Pleasing to see was the return of Europe's quickest and fastest Fueller, the ex-Kim Reymond 4.64/317 car having been owned by fellow Dane Rene Hersland since Reymond called it quits in 2003. The Autobremsen backed entry made it's first appearance on the FIA tour at the Main Event and more track time this season will hopefully propel Hersland towards competitive numbers (a 5.87 best left him last in the ten car field) with a cure for tireshake enabling a full pull.
Having rattled and shaken their way through the past couple of season, the Bavarian Thunder team of Peter Schofer appear to have found something on a fact finding trip to the States over the winter. The shakes are still there, but greatly reduced in ferocity, and Schofer was able to drive through them to record a 5.719/251 to qualify third in the field. He then dropped into the mid fives with a 5.518/255 to defeat Krister Johansson's A/Fuel entry, a 5.504/256 holeshot victory over long time rival Dave Wilson's 5.481 in the semis, and a event Low ET 5.460/258 to claim the event title over low qualifier Rob Turner to record their first eliminations victory in far too long.
With new backing from the Swedish Armed Forces, Leif Andreasson is another Methanol racer to have been battling with severe shakes over the past couple of seasons. They certainly hadn't gone away in some wild qualifying efforts (the car bouncing like crazy over the second half of the track on a number of occasions, including one trip over the
centreline) but a 5.9 put them second in the slightly depleted field. A
5.803 on a semi-final solo and a 5.773/245 to take the event win over Ulf Leanders (who had low qualified with a 5.85 and set low ET at 5.772 for the class in the semis) gave Leif the relief of not having to reach for the headache tablets.
