Dragstrip Drachten will be host to (all) three races for the Dutch Open Drag Racing Championship again and like last year, all races are also included in the EDRS European Drag Racing Series. St. Quartermile did everything they could to make the race a great success, but the only thing beyond their control, the weather, was not on their side. Friday qualifying had to be cancelled due to persistent rain. Saturday morning looked good and the trackcrew started at five o’clock in the morning to get the track ready. At ten o’clock the light turned green for the first cars and bikes to make their passes down the Dragstrip Drachten quartermile. But after one round of qualifying it started to rain again and it didn’t stop until seven in the evening. One good thing about this, everybody was in time for the big party in the Vos Catering tent, for many years one of the main sponsors of the dragraces in Drachten.

Sunday morning did not look good too as it was raining again, but the organizers still didn’t want to give up. And they were right. At the end of the morning it was dry and the trackcrew brought the track in racing condition within one and half hour.

Together with the Dutch motorsports federation and the drivers, the organizers decided to run qualifying only, so everybody could make as many runs as possible. Many used this opportunity and some of them could even make three runs until rain made an early end to the Quartermile Nationals at half past four. But despite the bad weather, everybody was happy as the organizers did everything they could to make racing possible.

Despite the lack of track preparation time, Dragstrip Drachten showed its potential again. On a cold and hardly used track Jeroen van den Belt ran a 8.3 seconds with his new and far from perfect set-up Super Street Bike and passed the finishline with 270 kph. Most successful drivers were Tom van der Wijden and Gerjan Wolbers. Van der Wijden was number one qualifier in Super Pro ET and Super Comp, while Wolbers did the same in Super Street Car and Pro ET. After their Main Event debut, the Quartermile Nationals was the first race for Shari Oomen, Ibo van der Haven and Arnold Hol with their new cars in their home country, and Ron Hoogenboom even had to do his licence runs before he could take part in qualifying.

The dragracers don’t have to wait very long for the next race. The Quartermile Internationals, round two of the Dutch Open Championship and EDRS European Drag Racing Series, is on the calendar for July 12 until 14. Three days of summer sunshine and great drag racing at Holland’s only and still not permanent dragstrip.