Clastres Raceway, Clastres, France, 26th July 2026: it’s Sunday, meaning race day! But before the elimination started, all competitors got at least one last qualification round. Weather conditions were colder than previous days, with dark clouds. It was dry for most of the day, and spectators were delighted by some thrilling, close races, a jet car demo, and holeshot wins. Bad luck struck in the afternoon when it started to rain, and the organization was forced to cancel remaining elimination runs. Event winners were decided by points earned during qualifying and by how far each racer advanced in the elimination rounds.  The absolute winners of the 31st European Dragsters are Thiery Senges (SPET), Peter Soursas (PET), Didier Billault (SC), Eric Haccoun (SG), Maxime Chevaillaud (SR), and Emily Schaupp (JrD).

Text: Benjamin Wefer
Pictures: Benjamin Wefer

Thiery Senges takes the win at Clastres Raceway in Super Pro E.T. (SPET). Senges went into elimination as the second qualifier (after the number one spot got claimed by Angel Romero), and won the first and second elimination rounds and would have met Sebastien Lajoux in the quarter-finals. Class leader Angel Romero advanced to the second elimination round, where he lost to Fabian Dubois, who advanced to the quarter-finals. Stefan Eisenhauer, Lucas Potthoff and Robert Gassner were still in competition, next to Dubois, Lajoux and Senges. As points decided the winners, Senges took the win, followed by Potthoff in second, Eisenhauer in third, and Lajoux in fourth.

Thiery Senges

Lucas Potthoff

Stefan Eisenhauer

Peter Soursas takes the win in Pro E.T (PET). No changes in the top three after the seventh round of qualification, and it was Carole Weyland, Peter Soursas and Chiara Stanzal in the number one, two and three. Soursas won E1 from Laurent Claes and advanced to the second round when he won from Steven Loisel, where he left the tree in 0.030 seconds (vs. 0.134 reaction time for Loisel) and crossed the finish line in 10.263 at 192 km/h on a 10.10 dial-in. For the quarter-final round, it was Katja Krull, Frederic Portier, Bruno Chamagne, Gerard Romero, Alex Voorend, and Jean Luc Arnaud. As points decided the winners, Soursas took the win, followed by Chamagne in second, Romero in third, and Voorend in fourth.

Peter Soursas
Bruno Chamagne Gerard Romero

Didier Billault is the absolute winner of the 31st European Dragster in Supercomp (SC). Didier Billault drove a stunning 8.9030 in Q9 to take the number one spot. Kenneth Celestin and Janine Petzold moved down the list to numbers two and three before elimination started. Unfortunately, the races were rained out before elimination even started for the supercomp competitors; therefore, the qualification standing decided who took the win. Celestin took second place, while Petzold ended up in third place, with Clément Dubios in fourth.

Didier Billault
Kenneth Celestin Janine Petzold

Eric Haccoun takes the win home in SuperGas (SG). After the last qualification round, there were no changes in the top three for SuperGas, with Eric Haccoun, Cedric Limasset, and Marianne Wisotzke in numbers one, two, and three. Unfortunately, Haccoun broke out by 0.01 second (9.882 seconds at 204 km/h) in the first elimination round against Oscar Scappocin and was out of the race. But as the race was canceled and points decided the winners, Haccoun had earned enough points to take the win—Cedric Limasset ended up in second place, with Marianne Wisotzke in third and Oscar Scappocin in fourth.

Eric Haccoun
Cedric Limasset Marianne Wisotzke

Maxime Chevaillaud takes the win in Street Run. After eight rounds of qualification, it was Eric Reitz, Maxime Chevaillaud and Bilal Moulessehoul in the numbers one, two and three. After the first elimination round, Chevaillaud and Reitz were still in the race while Bilal Moulessehoul was eliminated. As points decided the winners, Chevaillaud took the win, followed by Francois Peeters in second, Quentin Steinegger in third place, and Guiluame Boisson in fourth.

Maxime Chevaillaud
Francois Peeters Quentin Steinegger

In Junior Dragster, it is Emily Schaupp who took the win home. After eight rounds of qualification, there were no changes in the top three, with Eleanor Petzold (1st), Tim Fassler (2nd), and Emily Schaupp (3rd). Petzold won the first elimination round against Mia Thoma, but damaged the engine of her dragster and was forced to withdraw from the race. Tim Fassler lost to Loris Wayland in E1, while Schaupp was still in the race in the 1/4 finals. Lenny Faessler, Max Timmers, and Mathilda Habermann were also still in the race besides Schaupp. According to the point standings, Faessler won second place, and Max Timmers finished third.

Emily Schaupp

Max Timmers

The 31st European Dragster started sunny but ended up cold and wet. Spectators were delighted by some thrilling, close races, a jet car demo, and holeshot wins before the race was rained out. We want to congratulate all our winners. To the rest of the racers, keep a positive mindset. Every journey is a learning experience, and you’ll return next time stronger to outdo the competition!

THE MEDIA GALLERY