The French Drag Racing Championship kicked off at Clastres Raceway with the 29th European dragster weekend for the categories: Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Super Comp, Supergas, Street Run, and Junior Dragster. The weather gods were not at our side today as the day started cold and rainy. The track crew did their best to clean the track, and the first qualifications for the Juniors and True Street just started when we got blessed by another shower. It also rained briefly in the afternoon, but the track crew dried it quickly, and nearly all categories completed 3 qualification rounds (only Junior Dragster and True Street completed four rounds). Top qualifiers at the end of the first day are Lucas Potthoff (SPET), Bruno Chamagne (PET), Janine Petzold (SC), Marianne Wisotzke (SG), Simone Pagani (SR), and Mia Thoma (JrD).
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Text: Benjamin Wefer,
Pictures: Benjamin Wefer,
Lucas Potthoff stormed in 7.7511 seconds at 278 km/h (7.74 index) to claim the number one spot during today’s last round of qualification in Super Pro ET (SPET). Qualification was tough for the SPET competitors, but Potthoff, the reigning French champion, still managed a 7.75-second run. Laurent Arnaud is the second qualifier with a 7.935-second run at 283 km/hrs on a 7.91 index. Patrick Dubois is currently third with 7.983 seconds at 296 km/hrs on a 7.95 index.
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Lucas Potthoff |
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Patrick Dubois |
Laurent Arnaud |
Notably, Stefan Eisenhauer returned to Clastres Raceway after an accident in 2023 in his sixties Chevrolet Camaro. Good to see him back in the red Camaro.
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Bruno Chamage is the number one qualifier in Pro ET (PET) after three rounds of qualification. The French driver managed to clock a 10.705-second run at 203 km/hrs in Q2 on a 10.70 index and maintained his lead in Q3. Clair-Ange Renard is in second with a 10.858 seconds on a 10.85 index. While Chamage was 0.005 seconds away from his index, Ranard was 0.008 seconds away from a perfect run. Third place is Peter Stevans. The Dutch driver from the Velocity Racing team clocked a 9.111-second run at 236 km/h in his Blue Angel Ford Mustang (9.10 index).
Janine Petzold from Schumann-Motorsport claimed the number one spot in SuperComp (SC). The German competitor claimed the number one spot in Q1 already with an 8.911-second run at 260 km/h. Although she couldn’t improve her time, this was enough to maintain her lead throughout the day. Kenneth Celestin is currently second after three rounds of qualification. The Curacao/Dutch competitor clocked an 8.918 seconds at 246 in Q1. Although he couldn’t improve his time, it was good enough to keep the number two spot. Cheyenne Visser from Gremlin Racing Team is sitting in third place with an 8.940-second run at 250 km/hrs. After breaking out in Q1 and Q2, the young Dutch driver got the hang of it and ran pretty close to the class index of 8.90 seconds.
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Janine Petzold |
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Kenneth Celestin |
Cheyenne Visser |
In the category Super Gas (SG), it is Marianne Wisotzke who claimed the number one spot with a 9.923-second run at 220 km/hrs in Q3. With this run, Wisotzke pushed Philip Daud to the number two spot. Daud ran a 9.972-second run at 228 km/hrs in Q1, but couldn’t improve his time throughout the day. Maximilian Scharnagi qualified in third place with a 10.107-second run at 216 km/hrs, therefore running 0.2 seconds away from the class index of 9.90!
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Marianne Wisotzke |
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Philip Daud |
Scharnagi |
After four qualification rounds, it is Simon Pagani who claimed the number one spot in Street Run. The Italian competitor managed to stay ahead of the competition by qualifying with a 12.901 seconds at 164 km/hrs on a 12.90 index, therefore 0.001 seconds away from a perfect run. Maxime Chevaillaud is second with 12.993 seconds on a 12.97-second index. Dimitri van Hoo Landt qualified in third place. Reining champion in True Street, Laurent Arnoud qualified in sixth place with 12.16 at 180 km/hrs on a 12.05 index.
Junior Dragster competitors are the only ones who qualify by reaction time, not elapsed time. Mia Thoma from Switzerland was the one to beat during the first day of the 29th European Dragster. Mia left the start line in 0.00063 of a second, which was the absolute best for the day. The second-best reaction time was made by Dutch competitor Sam Timmers. Felix Schmid qualified in third place with 0.009 reaction time.
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Mia Thoma |
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Sam Timmers |
Felix Schmid |
The first day of the 29th European Dragster was cold and wet, but the track crew still managed to get the track into running condition, and most categories ran at least three qualification rounds. In addition to the competing classes, several RWYB moments were available for participants to run and test anything they had. The forecast for tomorrow isn’t looking good, but let’s hope the weather gods are on our side and we can have some eliminations. Stay tuned and enjoy the media gallery. The gallery will be updated soon with all the pictures from the first day.
MEDIA GALLERY
