Going rounds has become a habit for Micallef and the finals yielded the aforementioned semi-final finish, a whole pile of broken motor bits, a new PB ET wise with a pair of 4.02s (a best of 4.0278 in defeating RFM stablemate Tethys in the opening round), a new personal TS mark with a 306.95mph on a nighttime qualifying shot and a fourth place finish in the championship. The Maltese racer is now on the sponsorship hunt to build on this positive return from his first full season in the Top Fuel ranks.

It has been quite a year for Kågered with the Bacho Tools rail either on fire, or going rounds, or a combination of the two. The Finals only delivered the round win (over Stig Neergaard), but this ensnared second spot in the championship and came with new best ET figures of 4.1114 in the 1000 foot era.

Although not a contender in the points thanks to the shoulder injury that resulted from the rather rapid descent from the trailer in setting up the pit area at the start of the season, the Lucas Oil/African Oil Products backed Chris Andrews ended the year with his first three second clocking (a 3.9795/290.42) to put him second on the ladder behind Nataas. The first round of eliminations didn’t go to script as shake and a pedal resulted in the flourishing of the chutes on Andrews’ mount against Erbacher, preventing a re-run of his win at the Euro Finals last year.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster
1. Thomas Nataas      (Nor)                3.9499/316.40 mph     winner
2. Chris Andrews        (UK)                3.9705/290.42 mph     1st round
3. Duncan Micallef      (Ma)                4.0285/303.05 mph     semi-final
4. Stig Neergaard        (Den)               4.1001/254.28 mph     1st round
5. Micke Kågered       (Swe)              4.2509/264.69 mph     semi-final
6. Tethys                     (UK)                4.6771/171.09 mph     1st round
7. Urs Erbacher          (CH)                6.1273/131.38 mph     runner up

Low ET            3.9499 secs     Nataas
Top speed       316.40 mph     Nataas

Although she didn’t manage to complete licensing in time to put in a qualifying shot, Gabrielle Macdonald carded a 4.1139/266.55 pass in out of competition testing on the Sunday to complete her transition from the Junior Dragster ranks and the 21 year old is now on the hunt for sponsorship as Ireland’s quickest.