Will King be crowned at Santa Pod?
Championship to be decided on home soil
Ian King and his Gulf Racing Top Fuel Motorcycle will take an overall points lead into the final round of the FIM/UEM European Top Fuel Bike Championship at Santa Pod.
However, NitrOlympX at the Hockenheimring, Germany was to be a disappointing penultimate event for King as a cam chain broke mid-track during his first qualifier. He was forced to coast to the finish line without power as a result.
Closer inspection revealed that a number of valves had been badly damaged and required replacing, which would be an impossible task at such short notice.
Not wishing to disappoint the fans and up against veteran multiple British Champion Steve Woollatt in the first elimination round, King decided to risk complete engine devastation by unleashing full power from mid-track on.
Unfortunately, the bike suffered a steering wobble, forcing King to roll off the throttle before winding the power back on and chasing Woollatt to the finish. He passed his opponent a few inches after the chequered flag in what was a thrilling race – the agonising margin of defeat was 0.046 seconds.
The result leaves King at the top of the leaderboard, but with his lead cut from 40 points to a nerve-wracking seven from Sweden’s Peter Svensson, meaning the fate of the Championship now rests on its final weekend.
The 2011 FIA European Finals take place at the famous Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire from 8th – 11th September.
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