2008 NitrolympX
Sunday (eliminations)


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20:40

Finally for our NitrolympX coverage we have posted today's off-track pictures, which you can view via the Event Index page.

19:40

We have now posted today's on-track pictures, which you can view via the Event Index page. Next up are today's off-track shots although the power has been cut to Race Control and so the battery may run out before we can finish. Stay tuned and we'll see what we can do.

18:45

We're starting to catch up with the backlog now; we have just posted yesterday's off-track shots which you can view via the Event Index.

Next up are Markus' on-track shots from today which he has just delivered. Stay tuned.

16:40

FIA Top Fuel Dragster final:

Micke Kågered 4.915/478.97 def. Lex Joon 6.255/235.33

A win for Lex and he would have a twenty five-point Championship lead over Andy, a win for Micke and Lex would have a five-point Championship lead over Andy with Micke twenty five points behind Andy. Micke away first 0.128 to 0.131, Lex had a much better sixty foot time 0.873 to 0.909. 3.326/402.70 to the eighth for Micke, Lex's tyres started to haze and he pedalled, and the Lex's tyres blazed. The MPM Oil car was moving left and right quite violently and Lex had to get off the throttle, Micke first to the stripe by 1.3436 seconds.

16:35

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final:

Leif Andréasson 10.022/118.23 bye, Jürgen Nagel did not start

A sympathetic round of applause for Jürgen from the crowd after the Fast Go FC refused to start. Leif took the bye, 1.019 to sixty feet and off the throttle at about 200 feet as the Stratus started to move to the left.

16:33

FIA Top Methanol Dragster final:

Timo Habermann 5.542/406.39 def. Dave Wilson 10.805/135.02

Grumpy actually moved first 0.038 to 0.059 but then the Silverline dragster stopped dead for a moment and Timo was gone, 0.934 to sixty feet to Grumpy's 1.886, Grumpy was off the throttle shortly after. Timo clocked 3.629/330.73 at the eighth and completed a 2008 NitrolympX double for Germany's fastest brothers.

16:28

FIA Pro Modified final:

Micke Lindahl 6.260/387.55 def. Rolf Ammann 10.281/130.66

Micke away first 0.099 to 0.120, the better sixty foot time 1.072 to 1.174, Rolf hit shake and the big Coupe moved left and then right, not wanting to repeat the guardrail experience Rolf backed off. 4.130/306.08 at half track for Micke, 4.0422 at the stripe, another big speed, and the lead in the European Championship going into the FIA European Finals.

16:25

Nitro Bike Shootout final:

Ian King 6.366/355.46 def. Lorenz Stäuble 6.799/342.03

Lo away first 0.109 to 0.354, but then Ian started catching up: 1.144 to sixty feet to 1.186, 4.218/294.95 at half track to 4.511/270.52.

16:20

Sportsman classes final results:

Comp Eliminator: Dennis Habermann (7.55) 6.812/334.96 def. Rene Meierhofer (9.52) 8.915/247.93
Super Comp: Fred Hanssen 8.917/198.84 def. Gerd Habermann 8.931/210.93
Super Gas: Jan Hardkopf 9.912/214.49 def. Bert Gorselitz 9.893/219.72
Junior Dragster: Noah Stutz (9.18) 9.217/113.03 def. Lena Romahn (8.95) 8.908/118.74
Public Race: Hans Niesner 11.919/158.90 def. Martin Wiekum 11.863/159.83

Pro Bike: Christian Jaeger 7.518/311.61 def. Len Paget 8.790/178.34
Harley V-Rod Destroyer Cup: Stafan Schnarwiler 9.427/223.95 def. Sascha Brodbeck 9.451/223.22
Supertwin Top Gas: Frank Heitmann 8.422/249.69 def. Herman Jolink 9.156/250.56 red light
Super Street Bike: Dave Smith 7.796/304.97 bye, Steve Venables did not start

16:00

Fuel Funny Car Shootout session 4:

John Spuffard 7.249/196.93 bye

Thomas Nataas' FC had a leak from the blower so Spuff took the bye. 0.975 to sixty feet, the tyres lit at about 500 feet and Spuff got off it, 3.944/250.35 at half track.

Super Comp match race: Marc Henney 8.953/245.49 def. Tony Morris 8.835/240.22

15:40

Pro Mod match races:

Robert Koper 8.550/179.24 def. Henri Joosten 17.145/74.10
Roger Johansson 6.648/347.34 def. Micke Nord 10.640/132.71
Urban Johansson 9.842/202.31 bye

Stay tuned and we'll have the final results for you very soon.

