FIA/UEM European Finals 2005

By Phil Cottingham

The European finals held on the 8th 9th 10th and 11th of September at Santa Pod Raceway in England came at the end of a very frustrating season for European drag racing. After 2 very good races at Santa Pod and Alastaro in Finland the next round at Gardermoen in Norway had the last 2 days rained out and then the Swedish round at Mantorp only got as far as the first round of eliminations due to rain delaying the start. The UEM bike classes suffered even more with finals day of their race at Hockenheim in Germany also being rained off, so everyone was hoping for a dry race at Santa Pod where 300 race teams from 11 countries had gathered for this event, one of the most prestigious races in Europe.

The event started on Thursday and this was just for sportsman qualifying and the 200 plus cars and bikes got 5 sessions completed under sunny and warm conditions. Friday had more sportsman qualifying but 2 Pro sessions and again the warm sunny conditions prevailed and at the end of the day there had been some fantastic qualifying and this is how things stood in the premier class

Top Fuel

Tommy Moller in the ex Doug Herbert giveaway car.

1 Micke Kagered Sweden 4.934 @ 279

2 Andy Carter England 4.977 @ 294

3 Susanne Callin Sweden 4.980 @ 300

4 Lex Joon Netherlands 4.991 @ 274

5 Gary Page England 5.058 @ 253

6 Jon Webster England 5.159 @ 267

7 Tommy Moller Sweden 5.316 @ 248

8 Joran Persaker Sweden 5.930 @ 162

9 Smax Smith Canada 6.964 @ 120

10 Thomas Natass Norway 8.926 @ 86

The big surprise was the failure so far of Thomas Natass to qualify as he was one of four drivers able to take the Championship this year, Joon, Carter and Moller being the others but with 2 more sessions scheduled for Saturday he had a chance to get into the field or did he as the weather forecast did not bode well for much racing taking place. Saturday to put it mildly was dreadful after a few runs early on no more racing could be run during the whole day as rain on and off thwarted the hard working track crews attempts to dry the track. Then late afternoon very heavy rain tuned many areas of the pits and campsites into lakes, and a very disappointing day for all concerned and a bit of a disaster for Thomas Natass. Had the two sessions been run then I’m sure the bump spot could have been in the fours.

Sunday and the track crew had been working since around 5 am to get the track ready for racing but again drizzle prevented any racing in the morning but much to the relief of the racers, officials and thousands of fans the track was dried and about 2.30 pm we were up and running but with a 9 pm curfew could they manage to get the Pro eliminations finished. Unfortunately there would not be time to get the Sportsman racing finished but they would try to get a far as they could before the curfew.

At 3.05 pm round one of Top Fuel commenced with championship points leader Lex Joon running a superb 4.933 @ 304 in the MPM Oils car taking the win over Gary Page who suffered tyre shake and shut off to 6.754 @ 86. Lex’s Time and speed would stand as top time and speed of the event. The next pair and reigning Champion Andy Carters chances of a third FIA Top Fuel title vanished when the B and Q sponsored car red lit to a 10.460 @ 84 allowing Tommy Moller in the Pennzoil car to advance shutting off to a 10.057 @ 92.

Susanne Callin went through with an early shut off with problems 5.025 @ 247 to Jon Webster’s 5.171 @ 276 in the Webster Race Engineering car, he pedaled twice and was closing on Callin but could only just not catch her. The final pair had Micke Kagered solo into the semi finals with a 9.828 @ 99 from the Bahco tools car when Joran Persaker could not get reverse after his burnout.

The first semi final was at 6.10 pm in fading light and less than ideal conditions .ALL Lex Joon had to do was win to take the title but he was shut down just before staging with a leak, opponent Micke Kagered shut off after around 100 foot and took the win with a 7.971 @ 113. The other Semi saw Sussanne Callin swap lanes after seeing Lex’s leak in her original lane, She went up in smoke off the line and idled through with at 15.212 @ 70 meanwhile Tommy Moller was determined to get the finish line first and after running a .826 60 foot time which is the quickest ever 60 foot time in Europe he lit the tires up 3 or 4 times peddled each time and then hit the throttle again not pretty but he did not know that Callin had problems. His time was 6.161 @ 180.

Lex Joon MPM Oil 2005 FIA World Champion.

The Finals was run under the track lights at around 8.50 pm and ALL Tommy Moller had to do was win the race and set low ET of the race to win the Championship, winning the race was possible but setting low ET in the cold damp conditions would be a tall order and failure to do both would give Joon the title but this did not stop a nervous Lex Joon and crew watching from the side lines wondering what would happen after their disastrous leak in the semi final. Tommy Moller left first and ran a .844 sixty foot time he then pedaled 3 times before shutting down to a winning 7.009 @ 131 opponent Micke Kagered had shut down around 300 foot out to a 10.453 @ 67 So a very relived Lex Joon is these years FIA Top Fuel champion and for crew chief Eddie Corr his third championship having won two previously with Andy Carter.

Urs Erbacher killer TM/FC Firebird.

Top Alcohol Funny Car

10 cars entered and Urs Erbacher was the number one qualifier with a 5.710, picking up the action in the semi finals and we had Semi final wins for Arvid Grodam who made his first ever final with a 5.955 @ 239 over Kjell Sjoblom who lost with a 6.303 @ 214. The other semi final saw Ulf Leanders progress with a 5.902 @ 240 over Niclas Andersson’s 6.034 @ 236. The Final was won on the start line as Arvid Grodam red lit to a 5.955 @ 239 handing the win to Ulf Leanders who shut off around 1000 foot to 7.018 @ 136. Despite red lighting to Leanders in round one Switzerland’s Urs Erbacher is the 2005 FIA Top Alcohol Funny Car champion.

Dave Wilson in the fastest T/AD outside of the states.

Top Alcohol Dragster

Top Alcohol dragster saw 6 entries and Dave Wilson was top of the list with a 5.491 @ 257. Dave Wilson had a bye in the first semi final and he was trying for lane choice in the final but a shower of sparks from the clutch put paid to that plan and he ran a 7.749 @ 94 and with little time to get back for the final could they repair in time? The second semi was a great race Rob Turner just took the win with a 5.534 @ 252 over Krister Johansson who ran a 5.558 @ 262 in the Injected Nitro car, his speed set a new European speed record. The final was a non race as Dave Wilson could not repair in time and Rob Turner just staged for the win as the curfew time approached. England’s Dave Wilson is the 2005 FIA Top Alcohol dragster Champion.

Jimmy Alund in his FIA World Champion Firebird.

Pro Stock

The factory hot rods had 6 entries and Jimmy Alund headed qualifying with a 6.951 @ 198. The first semi final and Jimmy Alund had a bye into the final 7.322 @ 175. The other semi and Ulf Jonsson red lit his chances away he ran a 7.7205 @ 192, Magnus Hansson shutting of early to take the win with an 8.387 @ 119. The final was taken by Magnus Hansson with a 7.012 @ 197 in the other lane Sweden’s Jimmy Alund got well out of shape crossing the centre line and lost with a 7.917 @ 128 despite this loss he was still won the 2005 FIA Pro Stock championship.

Patrick Wikstrom lighting the night in his Pro Mod.

Pro Modified

Although not an FIA class [it will be in 2006] Pro Modified is one of the crowd favorites and 21 cars battled to be in the 16-car field. Andy Robinson was the number one qualifier with a 6.295 @ 222 from the Blown Studebaker and the Bump spot was 6.743 and like Top Fuel could have been a lot lower had the 2 sessions been run on Saturday. Andy Robinson’s march to the final began with a 6.351 @ 202 first round win over Rolf Amman who rolled through stage. In the next round he ran a 12.032 @ 67 when opponent Mats Ericksson in a blown Ford Crown Victoria red lit. In the semi finals he ran 6.351 @ 226 to take the win over Haken Nilsson who slowed to an 18 second pass after a huge nitrous backfire from his Camaro.

The other finalist Patrick Wikstrom in a blown Camaro won his opening race with a 6.576 @ 214 over Bruno Bader's very close 6.602 @ 213. His next opponent was Marc Miehuizan who ran a personal best of 6.473 @ 215 in his blown 37 Chevy coupe but was not quick enough to catch Wikstrom's 6.304 @ 221. Wikstrom won not only the semi but also took the NDRS Pro Modified Championship with a 6.433 @ 219 win over the Nitrous Mustang of Roger Johansson who ran 6.739 @ 199. The two Blown cars faced of for the event win and Robinson left first with a .027 reaction time and a 1.037 sixty foot, Wikstrom tried to catch him with a .999 sixty foot but suffered tyre shake and shut off to a 8.087 @ 115 but Andy Robinson had long gone taking the win with a 6.283 @ 226.

Freddie Fagerstrom's wild Swesish based Pro Mod truck.

Top Fuel Bike

Top Fuel bike also has bikes from Competition bike, Funny bike and Super street bike enter and the final did not have a Top fuel bike in it. Gary Jones took the win with a 7.646 @ 170 over Jamie Sneddon’s 8.433 @ 164 on his Super street bike. Ian King who qualified second with a 6.394 lost in the first round but won the 2005 UEM Championship.

Super Twins

The thundering Nitro twins were as usual awesome and the final was taken by Hans Olav Olstad with a 6.955 @ 207 over Ronny Aason who lost with a 7.601 @ 133. Despite this Aason took the 2005 UEM Super Twins Championship.

Ian King carrying the the fornt tire on his P/S bike.

Pro Stock Bike

Anders Abrahamsson won the event with a 7.394 @ 176 over Roger Pettersson who shut off early to a 12.034 @ 66. The 2005 UEM Pro Stock Bike Champion is Roger Pettersson . The Final day also had the two Nitro Funny cars of Gordon Smith and John Spuffard match race once with both cars shutting off early, Spuffard just tagging the wall. Spuffard came out Sunday night as the last run of the day and again after a great launch drifted towards the wall just touching it again and ran 6.901 @ 135.

The Jet car put on a spectacular show in the dark and a few Sportsman classes got to run their first rounds. Although the weather caused major down time and delayed the finals till late Sunday overall it was a good event and the track crew deserve a lot of credit for sticking with it and being determined to get the race run when it would have been easier to call it off and the racing again proved that to see the best Drag Racing outside of the USA you have to come to Europe. Roll on 2006 with more racers, more countries and tracks in the Championship and hopefully no more rain.

Phil Cottingham www.dragsterworld.com

Photos Courtesy of Sharkman www.eurodragster.com and www.topnitro.co.uk