Jndia Erbacher, Jonny Lagg, Andres Arnover and Jimmy Ålund winners at NitrOlympX
Jndia Erbacher raced to victory in the Top Fuel final of the NitrOlympX, round four of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRIng. In Pro Modified Andres Arnover claimed his first win of the season by defeating Bruno Bader. In the Top Methanol final Jonny Lagg was too quick for A-Fuel Team Sweden teammate Tony Bryntesson and extended his lead in the championship. In Pro Stock Jimmy Ålund remained undefeated and claimed his third winner’s trophy of the season.
It was a great day of racing for the drag race fans in the grandstands of the Motodrome, with many spectacular and close runs in almost all classes at the NitrOlympX, round four of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRing in Germany. Thanks to the cooler weather conditions and the not too warm track, in several categories there were better ETs recorded than in the heat on Saturday during qualifying.
In the first round of Top Fuel there was a major upset as Susanne Callin, the number two in the championship, went up in smoke at the start line and was defeated by number five qualifier Dennis Nilsson. Number one qualifier Jndia Erbacher had a bye run in the first round, but had to face Duncan Micallef in the semifinals, after the championship leader saw Linn Fløysvik shut off her engine after the burn out in the first round of eliminations.
In a great semifinal Erbacher recorded a winning 4.00 seconds, while Micallef lost traction half-track. In the other semifinal Nilsson had a bye run to advance to the final, but he suffered ignition problems and was not able to start the engine of his Top Fueler, thus no semifinal and no final for the driver from Sweden.
Thus Erbacher had a bye run in the final and claimed the win in a good 4.08 seconds.
In Top Methanol Jonny Lagg defeated Jürgen Nagel in the first round with a great 5.39 seconds, while Tony Bryntesson claimed the win over Silvio Strauch in an even better 5.35 seconds. As both Swedes had a bye run in the semifinals, the A-Fuel Team Sweden teammates had to face each other in the final for the race win.
With 5.38 seconds for Lagg and 5.62 seconds for Bryntesson, Lagg claimed his second consecutive win and extended his lead in the championship.
In Pro Modified number one qualifier Andres Arnover advanced to the final. The Estonian driver had to face Michel Tooren in the semifinals. In the quarter finals the Pro Dutch Racing driver surprised David Vegter.
The leader in the championship stormed to a stunning 5.792 seconds in the first round, but ran into problems in the quarter final against Tooren, who recorded a great 5.94 seconds. In the semifinal against Arnover Tooren was in front, but then suffered engine damage, handing the win and the spot in the final to Arnover.
On the other side of the elimination ladder Bruno Bader surprised once again. The Swiss driver was quick and fast at the right moment. In the quarter final Bader recorded a great 5.97 seconds to defeat Roger Johansson and recorded an almost identical 5.98 seconds in the semifinal to claim the win over Stian Rusånes.
In the final Bader ran into problems while Arnover stormed to a great 5.95 seconds to claim the win, Arnover’s first win of the season. In the championship Vegter is still in the lead but Arnover is only 11 points behind.
In Pro Stock the number one qualifier Jimmy Ålund defeated Stefan Ernryd in the first round and advanced to the final with a bye run in the semifinals. In the final the 12-time Pro Stock champion had to face Robin Norén. The number three qualifier recorded a great 6.63 seconds in the first round to defeat Simon Ekengren and scored another 6.63 seconds in the semifinal to claim the win over reigning champion Michael Malmgren.
In the final it was once again Ålund who claimed the win with a great 6.58 seconds, with 6.69 seconds for Norén. With his win Ålund remained undefeated this season.
The next and final round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship is within two weeks, the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in England.
For all qualifying results:
https://www.tw-sportsoft.de/NitrolympX_2024_577079/TW_ON_Virtueller_Aushang.php?AUSWAHL_WERTUNGSGRUPPEN_ID=17
Text and photo: Remco Scheelings
