FIM-Europe Top Fuel Bike

It’s been quite a year for Ian King and the Gulf Oil/GPO team as they took their seventh Top Fuel Bike championship and their second with the Puma Yamaha that they built from scratch in 2011 and the Euro Finals crowned their season with a new PB of 5.964 coming in qualifying after a stout 6.032 off the trailer. Wins over Rene van den Berg and Filippos Papafilippou (bracketed by a semifinal bye thanks to the short field) came and went in the six twenties and the team are now pondering options for 2014 season.

FIM-Europe Super Twin Bike

In the four race series that the FIM-Europe championship was reduced to for 2013, it really has been boom or bust for Samu Kemppainen. The Finn added the Euro Finals title to the Nitro Nationals one he secured in Alastaro back in July, thanks to redlights from Christian Jäger and Martijn de Haas in the quarters and semis, and a 6.769/206.02 over Vesa Lipponen prevented the latter from overtaking Ronny Aasen in the points. It also put Kemppainen into second spot by a mere two points and he really must be regretting the DNQ at the season opener in Tierp and the first round exit in Germany.