15:25

We're collecting our finalists together and we've had an impressive stunt show but right now three trophy presentations are being made on the start line for Best Appearing Car, Best Appearing Bike, and Best Appearing Crew. Congratulations to:

  • Best Appearing Car: Björn Lahndorf (Comp Eliminator)
  • Best Appearing Bike: Tommy Karlsson (Supertwin Top Gas)
  • Best Appearing Crew: Ingo Rolla (Pro Mod)

14:30

Nitro Bike Thunder session 4:

  1. Ian King 6.314/366.06
  2. Rikard Gustafsson 6.545/349.85
  3. Lorenz Stäble 7.234/239.38
  4. Job Heezen 7.421/280.55
  5. Günther Sohn 8.047/214.87
  6. Rene van den Berg 8.146/264.59
  7. Kai Selkämaa no time, crossed centre line

14:20

Super Gas eliminations round 3 winners: Jan Hardkopf 9.908/216.97, Bert Gorselitz 9.883/232.91

Super Street Bike eliminations round 4 winners: Steve Venables 7.666/294.27, Dave Smith 7.715/307.91

Harley V-Rod Destroyer Cup eliminations round 2 winners: Sascha Brodbeck 9.439/222.05, Stefan Schnarweiler 9.457/221.49

Supertwin Top Gas eliminations round 2 winners: Frank Heitmann 8.370/250.53, Herman Jolink 8.747/249.46 bye

Pro Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Len Paget 7.498/283.15, Christian Jaeger 7.533/293.55

14:05

Junior Dragster eliminations round 4 winners: Noah Stutz (9.18) 10.610/79.50, Lena Romahn (8.80) 8.928/119.19 bye

Public Race eliminations round 4 winners: Martin Weikum 12.096/152.54, Hans Niesner 11.914/165.23

14:00

FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 2:

Lex Joon 4.904/472.51 def. Tommi Haapanen 4.900/497.62

Lex visibly strapped one on Tommi at the Tree 0.112 to 0.220. 0.887 to sixty feet for Lex to Tommi's 0.916. No sign of shake or smoke, 3.276/400.26 at half track for Lex to Tommi's 3.333/400.48 and then some smoke from the MPM Oil dragster at about 1100 feet. 0.1048 in it at the stripe.

Micke Kågered 16.597/126.79, Risto Poutiainen no show

No sign of Risto, bad damage last round I guess. Micke took the green and is into the final against Lex.

13:50

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 2:

Leif Andréasson 5.811/402.78 def. Ulf Leanders 5.880/397.84

This was a nice race, two straight runs with no obvious sign of shake for either racer. Leif away first 0.022 to 0.083 and first to sixty feet 1.000 to 1.008. Leif gently pulled away, 3.842/318.09 at half track to 3.894/314.91 and took the stripe by 0.1303.

Jürgen Nagel 6.145/371.06 def. Arvid Grødem 7.497/201.82

Jürgen away first 0.124 to 0.126, on the early form Arvid had this one 0.995 to sixty feet to 1.042, 2.578 to 330 feet to 2.718, but at just about half track Arvid's motor made a grunting noise, maybe the blower belt went. 4.049/300.20 to half track for Jürgen and 1.3543 in it at the stripe.

13:45

FIA Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 2:

Timo Habermann 5.510/410.15 def. Peter Schöfer 5.829/407.23

Timo got away first 0.038 to 0.071 and Peter had the better sixty foot time 0.942 to 0.948. Peter's tyres started to haze at about 400 feet and he had to pedal giving Timo the advantage 3.618/335.12 to Peter's 3.863/319.31 and Timo had the stripe by 0.3528 as the Bavarian Thunder dragster made some serious moves around its lane.

Dave Wilson 9.207/191.38 bye

Would Grumpy try for lane choice or save it was the question. I think he was trying for lane choice, but the tyres went up in smoke at sixty feet or so, 1.091. Grumpy stayed on the throttle effectively pulling another burnout but shut off just before half track.

13:35

FIA Pro Modified eliminations round 3:

Rolf Ammann 6.646/338.78 def. Marko Lantto 6.971/348.95

Rolf away first 0.061 to 0.134, and a better sixty foot time 1.138 to 1.210, nothing obviously wrong with Marko's 'Vette, it just looked down on power. Rolf well in front by half track 4.393/269.72 to 4.679/270.09 and into his first final on his return to racing.

Micke Lindahl 6.248/388.31 def. Micke Gullquist 6.285/369.42

Micke G away first 0.093 to 0.120, Micke L had the better sixty foot time 1.059 to 1.074, the cars looked side-by-side all the way, 4.131/295.71 at the eighth for Micke L to Micke G's 4.136/291.39, 0.0108 in it at the stripe and a new European Pro Mod speed record of 388.31 kmh (241.28 mph) for Micke L backed up by his qualifying pass, well done Micke!

13:15

Comp Eliminator eliminations round 2 winners: Rene Meierhofer (9.52) 8.912/243.32, Dennis Habermann (7.55) 7.164/267.86

13:05

Super Comp eliminations round 2 winners: Fred Hanssen 9.013/209.36, Gerd Habermann 8.927/209.42

13:00

Fuel Funny Car Shootout session 3:

John Spuffard 6.004/270.86 def. Thomas Nataas 10.804/110.56

Spuff's crew pushed the Showtime FC to the bleach box after the motor had started, not sure what that was about. Spuff away first and first to sixty feet 0.956 to 0.968, Thomas' tryres went up in smoke at about 200 feet and the Batmobil made a big move to the centre line, Thomas off the throttle at that point. 3.613/345.13 at half track for Spuff and off the throttle just after. Thomas is reportedly having so much fun in the Fuel FC that he has said he is never getting in a long car again!

Junior Dragster eliminations round 3 winners: Pirmin Schmid (11.50) 11.471/89.38, Noah Stutz (9.20) 9.196/113.91, Lena Romahn (8.80) 8.896/112.04

Noah Stutz came up as the winner of his race against Rhiannon Bellenie although he broke out and Rhiannon didn't. Benni enquired of the race officials and was told that each car is allowed one breakout. Best keep my views on that one to myself I guess!

Public Race eliminations round 3 winners: Thomas Helmbrecht 12.222/139.37, Hans Niesner 11.956/168.04, Martin Weikum 12.423/151.15, Markus Ochnser 11.703/181.32 bye

Super Gas eliminations round 2 winners: Juergen Schubert 10.026/219.63, Bert Gorselitz 10.293/232.29, Jan Hardkopf 10.081/209.14, Werner Zudrell 9.896/217.36bye

12:50

Harley V-Rod Destroyer Cup eliminations round 1 winners: Ulrike Golde 9.511/224.76 bye, Sascha Brodbeck 9.460/222.71, Chris van Nimmen 9.645/221.51, Stefan Scnarweiler 9.605/221.17

Pro Bike eliminations round 1 winners: Len Paget 7.460/283.26, Sven Fagan 10.388/191.21, Kev Charman 7.467/281.39, Christian Jaeger 7.869/289.41

Supertwin Top Gas eliminations round 1 winners: Tom Tinndahn 7.214/296.31, Frank Heitmann 8.483/250.21 bye (Brian Glaesner broke), Herman Jolink 8.697/249.38

12:35

Super Street Bike eliminations round 3 winners: Graham Balchin 7.699/313.28, Steve Venables 7.410/320.91 bye, Dave Smith 7.804/301.41, Richard Stubbins 7.585/308.04

199.40 mph for Ven. Getting close!

12:25

Junior Dragster eliminations round 2 winners: Sascha Winter (9.01) 9.321/110.38 bye, Pirmin Schmid (11.50) 11.574/89.92, Noah Stutz (9.21) 9.230/112.00, Rhiannon Bellenie (10.50) 10.579/96.20 bye, William Andersson (9.10) 9.310/113.97, Lena Romahn (8.80) 8.847/119.03

Public Race eliminations round 2 winners: Alexander Zernik 12.238/161.92 bye, Christian Frei 12.073/166.88, Thomas Helmbrecht 12.262/134.43, Martin Weikum 12.001/189.48, Marcus Ochsner 12.308/171.00, Hans Niesner 12.106/184.93, Markus Himmler 12.008/160.48

Super Gas eliminations round 1 winners: Konrad Bayer 9.924/233.31, Robert Gassner 10.027/216.35, Bert Gorselitz 10.096/226.88, Juergen Schubert 9.913/233.01, Jan Hardkopf 9.907/218.37, Ove Kroeger 9.940/244.71, Werner Zudrell 9.940/215.55

12:10

Nitro Bike Thunder session 3:

  1. Ian King 6.415/353.55
  2. Rikard Gustafsson 6.692/352.75
  3. Lorenz Stäuble 6.735/352.35
  4. Günther Sohn 6.959/298.19
  5. Job Heezen 7.482/257.38
  6. Rene van den Berg 8.684/257.57
  7. Kai Selkämaa no time (bulbed by Autostart)

12:00

Super Comp eliminations round 1 winners: Fred Hanssen 8.896/209.87, André Mueller 8.934/226.71, Gerd Habermann 8.866/204.25, Alex Schmidli 8.885/244.05 bye

Comp Eliminator eliminations round 1 winners: Dennis Habermann (7.55) 7.211/256.32, John Tebenham (8.26) 7.829/276.06, Rene Meierhofer (9.52) 9.883/171.07, Patricia Kaestner (7.60) 8.878/185.62

Drama in the race between Rene Meierhofer and Ronald Jutting as Ronald's VW left the start line with a huge ball of flame from the back, Ronald pulled up at about 300 feet with the back of the car still on fire but the safety crew were there in moments. Ronald is quite OK.

Trackside conditions are 25 C, 50% humidity, and 30.57 inches of air.

11:10

FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 1:

Lex Joon 4.774/500.60 def. Jari Halinen 5.435/325.38

After the tyre smoke for the TMFCs we wondered about the right lane - nothing wrong with it since that's where Lex was. 0.103 RT for Jari to Lex's 0.104, Lex had the better sixty foot time 0.873 to 0.899, Jari's dragster started to blackstripe its lane at about 300 feet then the tyres blazed. Not a foot wrong for Lex, 3.229/413.75 at half track to Jari's smoky 3.421/355.75.

Tommi Haapanen 4.984/420.07 def. Andy Carter 5.067/370.18

Andy got the jump 0.120 to 0.128 and the much better sixty foot time 0.869 to 0.923, 3.300/398.06 at half track for Andy to Tommi's 3.348/400.03, this one was very close but from here it looked as if Andy lost another blower belt at about 1000 feet, the telltale puff of smoke, and Tommi took the stripe by 0.0755.

Risto Poutiainen 4.834/498.53 def. Urs Erbacher 8.832/141.91

0.083 RT for Risto to Urs' 0.150, the better sixty foot time 0.002 to 0.892, Urs' tyres then up in smoke, Urs pedalled several times but the orange car wasn't going anywhere. 3.285/407.61 at half track for Risto, the stripe by 4.0658 and a Personal Best, well done Risto!

Micke Kågered 4.803/492.76 def. Stig Neergaard 5.087/379.36

A fuel fitting on Stig's bug catcher started spewing fuel on start-up but quickly sorted. 0.904 to sixty feet for Stig to Micke's 0.908, 3.263/414.30 at half track for Micke to Stig's 3.355/400.26, a cloud of smoke and then a ball of flame from Stig's engine and that's all she wrote for him. 0.2127 win for Micke with a new Personal Best, well done Micke! Kirstie was at the end of the track with the top end officials and reported back that Stig's blower and the rest of the top of his engine were completely destroyed.

10:55

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 1:

Ulf Leanders 10.893/133.13 bye

0.498 reaction, instant tyre spin at the hit, 1.147 to sixty feet and off the throttle as the FC turned right.

Leif Andréasson 5.892/393.37 def. Dan Larsen 6.817/378.70

Leif away first 0.082 to 0.118 and had the much better sixty foot time 0.980 to 1.046. Dan's rear tyres started to smoke and the Boxter FC turned right. A long pedal for Dan and then back on it but Leif was disappearing into the distance, 3.871/308.82 to half track to Dan's 4.710/284.67.

Arvid Grødem 5.944/391.75 def. Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.980/314.23 DQ

A win is the best birthday present Arvid could want. 0.088 to 0.102 start line advantage for Arvid, 0.982 at sixty feet to Jarmo's 1.143 with his rear tyres starting to smoke. Jarmo's FC then made a hard right turn and he had to pedal but then hit it again trying to chase Arvid down. 3.903/304.15 at half track for Arvid to Jarmo's 4.712/293.67 with the car drifting left to. Arvid got to the stripe first by 1.507 seconds, and Jarmo's FC drifted far enough left to hit the top end reflectors.

Jürgen Nagel 6.261/370.81 def. Danny Bellio 7.962/292.84

Jürgen away first 0.268 to 0.372, 1.104 to sixty feet, 1.149 for Danny but then tyre smoke and a cylinder out and the engine revs shot up and he had to back off. 4.142/294.67 at half track for Jurgen and into round 2.

