NitrOlymp'X, Hockenheimring, Germany

Now in it's 23rd year, the NitrOlymp'X is the biggest spectator draw on the European drag racing tour, with huge crowds packing the impressive grandstands either side of the newly renamed Rico Anthes Quartermile (Anthes stepping down from his organization role this year and handing over the reins to a new team led by Jerry Lackey and the Hockenheimring management). Although not a round of the UEM European Dragbike championships, hopefully something to be rectified for 2010, the NitrOlymp'X puts on a spectacular Nitro Bike Thunder show matching inline fours against some of the best Super Twins in Europe, with supporting Pro Bike (Pro Stock and Funnybike), Super Street Bike and Super Twin Top Gas eliminators.

Away from the demands of leading the European Top Fuel Bike championship chase, Ian King came into the event with a consistent package that looked a strong favourite to put together some decent numbers that would give him the inline 4 spot in the trophy run off. King didn't disappoint with an off the trailer (or more accurately, out of the Formula 1 pit garage) 6.296/225.93 that represented his best numbers at the German track. This was followed by another pair of low sixes that handily covered the rest of the field, despite dropping cylinders that frustrated attempts to get closer to Roel Koedam's 6.190 track record. With the final round spot secured for a third time in succession, King took the win with a rough mid seven after opponent Lorenz Stauble had shutoff during the burnout.

Another UEM championship leader, Lo Stauble and the Erbacher PRP fuel Harley produced a stout 6.6 in an early practice run, a number that he matched with a 6.627/216.79 as the best of his three qualifiers and thus see a rematch of the 2007 and 2008 Nitro Bike Thunder finals against King. With the score at one apiece, Stauble was conscious of King's low six second consistency and went out with the intention of winning the informal battle of the burnouts (the German crowd roar their approval at every tire smoker that is pushed to the edge), but the bike hit the rev limiter in the water box and cut out giving King the solo for the victory.

Hans Olav Olstad went into the final qualifying session as the only Super Twin rider to have two six second passes to his credit (including a best of 6.843) which put him at the head of the nine bike field, and he'd also clocked a pair of 6.8s in the free practice session and the Saturday night show demonstration pass. Anything close to those numbers would have put the Norwegian into the final round against King, but the bike slowed just after launch and a 12 second pass knocked him out of contention.

Having predicted in earlier race reports that the blown Godfather VII would fly once Ton and Vincent Pels had sorted out the hardware issues that had beset the early development sessions, Roel Koedam was enthusing about the Zodiac bike's potential having put the bike into the low seven second zone with a 7.234 in the Night Show demonstration with a midtrack charge that had the team beaming and looking forward to the final event of the season.

Another we'll be keeping an eye on is Michael Hessler who has made the big step up to a nitro V-Twin after riding a V-Rod Destroyer over the past couple of seasons. Hessler has bought Gunther Sohn's PRP Weekend frame bike that runs hard and straight, and Hessler looked comfortable on a couple of very impressive short passes under the tutelage of Sohn and the G&R team on debut over the weekend.

Runner-up in the Pro Bike Eliminator in 2008 when he scattered his engine far and wide, Len Paget was in much finer fettle at the conclusion of this year's NitrOlymp'X, qualifying low with a 7.540 from his Suzuki GSXR Pro Stock Bike to top the multinational field (eight nationalities being represented). Paget then ran through eliminations with a 7.582, a 7.460 (low ET of the class), and a 7.518 in the final round to defeat Haralambos Bousinis.

Super Street Bike topped the Pro Bike eliminator in terms of the number of entries (40) and the range of nationalities (10) emphasizing the reach and importance of the NitrOlymp'X in European drag racing. However, as so often has been the case in recent years, the British invasion was very prominent with seven of the top eight qualifiers being from the UK, Graham Balchin sitting on top of the pile with a 7.364/196.50. Whilst Balchin's number would hold as low ET of the weekend, it was next in line Richard Stubbins (qualified second with a 7.442) who would prove to be the event winner, getting to the stripe ahead of Deeside's finest, Phil Wood, with a 7.494 to Wood's 7.767 and taking the stack of Euros and bragging rights back to the north of England.

The only non-British winner on two wheels over the course of the weekend was Gert Jan Laseur who took his Eurol backed G2 Buell (put together through the Zodiac catalogue and considerable assistance from Ton and Vincent Pels) to the low qualifying spot in Top Gas competition with a 7.485. The Dutchman converted this to the event win over Thiel Jesper in the money round, and Laseur has now focused on his UEM Pro Stock Bike debut at Santa Pod in the middle of September.

As well as exceptional racing action, the NitrOlymp'X also packs the punters in with a spectacular Saturday night show that provides a lot of smoke and flame that keeps the German crowd on their feet and cheering for more. Whilst it doesn't necessarily appeal to the purist in us, Gerd Habermann provided a decent flameshow on the DHL Hellfire jet bike which was more show than go.

If the jet bike was for show, then Frenchman Eric Teboul's hydrogen peroxide rocket bike is definitely for go. With the tanks expanded for the start of this season, Teboul improved on his absolute best marks on two wheels that he'd set a couple of weeks previously with a spectacular 5.277/251 mph (half track numbers being 3.514/228.22) that suggest the flying frog might be threatening the four second zone before too long.

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