Jürgen Nagel

Jürgen Nagel is of course the biggest surprise of the season. The German took a more or less lucky win at the Main Event when all his competitors ran into problems. But as said before, to finish first you first have to finish. Nagel did what he had to do and took his first Top Methanol Funny Car win. But at Hockenheim, Nagel and his team surprised again; not with lucky wins but this time with good runs and great numbers. With an upset 5.88sec personal best he claimed the number two qualifying position and, after two elimination round wins and another 5.94, Nagel was in the final again. As the German said at Hockenheim, “The car can go faster,” and he wants to prove that at Santa Pod. But even if he does not go faster, 5.8sec runs can be more than enough to claim another final-round appearance. And when Nagel is in the final, the title is not far away. The German is only two points behind Dan Larsen so anything is possible.

Dan Larsen

Larsen was runner-up at the Main Event and number one qualifier at the Veidec Festival, and advanced to the final at Hockenheim. But the Dane had problems too at the Main Event and, if that happens again, a two-point lead is nothing. Larsen might be the fastest man on track but a little luck is also important. Arvid Grødem won at Alastaro but had problems in Sweden and Germany. All kinds of mechanical gremlins made it very difficult for the Norwegian, who is now back in third, 25 points behind leader Larsen. If the team returns to form again, a good qualifying position and low ET can close the gap to less than 20 points. So nothing is lost so far for Grødem.


Arvid Grødem

It’s good to see that Top Methanol Funny Car is an eight-car field again. Jarmo Kuutniemi is out of the championship race but improves with every run he makes with his new car. The Finn can spoil the title ambitions of one of the leaders. Rob Turner ran a personal best at Hockenheim and can do even better at his home track, Santa Pod. It’s been bad luck so far this year for Danny Bellio. Engine problems and tyre shake have spoiled his season so far. But the last run at Hockenheim was promising and the Belgian did even better at Drachten where he set a new track record. All the problems seemed to have gone and Bellio was faster than he had been all season. If he can show the same form at Santa Pod, the Belgian can go for a win. It’s good to see Dezsoe Krivan back on track again. Hockenheim was the Swiss driver’s first race in three years but it looked as though he had never been out of competition at all. Krivan left Germany without damaging parts so he will be back for his second race of the season at Santa Pod. The championship is back in England so of course Stephanie Milam is back on track. She might not be the favourite to win the race but, as we have seen at the Main Event, in drag racing anything is possible. That’s also what Larsen, Nagel and Grødem will be thinking.