2003 FIA Main Event
Saturday (qualifying)
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20:30
We have now been officially called for today. The shutdown area is still very wet and with 9:00 fast approaching there is no way that we're going to get finished.
Today's pictures have been posted, you can view them from the Event Index page.
Here are the top two qualifiers in those classes upon which we have not been concentrating today:
Comp Eliminator: 1. Marco Maurischat -0.129 7.421/183.03
Super Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Pat Talbot +0.111 7.251/181.15, 2. Ian Tubb +0.138 8.188/165.95
Pro ET (own dial-in): 1. Steve Wells +0.001 10.121/126.23, 2. Lee Huxley +0.011 10.911/120.11
Sportsman ET (own dial-in): 1. Mark Anderson +0.034 13.484/101.50, 2. Kev Slyfield +0.042 12.322/110.36
Super Comp (8.90): 1. Mark Fairhurst 8.965/151.66, 2. Martin Curbishley 8.984/147.45
Super Gas (9.90): 1. Conrad Stanley 9.954/134.53, 2. Will Furniss 9.984/136.84
Super Street (10.90): 1. Ian Brown 11.030/118.18, 2. Leigh Morris 11.033/119.42
Junior Dragster (reaction time): 1. Ricky Emms 0.537, 2. Nick Mugridge 0.550
9.90 Bike: 1. Fred Furlong 9.907/136.28, 2. Steve Ashby 9.920/137.38
10.90 Bike: 1. Paul Coombs 10.902/124.17, 2. Ilse Lambert 10.904/122.38
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike stands as follows after the first round of qualifying - the second session will be completed tomorrow morning:
20:00 - FIA, FIM/UEM, NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod qualifying at the end of day one
FIA Top Fuel Dragster
FIA Top Methanol Dragster
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car
FIA Pro Stock
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified
Fuel Funny Car
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike
To follow
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike
19:00
Apologies to those tuned into the webcam and not having a lot of luck. The phone line is causing a few problems and we have had the choice to work on the reports or try to sort out the webcam - of course the reports come first.
A big hello to Kirstie Tramm and Ben Beneke and friends whom we know are tuned in.
We're on a rain stop right now. We have had the final qualifiers for today in the FIA classes and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified; there are three FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bikes waiting in the collection area for the track to be dried.
Here's how the second cycle has gone so far. What we will do is to give you the session details and then at the official end of action today we will bring you the qualifying standings.
FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1
Oyvor Jacobsen 6.383/132.34, Smax Smith shut off in burnout box, Anita Makela 7.943/90.10, Gary Page 6.283/149.52, Micke Kagered 13.645/91.22, Tommy Moller 12.553/79.68, Andy Carter 5.424/187.10, Kim Reymond 5.490/175.61
Oyvor Jacobsen recorded 0.89 to sixty feet on her pass. Smax Smith had a leak from the fuel pump and towed back to the pits. Anita Makela recorded a 0.84 sixty-foot time and then an entire side of cylinders went out, Anita got off it which I would imagine saved the engine. Gary Page blackstriped to three hundred feet, the car was going out of shape so he did the wise thing. The pairing between Micke Kagered and Tommy Moller was an odd one, Micke was held on the line for a while and then his engine started to lean out on the start line. When both cars left the line it was as if their throttle stops were on - that's how it looked and sounded although it is eminently possible that both racers decided to save their engines. The match-up between Andy Carter and Kim Reymond was very nice indeed, the cars glued together to the eighth when Kim threw a belt and Andy got off it.
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2
Leif Andreasson 6.472/160.54, Urs Erbacher 5.905/243.71, Niclas Andersson 11.384/76.85, Freddy Fagerstrom 7.006/200.32, Doug Ripley 8.467/170.01, Dennis Wratten broke on burnout, Jurgen Nagel 10.154/110.83, Steph Milam 8.632/182.02, Dan Larsen 6.422/202.83, Ulf Leanders 13.960/46.24
Leif Andreasson's very nice Alfa threw a part at half-track, it looked like a blower pulley but word has not come back. Urs Erbacher backed off a little early on his pass, the engine was smoking towards the finish line. Freddy Fagerstrom pedalled on his pass, whilst Niclas Andersson rolled through stage and idled down the track. Ulf Leanders hit shake as did Steph Milam.
FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2
Jan Muren broke, Michael Malmgren 7.522/141.31, Tommy Leindahl 8.474/115.46, Kenneth Soderstrom 8.137/148.65, Rune Berg 7.202/191.61, Christer Andersson 7.244/190.23, Magnus Hansson 12.124/70.68
Michael Malmgren got out of shape at about half-track and got off the throttle. Tommy Leindahl seemed to have problems selecting gears and clicked off. Magnus Hansson hit shake and quickly got off it.
