Rain ended his first-round elimination early in the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at Santa Pod Raceway.
After rain in the morning, the FIA classes Top Fuel, Top Methyl and Pro Stock completed the first round of eliminations, while Pro Modified completed the second round when the rain returned several times. The Santa Pod Raceway crew did their best to dry the track, but getting the race started again was impossible.
Heavy showers fell during the day causing many delays. Rain returned later in the afternoon, forcing race directors to cancel the remaining qualifying rounds.
Top Fuel’s No. 1 qualifier, Swiss Jndia Erbacher, earned a bye in the semifinals and advanced to the finals. In the other semi-finals, Duncan Micallef received a bye, while second-place qualifier Susanne Callin suffered engine damage so severe in Sunday’s final heat that the Swedish driver had to withdraw from elimination. The finals were not played due to rain.
In the first round of eliminations in Pro Modified, David Vegter once again proved his fine form. The Netherlands’ first qualifying round clocked a whopping 5.76 seconds, by far the fastest elapsed time of any elimination event. In the quarterfinals, Vegter had to face Estonia’s Andres Arnover. At the starting line, Vegter was activated by Arnover’s stage lights and pulled the red light, handing the win and semifinal position to Arnover.
Switzerland’s fourth qualifier Bruno Bader also advanced to the semifinals, defeating Bobby Wallace in the quarterfinals. Third-place qualifier Jere Rantaniemi from Finland advanced to the quarterfinals, losing to Stian Rusånes and surprisingly advancing to the semifinals with a stunning time of 6.05 seconds. Another major surprise was Andreas Sjodin. The Swedish driver and 10th-placed qualifier saw him advance to the semi-finals after beating Peter Kunc in the first round before being red-flagged by Andy Robinson in the quarter-finals. In the semifinals Bader would have met Arnover and Sjodin Rusånes. We never know who will be a finalist.
In Top Mazole, number one qualifier Tony Bryntesson defeated Jonny Lagg in the semi-finals to advance to the final. In the final, the Swedish driver should have faced Sandro Bellio. The Belgian multi-champion beat Silvio Strauch in the semifinals. However, an engine explosion at the finish line caused too much damage to Bellio, preventing him from returning to the final. Bryntesson would therefore have been forced to play in the final.
In Pro Stock, there was a big surprise in the first round as #6 qualifier Stefan Ernryd defeated reigning FIA European Champion Michel Malmgren in a time of 6.65 seconds. Richard Sundblom surprised Simon Ekengren to reach the semi-finals where he should have met top-ranked qualifier Jimmy Ålund, who received a bye in the first round. In the last quarter-finals, Robin Norén defeated Lasse Britsmar to advance to the semi-finals, where he should have met Ernryd.
The FIA European Drag Racing Championship will continue in June at the Tirp Arena in Sweden.
