UEM Dragbike Championship, Round Two, Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, England

Words and pictures Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes Thanks to TSI Timers (Europe) for access to the timing data

Rain would be the eventual winner of the second round of the UEM Dragbike Championship as the record drought that the southern half of the UK has experienced for much of the spring decided, somewhat typically, to cease briefly over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend. Although all four qualifying sessions were completed, in far from ideal cold, damp and windy conditions, Monday’s elimination series in all categories was a total washout. The vicious headwind that set in for the whole weekend was probably adding a tenth or two onto the ETs throughout the bike categories and resulted in a lot of frustrated racers for the duration of the event.

Attracting five entries, the UEM Top Fuel Bike ladder was reduced to four after defending series champion Petri Paljakka failed to record a time during qualifying. This left the four British competitors to populated the qualifying table with Steve Woollatt and the PBR Puma Dealer producing the two quickest passes with a 6.410/207 being his best and providing the team with more data on the revised fuel system and clutch for later in the season.

Behind Woollatt was Ian King and the new Gulf Oil/Grand Prix Originals Puma Yamaha that the five time European championship team debuted at the season opener in Hungary. Progress wasn’t quite as startling as their win on debut, with a focus on trying to find a baseline for the MTC clutch pack, but a pair of 6.5s including a 6.526/210 placed the King Racing team best of the rest.

Third on the ladder, Steve Carey and the PBR Puma Purple Princess team were clocking a string of consistent and decent mid 1.0s sixty foot clockings that suggest that Carey could be threatening his mid six best numbers if he’s able to translate these rapid launches further down track. In the event a 7.022 at only 168 was enough to keep him ahead of Kev Charman’s 7.115.

Following on from his encouraging first couple of meetings in the nitro ranks, 2010 UEM Funnybike Cup champion Christian Jäger arrived in the six second zone with aplomb when a third session 6.640/206 put the Black Seven team on top of the 14 bike (aiming for eight spots in eliminations) pile and ahead of the similarly equipped Lorenz Stäuble’s 6.682/213 on the Erbacher Racing PRP/Weekend Frame bike.

Behind the PRP/Weekend Frame duo was a greatly relieved Per Bengtsson onboard the Bentec Beast. After the 2009 champion was a surprising DNQ in Hungary (the Kunmadaras track not holding the grunt of the supercharged parallel twin, a far from perfect pair of high sixes, including a 6.727/182 best, were a much better return for the Swedish team whilst they work their way through a new clutch management system.

It’s not been a good start to 2011 for Trond Jostein Hoiberget and this motor plate splitting explosion wiped out the bottom end, gearbox and clutch in dramatic fashion. We last saw the Norwegian placing orders for a shopping list of spares which will hopefully mean the Spirit of Toten bike will be able to make the latter rounds of the championship.

Winner of the first round in Hungary and the solid favourite to take the 2011 points chase, Jesper Thiel didn’t get his weekend off to the best of starts when a loud backfire in the pits resulted in a lot of frantic activity to make the first session. With George Bryce in attendance, the Sovereign G2 Buell barely moved off the line on launch nearly putting the Dane into the fairing. After this hiccup things could only get better, and with low ET of the remaining three sessions Thiel picked up the low qualifying points with a 7.251/174, someway off the potential six second ticket we were anticipating but a very real indication of just how much the wind was halting forward progress.

Fredrik Fredlund was the only competitor to keep in realistic touch with Thiel, with the Åland resident carding a 7.347/179 that just a tenth back from the Buell and ahead of Thiel’s team mate Rasmus Olsen’s 7.425. With a new motor arriving together with the assistance of Gary Stoffer for the next round in Sweden this weekend, the race to the sixes, as well as the championship push for points, is very much on.

At domestic level, the UK Super Street Bike class has delivered performance and close racing aplenty over the past few seasons, and the Main Event represented the second (of three) class eliminations to take place alongside UEM competition prior to a more expanded series in 2012. One of the class standouts over recent years has been Steve Venables, and he duly underlined the potential for British dominance (following the all UK final in Hungary) of the class with a 7.352 that comfortably paced the field.

Remaining UEM Drag Bike Championship rounds
June 9th -12th Swedish Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden
June 30th – July 3rd FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro, Finland
August 5th – 7th Sunoco Drag Challenge, Gardermoen Raceway, Norway
August 12th – 14th NitrolympX, Hockenheim, Germany
September 8th – 11th FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, England