Fuel Funny Car qualifying session 1
Gordon Smith 14.537/77.06, Leif Helander 11.314/82.02
Gordon pulled a great burnout but the tyres went up in smoke at the hit. Leif Helander made his first licencing pass, the throttle stop came off during the burnout and the revs went up, but Leif was straight off the pedal. The car left the line with cylinders out and Leif was very quickly off it.
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 2
Thomas Nataas 6.835/193.79, Roger Johanson broke, Hakan Nilsson 6.434/212.61, Gordon Appleton 6.844/205.27, John Ellis 8.024/157.67, Seppa Saapola 7.867/129.84, Andy Robinson 7.694/159.11
Thomas Nataas pedalled for about a second on his pass. The car looks very nice indeed in its new green colours. We think that Hakan Nilsson is sandbagging since he had his chutes out before the finish line! Andy Robinson hit shake off the line.
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike qualifying session 2
Svein Gottenberg 8.443/136.30, Per Bengtsson 15.988/46.20, Ronny Aasen 7.558/175.49, Jamie Millership broke, Erik Nielsen 8.220/147.47, Ton Pels 6.883/206.95
Ton Pels emented his position with a stormer of a pass, the bike went straight and true and sounded very strong indeed. Jamie Millership's bike stopped after the burnout.
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 2
Vesa Rautio 7.606/173.98, Roger Pettersson 7.516/174.56, Oivind von Essen 9.166/105.39, Herman van Driel broke, Paul Watson 8.073/135.32, Kenneth Stromberg 8.584/139.37, Michal Ponca 10.703/123.57, Martin Bishop 8.173/145.65, Richard Gipp 7.994/168.27
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 2 *** NOT YET FINISHED ***
Steve Woollatt 20.826/34.15, Antonio Ferretti 8.288/111.40, Tim Blakemore 7.513/146.49, Neil Midgley 11.623/66.00, Nils Ole Lund broke, Jon Leret 10.358/78.12, Dave Holland 7.270/179.41, Martin de Haas crossed lanes, Fin Aserbo 8.772/97.39, Sverre Dahl 6.516/215.93, Sarah Jane Head 9.585/141.84, Paul Newman 9.978/130.63
Sverre Dahl's pass in the first session was disallowed because he had done a burnout which under the rules means no re-start. The pass in this session will have made up for it! Martin de Haas had a wild ride, the bike crossing from the right lane to the left and going right across the lane, perilously close to the guardrail.
Stay tuned and we'll let you know where we stand with the continuation of qualifying, and we will bring you the standings in FIA, FIM/UEM and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified, as well as the top two in the classes on which we haven't been concentrating today.
15:15
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike qualifying session 1
Antonio Ferretti 8.904/110.25, Joey Bon 9.014/107.15, Martin de Haas 17.457/38.43, Chris Hannam 7.768/142.41, Steve Woollatt 6.724/206.55, Ian King broke on burnout, Jon Leret broke, Nils Ole Lund 6.889/193.39, Roel Koedam 6.512/209.58, Fin Aserbo 7.806/161.08, Sarah Jane Head 9.359/142.61, Paul Newman 8.640/155.01, Neil Midgley 7.163/185.32, Dave Holland 7.283/176.24, Tim Blakemore 7.399/176.63, Sverre Dahl 6.456/208.36
This was a thrilling session with the lead changing hands a number of times. Ian King's bike popped and blew out a sheet of flame on the burnout, but the engine was still running after the bang so maybe it was just a burst plate. Sverre Dahl was first out, but shut off after his burnout, then came back at the end of the session.
FIM/UEM Supertwin Bike qualifying session 1
Ronny Aasen 7.575/166.03, Ton Pels 7.081/200.39, Per Bengtsson shut off after burnout, Svein Gottenberg 8.319/135.20, Erik Nielsen 8.301/151.18
Per Bengtsson left a pool of fluid on the start line after he shut off.
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 1
Herman van Driel 7.955/167.99, Paul Watson broke off line, Kenneth Stromberg 11.486/110.70, Michal Ponca 19.369/33.44, Martin Bishop 7.890/164.10, Chris Hope no time recorded, Richard Gipp 8.069/171.11, Vesa Rautio broke off line, Roger Pettersson 7.548/176.66
Ray Perkins is OK after a scary-looking top end crash in his Pro ET Zephyr. The car turned hard right near the finish line and from race control it looked as if Ray almost had a hold of it before the car hit the guardrail. Ray was a passenger from then on, the car went into the field but stayed upright.
Congratulations to Super Pro ET racer Al Golding who won the Eurodragster Perfect Light Award of £75 after pulling a 0.500 reaction time in the first qualifying session, which was held up by rain.
Stay tuned.