10:40

FIA Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 1:

Peter Schöfer 5.557/413.04 def. Rob Turner 5.575/404.20

A great race to start the session. Peter away first 0.101 to 0.136, not much sign of shake for either car, Rob had the quicker sixty foot time 0.942 to Peter's 0.943. The cars looked absolutely side-by-side all the way down, 3.639 at half track for Peter to Rob's 3.632 but Peter had more in the second half.

Dave Wilson 5.559/423.09 def. Paul Ingar Udtian 5.867/344.64

Paul away first 0.038 to 0.121, and had the better sixty foot rime 0.951 to 0.984. The cars were side by side to about 500 feet when there was a bang and a flash of flame from the Islanders dragster, Paul was slowing at half track 3.734/305.27 to Grumpy's 3.729 at a much faster 346.12 but Paul's engine must still have been doing something to get a 5.867 out of it, Grumpy's win margin 0.2251.

Timo Habermann bye 6.390/245.24

Bye for the #1 qualifier. 0.072 reaction, 0.935 to sixty feet, a pedal about 300 feet out, then off the throttle just before half track, 3.660/295.07.

10:30

FIA Pro Modified eliminations round 2:

Marko Lantto 6.750/316.61 def. Norbert Kuno 16.240/118.12 red light

-0.145 red light from Norbert as he went up on the two-step then shake for good measure. Marko got to sixty feet in 1.094, driving through shake, 4.412/270.39 at half track and shutting off a little early, I am guessing he realised that Norbert wasn't there.

Rolf Amman 6.677/361.37 red light def. Marc Meihuizen no time DQ

-0.002 red light for Rolf and we thought that was it. 1.050 to sixty feet for Marc but then he hit violent shake and the Coupe turned hard right and crossed lanes just after Rolf had passed. Marc did a good job of pulling the Coupe straight since at one point he was going straight for the right guardrail. 1.136 to sixty feet for Rolf, 4.418/267.59 at half track and into round 2.

Micke Lindahl 6.548/369.99 def. Mats Eriksson 18.424/81.67

Excellent 0.095 RT for Micke, Mats sat and watched him leave, 0.517 reaction then instant shake and shut off. 1.103 to sixty feet for Micke, a pedal for shake, 4.378/281.24 at half track.

Micke Gullquist 6.265/369.05 def. Urban Johansson 6.368/368.86

Micke away first 0.050 to 0.105, 1.025 sixty foot for Urban to Micke's 1.066. Urban's 'Vette started to drift to the right as Micke's Chevy drifted to the left, half track in 4.192/282.23 for Urban to Micke's quicker 4.116/291.58, the cars were very close together at that point but Micke steered right and took the win by 0.1588.

10:15

Super Street Bike eliminations round 2 winners: Steve Venables 7.438/317.26, Dave Smith 7.823/298.76, Richard Stubbins 7.619/299.09, Thomas Granica 12.141/131.28, Garry Bowe 8.082/285.30, Graham Balchin 7.704/307.73, Phil Wood 7.997/296.92

9:20

Good morning and welcome from the Hockenheimring for day three of our coverage of the NitrolympX brought to you in association with American Car Imports.

The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and is posting a picture every sixty seconds.

We must again say a big Thank You to our friends at Peter Schöfer Racing for feeding us last night. With the Night Show it was a very late one and we are short-handed so as you may have seen we posted the on-track gallery without captions and the off-track shots had to be put aside for the time being. They will be posted soon, just not right now, and Kirstie is already out in the pits getting more pictures.

Worrying news from the pits is that Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson may well be out of the FIA European Finals having wrecked a second engine. Photo-journalist and honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Andy Willsheer quoted a colleague as saying that the block looked like it had had a saw taken to it. We understand that Andy was already on his last spares when the second engine blew yesterday but here's hoping for an iron-out-of-the-fire job in the next few weeks.

The traditional raceday Good Morning to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from New Hampshire, USA. Hope you are having a great weekend and enjoying the coverage guys, wish you were here. Hello also to Ivar Kolberg, Anders Envall and PiPPi from whom we have heard. I mentioned it once, Bostic, but I think I got away with it.

It's another beautiful day, 16 C at trackside, 76% humidity and 31.17 inches of air. We are due to start at 9:30 with Super Street Bike, Super Comp and Competition Eliminator and then we are into the first Pro eliminations at 10:00.

We'll be back in ten or fifteen minutes with the first results.


Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com