2004 FIA European Finals
Thursday (qualifying)
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19:15
Today's pictures are now available, you can view them via the Event Index page.
Tune back in the morning and we will bring you all the news from day two of the FIA European Finals.
17:05
We had some changes in the sixth session of Sportsman ET as Keith Crampton took over the lead from Mark Anderson and Linda Platt came into the top five:
Malcolm Francis took the lead in the sixth session of Super Comp qualifying, from Zane Llewellyn who had only taken it from Paul Letchford two pairings before! The top five is now as follows:
After the fifth session of Comp Eliminator, the qualifying standings are as follow:
The top five didn't change after session six of Junior Dragster:
We're now done for the day, stay tuned as we are now working on today's pictures and they are not far off.
16:45
Simon has made another visit to the pits for us and here is what he found out:
Dave Cherrett declared himself delighted with his number one qualifying position (10.909 for the Dark RevengerModel A Van). His race radiator split but a spare has been installed and a large fan placed in front of the car in the pits for good measure!. Dave enjoyed the trip to Mantorp Park and was aware of Super Class cars now running mufflers in Sweden.
Leif Andersson is another Swedish visitor making his Santa Pod debut. His Super Comp dragster is an ex-Comp Eliminator car built in Sweden. Leif has been running in Super Comp in Sweden since 1995 with a '27 T Roadster. He bought the dragster 3 years ago and it has a 572 cu in Chevy motor. After liberal application of the throttle stop, this produces terminal speeds in the 170mph range! Leif achieved third place in this year's NDRS Super Comp championship, having been Super Gas champion in 1993 and 1994. He commented on the shut-down area bump, saying "I won't put my foot on the brake too hard next time!".
Cliff Puddle had a prop shaft twist on his Super Gas Escort on the launch. Cliff said "I released the transbrake but it didn’t move." Cliff has switched to Super Gas from Super Street in 2004, with the same combination, which he says is fully capable of running on or below he index. The Ford 460 cu in engine runs through a C6 gearbox. Unfortunately, whether Cliff can hunt down a willing manufacturer of a replacement prop shaft is uncertain.
Joacim Ljungberg has had to make a class change on a chassis technicality. He said "in Sweden, cars built pre-1998 can run under the old rule book but in England, all cars in this class have to run a 10.1 SFI chassis". Not to be deterred, Joacim has switched from Comp Eliminator AB/A where he was planning to run 7.2s to Super Pro where he will not be allowed to run faster than 7.5s. The car, an ex-nitro 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass that is believed to have originated from Ed McCullough now runs a 433 cu in blown Chevy on methanol. Joacim added the car is for sale and will be good to run in Super Comp.
Ian Bishop, last year's Super Pro ET Champion, has had a torrid year dialling in his combination to accept a new 400hp NOS Nitrous system. "We started softening the clutch up but are now dialling in more to take the power". Ian reckons the car is capable of running a six, and a 7.20 1000 foot pass earlier in the year bears this out. However he misses the consistency that won him the championship, several out of shape passes being the result.
16:35
The top five in Super Pro ET didn't change after session six of qualifying:
John Hackney improved in the sixth 10.90 Bike qualifier but it didn't change the top five:
We then went into the sixth session of 9.90 Bike qualifying, and Paul Coombs moved back into the top five:
16:15
Nicky Frost moved into fifth place in the sixth session of Pro ET:
Mark Topping had a good go at taking the Christmas Tree with him in his My Little Pony Pop. Mark got off the throttle and calmly pulled it back just in time, then got back on the throttle and carried on.
Peter Lane moved into the top five in Super Gas in the sixth session of qualifying, the top five is now:
Mike Bentley improved on his ET in the fifth qualifying session of Super Street although he remains in second place. The top five remains as follows:
15:50
Martin Hill followed up Super Comp with a 6.213/196.77 checkout pass in the left hand lane in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC.
