2011 Gagnon competed during a part of the season in Europe on friend Ron Houniet´s bike with some success but also a lot of broken parts. For 2012 he decided to bring his fabulous looking Fast Cat V-twin Super Twin Bike to play with his European collegues. With a team named Big Kids Racing we can only assume Gagnon likes to play. And at Santa Pod he showed how good he is at it too..

Gagnon low qulifier with 6.60 sec , followed by team mate Samu Kemppainen (Finland) at 6.72 which was also a new personal best for Samu. Well done team Skull Racing! The entry list at Main Event was shorter than we are used to but the riders on it very capable of putting on a good show. Christian Jäger from Germany qualified 3rd quickest with 6.81 sec. which under the circumstances with two rained out sessions was not bad at all. Jäger has a capacity to run in the 6.50´s and is a strong contender for sure. Job Heezen from the Netherlands, assisted by Godfather Ton Pels and son Vincent Pels managed 7.44 sec during qualifications which was good for the 4th position in the elimination ladder.

5th in the field UK rider Chris Hannam 7.73 and last in the field after qualifications Jan Sturla Hegré Norway. His 10.31 sec pass was not representative of what Hegré is normally good for (having a 6.61 sec as current personal best).

The eliminations a 6 bike progressive ladder which meant the winner of the heat Nate Gagnon/Jan Sturla Hegré could look forward to a bye run in the semi-final.

Hegrés 7.54 sec did not do the job running against a Gagnon whose bike seemingly flew down the track. The 6.56 sec win for Nate was his quickest run ever in Europe at a speed of 219 mph. Impressive!

Samu Kemppainen won his quarter finals taking out Chris Hannam. Both experienced problems and from half track it was just a matter of who had the most momentum. Kemppainen first over the finish line and on to the semi..

Job Heezen took out Christian Jäger in the last quarter finals. Heezen 7.75 sec while Jäger blazed the rear tyre and shut off early crusing past the finish line at 18 seconds.

The semi-final was a bye run for Nate Gagnon who took the opportunity to go for it and provided the crowd a good show. 6.62 sec at 217 mph. Consistent and fast again!

The semi-final Kemppainen vs Heezen was a great and spectacular side by side race where winner Heezen went on and off the throttle and managed a great 6.63 sec pass at 212 mph compared to Kemppainens 6.77/198 mph.

The final was to be a bye-run for Gagnon as Heezen went short on time to get the bike ready. Heezen himself stood without the bike at the start area and watched while Gagnon once again flew down the track. 6.68 sec at 215 mph. Well deserved win Gagnon and crew! 

22 Super Twin Bikes on the entry list for the next championship round at Sweden´s Tierp Arena. Interesting to see how Gagnon will stand up against Champ Per Bengtsson on the smooth concrete track which is considered to be Europe´s quickest. 

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

Link to Qualification list
Link to Elimination ladder