The 2012 FIA European Top Fuel Championship came to an end in the best possible way. Sunshine, good traction, fast times and high speeds, season’s best performances, close racing and at least two people who saw a dream come true. After three consecutive runner-up positions Risto Poutiainen won his first FIA European Top Fuel title, while Anita Mäkelä was over the moon by taking the win light in the final after seasons with so much bad luck.


Jari Halinen on track

With Risto Poutiainen in the lead and Jari Halinen 26 points behind, everything was still possible at the European Finals. Great news was of course the return of the Andersen Racing car with Thomas Nataas at the wheel, but this proven winning combination could be a key factor in the outcome of the championship. And what to think about the battle for third with Anita Mäkelä and Antti Horto separated by two points only.

After overpowering the track on Friday, Per and Karsten Andersen did the right adjustments and in his third run Nataas stormed to 4.018sec and 301.95mph, the overall best run of the season. That sent Friday leader Mäkelä into the number two position, but the popular Finnish driver was still happy with her great 4.025sec and other consistent runs of 4.18 and 4.09sec. As Janne Ahonen was not at Santa Pod, his American co-tuner Donnie Bender was advisor for the Tommi Haapanen/Sami Lehtimäki tuned car in England.


Antti Horto

Next under 4.1 and in third qualifying position was Horto. The young Fin set a new personal best of 4.085sec and was only 0.001sec slower on Saturday. After trying some new clutch settings Poutiainen was only fourth (4.12sec) and the team decided to go back to the original combination for eliminations day. Chris Andrews was a happy man as the Lucas car made four consistent runs in the low 4’s, with a 4.127sec as the best. Title contender Halinen was sixth with a 4.22sec from Friday afternoon. In seventh and last Stig Neergaard. The Dane was without his tuner John Smith as the American had to be at the delayed Indy race. Neergaard had all kind of problems and suffered two serious engine explosions on Saturday. A 4.37sec was his best for the Euro Finals weekend.


Thomas Naatas left and Risto Poutiainen

On the podium - Anita Mäkelä and Risto Poutiainen

In the first round of eliminations Nataas had a bye run but still stormed to a great 4.026sec and 300mph. The best possible way to prove the Andersen Racing car was the one to beat to win the race. In the next run Poutiainen had to beat Andrews to keep his championship dreams alive. Going back to the old settings paid off as the Fin stormed to his best numbers of the weekend, a winning 4.05sec/295mph to beat Andrews. Now it was Halinen’s turn to stay in the race for the title. The number two had to face the consistent and fast Horto. With a better reaction time Halinen took the lead and although he had his best run of the weekend (4.156sec), Horto showed consistency again, passed his countryman and took the win in 4.102sec. That made Poutiainen the new and 2012 FIA European Top Fuel Champion. After returning to the class four years ago, the goal was to win the title in three years. After three consecutive runner-up positions in his fourth season his lifelong dream of winning the title came true. In that first round Mäkelä had some traction problems but a 4.47sec was enough to beat Neergaard who suffered another massive engine explosion.


Karsten and Per Andersen of Andersen Racing, Denmark - pilot Thomas Naatas  is from Norway

In the semi-finals two very interesting confrontations. In the first one the new crowned champion Poutiainen and the fastest man of the weekend Nataas. Well, with 4.136 against 4.150sec the Norwegian was 0.014sec faster, but as Poutiainen had the 0.066sec better reaction time, the Fin took the win on a holeshot. In the other semi-final Mäkelä and Horto had to race for the third place in the championship. The Finnish lady was back to her qualifying performance and in 4.03sec Mäkelä was too quick for Horto (4.17sec).
With 4.03 for Mäkelä and 4.05sec for Poutiainen on eliminations day, everybody was looking forward to a great last run of the season. But alas, after the burn out crewchief Rune Fjeld stepped forward and shut off Poutiainen with a problem. That handed the win to Mäkelä. The fan favourite tried her best, but after a few meters tyre shake made an early end to her run. But with her win, for Mäkelä a dream came true too. The team had so much bad luck the last few seasons, nobody at Santa Pod deserved this last win of the season better than Mäkelä and her hard working crew.

With Poutiainen as the champion, Halinen in second, Mäkelä third, Horto fourth and Ahonen in fifth, the top five of the 2012 FIA European Top Fuel Championship is all Finnish.

Link to Results: click to open pdf-files
QUALIFICATIONS
ELIMINATIONS LADDER

courtesy of TSÍ time keepers and Santa Pod Raceway

Check the full points table under a separate headline in this edition.