FIA / UEM Main Event 2006, Santa Pod Raceway

Words by Phil Cottingham ~ Photos by Gary Cottingham and Richard Stirling

The Main Event was the first round of the 2006 FIA/UEM European Drag Racing Championships, held over 4 days on May holiday weekend 26^th to 29^th. The weather leading up to the event had been unseasonably wet, and rain affected the event on all but Sunday. Despite this, racing was held on all 4 days with qualifying up to the 9pm curfew on the first 3 days and despite a shower on Monday afternoon, the event was completed.

Top Fuel

As usual, Top Fuel was the headline class with 10 cars from across Europe with no fewer than seven countries represented. Three of the teams, Ers Erbacher, Hakan Fallstrom, and Hakan Nilsson, were new to Top Fuel this year but between them, they have some of the newest cars in Europe. The pre-season rumours were that twelve cars would be entered and with at least twenty European Top Fuel cars in various states of readiness, there was the potential for even more entries. Who knows, we may see a record entry at the European Finals in September. The constantly changing weather conditions made tuning the cars difficult, but there were some outstanding performances.

Hakan Nilsson - Photo By Richard Stirling, TopNitro.co.uk

Due to early rain, only one session was run late Saturday at 7.35 pm with all 10 cars attempting to get into the eight car field. This first session saw outstanding runs from some cars and problems for others. Micke Kagered suffered an engine explosion on his run and Thomas Nataas had huge tire shake forcing him to shut off. Hakan Nilsson, who only gained his license on Friday, took number one place in his ex Don Lampus car, an outstanding achievement. Lex Joon looked to be on an awesome run, but shut down with problems at 1000 foot. The run would have been in the low 4.7’s at least had he been on a full pass. Urs Erbacher looked like he lost a head gasket after a flash of flame forced him to abort his run. Andy Carter ran a very good 60-foot of .881 but suffered tire shake. He peddled but the car got a little out of shape and very close to the wall at one point. Tommy Moller shut off with tire shake at 300 feet. Rene Hersland lost cylinders and then the burst plate blew. He also damaged the blower. Finally, Hakan Fallstrom almost crossed the centre line on his run.

Sunday was a much better day with no rain. The first session of the day was run at midday. Micke Kagered had a huge fireball off the line but despite the severity of the fire, damage was not as bad as first feared. Hakan Fallstrom, Thomas Nataas and Andy Carter all put in runs closer to their true potential. Tommy Moller took the number one spot with a great run, his 303-mph being the only 300 of the session. Joon was on another good run, but had problems at 1000 feet. Urs Erbacher and Hakan Nilsson shut off early with tire shake, Rene Hersland could not get forward gear after backing up, and Smax Smith did not make the session.

After two qualifying sessions this is how they stood:

With one session left, it was very tight at the top. The two-non qualifiers were the two most people expected to be there but could it change in the last session?

The final qualifying session was at 4.50pm on Sunday

Smax Smith ran a superb 5.422 @ 236mph to bump Urs Erbacher out of the field, but Erbacher was up next, so could get back in? Unfortunately for him, Urs suffered tire shake and was out of Monday’s eliminations, Rene Hersland finally ran in the 5’s but it was not enough to make the field. Hakan Fallstrom had to peddle the car on his run and shut off early. Hakan Nilsson went up in smoke around half-track. Lex Joon also had problems and shut off early. Only these six made the final session.

These were the final qualifying positions:

Lex Joon - Photo By Gary Cottingham, DragsterWorld.com

On Monday, eliminations started at mid morning. The first round was certainly full of surprises as the top four qualifiers all went out!

First up was Smax Smith in the Bulldog Bash sponsored car against number one qualifier Tommy Moller. Upon firing, Moller broke a fuel pump on the Pennzoil car allowing first alternate Urs Erbacher to quickly fire up, perform a very short burnout, and move into stage alongside Smith. However ,there was no fairytale ending for Urs, who ran a losing 5.746 @ 170mph after a flash of flame at the eighth mile. Smax took the win with a 5.366 @ 217mph. The second pair had the two Rune Fjeld owned cars facing each other. Andy Carter took the win in the B&Q Power Tools car with his best pass of the weekend, 4.894 @ 297. Thomas Nataas went up in smoke and idled through to a 9.744 @ 80mph. The Bahco Tools car of Micke Kagered advanced in the next pair with a 5.444 @ 185mph but suffered a lot of damage and some slight burns to himself when the car erupted in a ball of flame around 1000 feet. In the other lane, Hakan Nilsson in the Viedec / Lambco car went up in smoke and idled through. The final pair had the second Pennzoil car of Hakan Fallstrom in his first ever Top Fuel race verses the reigning FIA champion Lex Joon in the MPM oils car. Again the form book went out the window as Fallstrom won with a 5.019 @ 283mph as Lex had problems and lost with a 5.821 @ 166mph.

Micke Kagered - Photo By Gary Cottingham, DragsterWorld.com

The semi finals had a first pair of Smax Smith verses Andy Carter. On paper, Carter was the favourite but they could not fire up the car due to a faulty starter. Smax idled through, saving parts. After the huge fire in the first round, Micke Kagered’s team had a big job to be ready for the semi finals. Unfortunately, they did not make it, so Hakan Fallstrom also idled through to the final.

The final was a great race with both cars side by side all the way. Hakan Fallstrom took the win with a 5.023 @ 282mph to Smax Smith’s 5.087 @ 288mph. Despite losing, Smax and the team were pleased to have reached the final and to have run a 5.0, as both were beyond their expectations coming into the event.

Pro Stock

The main talking point in Pro Stock was the first qualifying run of Michael Malmgren in his Pontiac Grand Am. The car left the line hard and turned hard right around 200 feet, going up on two wheels and riding along the wall before veering across the track and hitting the opposite wall. Michael was okay but shaken. Unfortunately, the car was severely damaged but the team hopes to be back for round two in Finland.

Michael Malmgren - Photo By Gary Cottingham, DragsterWorld.com

Michael Malmgren - Photo By Gary Cottingham, DragsterWorld.com

Michael Malmgren - Photo By Gary Cottingham, DragsterWorld.com

Magnus Hansson took the top spot in qualifying with a 7.004 @ 197mph to head the six car field.

In the first semi final, Tommy Leindahl just lost out to Jimmy Alund 7.038 @ 197mph to a winning 6.961 @ 197mph. Eero Knihtila took a bye into the final with a 7.192 @ 191mph in his newly imported Chevy Cavalier in which he had raced at two NHRA events prior to this event. Knihtila took the final win with a 7.032 @ 192mph to Alund’s losing 7.151 @ 191mph.

Eero Knihtila - Photo By Gary Cottingham, DragsterWorld.com

Pro Modified

Pro Mod had 23 entries fighting for a place in the 16-car field. A big surprise was 2005 Euro Finals winner Andy Robinson’s DNQ. Andy suffered a series of problems on his three attempts at getting into the field. Number one qualifier was Urban Johansson with a 6.296 @ 221mph. Urban had US Pro Mod driver Kirk Kuhns over to assist the team.

Picking up the race in the quarter finals, Marko Lantto in an '80s blown Corvette failed to start, allowing Norbert Kuno’s blown Dodge Avenger into the semis with a 6.788 @ 212mph. Niclas Andersson in a blown ‘51 Chevy Business coupe ran a 6.483 @ 214mph to beat Marc Methuizen in blown ‘37 Chevy coupe who lost with a 6.416 @ 216mph. Urban Johansson’s blown ’63 Corvette beat Mats Eriksson in a blown Crown Victoria, 6.309 @ 225mph to a losing 6.570 @ 222mph. The final pair had Michael Gullquist in a blown Chevy Bel Air advance with a 6.286 @ 223mph over Jan Arve Nygard, who lost with a 6.637 @ 210mph in his nitrous ’63 Corvette.

Urban Johansson - Photo By Richard Stirling, TopNitro.co.uk

The first semi final saw Urban Johansson move into the final with a superb 6.247 @ 223mph, a new personal best and European ET record. Niclas Andersson lost with a 6.559 @ 210mph. In the other semifinal, Norbert Kuno had problems and failed to start. This put Michael Gullquist into the final. Michael ran a 6.339 @ 218mph nonetheless. The final was a great race. Urban Johansson took the win with another superb run 6.255 @ 225mph to Michael Gullquist’s close 6.332 @ 220mph.

Top Alcohol Dragster

Six cars were entered, five blown and a lone injected nitro car. After three qualifying sessions, Rob Turner was on top with a 5.632 @ 232mph.

Turner soloed into the final in the first semi with a 5.680 @ 229. In the other semi, Germany’s Peter Schofer beat reigning FIA Champion Dave Wilson with a holeshot 5.504 @ 256mph to Wilson’s quicker but losing 5.481 @ 244mph.  The final saw Peter Schofer take the event win in a very good race 5.460 @ 258mph to Rob Turner’s losing 5.616 @ 236mph.

Top Alcohol Funny Car

Numbers this year were slightly depleted with Niclas Andersson moving to Pro Mod and Ers Erbacher moving to Top Fuel. Despite this, five of the top teams in Europe entered and number one qualifying position was taken by Ulf Leanders with a 5.859 @ 242mph.

Picking up the action in the semi final, Ulf Leanders beat Dan Larson, 5.772 @ 245mph to a losing 5.827 @ 245mph. Leif Andreasson soled into the final in the other semi with a 5.803 @ 244mph.  Andreasson took the win in the final with a 5.773 @ 246mph over Ulf Leanders’ losing 5.930 @ 246mph.

UEM Bike Classes

All three of the classes had eight bike fields. The Top Fuel Bike win was taken by Roel Koedam with a 6.108 @ 227mph. Opponent Eric Teboul could not start, which was a great shame as he had run a 6.2 in the semi final. The Supertwin final saw Anders Karling run a thundering 6.577 @ 181mph to defeat Ronny Aasen, who ran 7.871 @ 120mph. Pro Stock Bike was taken by Anders Abrahamsson at 7.295 @ 178mph to defeat Anders Jakobsson, who ran a losing 7.785 @ 157mph.

Roel Koedam - Photo By Richard Stirling, TopNitro.co.uk

Despite the weather’s attempts to spoil the event, all the FIA / UEM classes and the sportsman classes completed their eliminations due in a big way to the hard working track crew. Good crowds on all four days saw some excellent racing and the whole event was a very good showcase for European drag racing.

The FIA / UEM championship now moves on to Alastaro in Finland for round two.

Words by Phil Cottingham
Photos by Gary Cottingham
www.dragsterworld.com

Additional Photos by Richard Stirling

www.topnitro.co.uk