NitrOlympX
FIM-E Drag Racing Championship – Round Three
Hockenheimring, Germany
August 21^st – 23^rd, 2026

Curfew knocks the NitrOlympX out before the finals are completed

Words and photos by Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes 

A drama packed final day at Hockenheim kicked off with a third qualifier for FIM-E Super Street Bike before heading into eliminations across the five classes. Unfortunately, the upshot would be that a combination of scheduling quirks, a lengthy oil down and the local curfew would conspire to bring the event to a premature conclusion with all the finalists gathered in the staging lanes.

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FIM-E Super Street Bike

With more plot twists than a HBO season, FIM-E Super Street Bike seemed to be the eliminator where no one wanted to grab hold of the championship. First up, championship leader Jake Mechaell spat a gearbox out on the additional early morning qualifier to end his day before it had started. Next up team-mates Ioannis Lampropoulus and Ioannis Martzaklis went out at the quarter-final stage, which gave Daniel Donat Lencses the opportunity to cash in big time after running the class best figures of 6.772/220 in the opening stanza although a spinning but winning high seven in the quarters was an indication that things wouldn’t be straightforward.

And so it would prove, semifinals and although the Hungarian got the jump at the lights, opponent Dimitrios Kontarinis found a fine time to produce his first six second run with a 6.932 getting past Lencses slowing 7.097. On the bottom half of the ladder number two qualifier Aggelos Semertzidis benefitted from Lampropoulus failure to start in the quarters, but came up short against Alan Morrison Jnr in the semi in a 7.037 to 7.169 match. The final therefore would have pitted Morrison Jnr (twice European champion and previous NitrOlympX winner) against the Greek in his first year on the FIM-E tour.

FIM-E Top Fuel Bike

FIM-E Top Fuel Bike saw first round wins for Luke Farrugia (staged on his bye), Kari Rautanen (over Thomas Pettersson), Stuart Crane (in a 6.370 to a 6.483 match with Rene van den Berg) and Mark Smith (6.856 to a lose out 6.966 from Glenn Borg). Farrugia dropped significantly off his qualifying pace with a 6.846 to defeat Rautanen’s 7.2 at the semi-final stage, while Crane handily defeated team mate Smith on the other side of the ladder with a 6.320. The final would have been another all Warpspeed match-up but that will have to wait for another day.

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FIM-E Super Twin

Only four bikes made it to eliminations for FIM-E Super Twin, the ladder being reduced after Chris van Nimmen’s wall banger yesterday which broke his foot and looks likely to have curtailed the Belgian’s season, leaving Christian Jager on the outside. Marcus Christiansen somewhat inevitably made his way to the final a smart 6.146/227 win over Roman Sixta, while Anders Jensen dealt with Martin Bühler with a 6.905. The all Danish final would have been a first for FIM-E competition, and between the first and second place in the points. Unfortunately, we won’t get a go at running the pairing at the Finals as Jensen will have to skip that event, but there is the prospect of something special from Christiansen with the championship done and dusted.

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FIM-E Pro Stock Bike

Quite a weekend for Bertrand Maurice and the Light Speed Suzuki team after thinking about retiring at the end of last season, the return to action saw him low qualify, set low ET and top speed and book a spot in the final of FIM-E Pro Stock Bike. The French former champion defeated compatriot David Simon in the opener with a 7.134/186 and then Martin Bishop with a consistent 7.199 to make the un-run final. He was due to face Karl Heinz Weikum, the German rider getting back towards some degree of form with a pair of 7.2s to defeat Jerome Rougemont and championship leader Joerg Lymant.

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FIM-E Junior Bike

Incoming points leader Harry Isaacs did his prospect of taking this year’s FIM-E Junior Drag Bike a lot of good by making it to the NitrOlympX final, especially when he accounted for Hollie King at the semi-final stage. His opponent was due to be Leah Morrison, in line for her second NitrOlympX title in a row after taking out last year’s Cup champ Alia Lester in the penultimate round of eliminations.

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For Event information and results, check out the Virtual Noticeboard – CLICK HERE.

And so the tour moves on to the Euro Finals in three weeks’ time, it’s bound to be more straightforward, surely.

Farrugia sets European best, Martzaklis, Christiansen, Maurice and King join as low qualifiers

words and photos by Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes

With the loss of all FIM-E qualifying yesterday, Saturday saw three rounds completed for some slotted in between showers that caused some nervousness when it split the second FIM-E Super Street Bike session. The class also missed their third session (along with the Juniors) due to the track curfew ahead of the night show, which led to a somewhat heated startline discussion and the close of play.

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FIM-E Top Fuel Bike

FIM-E Top Fuel Bike, shorn of all but one nitro bike, was spectacular nonetheless when Luke Farrugia ripped off a 6.146/221 with the Checkmate Maltese Suzuki to grab the quickest Funnybike outside of North America bragging rights from Warpspeed team mate Stuart Crane. Crane slotting in at two on the qualifying sheets with a 6.477 with the third member of the team Mark Smith in at three with a 6.618, seven bikes in total putting in qualifying efforts.

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FIM-E Super Street Bike

FIM-E Super Street Bike continued its run of dramatic and tension filled events. This time focused on the rain coming down just after the start of the second session, which left some big hitters in danger of missing the field, fortunately the rain ceased and on resumption the field was led by Ioannis Martzaklis with a 6.793/215 (the first pole for the Casper Racing outfit) with his compatriot Aggelos Semestzidis in second with a 6.878/214 (the first one-two for Greece in FIM-E drag bike history). Alan Morrison posted top speed on his 6.895/218 in the second session for third spot, while Daniel Donat Lencses (6.928), points leader and reigning champion Jake Mechaell (6.938) and Simon Giordmaina (6.997) completed the six in the sixes. Championship chasing Ioannis Lampropoulos was able to breathe a sigh of relief when qualifying resumed although a block threatening 7.001 probably did little for his blood pressure at the time. When the class got bounced for their third session there was still a lot to play for so we’ll see the outcome tomorrow.

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FIM-E Super Twin

FIM-E Super Twin Bike has a degree of familiarity with Marcus Christiansen comfortably leading the field with a 6.231/222 with his fellow Dane Anders Jensen in second with a new personal best of 6.791 which was almost matched by Switzerland’s Martin Bühler who is also on personal best form with a 6.808. Roman Sixta and Christian Jager round out the field, with Chris van Nimmen DNQ after tapping the reflectors and then the wall on his two attempts.

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FIM-E Pro Stock Bike

Nine riders attempted to qualify for the eight bike FIM-E Pro Stock Bike eliminator. A returning Bertrand Maurice made it look like he’s never been away taking the class lead with a 7.226 best from the Lightspeed French Suzuki. In second spot is Germany’s Karl-Heinz Weikum, his Suzuki delivering a 7.344 to sit ahead of compatriot and champion points leader Joerg Lymant who had a puzzling day with his Buell with a 7.467 best for third.

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FIM-E Junior Bike

The top of the charts in FIM-E Junior Drag Bike is stacked with the last three Cup holders occupying one through three, led by Hollie King (+0.022 on a 8.40 dial), Leah Morrison (+0.043 on an eight flat) and Alia Lester (+0.078 on a 9.26). Tomorrow’s eliminations will be tight and unpredictable (which we think we’ve mentioned before).

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Rain washes out Friday at the NitrOlympX

Frustration abounds at the NitrOlympX as the forecast rain initially appeared in delicate fashion just as the FIA cars started their first round of qualifying, with only two pairs making it down track, before it progressively got wetter and soaked the strip.  A brief weather window enabled the track crew to get the rest of the cars to run, but the venue curfew curtailed activities without any of the FIM-E competitors making it to the staging lanes. Tomorrow is another day!

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FIM-E Drag Racing Championship Round 3 Preview

One of the biggest events on the European calendar, the NitrOlympX at the storied Rico Anthes Quartermile within the stadium area of the Hockenheimring in Baden Württemberg marks the penultimate round of the 2026 championship chase. As demonstrated in previous years, the outcome of the NitrOlympX can go a long way to determine the destiny of the points titles come the end of the season.

FIM-E Top Fuel Bike

Seven entries in FIM-E Top Fuel Bike with Rene van den Berg being the quickest with his Shark Attack fuel bike (surely destined to crack the fives at some point soon) returning to the championship after skipping Sweden. The pre-Nitro points list is led by Malta’s Luke Farrugia (coming off the back of a win a couple of weeks ago at Tierp) closely followed by Thomas Pettersson (the Swede runner-up to Farrugia at his home event). With a three round ladder for the all run field there is potential for some significant moves in the points.

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FIM-E Super Twin

FIM-E Super Twin features a six bike entry, led in performance and points by Marcus Christiansen and it will take a real surprise to deny the Dane this time around. Those trying include compatriot Anders Jensen who is proving to be a consistent performer on his first time competing at multiple event on the FIM-E tour and Roman Sixta who will be looking for a solid result at the nearest event to his Czech base.

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FIM-E Super Street Bike

An oversubscribed FIM-E Super Street Bike class features nineteen entries looking to make the sixteen bike ladder. A truly multinational field with a lot riding on the outcome and a number of questions posed. First and foremost, can Jake Mechaell hold on to his points lead before heading to his home race at Santa Pod next month, or will he be overtaken by the chasing Greeks in the shape of Casper Racing team-mates Ioannis Lampropoulos and Giannis Martzaklis with a point to prove after Sweden? Not forgetting Hungary’s Daniel Donat Lencses who is also very much in the points mix and will be looking to add Hockenheim to his gathering collection of class track records.

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FIM-E Pro Stock Bike

Also oversubscribed, 10 entries in FIM-E Pro Stock Bike represents a season’s high with Joerg Lymant leading the championship and will be looking to continue his winning streak back on home soil. A surprise name on the list is twice European champion Bertrand Maurice who makes a welcome return to action for the first time this year. Martin Newbury is the quickest of the assembled field.

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FIM-E Junior Drag Bike

With nine entries in FIM-E Junior Drag Bike (it is a shame that this couldn’t be supplemented with the local entries who are competing in a separate eliminator) there will be discussion about the significance of qualifying and a potential all run field. Harry Isaacs comes into the NitrOlympX with a target on his back after picking up his first FIM-E win at the previous round at Santa Pod back in May.