We then went into the third session of Comp Eliminator, George Chiarella moving up to second place. We understand that Joacim Ljungberg has been mved to Super Pro ET on a technical ruling. So Comp Eliminator stands as follows after three sessions:
Sportsman ET remains as-was after session five:
The fifth cycle of Junior Dragster qualifying followed on and we didn't have any changes to the top five:
We're now going into a sixth full cycle of qualifying, stay tuned.
15:30
Phil Pratt turned up from work and went straight to the top of 10.90 Bike in the fifth session of qualifying. Dave Warren got into the 10.9s in this session so we now have four of five in the 10.9s:
After the fifth session of 9.90 Bike, the top five remained as-was:
The top five in Super Pro ET remains as-was after the fifth qualifying session:
John Tebenham ran a 7.995 in his Probe in this session, the first seven which John has run in the car.
Next up was Super Comp whose top five also was looking like remaining unchanged after session five until the last pairing, when Malcolm Francis moved into second. The top five after session five is as follows:
15:05
Simon Groves stepped out into the pits again and this is what he has found out:
Andy Williams is new to Super Comp, having debuted his newly-imported Chassisworks Dragster this year. The car originates from Arizona and has been an NHRA National Event winner in the hands of its previous owner, Mark Dawson. Andy said "the car came complete with all the data from the three years it had been raced in the U.S. It's powered by a 377cu in small block Chevy. Andy mentioned his old car, the yellow 32 Bantam Roadster is for sale turnkey.
John Sleath's new Audi Coupe is "getting quicker every time without us doing anything to it!". The car retains its distinctive blower whine from the Procharger unit which runs at 20psi boost. The power train is the same as John's previous Audi and Saab cars, being a 508 cu in Chevy with home-made manifold. Although John's running in Super Pro ET this weekend, he is planning a return to Custom Car Street Eliminator.
Mick Payne shut his Dodge Coronet down on the start line as a precaution when some smoke appeared in the car after the burnout. "We've just installed a new converter after breaking the previous one running our personal best at the Mopar Nationals", said Mick. The car, which previously "only" ran a 440 tunnel ram, now has a 484 Keith Black with "the same set-up as a Top Methanol Dragster", including a Littlefield High-Helix blower overdriven by 52%!
Torben Stenström is making his debut here this weekend in Comp Eliminator in his 105E 1960 Anglia. Torben said "I had a 4 cylinder engine in 1999 and ran a best of 14.2. In 2001 I was runner-up and in 2002 I won the Swedish championship for 4 cylinder cars. In 2003 I built a new chassis and installed a stock 350 Chevy. This year I have a 377 cu in Chevy engine built by Micke Calien, which has run an 8.31 at 165mph. This morning a bolt holding the carburettor broke, but we can fix it." When I asked him of his opinion of Santa Pod Torben said "I love it!".
15:00
It's as-you-were in the Pro ET top five after the fifth session of qualifying:
Similarly the top five in Super Gas hasn't changed after session five:
Mike Bentley moved into second place in Super Street after the fifth qualifying session, bumping Leigh Morris down one place but Leigh probably won't mind this once as he pulled a perfect Reaction Time of 0.000 and is therefore £50 richer courtesy of Eurodragster.com and Speedflow! Ian Brown has moved back into the top five with an improved run. The top five is now:
14:20
Big changes in Junior Dragster qualifying after session four: Andy Herron in the SPRC Junior Dragster moved into the top five whilst Tom Watts and Scott Hauser moved up to second and third respectively.
We're now into cycle five of qualifying, stay tuned.
14:10
Chris Johnson moved up to second place after the fourth session of Super Comp, whilst Zane Llewellyn improved but not enough to avoid being bumped a spot:
We've had a move-about in Sportsman ET after session four of qualifying, Martin Lewis and Keith Crampton moving into third and fourth:
We're so far ahead that we're on a break - stay tuned.
14:00
It's as-you-were in Super Pro ET after the fourth qualifier:
Ken Blomer did it again with his VW Karmann Ghia, 8.986/150.56 on an 8.90 dial-in.
