 53% humidity and 1018 mb of air, track temperature 31.1 C 16:45 FIA Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Paul Ingar Udtian 6.8761/131.56 bye, Krister Johansson 13.4070/55.69 bye, Peter Schöfer 5.6663/254.20 bye Derek Flynn shut off on the way out of the collection area, not immediately obvious what the problem was. A great 150 foot burnout by Paul Ingar, 0.9588 to sixty feet and then the engine sounded as if it were misfiring at half track and Paul Ingar shut off before the eighth. Same as last time for Krister, unburnt fuel from the headers and the car struggling off the line, Krister shut off at about 100 feet. Dave Wilson towed back to the pits before starting, no word why. That left Rob Turner and Peter Schöfer, Rob Turner started his motor then shut it off leaving Peter to take a bye. Peter drove through shake, 0.9250 to sixty feet and 3.7441/203.59 at half track, staying in #2. Qualifying standings after this session:
16:30 FIA Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Ulf Leanders 5.8118/244.51, Leif Andréasson 5.8200/241.81, Danny Bellio 6.0101/240.52, Steph Milam 6.3791/220.67, Kjell Sjöblöm 6.1583/187.46, Dan Larsen 5.8681/247.11, Freddy Fagerström 12.6309/66.07, Jarmo Kuutniemi 5.9049/219.49 Ulf was on his way back from his burnout before Leif appeared around the corner from the collection area. Leif went to 300 feet and then backed up quite quickly. A tremendous race then, leif left Ulf for dead off the line 0.1449 to 0.4491, both cars moved around their lanes but no-one was backing off for anything. Ulf into #1 at that point, Leif into #2. A nice match between Danny and Steph, Steph left for dead off the line 0.1169 to 0.5858, a nice straight pass for Danny with a slight improvement and back into the sixes for Steph, both stayed in place in the standings. Kjell went for the centre line but stayed with it, how he missed the reflectors I don't know, 0.9942 to sixty feet and 3.9061/189.31 at half track. Dan drove through shake and made a slight move to the right at 200 feet but had it covered, 0.9643 to sixty feet and 3.8762/194.60 at half track. A quick pause to replace the start line timing emitters and then into Freddy and Jarmo. Freddy hit violent shake off the line and backed off, Jarmo's FC drifted slightly to the right and he improved his ET and personal best even though he backed off early. Qualifying standings after this session:
16:05 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Stig Neergaard no time bye, Lex Joon 10.0831/90.70, Janne Ahonen 5.6730/196.53, Thomas Nataas 4.7831/311.79, Jöran Persåker 4.9641/281.43, Micke Kågered 15.3669/56.54, Andy Carter 5.7122/156.75 More bad fortune for Stig as his parachute deployed after the burnout and he had to shut off. 0.9138 to sixty foot for Lex and 0.9441 for Janne, Lex's tyres blazed at the Tree, he pedalled and tried again but the tyres blazed again and he shut off. Same story for Janne with shake at 100-200 feet and then tyre smoke, Janne pedalled and carried on, the tyres hazed in the second half and Janne pedalled then his blower belt came off. A brilliant match-up between Thomas and Jöran, 0.8571 to sixty feet for Thomas to Jöran's 0.8840, 3.2410/252.66 at half track for Thomas to Jöran's 3.3301/243.20. Personal best ETs for both racers, well done guys, and ten years since Peter Lantz and Morgan Svensson tuned Kent Persson to the first four. You have to feel for Jöran, his first four and he gets bumped down from #2 to #3 by Thomas! Micke's tyres went up in smoke at the hit, as evidenced by the 1.1549 sixty foot time. Andy clocked 0.8331 to sixty feet, the tyres started to haze after 330 feet, Andy pedalled and then got off the throttle just before half track. Qualifying standings after this session:
15:50 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jan Palmqvist 15.7808/51.32 bye, Kenneth Söderström 9.6703/96.38 bye, Jonas Dantanus 6.8979/199.93, Micke Callin 6.9260/200.01, Michael Malmgren 6.8398/203.59, Eero Knihtilä 6.9461/199.04, Jimmy Ålund 6.8462/200.86, Magnus Hansson 6.8679/199.22 Jan hit shake past the Tree, 1.0271 at sixty feet and he was off the throttle by about 150 feet. Kenneth got to sixty feet in 1.0781 but I didn't hear any gear changes and he was off the throttle at about 200 feet. A tremendous match-up between Jonas and Micke, Jonas into the 6.8s on his second six-second pass and Micke driving through a hard move at half track and into the sixes. A bit of a burndown between Michael and Eero, Michael away first 0.0581 and a new Europesn speed record backed up by his earlier pass, well done Michael! Another great match-up between Jimmy and Magnus, Magnus staying in third. Qualifying standings after this session:
15:35 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Neil Midgley 8.9439/98.25 bye, Tim Blakemore 7.9399/146.16, Eric Teboul 6.2089/229.64 bye, Jorgen Waalewijn 10.4697/136.41 bye, Otto Knebl 8.9919/156.87, Gary Jones no time, Kev Charman 7.6871/167.21, Shaun Branch 10.5699/111.66, Søren Hartvig 9.1310/162.32, Sandra Chaplain 22.9902/23.84, Luigi Ferretti 6.9460/195.53, Dave Bailey 9.0219/140.09, Rikard Gustavsson 6.7721/199.93, Steve French 7.4661/170.94, Steve Woollatt 10.6817/76.02, Steve Carey 6.8392/202.66 Neil shut off at about 300 feet but got a time on the board. Tim Blakemore lost fire just before his burnout so was able to re-start. A nice run to about half track when from here it looked as if the bike tried to throw him off and he shut off. A tremendous run for Eric, 1.0188 to sixty feet, 4.0880/182.02 at half track, straight as you like, a squeak off the European speed record, well done Eric! Jorgen's bike hesitated off the line and headed for the guardrail, Jorgen feathered the throttle the whole way down the track. Gary's engine cut out at the hit, Otto's engine hesitated and then picked up, but no improvement. No improvement for Kev, Shaun's engine hesitated off the line and he had to feather the throttle to get it to pick up, an improvement but stil propping up the field. Sandra's bike headed for the centre line and she shut off and rolled through, no improvement for Søren. Luigi was really leaning off the bike to get it to go straight, the engine sounded as if it were misfiring, no improvement. No improvement for Dave either. A consistent pass for Rikard, a small improvement for Steve F and he moves up a spot. Back into the sixes and over 200 mph for Steve C, staying in place in the standings, Steve W's rear tyre spun and he got off the throttle. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 22.6 C, 55% humidity and 1019 mb of air, track temperature is 34.5 C 15:15 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Joachim Riemer 6.9707/172.57 bye, Ian Turburville 7.7572/180.76, Petri Kalttonen 7.0002/175.67, Lorenz Stäuble 7.2788/189.10, Per Bengtsson 7.0359/200.95, Günther Sohn 6.6628/204.77, Hans Olav Olstad 6.7210/209.28 A great pass for Joachim, 1.1027 at sixty feet and 4.4207/161.87 at half track, sounded to be shut off a touch early. Big improvements for Petri and Turbo, Petri moves up a couple of places and Turbo stays on station but with a much straighter pass. Lorenz looked to be blackstriping and looked to feather the throttle as the front wheel came down, Per's run looked quicker than it was but moved him up a place. A great match-up between Günther and Hans Olav, Hans Olav improved but stayed in place, consistent pass for Günther. Qualifying standings after this session:
15:10 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Richard Gipp 7.7461/163.07 bye, Ray Debben 7.9381/166.72, Martin Newbury 11.8879/67.74, Rasmus Olessen 7.8419/165.34, Ken Cooper 7.8480/165.41, Fredrik Fredlund 7.6119/165.96, Luigi Chinarello 8.1260/126.74, Len Paget 7.8432/161.25 bye, Anders Jakobsson 7.3960/173.08, Anders Larsson 7.3849/175.88, Anders Abrahamsson 7.4130/178l.62 bye An improvement for Richard, leapfrogging Rasmus but still outside the field of eight. Martin's bike banged up on the wheelie bars a couple of times, he wasn't happy with something as he shut off by 300 feet. Improvements from Rasmus who stayed in place and Ken who moved up one spot. No improvement for Fredrik or Luigi, something came off Fredrik's bike and appeared to hit Luigi's bike side-on. An improvment for Anders Larsson but no change in standing. Anders A lost a little time off the line to wheelspin. On the re-start Len Paget had to lean off his bike to get it straight, no improvement in ET. Qualifying standings after this session:
14:45 Super Street qualifying top five after session 9:
No changes to the top five in this session. Next up is today's second Pro session starting with FIM/UEM bikes. 14:25 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 9:
No changes to the top five in this session. 14:15 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 9:
Steve Pateman into #4 spot with the fourth perfect run in the class this weekend, well done Steve! 14:00 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 9:
No changes to the top five in this session. 13:45 Fuel Funny Car session 1 (left lane first): Leif Helander 5.5019/239.23 bye
Gary Page 9.8449/78.82 bye
Roger Goring followed Fuel FC with a 6.2179/256.08 in the Firestorm Jet FC preceded by a thundrous flame and thunder show. Trackside conditions are 23.2 C, 56% humidity and 1019 mb of air, track temperature 32.5 C. 13:35 FIA NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Kev Slyfield 7.8351/171.21, Niclas Andersson 6.4440/208.37, Norbert Kuno 6.7160/222.75, Ray White 17.5770/55.80, Ian Bishop 7.4669/181.34, Rolf Ammann no time, Henri Joosten 7.0998/149.99, Bert Englefield 8.2938/182.25, Robert Koper no time, Patrick Wikström 8.6520/107.61 bye, Micke Nord 6.4108/217.55, Seppo Saapola 15.5021/71.67, Marc Meihuizen 6.3010/222.86 bye, Robert Joosten 6.4529/225.02, Roger Johansson 6.5571/215.26, Gordon Appleton no time, Urban Johansson 6.4179/214.50 bye, Bruno Bader 6.4652/215.19, Mats Eriksson 6.2621/227.22, Micke Gullquist 6.6800/210.36, Andy Robinson 6.2631/218.38 An uncharacteristic red light for Niclas, -0.0080, 1.0640 to sixty feet and 4.1750/174.47 at half track and a new PB, well done Niclas! A good-looking run for Kev, just left of centre all the way down his lane. A very languid launch for Norbert, 1.3909 to sixty feet which has got to be at least two tenths off what it should be, Ray's Zephyr more less idled off the line. Rolf left before the lights ran then the Coupe headed right and was up on three wheels as Rolf corrected it, a huge S on the track from his tyre tracks, a good job of saving it. A good-looking pass for Ian, good for #3 spot at that point but one suspects not for very long. Bert's Coupe is carrying a decal reading "We love Sabra" which I am guessing is a reference to Gordon Appleton's daughter. 1.0882 to sixty feet for Henri, 4.3291/149.99 at half track and then off the throttle at about 900 feet. Bert clocked 1.4381 to sixty feet, again rather languid and judging by the incrementals he was odd the throttle by 300 feet. Robert K didn't get reverse, Patrick took the bye and hit shake passing the Tree, he pedalled once then got off the throttle. Seppo's Coupe turned hard left off the line and he got off the throttle, Micke laid down his best time in the MSS Motorsport Mustang, 1.0759 to sixty feet and 4.1759/177.12 at half track, into #1 at that point. Number one spot lasted all of one run as Marc took over the lead, the car was drifting towards the centre line all the way but Robert stayed with it, 1.0250 to sixty feet and 4.1000/177.33 at half track, some smoke at the finish line but the track all OK. 1.1051 to sixty feet for Robert, 1.0401 for Roger, Roger's Mustang drifted towards the centre line and he held on to it, some smoke from the Mustang at the finish line. 4.2371/173.68 at half track for Robert and a good clean run. Gordon's Camaro didn't move at the hit, Roger at trackside reported that the butterflies opened and the engine zinged. Urban took off, 1.0080 to sixty feet and 4.1549/175.18 at half track. A tremendous pass for Mats in the Green Goblin, 1.0299 to sixty feet, 4.0960/179.85 at half track, the car moved about its lane some but Mats stayed with it. Micke G rolled the beams enough to put up a cherry and it will have affected his ET too, Andy's Stude was swaying left and right as he went down the track but he hung onto it and into #2 spot, 1.0080 to sixty feet and 4.0739/177.87 to half track. Micke backed off a little early, 1.2952 to sixty feet and 4.4300/171.03 at the eighth. Qualifying standings after this session:
13:10 FIA Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Derek Flynn 6.1318/218.31 bye, Timo Habermann 5.9893/242.82, Paul Ingar Udtian 5.6990/245.61, Krister Johansson 13.5029/66.56, Rob Turner 5.5348/255.55, Peter Schöfer 5.6497/256.13, Dave Wilson 5.6649/250.19 A nice bye for Derek, 0.9599 to sixty feet with very little sign of shake and a new Personal Best ET, well done Derek! A stormer for Paul Ingar, 0.0510 reaction, 0.9789 to sixty feet, 3.7270/200.93 at half track and blowing his personal best into next week, well done Paul! A nice baseline pass for Timo, 0.1709 reaction, 1.0751 to sixty feet and 3.9789/194.88 at half track. A great pass for Rob, 0.9507 to sixty feet and 3.6277/206.45 at half track and into #1 spot at that point, Krister's engine spewed out unburned fuel and sounded very lumpy at the hit, 1.4116 to sixty feet. A little consternation around Grumpy'e engine before he pulled forward to stage, Peter was away first 0.0881 to 0.1480, the better sixty foot time too 0.9528 to 0.9588, fractionally quicker and a bit faster at half track 3.7329/204.45 to Grumpy's 3.7360/201.87 and Peter first by 0.0751. Peter briefly had a cylinder out on the right side. Peter was reportedly on a checkout pass and I am guessing the guys will be quite pleased with that one. Qualifying standings after this session:
12:50 FIA Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Steph Milam 7.0621/147.52, Danny Bellio 6.0541/241.68, Jarmo Kuutniemi 5.9792/244.49, Kjell Sjöblöm 5.9838/239.32, Dan Larsen 6.1640/237.01, Ulf Leanders 6.1001/192.31, Leif Andréasson no time, Freddy Fagerström 5.8539/247.52 bye A PB or pretty close to it for Danny, 1.0340 to sixty feet and 4.0182/189.72 at half track, a straight clean run. Steph looked to have a cylinder out on the line and the car got into a bounce at half track, one chute deployed and Steph shut off in the second half. A great match-up between Jarmo and Kjell, Kjell got away first, 0.9820 to sixty feet for Jarmo to Kjell's 1.0118, into the fives and #1 and #2 respectively. A huge burnout by Ulf, easily 300 feet. Ulf had the much better suxty foot time, 0.9729 to Dan's 1.0001, both drove through shake and then as we saw in his testing passes Dan's tyres were hazing in the second half. Leif drove down the track after his burnout, I'm guessing no reverse. 0.1110 reaction for Freddy, 0.9899 to sixty feet, 3.8609/193.00 at half track, the FC was bouncing up and down and the engine note with it, also moving about its lane but you know Freddy, why back off when you can take #1 qualifier? Qualifying standings after this session:
12:35 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Stig Neergaard no time bye, Janne Ahonen 8.3600/91.05, Tommi Haapanen 7.7140/92.43, Jöran Persåker 5.1721/247.21, Micke Kågered 6.4047/133.53, Urs Erbacher 5.8230/178.44, Thomas Nataas 8.4561/86.66, Andy Carter 4.7032/270.95, Lex Joon 10.455/81.09 Stig hit vicious shake off the line, 1.0349 to sixty feet and a brief pedal then bad shake again, Stig got off the throttle at about 200 feet and the car started to drift for the left-hand guardrail (from the right lane). Stig drew the car to a halt just past the finish line in the left lane. We initially thought that the shake had rung Stig's bell good and proper but it transpired that Stig's steering wheel had been shaken off its shaft. On the restart it was 0.8978 to sixty feet for Janne, 0.9061 for Tommi, both cars' rear tyres went up in smoke at about 200 feet, Janne got off the throttle, Tommi's dragster turned hard right then there was a big ball of flame through the tyre smoke and the car did a violent left turn: I am guessing that fluid got onto the slicks. Tommi did a great job of keeping the car upright and in its lane. Word came back from the top end that Tommi's fuel tank had ruptured, the safety crew were there in moments. Next up Jöran and Micke, 0.9098 to sixty feet for Jöran to 0.9069 for Micke, Micke's tyres started to smoke at about 300 feet and he got off it, in the other lane Jöran stayed with it and then got off the throttle at about 900 feet. Urs has Glenn Mikres again with him this weekend and the TV crew are in close attendance. Thomas away first 0.2000 to 0.3251, 0.9149 to sixty feet for Urs to Thomas' 0.8701. Thomas' tyres went up in smoke at 200 feet and he was off the throttle. Same story for Urs, smoke at 200 feet, except that he pedalled, the tyres smoked again and he pedalled again. A -0.1691 red for Andy, 0.8462 to sixty feet, Lex waited for the green, 0.9090 to sixty feet then his tyres blazed and he shut off. Andy was on a stormer, 3.1383/267.27 at half track - that's one of the highest half track speeds I can remember seeing in Europe - and from here it looked as if the tyres were hazing, a brief pedal and a flash of flame from the Lucas Oil dragster but the engine was running to about 900 feet. Andy Carter is on a European ET record with a pedalled and early shut off run! Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions at the start of the session were 25.8 C, 51% humidity and 1020 mb of air, track temperature 36.6 C. 11:45 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jonas Dantanus 6.9852/199.09 bye, Micke Callin 7.6817/171.73, Jan Palmqvist 7.0471/194.75, Tommy Leindahl 7.0529/197.49, Kenneth Söderström 7.0449/195.76, Magnus Hansson 6.9101/199.05, Michael Malmgren 6.8431/202.51, Eero Knihtilä 6.9396/197.49, Jimmy Ålund 6.8099/200.76, Jonas achieves his weekend's aim with the first run this weekend, a six-second pass and the first run on a new Reher and Morrison motor. Well done Jonas! A new engine for Micke C too, the Firebird turned right off the line and lost Micke some time, Jan also went for the centre line but pulled it straight and stayed with it. Same story for Kenneth, the Grand Am went for the centre line and he took the long way round. A straight pass for Tommy in the other lane, sixty foot a bit down at 1.1061, but that'll make a good baseline. Michael M blackstriped more or less the whole lane but was the first to go straight in the right lane, into #1 spot and a squeak off the European speed record, Magnus too went straight as you like and had the quicker sixty foot time 1.0180 to 1.0361. 0.9831 to sixty feet for Jimmy, blackstriping the lane and I suspect a little sandbagging as he put the chutes out right on the line, Jimmy goes a squeak off the European ET record. A good baseline for Eero, 1.0366 to sixty feet and 4.4606/159.02 at half track. Qualifying standings after this session:
11:25 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Steve French 7.5380/167.99, Søren Hartvig 7.4939/179.29, Sandra Chaplain 8.5711/155.75 bye, Dave Bailey 8.4321/156.74, Kev Charman 7.5849/169.03, Neil Midgley no time bye, Steve Carey 7.1659/191.45, Steve Woollatt 6.3700/217.28, Michal Ponca shut off after burnout, Otto Knebl 8.7380/165.32 bye, Shaun Branch 12.8311/81.08, Rickard Gustavsson 6.7359/204.68, Ian King 6.5138/203.85, Luigi Ferretti 6.7519/201.79 Steve got a big jump on Søren off the line and then ran very close to the centre line, a new PB for Søren, well done Søren! Sandra's bike sounded to hesitate just a touch in the second half, Eric Teboul was meant to run against Sandra but he pushed his bike away and there was a pool of fluid where the bike had been. A good run for Kev's Comp Bike, in the other lane Dave's engine popped and blew smoke right on the half track mark but he stayed with it. Gary Jones lost fire after the burnout and under the FIM/UEM riles couldn't restart, Neil was off the throttle almost immediately off the line and he stopped at about 800 feet. A straight and hard pass for Steve W to take #1 spot, close to a PB, well done Steve! In the other lane Steve C put down a good baseline and the bike went straight. Michal shut off after the burnout, Otto took the bye and the bike hesitated a little off the line but he stayed with it. Shaun's bike bogged right down off the line and then picked up again, in the other lane Rickard put down a straight and hard run and into #2 at that point. Good straight passes for Ian and Luigi, Luigi moving his weight around the bike to stay straight, good baselines for both. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 24.4 C, 54% humidity and 1020 mb of air, track temperature is 30.0 C. 11:05 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Ian Turburville 8.5661/117.48 bye, Per Bengtsson 7.1289/192.37 bye, Petri Kalttonen 7.1849/166.41, Joachim Riemer no time, Hans Olav Olstad 6.7411/211.20, Günther Sohn 6.6220/201.79, Roel Koedam 7.0099/164.73, Lorenz Stäuble 7.0800/182.85 A scary one for Turbo as he got into two tankslappers at about half track (5.0292/133.53) but did a superb job to save it - I swear we saw the side of that bike from Race Control. Per's bike went straight, sounded a bit lazy, a little smoke at half track but Per stayed with it. The track crew all came out and checked Per's lane after he ran and we had a quick bit of sledding. Joachim got off the throttle before sixty feet and rolled to a halt at about 700 feet, meanwhile Petri was off and running leaning off each side of the bike in turn to keep it straight and feathering the throttle very slightly at half track. A superb match-up between Hans Olav and Günther, Hans Olav away first 0.2140 to 0.6079 and riding the front wheel almost all the way, Günther was chasing all the way but clocked a new Personal Best and took #1. Lorenz' rear slick went up in smoke just past the Tree and tried to pitch him off, Lorenz feathered the throttle and then he and Roel were side-by-side all the way to the stripe. Qualifying standings after this session:
10:45 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Ken Cooper 7.8781/167.21, Ray Debben 7.8569/164.39, Richard Gipp 7.8610/165.89 bye, Len Paget 7.5541/173.58, Rasmus Olessen 7.8541/165.50, Luigi Chinarello 7.6748/170.42, Fredrik Fredlund 7.5772/164.30, Örjan Gustavsson 7.6709/169.86 bye, Anders Abrahamsson 7.3150/182.30, Anders Jakobsson 7.3550/176.50, Anders Larsson 7.4660/175.81, Tom Tinndahn 7.1721/174.38 Ken Cooper's first run out in Pro Stock Bike but you wouldn't have thought so, a very competent performance. A great run for Ray too, must be near a PB. A good baseline for Richard, a bit close to the centre line but he had it covered. A great 0.0789 reaction for Rasmus, good baseline passes for Len and Rasmus. Into second and third at that point for Luigi and Fredrik. Örjan's bike sounded to have problems changign gear in the second half. A great match-up for Anders A and Anders J, 0.0890 between them at the stripe and into first and second at that point. What a stormer from Tom Tinndahn, close to the European record. A good baseline for Anders L. Qualifying standings after this session:
10:20 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 8:
Rosie Hunt moved up into #2 in the second pairing of the session. 10:10 Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 8:
Improvements for Andy Frost and Jason Weir, and Dennis Habermann makes his first run of the weekend although it was very off-form. Russ Fellows has also made his first appearance and is currently +2.3613. 10:05 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 8:
Pete Cresswell into the top five at #4 in the last pairing of the session. The top sixteen qualifiers are in the 8.9s. 9:55 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 8:
Teresa Letchford took over the lead in the second pairing of the session. Trackside conditions are 20.7 C, 68% himidity and 1020 mb of air, track temperature is 23.7 C. 9:50 Super Street qualifying top five after session 8:
No changes to the top five in this session. The top twelve qualifiers are in the 10.9s. 9:45 Super Gas qualifying top five after session 8:
Matt Eley into the top five in the fourth pairing of the session. Again we're working to three decimal places which is why the above looks a bit weird. The top ten qualifiers are in the 9.90s. 9:35 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 8:
Spencer Tramm into #3 in the first pairing, the third perfect Super Pro ET run so far, nice one Spencer! In the next pairing Mick Payne's Coronet threw what looked like a door at 1000 feet. The bodywork recovered we started again and in the next pairing Pat Talbot's dragster had a nitrous burp at half track which almost threw the scoop off the top of the engine - it ended up hanging off one side. Steve Pateman broke out big time with a 7.8979, well done Steve! Team member Tom told us that the car is in completely street-legal form and including block treads. Trackside conditions are 19.7 C, 73% humidity and 1020 mb of air, track temperature is 18.8 C. 9:15 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 8:
No changes to the top five in this session. 8:30 Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for the second day of qualifying for the FIA European Finals. 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 posting a picture every sixty seconds, and will be on-line twenty four hours a day until the track closes on Sunday evening. It's another nice day here at the Pod, right now it's a mixture of sunshine and cloud but there is a huge clear area behind us and headed this way. Trackside conditions are 18.2 C, 79% humidity and 1020 mb of air, track temperature on the start line is 19.0 C. Your reporter must say a big Thank You to Pro Mod racer Patrick Wikström and his team for a very pleasant evening and scrumptious dinner last night. The Sirloin Steak a la Pro Mod went down very well and was much appreciated, thanks guys. We must also apologise for the late appearance of yesterday's pictures, we had a distraction or two whilst we were working last night but it's all sorted now. Sparky has asked us to say good morning to Sindy and that he is sorry that you can't be here. Qualifying starts at 9:00 with a cycle of Sportsmen; today's two Pro sessions are scheduled for 10:30 and 14:30. Stay tuned as as soon as the track opens we'll have all the news for you. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |