FIA EUROPEAN EVENT RAINED OUT
Tue, 2007-05-29 06:48
The opening round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship in Top
Fuel Dragster was dealt a raw deal as the weather turned from fair to
foul after only one complete day of qualifying, giving many of the
attending teams little or no time to take stock. It was the first time
the event had been rained out since 1985. Nine entries from seven
different European countries gathered for the first time in 2007, some
had managed to run a few test laps earlier in the month but others it
was their first time on track.
Leading the pack was the man from Holland Lex Joon in his MPM Oil machine running what is one of the most state-of-the-art electronic management systems allowed under the FIA rules, a 4.842 seconds pass at just 277.62mph, a little below his stout Easter time of 4.750.
“I suffered a lot of tire shake on my first pass this morning, it felt like my head was coming off my neck but I managed to drive through it on the second pass and clicked off at 1000 feet which hurt both the time and speed,” said Joon, “But I am number one qualifier and that is good for championship points and is good on race day” he concluded.
The opening round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship in Top Fuel Dragster was dealt a raw deal as the weather turned from fair to foul after only one complete day of qualifying, giving many of the attending teams little or no time to take stock. It was the first time the event had been rained out since 1985. Nine entries from seven different European countries gathered for the first time in 2007, some had managed to run a few test laps earlier in the month but others it was their first time on track.
Leading the pack was the man from Holland Lex Joon in his MPM Oil machine running what is one of the most state-of-the-art electronic management systems allowed under the FIA rules, a 4.842 seconds pass at just 277.62mph, a little below his stout Easter time of 4.750.
“I suffered a lot of tire shake on my first pass this morning, it felt like my head was coming off my neck but I managed to drive through it on the second pass and clicked off at 1000 feet which hurt
both the time and speed,” said Joon, “But I am number one qualifier and that is good for championship points and is good on race day” he concluded.
Norway’s Thomas Nataas clocked the only other four of the day a 4.888 at a great 310.04mph for second place on a clean looking lap and ahead of Britain’s Andy Carter in the Lucas Oil car who came off the throttle at 150 feet out then back on again (pedalling) to score a 5.069 at a whopping 314.34mph. Urs Erbacher in the Midland Oil car from Switzerland was dropping cylinders on his 5.571/172 as Joon in the other lane took his pole position. There were two fiery passes in the second stanza as firstly Denmark’s Stig Neergaard suffered an explosion that showed a lot of clutch sparks on his 7.250/108 that got him in at number seven then Sweden’s Jöran Persåker left on a good pass that unfortunately detonated the motor in a huge fireball but getting him a number five place. Sweden’s Micke Kågered ran a half pass 6.623/126 fro sixth spot.
In the Top Methanol Dragster class only six of the eight made early passes enabling them to card a qualifier and it was initially led by German, Peter Schöfer with a 5.659/251 but in the next round old adversary and current Champion Dave Wilson pushed the Silverline Tools car to an impressive 5.439/257 to oust Schöfer.
Sweden’s popular Pro Mod Chevy pick up truck driver Freddy Fagerström made the move to the Top Methanol Funny Car ranks this year running the multi championship winning car of Urs Erbacher and he headed the eight strong cast in both qualifiers with a best of 5.954/238. “There was tyre shake that took off the cable to the shift light. The car made a move to the left but I kept with it and it still made a good time” he said as the rain started to disrupt the event.
Pro Stock was led in both sessions by Sweden’s Michael Malmgren in his new Jerry Bickel built ’07 GTO a 6.835/201 was bettered with a new European ET record of 6.803 coupled with a 202.59mph.
Another European record was set by Finland’s Eero Knihtilä in round one, this time the speed, a 6.856 at 202.61mph that sat him in number two spot in the ten car field. “We were happy with the first run although it was a little rough and I have a new Bob Ingles motor that has not been fully dialled in. We will take it step by step” Malmgren said before setting the new European ET record.
The numerous and hugely popular Pro Modified cars were fighting a triple header championship game as they were all able to fight in the first round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship bout, the second round of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship and thirdly in the Nordic Drag racing Series.
It was a European first as England’s Danny Cockerill from Basildon, Essex laid down the law in his 526 cubic inch motored ’57 Chevy Bel Air with a stunning 6.176 top qualifier, beating his personal best by over two tenths of a second but at an
unheard of till now, 230.73mph, the first Pro Mod outside of the North America over 230mph. “It was great to record those numbers” said a jubilant Cockerill, “okay, it got topped by a bit later but we were the first in Europe over 230mph and we’re number one in qualifying”.
The 2006 Champion Urban Johansson from Sweden pushed his Corvette to a great 6.191/220 for the number two place as England’s Andy Robinson who ended up number four in last years Championship decider ran a 6.206/226 for the third place. The following pair of cars after Danny Cockerill’s mighty speed posting was Holland’s Robert Joosten, the winner of the Easter Thunderball MSA round and he gave notice with a better speed of 232.93mph with a time of 6.214 from his yellow Corvette that gave him the fourth place in the qualifying list. Rounding out the top five in the one day qualifying attempt was Sweden’s Micke Gullqvist in his red Chevy Bel Air with a 6.245/223. The remaining times down to the number sixteen sitting on the bubble was the 7.012/200 from Switzerland’s Rolf Ammann in his often wildly out of shape Chevy Coupe.
Super Twin Bike saw Gunther Sohn from Germany take the lead in round one of the UEM Championship with a 6.842/208 but after round two it was the Swiss owned bike of Lorenz Stäuble that zoomed to a 6.665 at just 202mph to take the lead.
England’s multi ACU Champion, Steve Woollatt was in a league of his own for the two qualifying sessions in Top Fuel Bike carding a fine 6.487 at just 187mph in round one that put him over two tenths ahead of nearest rival and current UEM Champion Rikard Gustafsson.
Pro Stock Bike had last years number two Anders Jakobsson in pole position with a great 7.243/181 on his Suzuki GSXR, the ET being credited with a new European record. Denmark’s Tom Tinndahn on a Buell was second with a close 7.269/177 in the fifteen bike category helped this weekend by US Pro Stock Bike rider Chip Ellis. Last years Champion, Anders Abrahamsson sat in fourth place.
Leading the pack was the man from Holland Lex Joon in his MPM Oil machine running what is one of the most state-of-the-art electronic management systems allowed under the FIA rules, a 4.842 seconds pass at just 277.62mph, a little below his stout Easter time of 4.750.
“I suffered a lot of tire shake on my first pass this morning, it felt like my head was coming off my neck but I managed to drive through it on the second pass and clicked off at 1000 feet which hurt both the time and speed,” said Joon, “But I am number one qualifier and that is good for championship points and is good on race day” he concluded.
The opening round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship in Top Fuel Dragster was dealt a raw deal as the weather turned from fair to foul after only one complete day of qualifying, giving many of the attending teams little or no time to take stock. It was the first time the event had been rained out since 1985. Nine entries from seven different European countries gathered for the first time in 2007, some had managed to run a few test laps earlier in the month but others it was their first time on track. Leading the pack was the man from Holland Lex Joon in his MPM Oil machine running what is one of the most state-of-the-art electronic management systems allowed under the FIA rules, a 4.842 seconds pass at just 277.62mph, a little below his stout Easter time of 4.750.
“I suffered a lot of tire shake on my first pass this morning, it felt like my head was coming off my neck but I managed to drive through it on the second pass and clicked off at 1000 feet which hurt
both the time and speed,” said Joon, “But I am number one qualifier and that is good for championship points and is good on race day” he concluded.Norway’s Thomas Nataas clocked the only other four of the day a 4.888 at a great 310.04mph for second place on a clean looking lap and ahead of Britain’s Andy Carter in the Lucas Oil car who came off the throttle at 150 feet out then back on again (pedalling) to score a 5.069 at a whopping 314.34mph. Urs Erbacher in the Midland Oil car from Switzerland was dropping cylinders on his 5.571/172 as Joon in the other lane took his pole position. There were two fiery passes in the second stanza as firstly Denmark’s Stig Neergaard suffered an explosion that showed a lot of clutch sparks on his 7.250/108 that got him in at number seven then Sweden’s Jöran Persåker left on a good pass that unfortunately detonated the motor in a huge fireball but getting him a number five place. Sweden’s Micke Kågered ran a half pass 6.623/126 fro sixth spot.
In the Top Methanol Dragster class only six of the eight made early passes enabling them to card a qualifier and it was initially led by German, Peter Schöfer with a 5.659/251 but in the next round old adversary and current Champion Dave Wilson pushed the Silverline Tools car to an impressive 5.439/257 to oust Schöfer. Sweden’s popular Pro Mod Chevy pick up truck driver Freddy Fagerström made the move to the Top Methanol Funny Car ranks this year running the multi championship winning car of Urs Erbacher and he headed the eight strong cast in both qualifiers with a best of 5.954/238. “There was tyre shake that took off the cable to the shift light. The car made a move to the left but I kept with it and it still made a good time” he said as the rain started to disrupt the event.
Pro Stock was led in both sessions by Sweden’s Michael Malmgren in his new Jerry Bickel built ’07 GTO a 6.835/201 was bettered with a new European ET record of 6.803 coupled with a 202.59mph.
Another European record was set by Finland’s Eero Knihtilä in round one, this time the speed, a 6.856 at 202.61mph that sat him in number two spot in the ten car field. “We were happy with the first run although it was a little rough and I have a new Bob Ingles motor that has not been fully dialled in. We will take it step by step” Malmgren said before setting the new European ET record.The numerous and hugely popular Pro Modified cars were fighting a triple header championship game as they were all able to fight in the first round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship bout, the second round of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship and thirdly in the Nordic Drag racing Series.
It was a European first as England’s Danny Cockerill from Basildon, Essex laid down the law in his 526 cubic inch motored ’57 Chevy Bel Air with a stunning 6.176 top qualifier, beating his personal best by over two tenths of a second but at an
unheard of till now, 230.73mph, the first Pro Mod outside of the North America over 230mph. “It was great to record those numbers” said a jubilant Cockerill, “okay, it got topped by a bit later but we were the first in Europe over 230mph and we’re number one in qualifying”.The 2006 Champion Urban Johansson from Sweden pushed his Corvette to a great 6.191/220 for the number two place as England’s Andy Robinson who ended up number four in last years Championship decider ran a 6.206/226 for the third place. The following pair of cars after Danny Cockerill’s mighty speed posting was Holland’s Robert Joosten, the winner of the Easter Thunderball MSA round and he gave notice with a better speed of 232.93mph with a time of 6.214 from his yellow Corvette that gave him the fourth place in the qualifying list. Rounding out the top five in the one day qualifying attempt was Sweden’s Micke Gullqvist in his red Chevy Bel Air with a 6.245/223. The remaining times down to the number sixteen sitting on the bubble was the 7.012/200 from Switzerland’s Rolf Ammann in his often wildly out of shape Chevy Coupe.
Super Twin Bike saw Gunther Sohn from Germany take the lead in round one of the UEM Championship with a 6.842/208 but after round two it was the Swiss owned bike of Lorenz Stäuble that zoomed to a 6.665 at just 202mph to take the lead.England’s multi ACU Champion, Steve Woollatt was in a league of his own for the two qualifying sessions in Top Fuel Bike carding a fine 6.487 at just 187mph in round one that put him over two tenths ahead of nearest rival and current UEM Champion Rikard Gustafsson.
Pro Stock Bike had last years number two Anders Jakobsson in pole position with a great 7.243/181 on his Suzuki GSXR, the ET being credited with a new European record. Denmark’s Tom Tinndahn on a Buell was second with a close 7.269/177 in the fifteen bike category helped this weekend by US Pro Stock Bike rider Chip Ellis. Last years Champion, Anders Abrahamsson sat in fourth place.
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