Dave Warren and Shaun Spiers have swapped places after the fourth session of 10.90 Bike:
After the fourth session of 9.90 Bike, Fast Harry has moved into the top five edging Paul Wing out:
Next up are Super Comp, Sportsman ET and Comp Eliminator.
13:30
Torben Stenström still leads Comp Eliminator after session three but we have now seen Joacim Ljungberg and George Chiarella make qualifying passes:
Holly Mitchell takes over the lead in Junior Dragster after session three, and Aidan Heatley-Smith goes into number two spot. The top five qualifiers are now:
Next up was session four of Pro ET, and Marius Blackburn has come in at number two. The top five qualifiers are:
It's getting very close at the top of Super Gas with 0.010 covering the top five after session four:
Leigh Morris moved up to second in the fourth session of Super Street, the top five is now as follows:
Next up is Super Pro ET, stay tuned.
12:50
We now have no less than three racers +0.001 on their dial-ins in Super Pro ET, Mark Flavell moves into third and Ian Tubb and Martyn Jones rejoin the top five after session three:
Congratulations to (usually) VW Pro racer Ken Blomer who ran a new Personal Best of 8.928/149.95 in this qualifying session.
Championship leader John Hackney has taken over the 10.90 Bike lead after session three:
Richard Hann has come back into the top five of 9.90 Bike after the third session:
Graham Dance who has his own agenda this weekend did it again with a very naughty 8.068/178.54.
Zane Llewellyn moves into the top five in Super Comp after session three:
Malcolm Francis and the Air Sea Logistics team have obviously been burning the midnight oil since Malcolm turned out for this session after breaking a prop shaft at yesterday's Press Day.
Session three of Sportsman ET has seen yet another improvement from leader Mark Anderson and Nick South, and a new name in the top five:
12:15
Our pitside reporter Simon Groves has been to speak to some of our Sportsman racers, here's what he found out.
The Pro Stock Snowmobile bikes put on a great demo run which resulted in Thomas Pettersson running a personal best of 9.66. The bikes run a 3 cylinder 2 stroke carburetted engine, Thomas's being 1050cc and putting out 240bhp to the caterpillar belt through a CVT belt transmission. Angelica Westerholm said "the track is very good but we lost traction not being able to burn out". Snowmobile drag racing is popular in Sweden with around 250 competitors, most racing on snow and grass, including up to 40 pro stock machines and fuel machines too.
Terri Lee pushed her Escort Van back to the pits after the line-lock got stuck on and the car couldn't be moved. Terri said "there's a new transbrake too and that didn't work properly either!" After working out the problem, Terri came back to record a 10.71 on her 10.41 index.
Tim Adam's new Ford Falcon is beautifully turned out. "The car has an Andy-Robinson bilt chassis and new running gear with a 400ci small-block Chevy. I plan to race it in both classes - but I will be keeping the previous Blitzkrieg Brogie Roadster for racing in Europe". The Falcon body has been in drag racing since the 1980s and used to run at York then - Tim has completely rebuilt it.
Gladiator Nightshade is here presenting for a new ITV Meridian programme "Hell for Leather" that will be airing late evenings from November. The programme covers various forms of motorsport including Drag Racing. Nightshade has raced in RWYB on her Blackbird and her husband rides a bored-out XJR1300. She said "my first run in a car was as a passenger and the car pulled a wheelie!"; her second in the Paul Marston racing Vega pick-up felt smooth and netted a 13.8. "Paul is an excellent teacher".
12:10
One change to the top five in Pro ET after session three, with Darren Hulkes coming in at number five:
Jon Morton moves into the top five in Super Gas after session three:
No change in the top five of Super Street after the third session:
11:55
We've had some changes in the top five of 9.90 Bike after the second session with Paul Hambidge taking over the lead and Paul Wing coming in at number four:
Graham Dance has taken over the mantle of naughtiest racer on the facility with an 8.095/179.27 on his Super Street Bike.
