Gustafsson, Christiansen, Mechaell, Lymant and King hold on on Saturday at the FIM-E NitrOlympX

Well, the predicted hotter temperatures on Saturday at the NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring, Germany were not false, with the track, crew, racers, spectators and press sweltering (and sweating if the truth be told) under the cloudless skies, it was always going to be a question of endurance. Unfortunately, a hefty crash in the car classes and a looming cut off presented by… checks notes… a women’s world championship boxing contest… restricted the FIM-E classes to just a single outing today on the Rico Anthes Quartermile.

The top two in FIM-E Top Fuel Bike stayed the same, but with Rikard Gustafsson cooking up a 6.086 to lead the field heading into tomorrow’s eliminations, with second spot holder from yesterday Eric Richard also improving to a 6.510. Mark Smith jumped into three with a 6.746 from the Drapers Tools/Warpspeed entry knocking Kari Rautanen down a spot despite the latter improving a whisker on yesterday with a 6.760 to complete the top four.

Marcus Christiansen carries over his 6.418 to continue his lead of the FIM-E Super Twin Bike but second spot is now held by Per Bengtsson, much relieved after a number of issues that kept the Beast in the pits yesterday with a steady checkout 6.701. Chris van Nimmen stays at three thanks to a much improved 6.847 that is a shade off the American Lifestyle Belgian’s best. The qualified field is now up to a healthier seven thanks to other entrants getting down the track today.

The top four in FIM-E Super Street Bike weren’t changed today so Jake Mechaell (6.810), Alan Morrison Jnr (6.856), Krisztian Jasz (6.917) and Savvas Tilsizoglou (also 6.917) carry their numbers over from yesterday.

They were joined in the sixes by Margot Schmidt (6.936) and Christos Agapidis (6.954 being a new PB for the Greek rider). At the bottom end of the qualified field the record 16 bike bump spot lowered to a 7.400 now held by Clemens Walleit.

FIM-E Pro Stock Bike continued with Jorg Lymant’s 7.182 from yesterday, while Bertrand Maurice improved to hold onto to second spot with a 7.199 and home racer Karl-Heinz Weikum pulled out a 7.273 from his Suzuki to jump up to third ahead of Dimitrios Petridis.

Yesterday we predicted it would be difficult to dislodge Jaxon King from top spot in FIM-E Junior Drag Bike Cup and so it would prove, with the top three staying the same with Brad Morrison and Richard Willcox just behind King. Seven riders head into eliminations tomorrow.

Round by round results are available here: https://www.tw-sportsoft.de/NitrolympX_2024_577079/TW_ON_Virtueller_Aushang.php

Livestream is available here: https://www.nitrolympx.de/livestream/

Words and photos Ivan Sansom & Rose Hughes