2007 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 22:50 We have now posted today's pictures; you can view them from the Event Index page. Sara Magnusson has given us the first of her updates from the Andréasson Motorsports Top Methanol Funny Car pit in association with John Woolfe Racing. You can check out Sara's report and pictures by clicking here or via the Event Index page. 20:35 Super Gas qualifying top five during session 6:
Frank Mason's 'Vette disappeared in a cloud of smoke in the first pairing and oil was found on the shutdown area. Mark White moved into the top five at #4. Then we got rain and Race Director Darren Prentice has called a halt for today. The plan is to run the remaining Super Gassers first thing in the morning. Stay tuned as we are now working on today's pictures. 19:45 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6:
Nick Good moved in to #3 spot in the seventh pairing in this session. Two pairings later Nick Spence moved in to #3 and bumped his fellow Nick down a spot. In this session we got our first look at Leo van der Kuiji's beautiful Mercury, stay tuned for a picture. Trackside conditions are 56.8 F, 61% humidity and 29.32 inches of air, track temperature is 67.9 F. 19:15 We had the oil clean-up then Roger Goring put in a thundering 6.1229/258.36 in the Firestorm Jet FC. Matt Summerfield and Dave Jenkins followed up with passes in their racing trucks to promote July's Truck Show here at Santa Pod. Matt got there first 14.6580/98.70 to Dave's 15.3857/94.59. Next up is the completion of Sportsman qualifying. 18:35 Fuel Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Håkan Fällström 11.5172/59.12 bye, Leif Helander 6.1388/175.74 bye, John Spuffard no time. 1.0122 to sixty feet for Håkan, great nitro flames but then the cylinders started to mix up and unburnt fuel and yellow rather than orange flames came from the headers, the tyres were shaking and Håkan was off the throttle at about 250 feet and put the chute out at about half track. The Showtime FC left a trail of oil along the track on its burnout, Spuff got out of the car and he and the Showtime and safety crews jumped the guardrail whilst Leif took the bye, again the engine note went down dramatically towards half track, clutch again I guess, Leif stayed with it to about 1000 feet and then put the chute out. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 58.5 F, 54% humidity and 29.32 inches of air, track temperature is 75.7 F. 18:25 FIA NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Kev Slyfield 7.7880/169.16 bye, Roger Johansson 7.5220/156.86 bye, Seppo Saapola 6.6601/218.29, Marko Lantto 6.7498/197.56, Micke Lindahl 8.1181/125.43, Bruno Bader 6.5629/210.17, Ray White 16.7178/78.41, Ian Bishop 7.1740/189.82, Paul Brander 8.4380/164.20, Rolf Amman 7.0431/209.18, Henri Joosten 7.0908/197.61, Robert Koper 11.6302/73.14, Danny Cockerill 6.1761/230.73, Bert Englefield 11.5678/72.02, Pelle Eriksson 7.2471/190.56, Robert Joosten 6.2140/232.93, Marc Meihuizen 6.8653/221.52, Gordon Appleton 7.0031/179.86, Mats Eriksson 6.4299/221.53, Micke Gullquist 6.2451/223.74, Urban Johansson 9.1249/99.16, Andy Robinson 6.2400/227.19 A slight improvement for Kev but he stayed in place in the standings. Roger drove through shake and the Mustang made a move for the centre line, from here it looked as if Roger pedalled to pull it straight and then got back on the throttle for a short while. Seppo and Marko both drove through shake, both cars moving about their lanes some, but both stayed with it to get into the top sixteen and both made it. Micke L tried to drive through shake but the Camaro made a hard move to the right and he eventually got off the throttle, Bruno put down a good-looking straight pass to get into the top sixteen by some margin. A new PB for Ian, well done Ian! No change in placing though. Ray's Zephyr bogged off the line and he cruised down the track. Another wild ride for Rolf, the Coupe swinging left and right but Rolf was giving it everything he has to stay in the field. Tami hit wheelspin off the line, pedalled and gave it another go, and looked from here to be feathering the throttle in the second half. Henri had the chutes out before the traps, Robert got a real bounce on, banging up and down on the wheelie bars I am guessing, and he shut off at about 300 feet. Bert hit shake and got off the throttle as the Coupe turned right, in the other lane Danny laid down a straight, hard stormer of a pass, wiping out his Personal Best and recording Europe's first 230 mph Pro Mod terminal speed. Well done Danny! So what happens next? Robert Joosten goes 232 mph! Well done Robert! Pelle was