2010 FHRA Nitro Nationals
Saturday
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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 0:00 We have now posted today's pictures. Apologies that it took so long to get them done, we hit a couple of unusual problems on the way tonight. There are 100 pictures in all; if you do not see all 100 thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. We'll be back in the morning with all the news from eliminations, which start at 10:00. 19:45 Christer has posted more pit notes which you can view via the Event Index page. Qualifying is now finished; eliminations commence at 10:00 tomorrow morning. We are now going to work on today's pictures so tune back in a little while for those. 19:40 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Top Fuel is running over 1000 feet here at Alastaro this weekend. Stig Neergaard 4.810/324.75 bye; Micke Kågered 8.489/141.68, Risto Poutiainen 4.179/449.53; Andy Carter 4.300/457.48, Jari Halinen 4.248/459.52; Urs Erbacher 4.765/280.10, Timo Lehtimaki 4.203/456.47 Great to see Risto back in his last car rebuilt, well done to the Rune Fjeld Motorsport team. Risto had to get a time in this car as changing chassis annulled his previous runs. Stig's car was spewing fluid as it went down the track. The car was going great guns until the tyres started to blaze at the eight but he stayed on the throttle all the way to 1000 feet. I am guessing fuel on the track as the clean-up crew were in town but they were not putting down absorbent but just pouring out Billy's and sweeping. Micke and Risto next - I kind of expected Risto to be on a bye in the replacement car. Could Risto complete the comeback by qualifying? Yes he could, and straight into #1 spot! Well done guys! Tremendous pass which unfortunately put Stig out of competition. Micke was off the throttle by about 300 feet although from here I can't see shake marks in his lane so something else wrong I guess. Great match-up between Andy and Jari, Andy clearly pedalled at 330 feet as the tyres started to haze, the nitro flames went off and on, and he stayed with it even though the tyres continued to haze a little. Andy moved up to fith with that run. Straight down the middle of his lane for Jari, an improvement but stayed in fourth place and faces Andy first round tomorrow. A clear pedal for Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs on his pass, the flames off for easily half a second at 330 feet, Timo on the power all the way and back into #2 spot. Final qualifying:
19:05 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Arto Hoyla 6.081/372.24 bye; Dennis Habermann 5.562/411.24, Krister Johansson 5.676/402.22; Derek Flynn shut off (bye); Fred Hanssen 5.444/421.90 bye, Timo Habermann shut off; Peter Schöfer 9.431/131.87, Dave Wilson 5.378/431.71 Another bye for Arto, I'm beginning to think he uses the wrong soap or something. Big improvement but not the huge step up needed to race tomorrow so he is first alternate. Krister had cylinders out on the left side on his pass and that made the dragster move around. An improvement for Dennis but not enough to leapfrog Krister. Short burnout for Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek but then he shut off before reversing, no visible problem. Timo didn't make it to the burnout, although started up, so Fred took the bye. 0.006 RT, 0.922 to sixty feet, 3.574/337.15 at the eighth, a real stormer. An improvement but Fred stayed fifth and will face Derek Flynn tomorrow. An improvement for Grumpy, but flames from the motor at the top end - I mean burning-stuff flames rather than just nitro flames. Peter drove through shake but then shut off about 200 feet out. Final qualifying:
18:45 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Arvid Grødem 6.014/390.61, Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.566/384.39 Arvid finally gets in his full pass and it's a great baseline for tomorrow. Looked from here like a flash of flame from Jarmo's FC right on the finish line but the track crew don't look overly concerned so maybe a trick of the light. Final qualifying:
18:40 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Robert Joosten no time bye; Graham Ellis 7.469/276.36, Tami Brander 6.807/303.96; Freddy Fagerström 6.845/340.88, Timo Aikaa 11.096/127.97. Jari Parén 6.757/324.10 bye; Roger Johansson 10.969/122.30 bye; Marco Maurischat 6.455/351.29, Urban Johansson 6.281/357.36; Mats Eriksson 7.751/199.58, Bruno Bader 6.287/363.00; Micke Lindahl 9.445/164.94, Jan Gunnarsson 6.162/367.42; Johan Lindberg 6.134/373.78, Adam Flamholc 6.672/248.10; Micke Gullqvist 6.026/393.16 bye; Robert's mare continues as from the blower appeared to lift when he went up on the two-step in stage. Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham in the Last Chance Saloon, could he make it? The answer is unfortunately no although Graham tried everything as the tyres went up in smoke, pedalling then trying to drive through shake, the Bird going out of shape and still staying with it but ultimately not enough to get in tomorrow. An improvement for Tami, turning it up bit by bit. Same story for Freddy as for Graham, the truck going all over its lane and shaking to high heaven, I swear it was up on one wheel at one point but Freddy stayed with it and got on the bump for tomorrow. Timo hit shake and shut off before 100 feet then idled through. Jari's motor blew out a lot of smoke on the start line but it was a clean straight run and good for one more place up the ladder. Roger's Mustang shook and headed for the guardrail at about 80 feet and he shut off and idled through. Nice side-by-side between Marco and Urban, Urban's 'Vette was swinging left and right but he stayed with it and moved up the ladder. Driving job of the day from Mats as the Crown Victoria was moving around its lane then took a hard left when it was already close to the guardrail. Mats held onto it pretty well. Consistent run from Bruno. Micke L's tyres shook off the line, again he tried to stay with it but shut off at about 200 feet. Jan confounded the very hot conditions, into the 6.1s. The conditions not a problem for Johan either, tremendous pass with no sign of shake and into the 6.1s. Chutes out early for Adam but no visible problem from here. Superb pass from Micke G, 1.013 to sixty feet and 3.996/306.09 at the eighth, the speed will be a new European record if he backs it up, well done Gullan! Final qualifying:
18:10 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Tommy Leindahl 7.005/322.51 bye; Bo Pettersson 7.598/279.18 bye; Jan Palmqvist 6.950/323.88 bye; Micke Callin 6.885/325.26, Michael Malmgren 6.851/327.47 Tommi's nightmare weekend so far forgotten as the team find form again. A bit more to find yet but that's a great baseline. Good run to start with for Bo but then it looked from here as if one tyre shook causing the car to turn hard right. A pedal and a feather of the throttle and he had it straight and drove it through. Anxious moment after Jan's run as his 'chutes didn't open, from here it looked as if his brakes were smoking big time but he got it stopped in time. Nice side-by-side between Micke and Michael, Micke got a nice holeshot and got there first with the slower ET, no improvements in ETs but 6.8s in these conditions is pretty good going. Jimmy Ålund is reportedly out for the weekend after a rod snapped in the shutdown area on his last qualifying pass. Final qualifying:
18:00 UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Rene van den Berg 28.425/26.18 bye; Petri Paljakka 7.671/210.24, Jaska Salakari 6.843/322.15 Rene left the line with a cylinder out, then another cylinder went out, then his motor started to smoke and he was off the throttle by 100 feet. Nice passes to begin with for Petri and Jaska, Jaska with nitro flames visible even in this daylight, Patri off the throttle at about the eighth and Jaska off it at about 1200 feet. Final qualifying:
17:50 UEM Supertwin qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Jaska Salakari shut off (bye); Svein Olav Rolfstad 26.751/36.53 bye; Ismo Mäenpää 7.178/319.03, Trond Høiberget 6.965/310.21; Samu Kemppainen 9.402/212.12, Jan Sturla Hegre 6.926/305.70; Job Heezen 8.081/186.33 bye; Hans Olav Olstad 7.029/323.88 , Lorenz Stäuble 7.198/251.76 Jaska again shut off and again with a small fire. Svein Olav's last shot at qualifying after his explosion and fire yesterday. A lof of smoke from the motor as he staged and then a bang from his motor about five feet out and a lot of material on the start line - from here looked like the heat wrap which goes around exhaust pipes. Trond back into the sixes and up to fourth with a great pass for these hot conditions. Big improvement for Ismo too and good for one place up the ladder. Samu's pipes were spewing fuel onto the track so I guess only one cylinder burning, Jan Sturla followed Trond into the sixes, well done Jan! He also took over Trond's fourth place. Job's motor hesitated at about 300 feet then he shut off at half track. Great runs for Hans Olav and Lo bu but bikes sounded to run out of power in the second half. Final qualifying:
17:35 UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 4 (left lane first): Stavros Svrachnos shut off, Timo Savolainen no time; Harri Piensalmi 7.432/271.18, Zoltan Toth 7.832/271.64; Kalle Lyrén shut off, Karl-Heinz Weikum 7.665/286.41; Fredrik Fredlund no time, Gabriella Nikolovska no time; Ulf Ögge no time, Gert-Jan Laseur 7.398/285.85 bye; Kenneth Vik 7.270/299.25, Anders Abrahamsson 7.241/295.89 Stavros shut off after his burnout, then Timo's motor cut out in pre-stage. Both will be watching tomorrow as will Zoltan, a good run but not enough to get into the ladder. Kalle shut off before the burnout so Karl-Heinz took the bye with over a tenth to find to get in to the ladder for tomorrow, didn't make it so will be spectating unless called in as first alternate. Gabbi rolled the beams and her motor stopped about a foot off the line, Fredrik's motor cut out about two feet off the line. Ulf's motor lost fire before staging, Gert-Jan took the bye and another 7.3, already safely in the field for tomorrow. Kenneth on a speed record as he came to the line and he backed up his earlier 302.00 with this pass for a new record, well done Kenneth! Consistency from Anders A. Final qualifying:
16:30 As you can see from the webcam, the track crew are just scraping some of the start line. Stay tuned. 16:25 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Top Fuel is running over 1000 feet here at Alastaro this weekend. Stig Neergaard no time bye; Urs Erbacher 4.473/389.77 bye; Timo Lehtimaki 4.245/412.29, Micke Kågered 7.761/146.97; Jari Halinen 4.423/438.11, Janne Ahonen 4.457/434.95; Anita Mäkelä 4.486/404.92, Andy Carter 4.988/242.28 Great to see Stig back after yesterday's accident, well done to the team. The engine cut out within half a second of the hit and liquid fuel spewed from the headers, and I mean cut out - it just stopped dead. Bizarre! Good-looking run for Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs until the tyres started to smoke at about 500 feet, Urs stayed with it and was effectively pulling another burnout from then on, blazing the tyres and the tracks went right the way to the quarter mile too. Very short burnout for Micke. Great run for Timo, car stuck to the track all the way and shut off just a touch before the thousand foot mark. Micke shut off about 200 feet out but not clear why - there are no obvious shake marks in his lane. Nice side-by-side runs between Jari and janne, 0.939 to sixty for Jari and 0.971 for Janne, Jari's tyres started to smoke and he pedalled, 3.532/371.00 at the eighth for Jari to Janne's 3.553/373.49. 0.867 sixty foot for Andy to Anita's 0.962, 3.567/373.87 to the eighth for Anita to Andy's 3.544/284.00 by which time Andy had pedalled and then his tyres started to blaze but he stayed with it until about 700 feet. Qualifying after this session:
16:00 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Arto Hoyla 6.302/355.08 bye; Timo Habermann 5.395/420.19, Paul Ingar Udtian 5.525/411.47; Dave Wilson 5.382/428.26, Dennis Habermann 6.731/241.80; Krister Johansson 5.591/402.00, Fred Hanssen 5.690/418.73; Derek Flynn shut off, Peter Schöfer 5.414/421.53 bye An improvement for Arto but still on the outside looking in with one session left. Great run for Paul Ingar, moving three places up the ladder. 0.923 sixty foot for Timo to Paul's 0.931. Timo there first with a consistent pass. Grumpy's tyres didn't light on the burnout, would that seal his fate or would the track and his tyres be warm enough anyway given that the air temperature was 30 degrees? And the answer was yes they were warm enough, a great pass and into #1 spot. Dennis drove through shake but then shut off at about half track. Big jump for Krister over Fred, full passes for both and all eight lit for Krister, Fred just didn't seem to have enough and I am guessing the blown car was suffering some as a result of the heat. Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek's first chance to back up his speed record of 438.38 kmh/272.40 mph but not this time as he was signallled to shut off after his burnout. His crew totally mystified and asking the start line crew why, couldn't see what the answer was. Peter took the bye, 0.930 to sixty feet and 3.559/339.76 at the eighth, an improvement and good for one place in the ladder. Qualifying after this session:
15:45 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Jarmo Kuutniemi 10.143/259.66 bye, Arvid Grødem shut off Both cars started up and then told to shut off much to the anoyance of one of Jarmo's crew remonstrated with the start line crew. Big burnout for Jarmo on the re-start, meanwhile a big delay in starting Arvid's car, Arvid appeared as Jarmo got back and pulled the tiniest of burnouts so as not to keep Jarmo waiting, but was then shut off for a fluid leak. Instant spin for Jarmo and off the throttle. Qualifying after this session:
15:10 Christer has posted another set of pit notes, which you can view via the Event Index page. FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Freddy Fagerström 7.389/333.19 bye; Roger Johansson 6.405/342.98 bye, Graham Ellis no time; Tami Brander 7.293/301.43, Marco Maurischat 6.405/352.75; Timo Aikaa 9.486/150.81 bye, Robert Joosten shut off; Urban Johansson 8.031/190.25, Micke Lindahl 10.220/154.72; Adam Flamholc 7.857/193.53, Tomi Pontinen 6.621/273.13; Marko Lantto 7.708/228.27, Jari Parén 7.033/316.52; Jan Gunnarsson 6.204/364.56, Mats Eriksson 7.149/248.27; Bruno Bader 6.359/357.01, Johan Lindberg 8.177/170.64; Andy Robinson 6.203/344.77, Micke Gullqvist 12.315/130.27 500-foot burnout for Freddy to cheers and whistles from the crowd. Instant shake and tyre smoke at the hit, Freddy pedalled and it happened again so he pedalled again, the truck got into a bounce but Freddy got back onto the throttle and bounced his way down the track and into #15. Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham didn't reverse after the burnout, just drove up to the end of the track and turned off. Looked like a toned-down run for Roger to get a decent time on the board, and it did the trick, a significant move up the ladder and a baseline for better things. An improvement for Tami but again it looked like the car was labouring, 1.117 to sixty feet and didn't really seem to get going. I am guessing new slicks for Marco as what looked like two labels came off at about 100 feet. Solid run for the Eurodragster.com sponsor and up one place in the standings. Short burnouts for Timo and Robert, Robert left a thin trail of fluid on the track and shut off before reversing. Timo took the bye, 1.069 to sixty feet but then the car made a big move towards the wall at the top of second gear and Timo shut off. Tyre shake for both Urban and Micke L in the next pair, Micke shut off at 100 feet whilst Urban tried to drive through it then he shut off as his passenger side door came open at about 250 feet. Adam was going great guns until he hit shake and the Amalie Camaro made a move to the right at about 300 feet and he shut off. Tomi was on a storming pass but then there was a bang and flames from underneath the car. The safety crews chased Tomi down but he is A-OK, the track was checked and some oil was found in the shutdown area. Sounded like Marko's blower panel burst at half track and he was off it, Jari took the long way round but stayed with it. Mats got a big jump on Jan, for what that is worth in qualifying, but the