Both the Nitro Nationals and the Nitrolympx are important races to anyone competing in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships as they begin the close of the season. RF Motorosport was looking to capitalize on these events and bring home plenty of points.
After Tierp arena, round 2, Risto was in 2nd position behind points leader Tommy Johnson Jr (trailing by 32 points) and Jari Halinen was in 7th (trailing 6th position Timo Lehtimaki by 20 points).
Nitro Nationals – Alastaro, Finland
Q1 saw both Risto and Jari overpower the track around half-track, and coasting to a finish. Antti managed a decent benchmark of 4.27 seconds.
Q2 was rained out half way through due to a huge thunderstorm, meaning the whole session is cancelled.
Q3 saw Jari lay down a 4 second pass and for now, secures him a place in the show tomorrow. Risto was up in smoke again at half-track.
The weather repeated itself for Q4 with another huge thunderstorm, and was subsequently cancelled, leaving Risto out of the show.
After qualifying Antti, Jari and Risto are positioned 1st, 7th and 9th respectively.
Antti defeated Andy Carter in round one, and Jari lost out to Timo Lehtimaki. Risto, as first alternate was pushed back to the pits.
The semi-finals saw Antti defeat Hakan Fallstrom and proceed to the finals to face Tommy Johnson Jr.
Unfortunately Antti red-lit in the final and so Tommy Johnson Jr took the event win.
Nitrolympx – Hockenheim, Germany
NHRA’s Mike Domagala, crew-chief for Clay Millican’s Parts Plus Top Fuel Dragster is helping out in the RF Motorsport pits this weekend.
Shelley Pearson is driving the orange Spitzer car at the night show on Saturday night with Anita Makela.
Q1 saw both Risto and Jari go up in smoke as they try to gauge the track’s traction.
Q2 again saw both RFM drivers up in smoke again and coasting to the stripe.
Q3 Jari hits shake early in this session and shuts the car off, not improving his current time. He is bumped down to 10th spot after the end of the session. Risto this time under power up to the 1000ft mark where the blower belt was lost. The Bad to the Bone dragster crossed the stripe in 5.05 seconds, good enough for number 5 spot after Q3.
Q4 an important round for Jari, who unfortunately overpowered the track early, and was unable to improve on his 10th position. Risto again begins well, before smoking the tires in the second half of the track.
Risto stays 5th after qualification with Jari in 10th position and out of the show.
Elimination round one saw Risto red-light against Timo Lehtimaki, who would go through to face Thomas Nataas in the semi-finals.
After the close of FIA Round 4, the points standings had Tommy Johnson Jr leading (although currently in the process of appeal after a suspension from racing). 2nd place in the ladder remains very open with less than 25 points separating 5 racers. Risto Poutiainen is currently placed 4th and Jari in 9th as we approach the European Finals at Santa Pod.
