The Friday of the NitrolympX 2023 starts with loud thunder. Unfortunately, at first not from thundering engines, but from a cloudy sky that provides a track wash in the early morning hours. For the first time, the experienced track crew of the Hockenheimring prove their worth, because punctually at lunchtime, both the Rico Anthes Quatermile and the longest run-out of the European Drag Racing Championship are dry and ready to race. And the 223 teams from 15 countries tackle the first qualification. The first loudly cheered highlight was delivered by Markus Welte in his four-wheel drive 2 Series Golf in the Super Pro ET class. Hardly anyone in the packed stands expected a 7.50 at more than 300 km/h. Huge cheers and applause for this performance. And there it is – that unique NitrolynpX atmosphere. Drag racing in the Motodrom with a mixture of stadium and festival atmosphere.
The other qualifying runs of the Sportsman classes went quickly and without incident. So it is soon time for the wildest hot rods with doors: FIA Pro Modified. The very first round shows the quality of the 17 starters. Three drivers make it into the 5 times straight away. And to be in the top 8 at the end of the day, after round 2 of qualifying, you need a 6.0. Top class! Reigning champion Jan Ericsson in the orange Camaro goes into Saturday as the top qualifier. With 5.970 seconds and 392 km/h he is fastest at the finish. However, only by a blink of an eye.
The FIA championship race in Tierp / Sweden a fortnight ago unfortunately caused big sacrifices in terms of material for some teams. As a result, the Top Methanol field has been decimated to six participants. And thus still the biggest field of the year in Europe. Here, too, the reigning champion Sandro Bellio from Belgium is in the lead after the first day. But his biggest rival this season, Germany’s Silvio Strauch in a supercharged dragster, is close on his heels.
In the top class Top Fuel, for the first time in history, there is a 100% female starting field. Top Fuel in Europe has been the class in which most women compete in drag racing since the 90s. And very successfully. The last few years have been firmly in female hands and one thing is certain: the three power women who pilot their 10,000 hp bolides down the Rico Anthes Quatermile know exactly what the Hockenheim audience expects. Jndia Erbacher from Switzerland leads the ladies into Saturday. Her 4.14 leaves room for improvement for the second qualifying day. Susanne Callin from Sweden and Ida Zetterström from Finland will also attack the three before the decimal point. It promises to be a hot Saturday.
In the bike category, the fields are full and top-class. In the Super Twin Top Fuel and Pro Stock Bike classes of the FIM-E Championship, the biggest fields of the season will be at the start. The two-cylinder Nitro Bikes will again be dominated in 2023 by the Dane Marcus Christiansen on his unique self-built bike. At the Hockenheimring, he outpaced the rest of the field by almost half a second.
But the fastest man on two wheels in the Top Fuel Bike class is the Swede Rikard Gustafson. He crossed the finish line in 6.04 seconds and at an unbelievable 392 km/h. The crazy thing about it is that this is the fastest time of the day. The crazy thing about it: There’s still something to be done! Rikard regularly catapults his bike into the 5s. The declared goal for Saturday.
The Super Street Bikes bring the closest field of bikes to the start. Already at the end of the first day, there is only a tenth of a second between 1st place in the qualification and 4th place. Mathias Bohlin from Sweden leads the field of nine nations with a 6.92.
On Saturday, it’s all up for grabs for the first time. If you want to be in the race on Sunday, you have to take your chances in the qualifying on Saturday. And in the afternoon at the latest, in the last qualification, the tension rises to the absolute boiling point. It will be decided who will take part, who will push who out of the starting field at the last second, and who will have to pack up early and head home. And after the first sporting highlights, the show highlight par excellence follows. The unique Saturday Night Show. A festival of fire, performance, smoke and thunder – on Saturday evenings at the Motodrom – 100% of the thunder comes from the engines!
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