Unfortunately, the event held at the prestigious F1 track went into history for all the wrong reasons. The weather, for the first time this year at an FIA & UEM event was glorious but the track was far from perfect due to the race surface being cleaned of all rubber prior to the recent F1 event.  Some huge efforts were made to try and return some traction and grip but it was almost like the early sixties over the weekend, as cars and bikes often smoked the complete race distance in an attempt to qualify.

 

There was only one on-track casualty as Dutch Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten got loose on a burnout and nosed into the opposite lane wall causing some front end damage.

 

A decision to allow the Sportsman racers to run all day Friday and the Pro classes making three qualifiers on the Saturday hoping for an improvement was met afterwards by Speed Group, the administrator for the European Drag Racing Championship and FIA racers announcing that they would not race as it was deemed too dangerous.

 

The only exception to the boycott was the Top Methanol Dragster class who ran to a conclusion, the complete UEM Bike classes also ended up with winners crowned as did all the assembled Sportsman.

 

With all the ongoing political wrangling continuing between promoters, tracks and in some cases racer against racer it all furthered the seemingly inevitable slow, sad, painful disintegration of European Drag Racing that has gone so well over the last decade.

 

Germany’s Dennis Habermann in the Uni Fit Top Methanol Dragster was one of the few to do better, clicking off a 6.135/ 246 to head qualifying, far from perfect or normal numbers but, at least they tried in front of their home crowd. Habermann ran a 6.347 bye in round one beat his own brother Timo in round two, then in the final beat an up in smoke fellow countryman Peter Schöfer, 6.023/249 to a losing 7.615/145.

 

 

 

 

 

The Super Twin Bike category had the trophy go to Germany as Christian Jäger ran his machine from fourth qualifier up past a smoking and close to the centre line Ismo Mäenpää from Finland in round one, a 6.952/179 got Jäger past Czech, Roman Sixta who hazed the tyre from the start. A 6.868/190 secured the final as Christian Jäger outran Canada’s Nate Gagnon whose 7.355/169 was not quite enough.

 Top Fuel Bike

Leading the final qualifying in Top Fuel Bike was Holland’s Rene van den Berg on his brand new machine, a 7.210/218 showing great promise. The final though came down to a grand battle of the Brits as number two qualifier, Steve Woollatt took on Ian King. The race was close as King stormed by at the top end clinching the 7.188/189 win as Woollatt was overtaken, his 7.304/200 just losing out.

Pro Stock Bike

Finland’s Fredrik Fredlund led the pack in Pro Stock Bike with a near normal 7.269/187, the rider making good from the poor conditions, he then made his way past Elvira Karlsson in round one, a bye in two then a 7.308/187 beat Sweden’s Kalle Lyrén before going on to see off Dutch rider Gert-Jan Laseur in the money run, a 7.184/188 to a 7.474/177.

Super Street Bike

Super Street Bike had twenty-five contestants led by Greek rider Sotiris Tsakiris on an 8.386/168 but it all came to an end as he faced British rider Richard Stubbings in the final. Stubbings reeled back the holeshot and carded a winning 8.125/180 to the losing 8.752/163.

 The many thousands of fans that turned up were not totally disappointed as the infamous Saturday Night Show showed a few fuel cars that made long burnouts generally followed by another as the cars and bikes launched off the traction sparse startline. Varoius jet and rocket propelled vehicles added to the show. Swiss Top Fuel driver Urs Erbachers made the best showing lighting up both the slicks and the pipes on the hit.

Another part of the overall show was two Nostalgia Funny Cars making demonstration passes, England’s Wendy Baker in her ‘Time Warp’ Mustang made many new fans despite only being allowed a couple of passes.

 Posting and photos by:  Roger Gorringe – www.nitroexposure.co.uk  (Copyright: August 2012)