Duncan Micallef from Malta raced to victory in the Top Fuel final of round four of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at the HockenheimRing, Germany. It was the third consecutive win for the driver from Malta this season. Micallef defeated Jndia Erbacher who advanced to the final in her first Top Fuel race ever. In Top Methanol home favourite Timo Habermann had a bye run in the final when Sandro Bellio suffered mechanical problems short before the start of the run. Reigning champion Michael Gullqvist was the winner in Pro Modified, while in Pro Stock Stefan Ernryd won his first FIA European Championship race after defeating championship leader Bengt Ljungdahl.

It was a great day of racing with exciting eliminations and great elapsed times at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the German HockenheimRing.

In Top Fuel FIA European Championship leader Duncan Micallef from Malta was the big winner of round four of the FIA European Championship. The Rune Fjeld Motorsport driver defeated reigning champion Anita Mäkelä in the first round in 3.99 seconds, the first 3-second run of the weekend, while Antti Horto and Stig Neergaard, the numbers two and three in the championship, both lost their first round. In the semifinal Micallef recorded 3.96 seconds to defeat number one qualifier and RFM team mate Liam Jones (3.99 seconds) to advance to the final. In the final Micallef had to face Jndia Erbacher, the rookie Top Fuel driver from Switzerland. Erbacher surprised former champion Michael Kågered in the semifinal and advanced to the final in her first official Top Fuel race. But in the final Micallef once again proved his great form and with 3.99 seconds, the Maltese driver recorded his third 3.9-second in a row. Micallef extended his lead in the championship and is still undefeated this season.

In Top Methanol number one qualifier Timo Habermann advanced to the final after the former champion defeated reigning FIA European Top Methanol Dragster champion Jonny Lagg in the semifinal. Sandro Bellio, the number two qualifier, stormed to a stunning 5.50 seconds in the semifinal to defeat Dennis Habermann. This was a new personal best for the young Belgium driver, who won his debut FIA Top Methanol race at Tierp Arena in June. But in the final Bellio had to shut off his Funny Car after the burn out when the crew saw there was something wrong with the engine. In a bye run Timo Habermann stormed to a great 5.30 seconds to take the win in his home race and extend his lead in the championship.

There was a major upset in the first round in Pro Modified as David Vegter, the number two qualifier and number two in the championship as well, pulled a red light. Number one qualifier Jimmy Ålund didn’t make a mistake and advanced to the semifinal, where the 10-time Pro Stock champion had to face Michael Gullqvist. After a difficult qualifying the reigning champion was back to form just in time and defeated Kim Kristiansen in the quarter final in a stunning 5.89 seconds. Gullqvist repeated the 5.89-second run in an extremely close semifinal to defeat Ålund (5.91 seconds). In the final Gullqvist had to face Håkan Persson. It was the first final for the Swede in an FIA European Championship race. With a string of 6.00-second runs, Persson defeated Marck Harteveld and Bruno Bader. In the final Persson once again recorded an elapsed time of 6.00 seconds, but this time it was not enough to beat Gullqvist, who recorded a winning 5.93 seconds and extended his lead in the championship.

In Pro Stock the numbers one and two qualifiers, Bengt Ljungdahl and Stefan Ernryd didn’t make any mistakes and defeated Robert Norén and Michael Malmgren. In the final Ernryd surprised with a win over the so far undefeated 2017 championship leader. It was the first FIA European Championship win for Ernryd since he made his debut in the class last year.

Just one week later, Antti Horto from Finland raced to victory in the Top Fuel final of round five of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at Tierp Arena, Sweden. It was the first win for the young Finnish driver this season, who is also the number two in the championship standing at this moment. In Top Methanol Sandro Bellio won for the second consecutive time at Tierp Arena, as the young Belgian driver won the first Top Methanol race of his career in June at the same track. Reigning Pro Modified champion Michael Gullqvist was the winner in his category and also reset the European record to 5.834 seconds. In Pro Stock 10-time FIA European champion Jimmy Ålund defeated Stefan Ernryd in the final and took the win.

The FIA European Drag Racing Championship has one of its best seasons ever as it was another great day of racing with exciting eliminations and great elapsed times at Tierp Arena, the state-of-the-art drag race facility north of Stockholm, Sweden. The Dico Internationals was the fifth and penultimate round of the FIA European Championship.

There were several major upsets in the first round of eliminations in Top Fuel. Championship leader Duncan Micallef and still reigning champion Anita Mäkelä had to face each other several times this season and every time the Maltese driver was the winner. But at Tierp the Finnish fan favourite won. It was the first time this season that Micallef lost an elimination round! Stig Neergaard, the number three in the championship, couldn’t stop his car after the burn out and saw Michael Kågered take the win light. Antti Horto, the number two in the championship, bounced back after a difficult qualifying and defeated Jndia Erbacher in the first round, to improve to a great 3.99 seconds to beat Mäkelä in the semifinal. In the final the young Finnish driver had to face Kågered, who took the win in the second semifinal when Liam Jones’ (the number one qualifier) chutes deployed in the burn out. Horto was in a class of his own in the final as the Finn recorded another 3.99 seconds to take the win, his first win of the 2017 season. Horto closed the gap in the championship to Micallef and the Finn still has a fair chance to win the title in England.

In Top Methanol Sandro Bellio was the man to beat in eliminations. In the first round the Belgian driver defeated Jonny Lagg in a great 5.52 seconds, to improve to a stunning 5.44 seconds in the semifinal against Dennis Habermann. The 5.44 seconds is one the quickest elapsed times ever in Europe! In the final Bellio had to face championship leader Timo Habermann. Bellio lost traction at the start line, but could come back and win when the German driver suffered mechanical problems. The Dico Internationals was Bellio’s third Top Methanol race ever and the Belgian driver scored two wins (at Tierp) and one runner-up finish!

Eliminations in Pro Modified at Tierp Arena were record setting, with several 5.8 elapsed times and side-by-side 5.9 and 5.8-second runs. There were two major upsets in the first round as David Vegter and Roger Johansson, the numbers four and five qualifiers, were both defeated. The numbers one, two and three qualifiers, Åke Persson, Jimmy Ålund and Michael Gullqvist did extremely well and all advanced to the semifinals. Persson had no problems to defeat the surprise semifinalist Freddy Fagerström, but the run between Ålund and Gullqvist was stunning, as Ålund recorded 5.88 seconds, but was beaten by Gullqvist’s 5.86 seconds. In the final the reigning champion even stepped up and ran 5.834 seconds, a new European record, to defeat Persson (5.96 seconds). Gullqvist recorded four 5.8-second runs in eliminations and extended his lead in the championship.

In Pro Stock there was a major upset in the first round of eliminations when championship leader Bengt Ljungdahl was defeated by Stefan Ernryd, the number two in the championship standing. Ernryd improved to a great 6.59 seconds in the semifinal to defeat Richard Sundblom, the number three qualifier from Finland. In the final Ernryd had to face Jimmy Ålund, the number one qualifier and 10-time European Pro Stock champion. After 6.55 seconds in the semifinal, Ålund improved to a great 6.53 seconds in the final, to defeat Ernryd, who came close with a great 6.58 seconds. With his runner-up finish, Ernryd closed the gap to championship leader Ljungdahl and can still win his first European championship at Santa Pod.

The FIA European Drag Racing Championship continues in two weeks time with the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, England, September 7-10.

For full results click here.