off the throttle early. The usual cloud of smoke but a big flash of flame from Marc's Coupe at the finish line, the track was checked out and was just fine. Gordon took a very long way round, hitting shake and steering his way through some very violent moves, but from here it looked as if he wasn't giving up for anything. Mats lost a moment to shake, in the other lane Micke G slammed down a Personal Best - well done Micke! - and swapped places in the standings with Mats. A great match-up between Urban and Andy to start with, Urban got into a tankslapper and got off the throttle, Andy drove through a small amount of shake, just enough to add to the ET. Was that the best-ever European Pro Mod qualifying session? You better believe it! Qualifying standings after this session:
17:55 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Rob Turner 5.6919/245.72 bye, Derek Flynn 7.0931/184.28 bye, Dave Wilson 5.4399/257.48, Paul Ingar Udtian no time, Timo Habermann 5.8209/233.15, Peter Schöfer 7.8222/89.27 A great run for Rob put him into second place at that point, 0.9427 to sixty feet and 3.7130/198.14 at half track, straight and from here it looked as if there was no shake at all. A much better run for Derek, some mag adjustments suggested by Joe Pando of MSD doing the trick by the look of things. A 120 foot burnout by Paul Ingar then he rolled to half track, Grumpy pulled his own burnout and rolled just as far down the track. Paul Ingar then bumped out of stage as he went up on the revs, he hit the throttle when Grumpy left but no time; Grumpy clocked 0.9341 to sixty feet and 3.5670/211.28 at half track, into #1 spot. Peter hit terrible shake, the car making a hard move to the right and one chute shaking out, Peter pedalled and got back on the throttle trailing the chute, in the other lane Timo laid down a straight and hard pass and clocked a new Personal Best, well done Timo! Qualifying standings after this session:
17:40 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Dan Larsen 7.6118/118.74, Kjell Sjöblöm 6.3311/189.84, Danny Bellio 9.5668/92.77 bye, Steph Milam 6.1971/226.03, Jarmo Kuutniemi 9.5240/94.90, Arvid Grødem 6.3908/213.94, Freddy Fagerström 6.5628/221.67 Dan drove through shake and then the Boxter FC's tyres started to smoke and the FC went way out of shape and Dan got off the throttle. Kjell had a good-looking pass to begin with but the FC was heading further and further to the right and got close to the guardrail, Kjell was off the throttle at about 900 feet. Danny's burst panel blew at about 330 feet, the run was looking good to that point, 1.0869 to sixty feet and 3.0206 to 330 feet. A step to the right during the burnout for Steph and she got straight off the throttle. A great pass for Steph, though, we think a Personal Best ET, well done Steph! In the other lane Jarmo hit shake at about thirty feet and got off the throttle at about 120 feet. Arvid v Freddy was a shake and pedal fest, both cars moving aruond their lanes and Freddy heading for the guardrail at the top end as Arvid headed for the centre line. Leif Andréasson and Ulf Leanders didn't get to run, judging by the track radio chat they did not turn up on time for their allotted pairing. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 58.1 F, 52% humidity and 29.32 inches of air, track temperature is 81.9 F. 17:20 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Andy Carter 5.0692/314.43 bye, Stig Neergard 7.2507/108.20, Tommi Haapanen 8.6427/86.57, Janne Ahonen no time, Jöran Persåker 5.6938/209.46, Lex Joon 4.8429/277.62, Urs Erbacher 5.5712/172.24, Thomas Nataas 4.8881/310.04, Micke Kågered 8.8650/92.24 0.9039 to sixty feet for Andy, he hit shake by the Tree then pedalled and the car hooked up and went, 248.66 mph at the eighth, off the throttle at about 1100 feet, and a huge speed which will be a record if Andy backs it up. It was a long pedal too, somewhere between half a second and a second, so there is plenty more to come from the Lucas Oil/Andersen Racing car. 0.8579 to sixty feet for Stig to Tommi's 0.8970, Stig got to about 100 feet when his tyres blazed and then there was a ball of flame and clutch sparks from his dragster. Nothing visibly wrong for Tommi although we were watching Stig at that point, Tommi was alongside Stig and shut off at about 300 feet with sparks landing around his car from Stig's clutch. Oil was found in Stig's lane in the shutdown area. A very quick clean-up and then into the next pair. Jöran staged and then Janne put on his second fuel pump but stayed in pre-stage, Jöran was staged with both fuel pumps running for what seemed like a very long time although it was probably