15:00
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1
Niclas Andersson 6.169/234.62, Freddy Fagerstrom 6.630/211.52, Doug Ripley 9.879/133.46, Steph Milam 9.250/127.68, Deszoe Krivan 6.286/204.97, Dan Larsen 6.176/231.34, Ulf Leanders 7.295/122.55, Leif Andreasson 12.038/59.68, Urs Erbacher 6.343/165.09
Dezsoe Krivan and Urs Erbacher threw belts on their passes. Leif Andreasson hit tyre shake and got off the throttle easrly. Freddy Fagerstrom pedalled very briefly on his pass, almost as if he decided "Actually I think I'll do a full pass", that after a 300-foot burnout. Niclas Andersson drove flawlessly on his final observed pass.
FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1
Rob Turner 5.628/242.03, Dave Wilson 7.142/108.67, Peter Schofer 5.581/248.59
Dave Wilson's run was a planned half pass. Peter Schofer got very close to the guardrail on his pass but stayed with it.
FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1
Tommy Leindahl 7.752/166.33, Rune Berg 7.187/193.28, Christer Andersson 7.889/133.33, Magnus Hansson 7.184/192.28, Jan Muren 7.043/195.71, Michael Malmgren 7.011/195.92
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified qualifying session 1
Gordon Appleton 6.811/205.28, Peter Wacker 11.846/70.87, John Ellis pushed back after burnout, Henri Joosten 6.897/196.33, Seppo Saapola no time recorded, Andy Robinson 6.687/205.81, Thomas Nataas 7.004/153.08, Roger Johansson 6.655/207.10, Hakan Nilsson 6.428/218.28
Stay tuned for the FIM/UEM Bike qualifying.
11:00
We're on a hold for rain here at Santa Pod. The top qualifiers so far are as follow:
Super Gas: Dave Townsend 9.992/138.48
Pro ET: Steve Wells +0.001 10.121/126.23
Sportsman ET: Kev Slyfield +0.042 12.322/110.36
Junior Dragster: Ricky Emms 0.537 RT
9.90 Bike: Fred Furlong 9.907/136.28
10.90 Bike: Ilse Lambert 10.904/122.38
Bottom qualifier in 9.90 Bike is Graham Dance at 8.270/172.96. We present this fact without comment.
10:00
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway for the first day of the 2003 European Championships. It's bright and sunny, the weather station is reading 14.4 C, 65% humidity and dropping, and 29.32 inches of pressure. We're here to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is online and broadcasting every two minutes, you can get to that via the Event Index page.
We didn't get as much as we would have liked in the way of pit notes last night. As you probably saw on Eurodragster News yesterday we were covering the private test which took place during the afternoon and into the evening. Just as we packed everything away and were set to go for our pit walk we had an emergency call from Michael Malmgren who needed someone to plug their laptop into his Pro Stock, and your reporter got the job. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon how you view it, your mechanically-challenged reporter didn't understand a word of what came up on the screen when the laptop was plugged into the Camaro, so I can't share any Pro Stock tuning secrets with you.
It was actually quite late by the time we got to walk the pits and a lot of trailers were already closed up, but here's what we found out.
Pro Stock racer Kenneth Soderstrom has a new, for him, engine in his Firebird. The new piece is Michael Malmgren's 2002 spare. The car also has a new computer since, Kenneth's Crew Chief told us, the previous computer was never the same after Kenneth's crash at Alastaro a uple of years ago.
The Showtime Fuel FC team are without bottom end guy Paul, who is in Mexico this weekend. "Get your arse back here Paul because we can't find anything!", said driver John Spuffard. "This should hopefully be our last weekend with the Dodge Avenger body - more to follow about that!", said Crew Chief Bob Jarrett. The team have traced and cured the problem which caused a number of backfires at the last couple of races. "We're not trying anything special this weekend, just to run the car how we know to", said Bob. "I also hope that Lex goes well, we're looking forward to an all-Dodge final! My goal is to get Lex off the line without shaking, if we can do that then Lex's car is as good as anything here at the track". Bob asked us to say Hello to his wife Nancy, who is at home in California in 75-degree temperatures.
Lex Joon, one of this weekend's two Fuel FC rookies, warmed up the MPM Oil Fuel FC on methanol yesterday afternoon. "The clutch felt really different", he said. "You don't have to pay so much attention to it as in a Methanol car". Lex said that he was not at all worried about driving a Fuel car. "You don't have time to be nervous", he said. "I'm nervous enough for him!" said Lex's partner and team manager Gerda. "He's made his first pass a thousand times already!". Lex is planning a half pass this afternoon. The MPM Oil team have been trying out their new ship-to-shore radios which have proven to have a very long range in testing. "I walked all the way down to the timing ticket caravan past the start line and I could still talk to Lex so I am happy", said Gerda. The Avenger body looks spectacular in its new colour scheme, which features very large vinyls which took about eight hours to apply. The team shirts are also very tidy, Gerda asked us to thank Ian Turburville for his work. One of the first to see the MPM Oil team in full cry and colours will be Michiel van Wilgen of MPM together with five guests.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Kim Reymond was very happy indeed with his two test passes yesterday, especially the second in which he clocked a 0.881 sixty-foot time. "It shook a little and so I had to lift although I hated to do it!", he said. "We got a lot of valuable data from the runs."
Leif Helander, this weekend's other Fuel FC rookie, was complaining about the cold temperatures last night. "We are close to being ready", he said. "Alan Jackson has had a look over the car and has changed nozzle sizes". Leif said that AJ will be tuning the car and that he would learn as he went along. The body of the Starkotter FC is very nice indeed. "It took us two weeks to do the body", said Leif. Leif is also planning a half pass this afternoon.
Top Methanol FC racers Urs Erbacher and Dezsoe Krivan's chassis paid visits to Webster Race Engineering yesterday to have this year's roll bar amendments fitted. Both cars are back at the track and have passed tech. "Urs has a new injector, we will see how it works", said Andrea Wucher whose partner and our good friend Horst Pauli is on the crew. Urs made a half pass at last weekend's test session and gained a lot of valuable data from that run. When we looked in the pit last night the team were fitting a new return spring to the injector.
Fellow TMFC racer Doug Ripley has a new MSD Pro Mag 44. "That's the main change", said Crew Chief Cliff Gould. "It should give us more consistency. Other than that, everything is basically the same. We also have a new weather station."
Fireforce Jet FC pilot Martin Hill had his car at the bottom of the shutdown area for testing yesterday evening. "There's a little gremlin in there somewhere and we haven't found it yet", he said. The Fireforce 2 FC has had an engine change since its last appearance. "If the weather is OK, and I can hold it, and it doesn't choke in the first sixty feet, then it should run a five", said Martin. "If it doesn't then I am going home!"
Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Makela was reasonably content with her test run yesterday. "The launch was hard", she said, with which we would wholeheartedly agree having watched the front end come up by about three feet was past the Tree. "It's our best ever sixty-foot time of 0.872, but we are still having trouble with the clutch. We made a step forward with that sixty foot time but the only thing which counts is the ET so we are focusing on that". The dragster was stripped of its engine right down to the block after the pass but Anita told us that it was maintenance, there were no major problems. "Better to be safe than sorry", she said. Anita said that she didn't quite know what to make of her spectacular wheelie on yesterday's pass. "Because I have not raced for about a year and a half I wasn't sure whether the wheelie was too much or not", she said. "But Tommi said that it was perfect!"
The Wratten brothers' Dirty Harry III Top Methanol FC has a new bottom end, bringing the engine up to 526 ci. "It sounds like it's making more power!" said Dennis. "If we get a six we'll be happy!".
Pro Mod racer Thomas Natåas entered at the last minute after his new blown-alcohol engine arrived on Wednesday. "The guys have been working and driving here ever since", said Christer Abrahamson of Svensk Dragracing, who is giving us a hand this weekend.
Tommy Moller and Kenneth Lorentzon have a completely new set-up in their Top Fuel Dragster. "We're anxious to get out there to see if we are completely wrong of if we got it right!", said Kenneth. "We have a new blower, a new fuel system, and different compression.
Pro Mod racer Henri Joosten has fixed the minor problem which he shad with a cylinder head in testing last weekend. "I'm going to do a half pass to check it out, to make sure it's a hundred per cent", he said. "Then I'll get into the sixes and start screwing with it! I just want to get out there and start racing now, we're ready to take up where we left off last season."
A visibly tired Andy Robinson got here at 3:45 this morning having rebuilt the engine of his Studebaker Pro Mod. "We fired it up at midnight last night", he said. "It's a different block - I bought my old short block back off Alan Cook".
NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod Champion Håkan Nilsson said that he had a little more work to do on his Camaro Pro Mod. "We're going to take it easy to begin with, to see what the track can take", he said. "We know the 6.3 tune-up, it's just a case of translating that to Europe. In the USA we worked on the back half and found a hundredth". Hakan's new wheelie bar is an impressive piece of engineering on its own. "It's more forgiving than my last set!", he said.
Danish TMFC racer Dan Larsen's Crew Chief told us that everything is perfect so far. "We've got new slicks, a new blower, a lot of new things", he said. "My new Norwegian crew are doing OK", added Dan.
The American Car Imports TMD team's new trailer is a very impressive piece of work. "Now you can see what we spent the off-season doing!", said Crew Chief Andy Bissett. "The engine has a new bottom end, but this is really the first time we've touched it since the last race", said driver Dave Wilson.
Qualifying is now well underway; the first cycle of FIA and UEM qualifying is scheduled for 11:00 so if you tune back later on this morning we will have all the news for you.