2003 FIA Main Event
Monday (eliminations)
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21:30
Today's pictures are now posted, you can access them from the Event Index page.
Andy Marrs of SPR's timing crew has already provided us with today's ladders, which you can view by clicking here.
Doubtless we will receive the "Anorak stuff" from Andy within pretty short order but there is one interesting factoid which we will share with you now, namely that the track crew had to deal with thirteen oildowns today. That's got to be some sort of record and it wasn't so many years ago that a race would have been abandoned long before we got to that number.
That's the end of our FIA Main Event coverage, a race which will go down in history for very many reasons. Thank you all for tuning in and we hope that you have enjoyed what you've seen.
The usual FIA-event apology to the Sportsman racers for the relative lack of attention this weekend but we know that you understand, and it's much appreciated.
For all of their help this weekend we would like to thank Race Director Darren Prentice; Chief Marshal Steve Horn; Martin Wallis, Lisa Billinton, John Hackney and Andy Marrs of Santa Pod's timing crew; Chief Starter Ian Marshall and the start line crew; Chief Fire Marshal Bob Day and the safety crew; track announcers John Price and Graham Beckwith; Christer Abrahamson; Bjorn Sundquist; Roger Gorringe; Ivan Sansom; Dave Alexander; Paula Marshall; Kathy Taylor; Carol Ismail; David Anniwell; Kjell Pettersson; David Lloyd-Jones; Keith Bartlett; Caroline Day; Gittli Koller; Hakan Nilsson; Henri Joosten; Lex Joon and Gerda Dijkstra; Bob Jarrett and John Spuffard; Pat and Stephen Talbot; Tommy Moller; Remco Scheelings; Spencer Tramm; Sue Morris; Sharon Norris; and of course to all of the racers for giving us quotes and action to write about and photograph.
Eurodragster's next Event Coverage will be the Power Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 14th-15th June; our next Event Coverage from Santa Pod will be the SPRC Summernationals on 28th-29th June.
This weekend's Event Coverage was brought to you in association with American Car Imports.
20:05
Here are the final results in all classes:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Smax Smith 4.959/280.53 def. Gary Page 5.382/211.65
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Dave Wilson 5.461/244.44 def. Peter Schofer 5.488/247.57
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Urs Erbacher 5.715/248.36 def. Leif Andreasson 5.901/241.70
FIA Pro Stock: Rune Berg 7.071/194.77 def. Michael Malmgren 7.419/152.99
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: Roger Johansson 6.462/215.58 def. Henri Joosten 6.880/196.43
Fuel Funny Car: John Spuffard 5.410/265.59 def. Gordon Smith 7.053/124.36
Comp Eliminator: Bruno Bader (8.28) 7.687/157.11 def. Marco Maurischat (7.55) 7.347/187.88
Super Pro ET: Al Golding (8.98) 9.005/147.75 def. Steve Johnson (7.60) 7.634/161.35
Pro ET: Lee Huxley (10.70) 10.774/120.64 def. Marius Blackburn (9.58) 9.652/137.71 red light
Sportsman ET: Paul Bishop (16.50) 16.675/78.52 def. George Greves (13.43) 13.590/100.30
Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.924/152.96 def. Mark Fairhurst 8.855/152.36 breakout
Super Gas: Tim Adam 9.949/140.58 def. Will Furniss 9.978/135.36
Super Street: Stu Doignie 10.914/122.28 def. Ian Brown 10.875/119.16 breakout
Junior Dragster: Joe Bond (9.35) 9.405/67.78 def. Colin Morrice (9.21) 9.198/66.43 breakout
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike: Roel Koedam 6.237/223.44 def. Tim Blakemore 7.305/163.93
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike: Per Bengtsson 7.212/145.16 def. Ronny Aasen 9.668/84.53
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike: Chris Hope 8.482/149.92 def. Oivind von Essen 8.055/121.47 red light
9.90 Bike: Steve Coombs 10.121/128.62 def. Stu Conway 10.018/128.45
10.90 Bike: Phil Pratt 10.979/125.42 def. Richard Amos 10.995/120.36
Martin Hill brought the house down twice with the Fireforce 2 Jet FC today, two great passes of 5.934/271.17 and 5.839/272.73.
We are now working on today's pictures, stay tuned.
19:05
FIA Top Fuel Dragster final
Smax Smith 4.959/280.53 def. Gary Page 5.382/211.65
No hint of team orders here, both cars out of the Carbon By Design stable. Gary was away first by two thousandths
of a second but Smax was ahead by half track. There was smoke from the rear end of Gary's car at about 1000
feet and he was off the throttle, Smax was still accelerating hard but then there was a huge sheet of flame
from the Purple Loans car right at the finish line. Smax Smith is still undefeated in any competition this
season.
18:40
Fuel Funny Car final
John Spuffard 5.410/265.59 def. Gordon Smith 7.053/124.36
A new speed record for John Spuffard as this run backed up his earlier 266.57, congratulations guys. The cars
left together very strongly but Gordon was off the throttle before half-track. Spuff was going nice and
straight until just before the finish line when the engine started to smoke, or cylinders went out, the car
started to weave a little and there was a flash of flame. There was a small amount of oil on the track right
before the finish line.
Thanks to MSA British Nitro FC Championship co-ordinator Jim Broome for passing us the Championship standings after this round:
18:20
FIA Top Methanol Dragster final
Dave Wilson 5.461/244.44 def. Peter Schofer 5.488/247.57
A historic race, the quickest-ever side-by-side Top Methanol pass outside the USA, the first side-by-side
5.4s, and a new European record for Dave Wilson. The cars looked welded together all the way down the track
but Dave had the nose in front.
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final
Urs Erbacher 5.715/248.36 def. Leif Andreasson 5.901/241.70
More history in the making as Urs backed up his 5.694 for a new European record. Leif went the
long way round.
FIA Pro Stock final
Rune Berg 7.071/194.77 def. Michael Malmgren 7.419/152.99
The cars left the line together but Michael was slowly pulling ahead before there was a bang at
three-quarter track and he slowed, Rune took his first win.
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified final
Roger Johansson 6.462/215.58 def. Henri Joosten 6.880/196.43
0.01 seconds between Roger and Henri off the start line and Roger never looked back. A nice run for
Henri too.
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike final
Roel Koedam 6.237/223.44 def. Tim Blakemore 7.305/163.93
Tim strapped a 0.491 to 0.874 holeshot on Roel, but Roel ran a new personal best to take the win.
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike final
Per Bengtsson 7.212/145.16 def. Ronny Aasen 9.668/84.53
Ronny broke early, and Per was off the throttle early too, but Per got there first.
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike final
Chris Hope 8.482/149.92 def. Oivind von Essen 8.055/121.47 red light
The first thing you will be asking yourselves is "Chris Hope?". What happened was that Roger
Pettersson's restart
of his engine after losing fire on the way to the line in the semi was actually against the rules. Chris
queried the point - we understand that he didn't protest it, he merely asked. Roger
Pettersson had to be disqualified and he accepted the Race Director's decision gracefully and without a dissenting
word. We've seen some
very sportsmanlike behaviour in Pro Stock Bike today which bears mention,
you've brought great credit upon yourselves and the sport guys. The
race was over on the start line as Oivind pulled the big cherry.
16:50
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike semi-finals
Roel Koedam 6.353/223.59, Eric Teboul no show
Roel has a real handle on the bike and the track this weekend, this pass was absolutely arrow-straight. A
little smoke at the top end.
Tim Blakemore 7.139/181.49 def. Joey Bon 7.079/169.22
This was a scary race, Joey Bon drifted further and further left and eventually hit the top end reflectors and
crossed in front of Tim Blakemore who had to take avoiding action. The displayed times and speeds were probably
not valid.
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike semi-finals
Per Bengtsson 7.962/118.26
A half-pass from Per, the ET shows you just how strongly the bike was performing.
Ronny Aasen 7.434/180.25 def. Svein Gottenberg broke
Svein's engine banged after the burnout, Ronny's bike sounded very lazy but it's very likely that with a guaranteed
win he was taking it easy.
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike semi-finals
Roger Pettersson 7.514/175.57 def. 8.261/157.67
Very sporting behaviour from Chris Hope as Roger lost fire on the way to the line and Chris sat and waited
with no sign whatsoever of impatience, nice one Chris. Roger then proceeded to thank Chris by cleaning his
clock.
Oivind von Essen 7.538/176.32 def. Martin Newbury 7.980/160.46
We had another burndown in this race, most enjoyable it was too, neither racer moving for what seemed like
an age and then they went in together. Chief Starter Ian Marshall hit the button very quickly and Martin
thumped Oivind off the line, 0.487 to 0.705. Oivind rode round Martin at the top end, it was pretty
close.
18.4 degrees, 46% humidity and 30.21 inches on the start line, the weather is getting better and better.
16:35
FIA Top Fuel Dragster semi-finals
Smax Smith 5.056/294.62 def. Oyvor Jacobsen 5.182/236.30
This was a tremendous race. Oyvor left first, .667 to .770, Smax chased her down using up quite a lot of the
width of his lane, taking the win by 0.029 which equates to about half a car length.
Gary Page 5.175/256.02 def. Kim Reymond 15.826/59.06
This was over on the start line as Kim's rear tyres went up in smoke off the line. Gary went a slightly
long way round and his engine was eating itself up towards the finish line and smoked all the way down
the shutdown area.
FIA Top Methanol Dragster semi-finals
Dave Wilson 5.483/252.27 def. Rob Turner 5.568/237.49
The first-ever 5.4-second pass by a Top Methanol Dragster in Europe, nice work guys! this was a
very close race indeed, Dave took the win by 0.029 seconds.
Peter Schofer 9.697/74.33
Peter hit shake off the line and got off the throttle very quickly.
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car semi-finals
Urs Erbacher 5.755/245.86 def. Dan Larsen 5.857/239.66
Urs reset his own European record with this pass, backed up by yesterday's 5.771. Not quite quick enough
to back up the 5.69 but getting closer all the time! Dan ran his personal best so he will be happy.
Leif Andreasson 5.889/241.41 def. Niclas Andersson no time recorded
Another race over on the start line only in this case Niclas was bulbed after Leif had been in stage with
the revs up for a fair time. Leif and his team have a handle on the new combination and we're sure that
Niclas and car owner Micke Kagered will be more than happy with Niclas' weekend.
FIA Pro Stock semi-finals
Michael Malmgren 6.974/197.89 def. Magnus Hansson 7.064/194.12
Magnus strapped a .48 to .54 holeshot on Michael, Michael reeled him in and took the win by 0.035
seconds.
Rune Berg 7.114/193.76 def. Jan Muren 19.592/26.65
This was over after the first gear shift, Jan broke a prop shaft and left pieces on the track as Rune
disappeared into the distance.
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified semi-finals
Henri Joosten 6.903/199.19 def. Hakan Nilsson 6.410/216.86 red light
Hakan threw away a half-second advantage with an uncharacteristic red light. Henri had a solid, straight
pass and goes into the final.
Roger Johansson 6.453/215.52 def. Gordon Appleton 6.580/208.99
This was a very nice match-up, a classic burndown before both cars stormed down the strip, Roger got there
first but Gordon's new car is just going faster and faster.
15:05
Fuel Funny Car Round 1
Gordon Smith 7.420/162.23 def. Lex Joon 9.348/92.06
Both cars hit shake off the line and we had synchronised guardrail approaches in both lanes. Gordon pulled
it back and got back on the throttle, whilst Lex did the same - probably each racer realised he couldn't see
the other. Lex was quickly back off it again though and Gordon went through first. Lex left oil all
down his lane and it transpired that an oil line had shaken off.
John Spuffard 5.288/266.57
Spuff ran the quickest Fuel FC time outside the USA on this pass, he is on both an ET and Speed
record. Our good buddy Andy Marrs of SPR's timing crew tells us that Spuff's run needs a 5.341
to back up or would back up a 5.236, speedwise he needs a 263.91 to back up or it would back up a 269.24.
Spuff was on the throttle just about all
the way down, it looked from the start line as if one side of cylinders was out at the end, there was some
flame too and then a yellow nitro cloud. We're one oildown off double figures now, the track crew have
been just astounding today, where do they get the energy?
It's Gordon v Spuff in the final.
14:05
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike Round 1
Roger Pettersson 7.432/178.34 def. Herman van Driel 7.965/163.57
No mistakes from Roger, showing no mercy to Herman.
Chris Hope 7.801/164.66 def. Paul Watson 7.850/165.93
An England v England match-up, Paul pulled a holeshot and Chris chased him down, 0.008 margin of victory.
Oivind von Essen 7.561/173.53 def. Martin Bishop 7.911/167.49
A long burndown between these two, Oivind cracked first and then Martin strapped a 0.513 to 0.734 holeshot
on him. Oivind got his own back though, riding around Martin to take the win.
Martin Newbury 7.975/165.11 def. Richard Gipp 8.093/157.83 red light
Martin Newbury was in as an alternate.
Richard pulled a .3 light handing Martin the win, which he celebrated with a return to the sevens.
Roger takes on Chris and Oivind takes on Martin Newbury next round.
13:35
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike Round 1
Roel Koedam 6.316/218.07 def. Neil Midgley 7.148/171.06
Neil got the jump at the green but Roel overhauled him at half track and disappeared into the
distance.
Eric Teboul 6.817/188.88 def. Nils Ole Lund 16.018/44.30
There was a bang from Nils' engine at 100 feet and that was that. Eric's engine blew a huge cloud of
smoke at the finish line and we were down for a cleanup.
Tim Blakemore 8.908/96.79 def. Ian King broke
Ian threw a drive belt off the line, there was a bang from Tim's engine at about 900 feet and he
cruised through.
Joey Bon 14.013/72.43, Steve Woollatt broke
Steve's engine expired and dropped oil as he stopped from his burnout. Joey took it very easy to
save parts for the next round.
Roel races Eric and Tim races Joey next round.
Still a nice day here, start line conditions are 18.2 degrees, 50% humidity, 30.18 air pressure.
13:15
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike Round 1
Per Bengtsson 6.933/192.04 def. Ton Pels 6.943/200.55
This was a very close race indeed, the bikes side by side all the way down, Per took the win by
0.052 seconds.
Ronny Aasen 7.233/180.32 def. Jamie Millership shut off on line
Jamie was shut off on the line, some sort of problem involving his throttle pin. Ronny is taking
a tenth off each run, the bike looking and sounding very strong.
Svein Gottenberg 7.769/149.83, Erik Nielsen no show
A gentle pass from Svein, Erik Nielsen broke in the pits.
Per gets a bye next round, and Ronny and Svein match up.
13:00
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Round 1
Roger Johansson 6.599/183.15 def. Norbert Kuno 6.991/202.78
Roger took the long way round but had Norbert covered. Norbert and his team will be very happy indeed though
since he smashed his personal best.
Gordon Appleton 6.653/208.33 def. Thomas Nataas 6.718/207.65
Gordon went straight down the middle of his lane whilst Thomas started to drift left to the guardrail.
Thomas pulled it away but Gordon was ahead and took the win.
Hakan Nilsson 6.398/217.50 def. Seppo Saapola 6.764/203.99
Seppo pulled a four hundred foot burnout and rolled a fair way down the track. Hakan waited paitently
and then showed him the way home with another awesome 6.3-second pass.
Henri Joosten 12.145/62.57 def. Andy Robinson broke
Our good friend Bjorn Sundquist noticed sparks from Andy's car during the burnout, as the two pulled forward
there was a panic as one of the fasteners on Andy's bonnet was loose and the crew rushed to secure it. Then
Andy shut off anyway. Henri launched very hard but the engine appeared to misfire and blew flames from
both exhausts at 200 feet.
Next round is Roger v Gordon and Hakan v Henri
12:45
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car Round 1
Urs Erbacher 5.833/245.48 def. Steph Milam 8.780/127.18
This was all done on the start line as Urs was gone in 0.522 as opposed to Steph's 1.042. Urs went the long way
round whilst Steph pedalled a few times off the line and then got off it.
Dan Larsen 6.012/239.10 def. Jurgen Nagel 8.280/137.90
Jurgen Nagel came in as an alternate after Dezsoe Krivan and first alternate Doug Ripley had broken.
Dan took a very long way round on this one but had Jurgen covered.
Leif Andreasson 5.826/244.26 def. Ulf Leanders 5.909/243.17
A candidate for race of the weekend, both Leif and Ulf finding their feet again. Ulf left first but had a very squirrelly
ride whilst Leif went arrow straight, 0.078 seconds between the two at the finish line.
Niclas Andersson 6.071/232.36 def. Freddy Fagerstrom 6.533/171.55
Niclas was running with the spare engine in the Sandflex FC. Freddy got the jump at the start line but
Niclas soon drove round him, then Freddy's engine began to smoke and then it blew just before the
finish line.
Next round is Urs v Dan and Leif v Niclas.
FIA Pro Stock round 1
Michael Malmgren 6.979/198.28 bye
Michael ran just a shade under his own speed record and gets lane choice next round.
Magnus Hansson 7.034/194.41 def. Christer Andersson 7.316/190.23
Christer pulled a sizeable holeshot but Magnus reeled him in and took the win by 0.195 seconds.
Jan Muren 7.042/196.85 def. Kenneth Soderstrom 7.206/186.83
Another reeling-in job in this race, Kenneth pulled a holeshot but Jan got past and was first to
the stripe by 0.196.
Rune Berg 7.056/195.10 def. Tommy Leindahl 7.427/56.25
This was all over at the start, a .561 to .744 and Rune wasn't looking back.
Michael v Magnus and Jan v Rune next round.
11:50
FIA Top Fuel Dragster Round 1
Oyvor Jacobsen 5.131/286.19 def. Tommy Moller 8.688/87.89
Oyvor's first full pass in the car blasted her personal bests out of sight, the car was weaving left and
right at the top end so she really had her hands full. Tommy was there at the start but the engine started to
smoke and then expired at about half-track.
Smax Smith 4.899/303.14 def. Andy Carter 5.008/233.22
An astounding run from Smax in what, let's not forget, is a new car for him this weekend. The car went
straight and true. This was on for a side-by-side 4.8, Andy was right there, but smoke started to appear
after half track and Smax pulled ahead. Smax had no chutes but got it stopped no problem. Smax is on
for a European speed record if he can back up this pass.
Gary Page 6.110/152.23 def. Anita Makela 8.513/67.85
Anita got the jump at the start line with a classic twisting launch, a hint of smoke from the tyres but
then the car hooked up, a small flash of flame suddenly turned into a huge fireball at 200 feet
or so. Meanwhile Gary pulled a languid sixty-foot of 0.933, and was off the throttle at half-track, but took
the win.
Kim Reymond 4.932/286.54 def. Micke Kagered 5.490/171.61
A huge holeshot from Kim and a hard, straight pass until about 1000 feet when one side of cylinders appeared to go out and
there was a flash of flame. Micke was on a strong pass up to half track but then got off the throttle and
had the chutes out before the finish line.
It's Smax v Oyvor and Gary v Kim next round.
10:00
Hello again and welcome from a sunny Santa Pod Raceway. There's not a cloud in the sky, you couldn't ask for better conditions, and we're all set to bring you the action in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering.MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting every two minutes.
A raceday Hello to our US correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman in Rye, NH, and Hej to Magnus Cato in Sweden: thanks for the black box, Magnus, Mrs Tog will be very pleased. Another big Hello from Lex Joon to Michiel van Wilgen of MPM Oil whom we know is tuned in.
We had another late night last night, but when we made it to the pits we still found a few racers up and about.
The Pro Mod of Germany's Norbert Kuno has drawn a lot of admiring glances. Norbert was for several years a street-legal Champion before starting on the Pro Mod. It's a very nice piece indeed and the quality of finish is very high. "I built the car myself, it took me three years", he said. "I need a heavier foot, the car is better than I am at the moment!". The ignition box was dead yesterday but Norbert borrowed Peter Schofer's spare. "I want to run a six today, I will be happy with that", he said. "I have already run my personal best. The track here is very good and everyone is so friendly". Norbert plans to run as many NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified rounds as he can. "We are going to Mantorp in July, and we will be back here for the European Finals. If we have time we will go to Alastaro too, and we will run at Hockenheim."
Gittli Koller of TMD #1 qualifier Peter Schofer's team told us that their tune-up is very safe. I got the idea that there is a lot more in that car but that the PSR team weren't tempting fate by saying so. "We were very pleased with our run, we get the bye in the first round", said Gittli. "It's just amazing that the field is so close, anyone here can win the race."
Fuel FC debutant Leif Helander asked if we had any photographs of his car. When we replied yes, he said "That's good because it was your only chance this weekend!". Number five main bearing has spun and so Leif's weekend is over. "My next race is at Sundsvall in three weeks", said Leif. "That's a good race because we will get a lot of sponsorship from local companies."
Next door in the Fuel FC pits, Lex Joon still had a big smile on his face after his first pass. "It's a whole different world", he said. "It sounds and feels just the same inside as it does outside. Everything in there moves around though, you can't see the oil pressure gauge and the way to know where the reverser handle is set is to look outside and see which way you are moving!". Lex burnt two pistons on his debut pass yesterday but it was easily fixed. "It could have been a five", he said. "I felt something wasn't right so I got off it". Lex is up against Gordon Smith in today's first round. "I will get him on the lights!", he said.
John Spuffard said that the Showtime FC drifted at the top end on his qualifying pass yesterday. "It dropped a cylinder and started to move", said Spuff. "I pulled it back but it was still moving. I will stay on it as long as it goes straight, and I was near the finish anyway, so I shut off."
Tommy Moller has slightly less hair than he had this time yesterday after the fireball at half track came into the cockpit. "I have no eyelashes and no hair on the back of my neck!", he said. "But the safety stuff did its job and I am OK". Crew member Lars (the Throttle Stop King) showed me the damage. "A head gasket melted", he said. "Then it melted a hole in the cylinder head and a hole in the block. We hope that we can fix them because they are brand new!".
We had a brief word with fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Makela, who told us that the engine leaned out at the top end on her 4.892 pass yesterday. "This year's tune-up is very aggressive, it's a lot different", she said - then one of the Supertwin bikes fired up and gassed the area so we called a halt.
Today's first round pairings in FIA, FIM/UEM, NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified and Fuel FC are as follows:
FIA Top Fuel Dragster:
Carter v Smith
Moller v Jacobsen
Makela v Page
Reymond v Kagered
FIA Top Methanol Dragster:
Schofer bye
Turner v Wilson
FIA Top Methanol FC:
Erbacher v Milam
Larsen v Krivan (Ripley)
Andreasson v Leanders
Andersson v Fagerstrom
FIA Pro Stock:
Malmgren bye
Hansson v Andersson
Muren v Soderstrom
Berg v Leindahl
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified:
Johansson v Kuno
Appleton v Nataas
Nilsson v Saapola
Robinson v Joosten
Fuel FC:
Spuffard v Helander
Smith v Joon
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike:
Koedam v Midgley
teboul v Lund
Dahl v King
Woollatt v Bon
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike:
Pels v Bengtsson
Aasen v Millership
Gottenberg v Nielsen
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike:
Pettersson v van Driel
Hope v Watson
von Essen v Bishop
Rautio v Gipp
Action in these classes starts at 10:30 am so stay tuned and we'll bring you the first around action as soon as they are complete.