Paul Letchford has taken over the lead after session two of Super Comp and we now have most of the top five in the 8.9s:
Mark Anderson has consolidated his Sportsman ET lead after the second session and Keith Crampton has come into the top five:
Only one change to the top five in Junior Dragster with Jay Hauser coming in after session two, and Charlotte Watts improving her RT:
Only Torben Stenström turned out for this session of Comp Eliminator qualifying so he is #1, +0.057 on his 8.40 index at 8.457/158.01.
Trackside conditions are 20.8 C, 54% humidity and 30.30 inches of air pressure. We're now into the third cycle, stay tuned.
11:20
A new entrant in the top five and a couple of improvements in Super Street after the second session:
John Tebenham got oh-so-close with a 0.001 over dial-in in the second session of Super Pro ET, taking second place behind John Everitt who had already gone +0.001 in the first session. The top five is now:
Custom Car Street Eliminator racer John Sleath ran what we think is a new PB of 8.475 in this session, on an 0.88 dial-in.
No change in order in 10.90 Bike after session two but Dave Burfitt is now in the 10.9s:
10:55
Wayne Hiscock's earlier run is now only good for third spot after session two of Pro ET qualifying as Rick McCann and Carl Burton have overhauled him, in fact Wayne is the only survivor of the first top five:
Mark Bracking was the second racer this morning to come within a squeak of taking money from Eurodragster, this time the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award, with a 0.001 Reaction Time in this session of qualifying.
It's starting to close up a little in Super Gas after session two with the top three separated by 0.001 seconds:
10:30
It didn't take Jon Morton long to decide to go Super Comp and he got into the top five in his first competitive outing in the class. The top five after session 1 are:
It's close at the top of Sportsman ET after the first session with 0.002 separating the first two:
The first cycle rounded off with Junior Dragster whose top five is as follows:
The snowmobiles put in their first demo appearance of the weekend before we went into cycle two of qualifying, Thomas Pettersson clocking 9.668/130.83 and Angelica Westerholm 10.314/127.89.
10:05
We almost paid out on the Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award in the first round of Super Pro ET qualifying. The top five qualifiers are:
Super Pro ET racer Paul Harvey will not be running this weekend after the PSP Solutions/Porting Dynamics team found that the dragster's rear axle is damaged. Although disappointed, Paul told us that he is relieved to have found the damage in the pits rather than half way down the track.
Only four 10.90 Bikes made it for the first session of qualifying:
We've got Burfitts at the top of both 10.90 Bike and 9.90 Bike after session 1:
Dave Smith leads the naughtiness stakes in 9.90 Bike with an 8.406/170.37 on his Super Street Bike.
Next up is Super Comp.
9:45
The top five qualifiers in Super Gas are already deep into the 9.9s after session 1:
Super Street has some very familiar names in the top five after the first session:
9:30
The top five qualifiers in Pro ET are already only separated by 0.050 seconds after session 1:
8:30
Good morning and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway. Well, here we are, the FIA European Finals and to be honest it seems as if the European season only started about a month ago. It's the first day of qualifying and we are here to bring you all the news in association with American Car Imports.
The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and broadcasting a picture every two moments.
We will soon be joined by our good buddies Simon Groves, Christer Abrahamson, Erik Zettervall and Hannele Höydén who will be helping us out with pit notes as their schedules permit.
The first big news this morning is that the start line was repaved again last night. If you have been tuned in over the last few days you will know that a narrow strip of track was resurfaced to do away with the grooves left by front wheel drive cars at Run What You Brungs. The new surface was not drying to the satisfaction of Track Manager Kjell Pettersson and so the decision was made at the end of yesterday's Press Day to dig it up and surface that part of the track with quick dry concrete. This was duly done last night, finishing at about 9:00, and the new start line looks just fine this morning. A big thumbs up to the track management for their very brave decision and to the track crew for their very hard work.
Qualifying will be starting at 9:00 with Pro ET; we have no less than five qualifying cycles scheduled today. Stay tuned and we will start to bring you the movers and shakers in qualifying as soon as we get going.