The eight-car field had already lost one entry before the first qualifying session had finished. Janne Ahonen had been obliged to shut off the engine and when it was fired up again, the nitro in the engine exploded. Thanks to all the safety equipment on the car, nobody was seriously hurt. One crewmember suffered perforated eardrums and another had a cut in his arm. The engine was so badly damaged the popular Finn did not come back and his Main Event was over practically before it had started.



Without an American tuner but with Robin Grice as crew chief, the Erbacher team showed strongly on their Santa Pod comeback by running 4.754sec/319.31mph/513.88kph in their second qualifying attempt. The Main Event was the first outing for Risto Poutiainen in Brandon Bernstein’s former spare car (no runs at all on the chassis). The Rune Fjeld-tuned car ran well at 4.801 seconds to take second spot on the qualifying ladder. A 4.851sec ET gave Stig Neergaard the number three spot and, at 4.99 seconds, Micke Kågered was the fourth driver under five seconds. After two aborted runs, reigning champion Andy Carter found himself back in seventh spot.

In the first round of eliminations, Poutiainen showed that he had made the right decision to buy a new car. The Finn ran a strong 4.88sec at an even better 319.25mph/513.78kph and left Carter far behind. But the Lucas Oil driver and his Andersen Racing team will do all they can to strike back in Finland. Number five qualifier Anita Mäkelä had to face Neergaard in the first round. Huge flames were evidence of the Finnish driver’s problems but she managed to keep in front of the Dane, who also had difficulties of his own getting his car to the finish line. While only a fuel line had come adrift, leaving the engine undamaged, the Finnish crew had to work hard to replace burned wiring and get the car back in time for the semi-final. There Mäkelä had to race fellow countryman Poutiainen but a small oil leak after the burnout forced her to shut off, giving Poutiainen an easy solo into the final.



On the other side of the elimination ladder, Kågered and Jari Halinen both had problems and coasted to the finish line, the Swede taking the win light in 5.789 seconds to face Erbacher in the semi-final. The Swiss showed speed and consistency putting 4.785sec on the scoreboard and leaving a troubled Kågered (6.455sec) behind. As it should, the final featured the two quickest drivers of the meeting, Erbacher and Poutiainen.



The Swiss team showed how much they had learned in the States, hitting a fine 4.785sec/314.87mph/506.73kph to establish the new European speed record and take the win over Poutiainen, who suffered problems and rolled to the finish in 8.056 seconds.

FIA TOP FUEL
Winner:   Urs Erbacher  (CH)

	QUALIFYING:		ET	MPH	KPH
1	Urs Erbacher	CH	4.7584	319.31	513.88
2	Risto Poutiainen	FIN	4.8013	292.71	471.07
3	Stig Neergaard	SWE	4.8519	95.09	153.03
4	Micke Kågered	SWE	4.9918	247.84	398.86
5	Jari Halinen	FIN	5.0901	88.56	142.52
6	Anita Mäkelä	FIN	5.7876	171.09	275.34
7	Andy Carter	GBR	8.0146	12.70	20.54

ELIMINATIONS:

Round 1:
Urs Erbacher 11.4880/77.34 bye
Risto Poutiainen 4.8891/319.25 def. Andy Carter 6.3345/167.92
Micke Kågered 5.7890/158.52 def. Jari Halinen 5.9735/158.50
Anita Mäkelä 7.8039/109.09 def. Stig Neergaard 7.8680/105.70

Round 2:
Urs Erbacher 4.7851/278.73 def. Micke Kågered 6.4550/132.94
Risto Poutiainen 10.9068/70.96 bye, Anita Mäkelä shut off

Final
Urs Erbacher 4.7852/314.87 def. Risto Poutiainen 8.0560/97.96


Low Elapsed Time of the Meet:    4.7548 seconds – Urs Erbacher
Top Speed of the Meet:    319.31mph / 513.88 kph – Urs Erbacher
New European Speed Record: 314.87 mph / 506.73 kph - Urs Erbacher