Two qualification runs was completed and then one full day of racin before the eliminations. Not the best of circumstances for the teams to adjust to the track and considering many had new bits an pieces to get accustomed to this first championship event for the season.

One rider that did his thing confident all through the event was Kalle Lyrén from Sweden. No.1 qualifier with 7.24 sec well ahead of 2nd quickest and 2010 champion Ulf Ögge who ran 7.42 sec. Lyre´ns team mate Elvira Karlsson 6th quickest 7.57 sec. Both Elvira and Kalle has spend some time in the US on training camp to improve their drivers skills and they both looked confident on track at Santa Pod.

UK based rider Martin Bishop is normally a top class contender and qualified no 3 with 7.43 sec, while Ålands Fredrik Fredlund (who did one leg of a new European record in 2011 running 7.048 sec) was 5th after qualifications with 7.50 sec. As indicated only two qualification sessions to get it right for the eliminations which is a tough task indeed.

Home track riders Len Paget, Kev Charman and Martin Newbury qualified 5th, 7th and 8th 7.54 for Paget, 7.87 for Charman and 7.92 for Newbury. 

The man outside the ladder this time Gert-Jan Laseur, who was ready to jump in as 1st alternate, however all 8 in the ladder had their pieces in order and came to start for the quarter finals.

In the quarter finals Kalle Lyrén continued to run quick and consistent. His 7.202 left Martin Newbury behind and out of further competition. Newbury 7.79 sec.

Fredrik Fredlund experienced problems during the quarter finals against Len Paget., seemingly failed to shift, shut off and rolled over the finish line after 20+ seconds . However luck was on Fredlunds side and Paget had pulled a redlight leaving Fredlund clear for the semi-final.

Ulf Ögge run his best for the weekend in the quarter final against Kev Charman. Ögge´s 7.20 sec. gave a confident win. Charman´s ET 7.77

Martin Bishop had a tenth of a seconds advantage over Elvira Karlsson on the qualification list. That however did not win him the quarter finals, when Karlsson ran 7.46 sec and Bishop struggled with what sounded like an misfiring engine. 8.19 Bishops ET passing the finish line, out of competion earlier than desired.  

The semi-final between Kalle Lyrén and Fredrik Fredlund was a close and nice side by side run where Lyrén passed the finish line first at 7.175 sec, closely followed by Fredlund at 7.200. Well done both!

It was to be Ulf Ögge who won the other semi-final against Elvira Karlsson. Ögges slightly slower than before and not content with the perfoemance of the bike after the race. However his 7.301 won him the semi-final. Elvira´s ET over the finish line 7.62 sec.

The finals should turn out to be a bye run for Kalle Lyrén as Ulf Ögge was a no show. Lyrén did not miss this last opportunity to go for it and again a quick and consistent run by Kalle, this time 7.163 sec which was his quickest during the event. What a nice way to start the championship season!  

Check the championship points standings after Main Event under a separate headline in this edition.

Link to Qualification list
Link to Elimination ladder