only a few seconds. Chief Starter Ian Marshall waited as long as he dared and then bulbed Janne. Janne launched when Jöran launched but of course no time, Jöran was on a stormer to begin with but and the dragster was blackstriping its lane, then there was a flash of flame and then a big ball of fire from his dragster at about half track, Jöran stayed with it until the engine disassembled itself and then put out the chutes and got it stopped as the safety crews chased him down. Lots of small aluminium pieces were found in Jöran's lane. Jöran is quite OK. A great match-up between Lex and Urs, 0.8718 to sixty feet for Lex to Urs' 0.8740, 3.2660/252.62 at half track for Lex to Urs' 3.3139/228.76 - Urs' half track speed shows that he was off the throttle at that point, from here it looked like cylinders were out. Lex stayed with it to about 1100 feet and put the chutes out in the traps, and went into the lead for MPM Oil with our first four-second pass of the weekend. Consternation on the start line as Thomas and Micke pulled into stage, Chief Starter Ian Marshall holding both racers as there was no blue light. The blue light on the Tree had chosen that moment to fail. But the timing crew radioed Ian to go and it was a great pass for Thomas, 0.8791 to sixty feet, 3.3259/250.15 to half track and on the throttle all the way. Micke clocked 0.9002 to sixty feet but also hit the dreaded shake at about sixty feet, he tried to pedal but it wasn't working and he got off the throttle at anout 250 feet. Qualifying standings at the end of this session:
16:40 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Kenneth Söderström 7.0399/197.54 bye, Adam Flamholc 7.0582/193.33, Jonas Dantanus 10.1733/90.14, Tommy Leindahl 7.0040/198.05, Jan Palmqvist 7.2352/188.90, Jimmy Ålund no time, Magnus Hansson 7.2630/189.17 bye, Eero Knihtilä 6.8628/202.60, Michael Malmgren 6.8033/202.59 Kenneth into the top eight, clutch problems solved and more to come since Kenneth drove through a little shake and took the long way around the first eighth. A great pass for Adam, a new PB although he stayed in place. Jonas in the other lane shut off before half track. A good-looking pass for Tommy although a -0.0909 red light, Jan awaited the green and improved by a tenth although he stayed in place. Jimmy shut off after the burnout, Magnus took the bye and the run looked a lot quicker than the time which came up on the board, I think Magnus lost some time to wheelspin off the line. A very shaky burnout for Michael, caterpillar tracks across the start line. Lots of time to adjust the wheelie bars for both Eero and Michael, then a burndown, Eero went in first and Michael waited a few seconds more then went in. Chief Starter Ian Marshall ran the lights almost as soon as Michael went in stage and Michael pulled a huge 0.2937 to 0.6882 holeshot and got there first by 0.4540. Michael's 6.8033 is a new European ET record backed up by his earlier pass and Eero backed up his earlier 202.61, well done guys! Qualifying standings after this session:
16:20 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Ian King no time, Rikard Gustafsson 6.6461/198.94 bye, Otto Knebl 8.5089/161.83, Sandra Chaplain 8.6293/150.45, Kev Charman 7.5789/170.56, Dave Bailey 8.8378/133.18, Sören Hartvig 8.0610/174.28, Luigi Ferretti 10.4100/81.23, Tim Blakemore 8.6111/152.61, Chris Hall 7.3361/161.22, Neil Midgley 7.1571/177.10, Steve Carey 6.8737/195.89, Steve Woollatt 13.8580/55.21 Ian King's engine stopped with an expensive-sounding bang before his burnout, Rikard took the bye and found last year's form, into second place. Otto got a time on the board after his problems earlier on. Kev got into the top eight with his first pass, Sandra improved big time but stayed in place. Sören moved up a couple of places with a much improved pass. Luigi was on a great-looking pass but then the bike threw a belt at 300 feet, in the other lane Tim had problems getting the bike off the line. An improvement for Neil but he stayed in place. A solid pass for Steve C whilst in the other lane Steve W hit shake and shut off. Qualifying standings after this session:
16:10 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Jaska Salakari no time, Greger Johansson no time, Stefan Iwanowitsch 7.5241/188.26, Roel Koedam 6.9927/200.08, Ian Turburville , Joachim Riemer 7.3981/163.66, Lorenz Stäuble 6.6659/202.83, Petri Kalttonen 12.4799/66.79, Hans Olav Olstad 6.9520/204.47, Gunther Söhn 6.9494/201.72 Jaska's bike leaked fluid on the way back from the burnout and he was signalled to shut off. Greger's engine stopped after the burnout. Great passes from both Roel and Stefan, Stefan lost what looked from here like a wheelie bar wheel on the way down the track, meanwhile Roel had had his hands full keeping hold of the bike in the burnout but went straight and true and into the sixes on the run. Joachim put in a nice straight pass and shut off early so there is more to come there, Turbo rolled the beams before hitting the throttle then Mister Spokehead started to aim for the other lane, from here you could see Turbo make the decision to let it cross lanes rather than try to pull it back and he shut off. Lorenz put in a picture-perfect run to take over the lead, in the other lane Petri was heading for the guardrail as soon as he left the lone and he shut off at about 200 feet and pulled it clear. A tremendous side-by-side between Hans Olav and Gunther to close the session, side by side all the way down the track and Hans Olav into the sixes. Qualifying standings after this session:
15:50 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2 (left lane first): Anders Abrahamsson 7.3111/180.73 bye, Ulf O¨gge 8.0152/167.29, Martin Bishop 7.5790/181.54, Ray Debben 7.9957/162.55, Richard Gipp 7.6102/171.55, Steen Jorgensen no time, Martin Newbury 7.7019/169.88, Fredrik Fredlund 11.7850/66.36, Luigi Chinarello 7.6628/173.74, Len Paget 7.5989/170.50, Rasmus Olesen 11.5142/73.38, Orjan Gustavsson no time, Anders Larsson 7.2929/178.00, Tom Tinndahn 7.5039/177.85, Anders Jakobsson 7.2712/179.88 Anders A sat right up as he left the line, for a moment I thought he was going off the back of the bike. Martin B picked up a couple of spots with a big improvement, Ulf stull surprisingly out of the field. Richard moved up the field with an improvement, but was on the bump at that point. Martin N moved up a spot whilst in the other lane Steen's motor died off the line. Luigi took the place back from Martin N right on his Personal Best, in the other lane Fredrik backed off as he headed for the centre line. Len improved but stayed in place, Rasmus improved but stayed at the bottom of the field. Orjan shut off before staging. Anders L took the bye and into #3 with a new Personal Best, well done Anders! Anders J backed up his earlier 7.243 for a new record, well done Anders! Qualifying standings after this session:
15:20 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 6:
No changes to the top five in this session. The thirty two qualifiers are separated by 0.1121 seconds. Next up is the second Pro qualifying session. 15:00 Martin Hill followed Fuel Funny Car qith a storming 6.2251/265.95 in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 5:
A great pass by John Tebenham, way under index and into #3 spot. A stormer from Andy Frost, too, a new PB by a long way and under index, well done Frosty! Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. Trackside conditions are 64.6 F, 44% humidity and 29.35 inches of air, track temperature is 91.8 F 14:30 Fuel Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Patrik Pers 5.9848/176.56 bye, Håkan Fällström 9.9338/76.65 bye, Leif Helander 5.7382/245.73 bye, John Spuffard 9.4500/87.86 bye Patrik on his final observed run. It got very tear-gassy up here in Race Control as he passed under us. 0.9950 to sixty feet, 3.7320/221.77 at half track looking to have with a cylinder out, the car was moving left and right but Patrik stayed with it and then got off the throttle at about 1000 feet. Håkan also on a bye, the car now sporting a Firebird body with a very nice yellow, orange and black design. A little trouble starting as the leads fell off the starter just as the motor went to fire, but a quick bit of cranking-over to clear the cylinders and the engine started for the first time of asking after the leads were replaced. A soft-looking launch, 1.0791 to sixty feet, the tyres were chattering and then shaking by about 150 feet, the car started to drift towards the guardrail and Håkan got off the throttle. Leif's tyres didn't light on the burnout, but it didn't hurt as Starkotter stuck to the track. 1.0430 to sixty feet, the engine sounded as if it was nosing over at about half track (3.8922/210.29) but maybe just the clutch pulling the engine down, Leif stayed with it all the way to the finish line. Spuff on his first outing in the new Showtime and the plan was to stay on the throttle as long as it felt OK. 0.9331 to sixty feet then shake at about 100 feet and Spuff got off the throttle. The car sounded very different to me, something has changed in that set-up I think. Qualifying standings after this session:
14:10 FIA NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Kev Slyfield 7.7838/170.49 bye, Ian Bishop 7.2341/186.63, Paul Brander 7.3007/183.24, Rolf Amman 7.0123/200.76, Henri Joosten 6.9081/203.60, Bert Englefield 6.7399/208.28, Pelle Eriksson 6.7849/202.88, Robert Koper 6.8409/195.67, Ray White 7.3910/190.92, Robert Joosten 6.3711/226.92, Micke Lindahl 7.4486/171.28, Gordon Appleton 6.3083/222.64, Danny Cockerill 6.8762/219.54, Bruno Bader 7.3798/135.93, Norbert Kuno 11.8053/113.03, Marko Lantto 7.5127/142.52, Marc Meihuizen 6.4650/219.49, Roger Johansson 19.8318/49.29, Mats Eriksson 6.2672/221.73, Andy Robinson 6.2069/226.33, Seppo Saapola 8.1771/137.11, Micke Gullquist 6.3059/224.89, Urban Johansson 6.1910/220.52 A wild burnout for Kev, the car looking to be up on two wheels at one point, a great pass and a new PB, taking the long way round so there's more to come from the pretty Willys yet. Nice one Kev! Our first on-track look at Tami's Cobalt, a very nice piece of kit, in the other lane Ian pulled a superb burnout. A great first pass for Tami, pedalling a couple of times, Ian got there first by 0.0578 and into #1 spot at that point. Rolf outdid Kev in the burnout stakes, really out of shape and getting very close to the Tree. A straight enough run for Rolf though, the car just slightly rolling the beams before Rolf hit it, lots of smoke from the left bank in the second half of the track but Rolf stayed with it, a nice baseline for Henri in the other lane. Bert and Pelle were held for a while before staging, great passes by both, particularly noticeable was the lack of shake for Bert and very close to a PB for Pelle. We had a brief clean-up in Pelle's lane. A PB for Ray White, a far from straight full pass so more to come, well done Ray! Robert K put the chutes out at about 1200 feet. A nice pass by Robert J, repeating his Thunderball form and into #1 spot at that point, Micke L pedalled for shake, long enough to get his vision back I'd say, then got back on it. Danny's first run with his new engine, the tyres shook off the line but Danny pedalled like crazy and the bug Chevy hooked up, in the other lane Gordon went straight and true and laid down a stormer for #1 spot at that point. Danny has Carl Spiering with him this weekend. Bruno took the long way round on his pass and shut off as he approached the centre line at the top end, Norbert took it very gently off the line and cruised through, nothing visibly wrong. Marko rolled the beams and then hit it, getting off the throttle as the carc drifted towards the centre line, in the other lane Marc was on a stormer but then there was a big cloud of smoke from the Coupe on the finish line, nothing untoward found on the track. A stormer from Mats, obviously found out a lot in testing last week, driving through 'normal' shake and straight as you like into #1 spot for the chassis built by son Lars Goran. In the other lane Roger was off the throttle almost at the hit and idled through. A quick check under Seppo's car before staging, everything OK, but on the green the tyres blazed, Seppo tried pedalling and eventually gave up, in the other lane Andy Robinson just hooked up and went, Easter's nightmare forgotten and back on form. A great match-up between Micke G and Urban, both back on form after being plagued with shake in testing last weekend, Urban picking up where he left off last season. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 61.5 F, 43% humidity and 29.35 inches of air, track temperature is 83.0 F. 13:25 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Derek Flynn 7.2719/180.05 bye, Paul Ingar Udtian no time, Timo Habermann 5.9782/230.73 bye, Krister Johansson 7.3039/178.74, Rob Turner 10.2439/76.14, Peter Schöfer 5.6593/251.29, Dave Wilson 6.1013/158.44 The first run in FIA competition for Eurodragster.com News sponsor Derek, wheels up off the start line and a straight and easy-looking pass. Paul Ingar's tyres didn't light on the burnout and he shut off before staging. A great run for Timo, wheels up off the line, a very brief pedal, and straight as you like all the way down the track, into #1 at that point and right on his Personal Best, well done Timo! Rob hit shake off the line and tried to drive through it, the dragster made a hard move to the right and got off the throttle, Krister's engine looked to have cylinders out before the launch and it was laboured all the way down the track. A very Happy Birthday for yesterday to Rudi Schöfer, hope you had a great day Rudi. Grumpy drove through what looked like normal TMD shake but shut off just pas half track, Peter ran down the left of his lane but stayed with it and went into #2 spot. Qualifying standings after this session:
13:10 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Danny Bellio 6.7731/202.36 bye, Freddy Fagerström 5.9546/238.16, Steph Milam 6.2679/228.71, Jarmo Kuutniemi 7.9481/117.17, Arvid Grødem 6.0348/235.73, Kjell Sjöblöm 6.2549/212.28, Dan Larsen 6.1728/240.61, Leif Andréasson 12.1589/64.93, Ulf Leanders 6.0471/243.34 Danny's first visit to Santa Pod and his first FIA European Championship round. A nice burnout then a gentle launch, feathering the throttle in the first half and then getting very close to the timing reflectors at the top end. A nice baseline pass for Danny's first run here. Good to see Steph back after the problems at Easter. A restrained burnout by Freddy's standards, he only rolled to about 500 feet. Freddy away first 0.2612 to 1.2259, driving through shake and the Firebird was all over its lane, but he stayed with it and went into #1 spot at that point. A good solid pass from Steph, close to her PB and a nice baseline for the first run on the new motor. 1.0031 to sixty feet for Jarmo to Arvid's 1.0030. Jarmo planned to go to the top of second gear and put in a good straight pass to that point, Arvid was all over his lane, 3.9300/184.27 at half track, close to the guardrail near the top end but stayed with it. Long burnouts for Kjell and Dan, both rolled to half track. Dan Larsen drove through shake, the Avenger did about half a mile in its lane but Dan hung on to it, in the other lane Kjell hit the finish line timing reflectors and then from here he appeared to tag the guardrail in the shutdown area. Word came back that Kjell's headers were dented but that the body was OK. On the restart we had the Leanders brothers' first run with their new self-designed and built clutch. Ulf was on his way back from the burnout before Leif appeared round the corner but Leif got back pretty quickly so as not to keep Ulf waiting. Ulf away first 0.1679 to 0.1721, Leif had the better sixty foot time 0.9777 to Ulf's 0.9941, Leif hit shake and shut off as the Stratus made a move, Ulf pedalled for shake at about 100 feet then hit it again, a big speed for a 6.0. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 65.1 F, 43% humidity and 29.38 inches of air, track temperature is 75.0 F. 12:40 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Janne Ahonen no time, Jöran Persåker 14.3819/76.94 bye, Stig Neegrard no time bye, Tommi Haapanen no time, Andy Carter no time, Micke Kågered 6.6238/126.00, Lex Joon 9.7739/82.75, Urs Erbacher 10.2882/81.20, Thomas Nataas 7.6598/97.23 Janne's tyres didn't light on the burnout and he shut off before staging. Jöran still has the services of Peter Lantz and Morgan Svensson this season. A great burnout and then another one at the hit, the tyres blazed and Race Control shook. A nice burnout for Stig, his first run in his new car so we weren't expecting a full pass. Looked like a great launch for Stig, a solid pass to sixty feet but then the tyres started to go up in smoke at about 100 feet then blazed, the engine note shot up, and the dragster disappeared as Stig got off the throttle. No time for Stig, the timing system threw a wobbler as Stig launched. Tommy and Anita's dragster looks great in its new colours. Great burnouts for Tommi and Andy, instant shake for both at the hit, both immediately off the throttle, Andy hit it once more but then got off the throttle. Again no times came up on the timing system. The timing crew gave it a damn good thrashing and then off we went again. First up after the break were Micke and Lex. Nice burnouts from both cars, on the green Lex was away first 0.1979 to 0.2791, 0.8748 to sixty feet for Micke to Lex's 0.8870, Lex hit shake at about sixty feet and got off the throttle, hit it once more briefly, then got off it. Micke got to 330 feet in 2.2598 and was already off the throttle by half track, 3.5057/171.16 at the eighth. Glenn Mikres is working with Urs this weekend and good to see Rune Fjeld here with Thomas. Quite short burnouts from both racers, Thomas was on a good one to begin with, 0.8971 to sixty feet then hit shake and then the tyres blazed at about 200 feet, Urs got to sixty feet in 0.8791 then hit shake and shut off. Qualifying standings after this session:
11:55 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Jonas Dantanus 7.7269/150.64, Adam Flamholc 7.4110/155.65, Jan Palmqvist 7.5368/182.36, Richard Sundblom 7.9382/161.83, Kenneth Söderström 9.7557/95.33, Tommy Leindahl 6.9449/199.13, Magnus Hansson 6.8760/199.18, Eero Knihtilä 6.8561/202.61, Michael Malmgren 6.8359/201.91, Jimmy Ålund 6.8772/201.90 Both Jonas and Adam making their FIA débuts, both drove through shake and Adam's car started to move around his lane but he stayed with it. Both were off the throttle early. The first outing for Jan's Grand Am, he sat on the line for a short while after the green but a nice straight and easy-looking pass, in the other lane Richard's Cobalt headed left and crossed the centre line but Richard pedalled, pulled it back and got back on it. A tremendous pass from Tommy put him into #1 spot, last week's testing doubtless paid off. Kenneth's Grand Am drifted left and he shut off at half track. Lots of work on the wheelie bars of Eero's car before staging, Magnus waited patiently and eventually Chief Starter Ian Marshall motioned Eero into stage. A tremendous side-by-side pair from Magnus and Eero, and the first half of a new European speed record for Eero, well done Eero! It was always going to be a good one between Michael and Jimmy and it certainly was, we think the quickest side-by-side European Pro Stock passes and Michael is on a new ET record if he backs it up, well done Michael! Qualifying standings after this session:
11:40 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Rene van den Berg no time, Gary Jones 7.5121/184.41 bye, Kev Charman no time, Sandra Chaplain 9.0122/157.88 bye, Sören Hartvig 9.2301/94.32, Chris Hall 7.0372/181.34, Tim Blakemore 8.1160/185.27, Michal Ponca 9.3489/149.05, Otto Knebl no time, Steve Carey 6.6702/202.59, Steve Woollatt 6.4871/189.81, Dave Bailey 7.7010/163.57, Neil Midgley 7.2162/157.92, Luigi Ferretti 7.0621/197.39, Eric Teboul 11.6119/70.41, Rikard Gustafsson 28.5778/19.92 Rene's tyre didn't light in the burnout and he shut off before staging. Gary took the bye and the best time yet for the new Jones and Friend bike, Dave Friend and the team very happy with that. Kev lost fire after the burnout and was pushed back as in TFB you can't restart. Sandra took the bye, left the line gently and the bike sounded as if it had a problem shifting from first to second but all OK after that. od A great, straight run from Chris put him into #1 spot at that point, in the other lane Sören was on a good pass with the front wheel high in the air, but he got off the throttle at half track. Tim's Funny Bike hesitated off the line but then hooked up and went, Michal's bike was labouring a little. Otto left before the lights ran, the lights ran as Otto got to about 100 feet and Steve C blasted out a superb pass and a new Personal Best by a long way, well done Steve! A great pass for Steve W too, the bike went straight and hard and Steve backed off before the end as the terminal speed shows and into #1 spot, a good FB pass for Dave in the other lane. His best pass yet on his new FB for Neil, from here it looked as if he was backing off at the top end, in the other lane Luigi put down a good-looking pass, one of those runs which looked quicker than the ET which came up. Eric's rear tyre spun up not far off the line, 1.0089 sixty foot time though, he got off the throttle then on again but the tyre spun up and then there was a puff of vapour from the headers as if a belt had broken. Rikard's engine stopped off the line. Qualifying standings after this session:
Trackside conditions are 60.6 F, 48% humidity and 29.38 inches of air, track temperature is 63.1 F. 11:20 FIM/UEM Supertwin qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Stefan Iwanowitsch shut off, Roel Koedam 8.3021/119.34, Ian Turburville 7.7540/192.32, Petri Kalttonen 7.4531/188.22 bye, Carina Sjutti no time, Hans Olav Olstad 7.5570/196.49, Joachim Riemer 8.0097/126.90, Lorenz Stäuble 7.6361/160.77, Gunther Sohn 6.8421/208.28 bye Stefan shut off before his burnout. A very short burnout for Roel, Turbo with Ronny Aasen crewing went just past the line. Roel looked to be on a great pass but there was a puff of smoke from the headers right on the eighth and Roel shut off. There was a big cloud of smoke from Turbo's bike off the start line, looked like tyre smoke, but a great pass for Turbo and we think a PB speed. A nice pass for Petri, easily a six-foot header flame from the headers, the bike was heading left a lot of the way but Petri had it covered. Carina's bike jumped up in the air at the hit then there was a bang and a cloud of smoke and pieces of metal came off the bike, Carina let go of the right handlebar very quickly, hopefully nothing hit her. The bike rolled to a halt at 1000 feet. Hans Olav's bike ran down the right side of its lane and sounded as if there was a slight misfire. A very hairy run for Lorenz, the big bike heading right and he got very close to the guardrail and had to shut off at half track, Joachim in the other lane went straight but shut off at about half track. A little concern about Gunther's lanyard before staging, that solved Gunther put in a tremendous straight pass and into #1 spot. Qualifying standings after this session:
11:00 FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1 (left lane first): Fredrik Fredlund 7.6327/178.72 bye, Rasmus Olesen 15.7338/48.27, Steen Jorgensen 7.8589/168.54, Richard Gipp 7.7782/171.83, Ray Debben 7.9221/166.62, Martin Newbury 7.7530/169.21, Ulf Ögge 8.7321/163.56, Anders Larsson 7.4801/175.72, Len Paget 7.6101/170.52, Luigi Chinarello 7.7402/171.66, Tom Tinndahn 7.2698/177.27, Martin Bishop 7.7171/175.02, Orjan Gustavsson 7.5122/176.37, Anders Jakobsson 7.2430/181.29, Anders Abrahamsson no time Fredrik opened the 2007 season with his first-ever run in FIM/UEM competition and a great run it was. Simething came off the bike at the top end. Two more FIM/UEM débutants in the next pairing, a nice baseline pass for Steen whilst Rasmus was off the throttle at about 200 feet, sounded like gear selection problems. Richard's bike got a bit squirrelly but he stayed with it, a nice pass for Ray. Ulf lost fire after the burnout but restarted, the bike was up on the rev limiter before each gear change, we think a new PB for Martin N, well done Martin! Anders lost fire after the burnout but restarted and briefly took the lead, a nice pass for Len. Tom has Chip Ellis over from the USA to help this weekend and his first run was three thousandths off the European ET record. A solid pass for Luigi, he'll be pleased with it for a baseline. Nice passes for Martin B and Orjan, again good baselines. Anders J laid down a great pass with the first half of a new European ET record which put him into #1 spot, nice one Anders! Anders A left before the lights ran. Qualifying standings after this session:
10:35 Super Comp qualifying top five after session 5:
Andy Williams moved into #5 spot in the first pairing of the session. The top fifteen qualifiers are in the 8.9s. Next up is our first Pro session led off by FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike. 10:25 Sportsman ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Anna Metcalfe and Teresa Letchford went side-by-side into #1 and #2 spot respectively in the first pairing of the session. 10:20 Super Street qualifying top five after session 5:
No changes to the top five in this session. Trackside conditions are 64.4 F, 49% humidity and 29.28 inches of air, track temperature is 79.0 F. 10:15 A big Happy Birthday to our good friend Håkan Heleander who is forty today, Jon Webster took him for a 7.8591/171.01 passenger ride in the Two Seater Dragster to celebrate. Super Gas qualifying top five after session 5:
Mike Bentley improved still further to consolidate his #1 spot. The top fifteen qualifiers are in the 9.9s. 10:00 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Steve Johnson took over the lead in the first pairing of the session. Paula Atkin improved but stayed in #5 spot at that point. In the next pairing Martyn Jones moved into #3 spot bumping Paula down a place. We think a new PB for Mark Pointer, 7.4280 from the Fordson; PB too for Pat Talbot in this session, 6.9091/192.96. A big Hello to Sharkman who is tuned in from home, hope you are feeling OK buddy. 9:35 Pro ET qualifying top five after session 5:
Drama in the fourth pairing as the front left wheel came off Dave Cherrett's van at about sixty feet. Dave did a great job of keeping the van upright and in its lane and stopped safely. He is quite OK of course. I'm not sure how far down the track Dave became aware he was a wheel down as he went through the finish line in 10.9 seconds at 94 mph so he must have been under power a fair way. Darren Hulkes came into the top five at #3 in the sixth pairing of the session. Jerry Denning got into the eights with the Honky Tonkin' gasser, 8.9909, nice one Jerry! Super Pro ET next time out then Jerry! Trackside conditions are 57.6 F, 62% humidity and 29.38 inches of air, track temperature is 60.9 F. 8:30 Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for day two of the FIA Main Event and day one of the 2007 FIA and FIM/UEM European Championships. 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 will be broadcasting a picture every sixty seconds twenty four hours a day until the track closes on Monday evening. It's a bit chilly out there right now, we have cloud cover but it's very high and doesn't look mischievous. Trackside conditions are 54.5 F, 69% humidity and 29.38 inches of air. We are scheduled to start at 9:15 with the fifth Sportsman qualifying cycle. Today's Pro sessions are scheduled for 10:30 and 14:30 with the bikes first in each session. Stay tuned and as soon as the track opens we'll bring you all the news. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |