Well, I am not too sure about that. I know one man who will not save on anything to get the low ET of the season and repeat or improve the stunning performance he did a year back. I am talking about UK based Dave Beck. His European record ET of 7.078 was set during the semi-finals at the European Finals 2009. That time Beck lost the run on the starline to Abrahamsson (7.11). The same Abrahamsson also later took home the event win after defeating Ögge in the  final.



Beck arrives at Santa Pod with a fresh non-championship event  win running in the 7.20´s. It has taken time to sort out his new bike but now Beck feels ready to run quick if the track allows it. My guess is the track will be ready as can be.



The speed record to beat is held by Anders Abrahamsson (set july-10 in Finland) with 303.71 km/188.75 mph  

At the 2009 European Finals reigning champion Ulf Ögge was low qualifier with 7.1398 sec, closely followed by Anders Abrahamsson 7.1425 and with Beck 3rd quickest with 7.15 sec. Ten Pro Stock bikes entered last year, and the championship class have grown considerably in 2010, at least partly due to hard efforts from within the class.

New riders are coming into the European championship and south- and central European riders like Stavros Svrachnos (Greece) and  Zólthan Tóth (Hungary) are running the full championship (6 rounds). They should I think be given awards just for that reason.

Rookies in the UEM Pro Stock Bike championship for this year include Karl-Heinz Weikum from Germany, Hungarian rider Zólthan Tóth, young Kalle Lyrén (Sweden) team VEIDEC Racing and Lyréns team mate Kenneth Vik from Norway.



None of them are event winners so far this season (although Vik have been in two finals). Can any of them step up to the challenge at Santa Pod? 



The female rider in the class, Sweden´s Gabriella Nikolovska, not new in the class but with a new engine this year, has proven to be able to qualify on the top half of the field and to be able to win an odd run or two. I know she has the mental power to do it, so let´s hope the bike works well with "Gabbi" for this race.

Ulf Ögge, Sweden is with 99.9% certainty the 2010 Pro Stock Bike champion. If he makes it to Santa Pod and gets the bike through scrutineering ok, he can´t be touched and can enjoy the full race without any championship pressure at least. Knowing Ögge and crew I am quite certain they will not make less efforts to win runs and set records, than they would have if the scenario had been different.



Personally in addition to what I have already highlighted I will be excited to see what trio Abrahamsson, Thiel and Fredlund can achieve. All are potential event winners that can match Ögge anytime. It is also among these three riders the 2nd and 3rd place championship trophies will end up after eliminations are completed on sunday sept 12th..



Thiel tells he is pushing for runs in the low 7.10´s. Fredlund have been working on identifying the electrical problem that was obvious during the final at Gardermoen where the bike just bogged off the startline. Let´s hope things like that will not stand between him and great performance at Santa Pod.

Before ending the speculations I can´t refraim from mentioning one more rider to watch out for.. Gert-Jan Laseur was down in Hockenheim testing a few weeks ago, have since taken a close look on things and cured the weaknesses and faults the team detected. With a fully serviced bike Laseur does not arrive at Santa Pod with the goal to be 2nd or 3rd.. "we all want to win" he says and would be happy to get out if the 7.30 sec range and into the 7.20´s (or quicker).



Read more about what Gert-Jan and other riders think in the "talking with racers" sections.

So, prepare for the European Finals thriller taking place at  at Santa Pod by;

1) checking the championship points standings for the current ranking

2) checking the the entry list to see what other riders have entered and make a bet with some friends for a nice dinner on who will set the low ET, win the event.. your choice.. 

3) .. and most important..if or if not on site, follow the event coverage at Eurodragster.com Live reporting of what goes on at the track, webcam on site,  (changing view every minute), read the pit notes and check the extensive  photo gallery as the event is on its way. Excitement guaranteed!