Peter Svensson arrived in Florida a week prior to the race and was producing stout numbers in testing until the unique Billet racing machine shed the cam belt just prior to the event. This caused a not inconsiderable amount of damage and placed Team Starta will a whole host of issues to overcome and restricted them to a single shot in qualifying. This wasn’t bad (a 5.806 at only 217mph – we’re getting blasé about 5.80s a sign of how far the likes of Svensson and McBride are pushing the envelope) and gained Svensson a place in the MTC 5 Second Club (awarded for runs in North America so fives in Europe don’t count). However, the clutch suffered major damage that involved a 2.30am finish for the team after a tour of machine shops in the Tampa/Bradenton area with the crucial assistance coming from Roaring Toyz in Sarasota. First round of eliminations was a bye, and a sluggish 6.251/215 was the result of only a single mag firing, so yet more work was required for the semifinal round against David Vantine and a 5.970/212.26 drove around Vantine’s quicker leave although there was a brief heart in the mouth moment as Svensson ran off into the grass on the side of the Bradenton shutdown area. This set up the match-up with McBride, and, although a 6.022/199 didn’t quite deliver the side-by-side five that was seemingly on the cards, it provided plenty of food for thought and surely we’ve got to see a rematch on Svensson’s turf in Europe; a fully fledged Top Fuel Bike World Championship would be something to admire if the timing and pricing could be made right.

Former Pro Mod standout, Vantine completed his first season onboard the Pollard Motorsports Puma in reasonable shape given the new crew that owner Greg Pollard has assembled around Vantine. Third spot in qualifying with a 6.254 came with the top speed during the preliminaries at 222.44 mph, although a couple of passes had noticeable wobbles at the 100 foot mark, but a first round match up with Sam Wills saw a consistent 6.246/216.60 light the win light in Vantine’s lane and his first round win on a nitro bike. This set up a daunting match-up with the Swedish flyer at the semi-final stage, and a holeshot coupled with Vantine’s PB ET of a 6.149/219.08 kept Svensson honest for his win.