Mikael Kågered, Michael Gullqvist, Dennis Habermann and Leif Andreasson win at Hockenheim NitrOlympX
Mikael Kågered
Mikael Kågered finished off one of his best weekends of the last two years by claiming a dominant victory in Top Fuel at Hockenheim. With his win the reigning champion extended his lead in the FIA European championship. Michael Gullqvist kept his championship dream alive by defeating Mats Eriksson in the Pro Modified final at the Rico Anthes Quartermile. Top Methanol Dragster was an all German final with Dennis Habermann defeating his brother Timo, while Leif Andreasson from Sweden was the winner in Top Methanol Funny Car at the 30th NitrOlympX, the fourth round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship.
Eliminations for the 30th NitrOlympX at the Rico Anthes Quartermile were run under good conditions, and as the heat was not as intense as it was in qualifying, most teams could step up to their qualifying performance. Eliminations were even more interesting as there were many surprising outcomes.
Anita Mäkelä
Two major upsets in the first round of eliminations in Top Fuel. Number two qualifier Stig Neergaard was defeated by number seven qualifier Urs Erbacher when the Dane had a serious oil leak at the start. One run later it was Anita Mäkelä who suffered an engine explosion and was defeated by Duncan Micallef. After a bye run in the first round, Micke Kågered stepped up to 4.18 seconds in the semi-final, to defeat Micallef. In the other semi-final Erbacher was too fast for Top Fuel rookie Liam Jones and so the Swiss crowd favourite advanced to the final.
The final, Mikael Kågered and Urs Erbacher
In a close run Kågered made an already good weekend perfect by defeating Erbacher and take the win in the best ET of the weekend (4.17 seconds). With his victory the number one in the championship extended his lead.
Michael Gullqvist
A dramatic first round in Pro Modified as Robert Joosten, Marcus Hilt and Norbert Kuno had to withdraw from eliminations after mechanical problems in qualifying, and David Vegter had problems at the line and could not start too. Championship leader Mats Eriksson had a bye run in the quarter final, and after defeating Tero Laukkanen in the semi-final, the number one qualifier and championship leader was in the final. Number two qualifier Michael Gullqvist had a bye run in the quarter final as Jean Dulamon could not come back after his first round win. In the semi-final Gullqvist had to face Bruno Bader, the number two in the championship, but stepped up to a storming 6.01 seconds to advance to the final.
The final, Michael Gullqvist and Mats Eriksson
The final was a close race, but as Gullqvist could almost repeat his semi final performance (now 6.03 seconds), the multiple Pro Mod champion defeated Eriksson (6.13). With his win Gullqvist, who started the race as the number four in the championship, held his championship dream alive. Eriksson is still in the lead with Bader in second position.
The final, Dennis (silver) and Timo Habermann (gold)
In Top Methanol Dragster Timo Habermann had a bye run in the semi-final, to face his brother Dennis in the final, as Dennis defeated Jonny Lagg in a close second semi-final. With 5.440 for Timo and 5.438 seconds for Dennis, the final was close too, but it was Dennis who took the win.
Leif Andreasson
In Top Methanol Funny Car there were only two competitors at Hockenheim and so Leif Andreasson and Jürgen Nagel only had to run a final. As expected Andreasson was the winner and with 5.89 seconds the Swedish multiple champions saved his best run for the last.
The final, Leif Andreasson and Jürgen Nagel
The next round of the FIA European Championship is within two weeks (August, 21-23) at Tierp Arena in Sweden.
