The 25^th NitrOlympX had all the ingredients to be Europe’s best Top Fuel race ever. Qualifying was exciting and the number one position changed three times to end up with Anita Mäkelä just 0.002sec ahead of Andy Carter. Timo Lehtimäki’s 5.03sec gave the NitrOlympX field the lowest bump spot yet seen in Europe. In the first round of eliminations, the joint leaders in the championship, Risto Poutiainen and Urs Erbacher, had to race each other, the Swiss winning an exciting battle. But yet again, as at the Veidec Festival, rain made it impossible to finish the event.  Erbacher could not strengthen his points lead and, with just the European Finals to go, the gap to Poutiainen is only 18 points, less than one round win! But the fastest man on track was again a lady, Anita Mäkelä!



The 25^th NitrOlympX had two days of outstanding Top Fuel qualifying. In the first session the track was still green and Risto Poutiainen took the lead at 5.307sec. But the second session showed there was more to come. In a storming 4.852sec, Anita Mäkelä took over the lead and showed that her Finnish team was in the same good shape as at Mantorp Park where they had taken ‘pole position’. In Saturday’s third session, Mäkelä ran a 4.88sec, showing the team had found the right, consistent set-up for the Hockenheim track. Then reigning FIA champion Andy Carter improved to 4.851sec, snatching the number one spot by 0.001sec! In the fourth and final session, Mäkelä hit back with a stunning 4.800sec and was number one once more. But with Carter waiting at the start line, things could still have changed. The Lucas Oil driver improved again and a 4.80 lit up the scoreboard! But because a 2 followed the 4.80, Mäkelä took her second number one qualifying position in a row with a margin of just 0.002sec!



A 4.883sec in his second qualifying pass handed Poutiainen the number three spot and, although the Finn was happy with that result, he finished two runs with broken blower belts. After a huge ‘up in smoke’ in round one, tuner John Smith took some power out of Stig Neergaard’s Top Fueler and his 4.937sec in session three was, at the end, sufficient to place the Dane fourth.

There was a strong Hockenheim outing for Janne Ahonen. The Finnish ski jumper’s first run looked great but no time appeared on the scoreboard. Session three, with so many drivers improving their times and breaking the five-second barrier, was perhaps the best Top Fuel session ever. Ahonen ran 4.985sec and took the number five spot. Urs Erbacher was sixth, only 0.001sec behind Ahonen, but the better qualifying position gave Poutiainen the lead in the championship with eliminations still to come.



Jari Halinen was the first one not to break the five second barrier but, with his 5.007sec personal best (also in round three), the Finn landed in seventh place, a much better achievement than his DNQ at Mantorp. Timo Lehtimäki, lying second after the first session and joint number three in the championship, had engine problems and could only improve to 5.03sec.

Thus the 25^th NitrOlympX had the lowest bump spot ever achieved in Europe. The only non-qualifier was Mikael Kågered. After his severe engine explosion at Mantorp, the Swede had installed a new block and bigger oil pump to solve his problems. But a 5.46sec in the second session was his best of the weekend and another engine explosion and big fire brought a swift end to his last qualifying attempt.

 

There were at least two great confrontations in the quarter finals. Erbacher had to race joint championship leader Poutiainen and Mäkelä met joint number three Lehtimäki. And what a race the first one was. Poutiainen had the better reaction time but Erbacher made up ground quickly and, as the Finn moved slightly out of the groove at the top end, the Swiss driver took the win at 4.88 to 5.08sec. Erbacher regained the championship lead with an 18-point advantage and stood to make his position even stronger with a semi-final and, perhaps, the final to come. But the weather was with Poutiainen. The next rounds were cancelled and so he remains only one round behind Erbacher in the championship.



Mäkelä had no problem with fellow Finn Lehtimäki after his Top Fueler failed to fire up. For Mäkelä, the solo pass was no excuse to take it easy and another great run gave her a 4.82sec, the quickest time of the first round. The fans’ favourite was now favourite for the Hockenheim win too. In the semi-final, she should have met Neergaard, who improved to an early shut off 4.91sec to beat Ahonen. In the last quarter-final, Andy Carter kept his championship hopes alive by beating Halinen with another great 4.89sec run. Although he lost, Halinen was still happy because, at 4.97sec, the Finn broke the five-second barrier for the first time and recorded a new personal best. The semi-final between Erbacher and Carter would have been a great one. A win was the only way for Carter to keep himself in genuine championship contention. However, finding himself still 68 points behind Erbacher after the rain-out, he has only a marginal chance. Mäkelä lies third, 55 points behind the Swiss leader.

FIA TOP FUEL

Winner:   Semi-finals and final rained off

	QUALIFYING:		ET	MPH	KPH
1	Anita Mäkelä	FIN	4.800		482.69
2	Andy Carter	GBR	4.802		474.6
3	Risto Poutiainen	FIN	4.883		478.7
4	Stig Neergaard	DEN	4.937		407.9
5	Janne Ahonen	FIN	4.985		480.2
6	Urs Erbacher	CH	4.986		472.1
7	Jari Halinen	FIN	5.007		458.2
8	Timo Lehtimäki	FIN	5.032		466.3
	Alternate:
9	Micke Kågered	SWE	5.466		334.8

ELIMINATIONS:

Round 1:
Anita Mäkelä  4.826/460.78 def. Timo Lehtimäki broke (lost fire)
Stig Neergaard 4.911/392.80 def. Janne Ahonen  5.539/294.99
Andy Carter 4.895/439.35 def. Jari Halinen 4.974/470.97
Urs Erbacher 4.883/482.05 def Risto Poutiainen 5.081/373.49

Round 2:
Rained off

Final
Rained off 

Low Elapsed Time of the Meet: 4.800 seconds – Anita Mäkelä
Top Speed of the Meet: 299.99 mph / 482.69 kph – Anita Mäkelä