The European Finals at Santa Pod was the end of a Top Fuel season in style. Another exciting race, again no rounds cancelled due to weather conditions, many spectators and a first time winner and first time champion. As already expected, Thomas Nataas in the Andersen Racing car won his first ever FIA Top Fuel title, but local hero Chris Andrews gave the British fans something to cheer about with his first ever Top Fuel win.


Thomas Nataas

After the record setting Scandinavian Internationals at Tierp Arena, the Top Fuel race at the European Finals at the great Santa Pod Raceway track was another highlight of the season. In the week prior to the race, Chris Polidano completed his licence runs with an arrow straight 4.37 second run and so the runner-up in the 2012 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship was, after Duncan Micallef, the second Maltese Top Fuel driver on the entry list.


Chris Polidano

In his first official qualifying run Polidano improved to 4.19 seconds and was the number one qualifier at that moment. But even more important was that first run for Thomas Nataas and Andersen Racing. By completing that first run, the Norwegian was the 2013 FIA Top Fuel champion, his first ever Top Fuel title. Although it was already the seventh European crown for Per and Karsten Andersen and their team, they were still as happy as when they won their first title. And the team had even more to celebrate, as in the second round Nataas improved to a stunning 4.016 seconds, after four runs still good for the number one qualifying position. The title won, the team went into ‘testing mode’, but lost the last run when a fuel hose came loose and sprayed nitro over the car and track.


Anita Mäkelä

Anita Mäkelä and her team proved they can be fast without American tuning assistance too. In the third run the number two in the championship stormed to 4.04 seconds and came close to Nataas number one time. After his great Tierp showing Jari Halinen had another great 4.07 seconds and was in third, just in front of Top Fuel rookie Polidano, who showed consistency with a 4.17 seconds in round number four in the Rune Fjeld Motorsport car, earlier this season driven by Antti Horto.

Local hero Chris Andrews started qualifying with a solid 4.29 seconds, but was hit by problems with one of the eight cylinders. So the Lucas Oil driver had to start from fifth position. In sixth the first ever Maltese Top Fuel driver Micallef and down in seventh Stig Neergaard. After an almost trouble free season, the Dane had all kind of problems in qualifying as he overpowered the track in run number one, had tyre shake in run two and had to abort run three and four immediately after the start with a broken blower belt and a burst plate popping out. Patrik Pers was number eight and last. After his personal best at Tierp, a last minute deal made it possible to enter the Euro Finals, but a broken crankshaft in run one put Pers behind.


Patrik Pers


Chris Polidano - getting acquainted with the drivers area of the RF Motorsport dragster

Don´t miss to read the interview with new champion Thomas Nataas in a separate article in this edition!

Chris Andrews - winner at Santa Pod

To say the first round of eliminations was exciting and had some major upsets, would be one of those typical English understatements. Andrews, in the ex-Don Schumacher Racing car, had to face the other Rune Fjeld Motorsport driver Polidano. When the two started their burn out, it was loud and clear the Maltese had a problem with the throttle cable, as the motor almost over revved and although Polidano immediately got off the throttle, he was shut off by owner/tuner/crewchief Fjeld. In a far from trouble free run Andrews crossed the finish line in 4.6 seconds and was in the semi-finals.


Jari Halinen

Another upset in the next run as the other two RFM cars of Halinen en Micallef had to face each other. The Finn had tyre shake, went up in smoke and saw a blower belt come off and that gave the Maltese his first ever round win. But that was still not enough.


Anita Mäkelä

The numbers two and four in the championship, Mäkelä and Neergaard had to race each other. But in the burnout Mäkelä’s race was already over as there was a long trail of oil under the car. That made it easy for a tyre smoking Neergaard to advance to the semi-finals. Disappointed by so much mishap, but still smiling, Mäkelä stepped out of her car.

But that was not all, as even the race between Nataas and Pers was, in another way, at least spectacular. Both went up in smoke, blew their engines and disappeared in a cloud of smoke and fire. But Nataas kept his foot down and crossed the finish line in a winning 4.29 seconds. The Andersen Racing crew knew there was a lot of work waiting to get the car ready for the next round.


The Andersen Racing dragster -piloted by Thomas Nataas, here flanked by Per and Karsten Andersen

As expected the Andersen Racing car was ready in time to face Andrews in the semi-final. In a storming 4.03 seconds and 305 mph Nataas crossed the finish line first, but a 0.005 seconds red light made an early end to the race of the new crowned Top Fuel champion. With 4.92 seconds Andrews was in the final and still had a chance to score his first ever Top Fuel win. In the other semi-final Neergaard was back to his normal 2013 form and stormed to a winning 4.06 seconds against Micallef (4.64 seconds).


Duncan Micallef 


Stig Neergaard

So a final with Neergaard and Andrews. The Lucas car was away first but soon passed by the Dane. But halftrack Neergaard’s motor blew up in a big way for the first time this season and although Andrews had some flames at the end too, the home favourite crosses the finish line first in 4.22 seconds and took his first ever Top Fuel win.


Final - Andrews vs Neergaard

Behind Nataas, Mäkelä stayed second in the championship as Neergaard passed Antti Horto and took the number three position.

RESULTS (pdf):
LINK TO ELIMINATION LADDER
LINK TO QUALIFICATION LIST

Courtesy of TSI Timers and Santa Pod Raceway