big Crown Victoria was moving all over its lane and eventually Mats shut off. Jan came back from the holeshot and overhauled Mats before Mats shut off, and made up a place in the ladder. Johan had a good launch but was blackstriping and his tyres were hazing, then he hit shake about 150 feet out and shut it off. Bruno pedalled very briefly for shake and stayed with it all the way to the end. Instant shake for Micke G and he shut it off, a great run for Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy but then at about 1200 feet there was a bang and flames and the car was on fire all the way down the shutdown area. The safety crews were there before Gus stopped in the grass at the side of the track and he is OK, just being checked out in the Medical Centre as a precaution. Qualifying after this session:
14:20 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Timo Lahti 9.161/275.52 licencing pass (bye); Tommy Leindahl 15.972/84.03 bye; Bo Pettersson 7.102/317.07 bye; Harald Sturhan 7.651/300.87 bye; Michael Malmgren 6.811/328.51, Richard Sundblom 6.908/327.02; Jan Palmqvist 6.925/310.95, Micke Callin 6.877/325.70 1.130 to sixty feet for Timo and then shake, a couple of pedals then off the throttle until the second eighth then back on it again, then the car went into the sand at the end of the track. Timo is A-OK. I suspect that Tommy's run may be DQ'd for blue line as the Cobalt jumped forward whilst going to stage and was in stage with his crewman held on to the car, but we'll await word. 1.127 sixty foot time which included shake from about ten feet out and Tommy was off it at about seventy feet. Nice straight pass for Bo, no sign of shake, moved him up the ladder one place. Jimmy Ålund was due to run alongside Harald but did not show. Harald rolled the beams quite significantly before hitting the throttle which will have added some ET. New bullet in the car for Richard. Big improvement for Michael moved him up to second place, but all eyes on Richard in the shutdown area as he had no chutes, then the car spun to the right and went into the grass and sand at the side of the track. Looked like the car stayed upright and Richard is A-OK and that was quickly confirmed. The car was just towed past on its way back to the pits, on its own wheels and covered in sand but not obviously damaged. On the re-start Jan looked to lose some time to wheelspin, good-looking run for Micke but no improvement. Qualifying after this session:
13:45 UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Rene van den Berg 7.324/310.75, Petri Paljakka 7.354/307.51 Rene broke his gearbox on his last pass yesterday but all fixed now. Nice looking run, too, although there was a puff of smoke from the motor at the eighth. Petri's crew very happy with his run, turning it up by degrees I think although he lost a place to Rene. Qualifying after this session:
13:40 UEM Supertwin qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Jaska Salakari shut off (bye); Roel Koedam 7.551/265.32 bye; Lorenz Stäuble 6.771/336.68, Ismo Mäenpää 13.446/122.65; Martijn de Haas 8.854/237.09, Hans Olav Olstad 6.883/293.20; Trond Høiberget no time, Samu Kemppainen 7.484/267.13; Jan Sturla Hegre 7.017/319.31, Job Heezen 7.047/328.36; Jaska had two goes at the burnout but then shut off with a small fire. Full pass from Roel with nitro flames visible even in this strong sunshine but the motor sounded as if it was misfiring, a regular hesitation in the note. Nice run from Lo, bike started to drift towards the centre line in the second half but we're used to seeing that and Lo kept a hold on it, big move up the ladder. Ismo feathered the throttle a couple of times but was shut off by 200 feet. An improvement for Martijn but the bike looked to be lacking power, the track crews checked Martijn's lane but nothing found. Straight and hard run for Hans Olav, no improvement but another good run for these sweltering conditions and relatively the most consistent bike so far. Trond shut off before 100 feet. 1.297 to sixty feet for Samu and 4.884/258.55 at the eighth, an improvement but no change in placing. Job's bike was trying to head for the centre line and he had to feather the throttle, some fishtailing for Jan Sturla but he held on to it and stayed on the throttle, very consistent pass. Qualifying after this session:
13:20 UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 3 (left lane first): Timo Savolainen no time, Fredrik Fredlund 7.210/298.21; Gabriella Nikolovska 7.391/289.73, Stavros Svrachnos 14.908/87.67; Karl-Heinz Weikum 7.517/280.75, Kalle Lyrén 7.374/290.84; Zoltan Toth 7.808/269.72, Harri Piensalmi 7.607/224.83; Gert-Jan Laseur 7.346/292.01, Kenneth Vik 7.202/302.00; Anders Abrahamsson 7.232/299.87, Ulf Ögge 7.209/298.02 Fredrik was ready for pre-stage before Timo pulled his burnout. Timo's motor cut out at the hit. Great pass for Fredrik into #1 spot at that point. Tremendous pass for Gabbi, blowing her PBs into next week, well done Gabbi! Stavros' bike sounded laboured and he shut off by about 300 feet. Excellent 0.016 RT for Kalle and one place up the ladder, Karl-Heinz' bike was fishtailing but he stayed with it for a big improvement. Slight improvement for Zoltan but not enough to affect his place in the ladder, Harri off the pace of his previous run. Kenneth into the lead with a tremendous pass and the first half of a European speed record, well done Kenneth! Improvement from Gert-Jan but not enough to move up the ladder. Ulf had a good go at taking the #1 spot but didn't quite make it, strong and straight pass though. Improvement for Anders but he stayed at #4. What about that bump spot then? That has comprehensively wiped out the previous best bump. Qualifying after this session:
13:05 Two members of the Eagle Racing team were just married on the start line. Couldn't think of many better places to get wed! Our very best wishes for a long and happy life together to Jari Hintsanen and Peivi Huovila. We are about to go into Pro qualifying session 3, stay tuned. 12:55 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 10: No changes to the top five in this session.
Junior Drag Bike qualifying top five after session 10 (Reaction Time):
12:00 Christer has posted today's first set of pit notes, which you can view via the Event Index page. Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 9 (Reaction Time): Hannu Tekoniemi into the top five at #3 in the fourth pair of the session. Two pairs later and Pasi Korhonen took over the lead one thousandth off a perfect RT.
Outlaw qualifying top five after session 9:
Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 9: Jani Lindvall up into #2 spot in the first and last pair of the session but left fluid on the track.
11:35 Stock/Super Stock qualifying top five after session 9: Again a slight improvement for Tarmo but he stayed in #4 at that point. An improvement too for Arto to consolidate his #1. Next pair and Tarmo improved but stayed fourth. Then Arto took his #1 spot back in the next pair. Next to improve was Hannu but he stayed fifth.
Super Comp qualifying top five after session 9: All ten qualifiers are in the 8.9s.
11:20 Outlaw Bike qualifying top five after session 9: Juha L up to #3 spot in the first pair of the session.
Funny Bike qualifying top five after session 7: Risto into #1 spot in the first pair. Side-by-side improvements for Pasi and Juha but they stayed in place. Rikard took back his #1 spot in some style with the last run of the session.
11:10 Super Gas Bike qualifying top five after session 9: An improvement for Jyrki in the first pair but he stayed in place.
Pro Street Bike qualifying top five after session 9: Slight improvements for Kimmo and Jani but they stayed in place.
Pro Harley Drags qualifying top five after session 9: An improvement for Jani in the first pair but he stayed in #3. Next pair and Rami Maenpaa came into the top five at #5 bumping out Staffan Nordman in the other lane who was fifth. An improvement for Marko in the final pair but he stayed in #4.
10:55 Junior Dragster qualifying top five after session 9: Robert Lehtonen into #2 in mid-session.
Junior Drag Bike qualifying top five after session 9 (Reaction Time): Emmi Nordman back in to the top five in the last but one run of the session, #4 at that point.
10:40 A quick few words from Christer on Stig Neergaard's and Risto Poutiainen's plans: Stig Nergaard's team were working until 3 o'clock in the morning stripping the car down, checking the frame and they are now rebuilding it. On the question from your Pit Note reporter if they were aiming to run the second qualifying session today, Stig just smiled and said "Nope, we're trying for the first one!". In Risto's pit area the team were working very intensely and just had time to explain that they would try to get the car running today! Outlaw qualifying top five after session 8: Another finely-judged pass from Sampsa to consolidate the #1 position. Same story for Hannu in the next pair, an improvement but staying right side of the 7.500 limit and quite a lead in the #2 spot. Next to improve was Ari and that was good for one place up the ladder. Wild ride for Timo Kaisla, a huge wheelie right up on the back bumper and then moving left and sideswiping the guardrail on the way down. Timo is quite OK. Joakim Wiklund got a wake up call from his Mustang as it turned hard right about 500 feet out, he got off the throttle and held on to it.
Comp Eliminator qualifying top five after session 8: A slight improvement for Per-Erik in the first pair but he stayed in place. Big move for Mika, up to second place in the last run of the session.
10:15 Super Pro ET qualifying top five after session 8 (Reaction Time): Great to see Jere Rantaniemi back with the Wheelie Wagon after his encounter with the guardrail yesterday. Maybe a bit more work to do as it was a wild run with a hard right at the eighth after fishtailing some. Jere got off the throttle at that point. Janne Soderqvist into the top five at #4 in the last pair but one.
9:00 Good morning and welcome from Alastaro for our coverage of the FHRA Nitro Nationals brought to you in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam is on-line and will be posting a picture every sixty seconds until the track closes on Sunday. If this were the UK then the front page of the Daily Express would have one of its cretinous headlines about how hot it is going to be today and how we are all going to cook, probably accompanied by a gratuitous picture of a teenaged girl in a bikini splashing in the shallows. This is of course not the UK but Finland, and your reporter has asked several girls to pose for pictures and received a negative reply from each one of them, but it is a scorching day here. The sun was hot enough to burn at seven this morning and right now there isn't a cloud in the sky. One would not care to be in a multiple-layer firesuit or heavy leathers today, which only increases one's admiration for the racers. The FIA Jury met yesterday evening to consider Risto Poutiainen's and Stig Neergaard's appeals against their runs being disqualified after their crash in qualifying. The reason for the DQ was that video footage and photographs clearly showed that both racers crossed the centre line which is viewed as a car control issue even after the finish line. The outcome after examining the video and photographs and listening to testimony was that Stig's and Risto's appeals were rejected, and so Stig and Risto are back in seventh and ninth places respectively in the Top Fuel standings. Word from the pits is that Stig and his team have rebuilt the car overnight. Risto and the Rune Fjeld Motorsports team have put Risto's previous dragster back together and we are told that it looks a few hours from being a complete Top Fuel Dragster - of course, it is equally possible that the car is being put together for Mantorp. But if Risto runs the replacement car today then his current qualifying time will be annulled. Assuming that the rebuilt car gets through scrutineering then Stig's time from Q1 yesterday will still stand as his is the same car. Christer will step by both Risto's and Stig's pits to find out the latest. We would like to thank everyone for the feedback which we have had for the coverage so far. This stuff all gets read and passed around the team but we are sure that you understand that we can't reply to every E-Mail individually during an event. We are even grateful to those who wrote and tried to ask in a very subtle manner whether your reporter had actually got Super Pro ET qualifying correct. Yes he had. A few Hellos this morning: firstly to Stephen Moon who is tuned in from the UK and who wrote a very nice E-Mail as a result of your reporter's passing comment about vanishing incrementals. Hello also to Hasse who is tuned in from Sweden, to Anders Envall in Göteborg, to Ivar Kolberg who is one of our most faithful fans, to Jon Crawford in the UK who should be clearing his desk, and of course to all the Eurodragsterholics who are wearing out their F5 keys. Hope you are enjoying the coverage guys. We start at 10:00 with Sportsman qualifying; Pro sessions are scheduled for 13:00 and 17:00. Stay tuned and we will bring you all the news as soon as we get going. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |