The battle for second place was a four way affair with possibilities for Thomas Lindström, Michael Malmgren, Sampsa Palos and Richard Sundblom, an evenly matched Sweden versus Finland game was about to take place. Micke Callin’s return to form in Germany could possibly have some effect on this battle, as a spoiler since Micke’s early season troubles have put him in an unaccustomed 6^th place coming into the finals. Micke could not realistically move up the championship by more than a couple of places, since some strong and consistent performers are placed ahead of him. Jan Palmqvist chose not to come to Santa Pod this time round. Currently placed 7^th in the championship, he could not seriously have improved his position, and so decided to stay at home.I suspect “Snowball” will be preparing for 2012. Conrad Stanley had engine damage at Hockenheim, as did Richard “Nixxon” Sundblom and Sampsa Palos, all assure me that the repairs are made and they are ready to race. Conrad will be aiming to qualify out of this ten car field, as will Ulf Wagnhester, but nothing is guaranteed in Pro Stock, so everyone will be aiming to qualify well and avoid the dreaded bump spot. As a bench mark, based on performances so far this season, 6.80 or lower must be where everyone will be aiming.

Friday Q1
In Friday’s first qualifier, we see noticeable problems reading the track and achieving a set up. Santa Pod has had its starting line re laid and the difference from the old track to the new tarmac has everyone at a disadvantage. Ulf Wagnhester was here testing on Wednesday, and seems to have the best of the data early on with a solid 6.98 which has Ulf in the number one spot until the very last pair, when the battle of the car dealer backed teams comes to the line. Thomas Lindström and Jimmy Ålund are backed by rival car dealerships, Jimmy by Klintberg and Way, and Thomas by Ernyrd cars. These two have been battling hard all year since Tierp in June for number one qualifier spots. And today is no different. Jimmy storms to number one spot with a 6.75 whilst Thomas drives to a second place 6.77. Thomas’ run is disqualified though, as one of the crew was still adjusting the wheelie bars when the car went into stage. At the end of Q1, only five cars have gone down the track in times representative of the class. However the fact that Jimmy Ålund has completed a run and passed scrutineering means Jimmy is 2011 FIA Pro Stock Champion.

Summary Qualifications

Friday Q2
Qualifier 2 starts with a bump spot of 28.81, which shows how hard the teams found it to get down the track in the morning. Outside the bump going into Q2 are Thomas Lindström and Sampsa Palos. Sampsa goes cleanly into the pack with a 7.86, but problems finding grip for Thomas and he can only manage a 22.42. In the next pair, instant shake for both cars at the hit for Conrad Stanley alongside team mate Tommy Leindahl. Jonas Dantanus and Michael Malmgren make it down the track in the next pair, Jonas in 6.96, Michael in 7.27. Richard Sundblom and Micke Callin both improve, but Jimmy Ålund and Ulf Wagnhester are both unable to better their times from the morning session.

Saturday Q3
Having run a lot of classes on the new tarmac at the start line, things have improved going into Q3. With a bump spot of 18.40, every pairing puts up representative times for the class. The only driver with a problem is Richard Sundblom who has a damaged starter in the pairing lanes and does not make it round the corner to start. By the end of this round, the bump spot has come down to a far more respectable 6.98. Outside looking in are now Conrad Stanley (7.04) and Tommy Leindahl (7.44)

Saturday Q4
Not all the problems have gone from the track, as four cars suffer tyre shake and loss of traction. Thomas Lindström stops mid track after shake, whilst Micke Callin, Tommy Leindahl and Michael Malmgren try to drive through the shake zone, but cannot manage it. 

Eliminations 1
First elimination pair are Thomas Lindström and Richard Sundblom. This pair are both capable of low ET’s and top speeds, and it is a close race all the way to the stripe with Richard taking the win on a holeshot. Next pair is Michael Malmgren against Sampsa Palos, and Sampsa’s crew are hoping to beat Michael to secure second place in the championship. They do not achieve this as Michael takes the win against a slowing Sampsa, Michael turning quite hard left at the hit, but maintaining control. Micke Callin takes on Jonas Dantanus in the third pair. Jonas goes red handing the win to Micke, who dodged a bullet there as he also makes a hard left turn at the hit, but droves back into the groove to only record a 12 second time A look at the data shows Jonas was 0.3 seconds red there, so indicative of a problem perhaps? The final pairing is Jimmy Ålund against Ulf Wagnhester. The Swedish flags are flying in force in the grandstands today, celebrating Jimmy’s championship win as well as supporting the rest of our Swedish drivers. Ulf gives Jimmy a good race, going .06 on the tree to Jimmy’s .12, but by the 1/8^th mile it is all Jimmy and stays that way through the stripe.

Elimination 2
Jimmy Ålund – Richard Sundblom
After a small staging battle Jimmy got the jump on Richard, but lost traction off the line, tyres spinning to 60ft before going into shake, Jimmy was unable to get it back and Richard took the win

Michael Malmgren – Michael Callin
Micke Callin took the advantage on the tree by five hundredths, and despite a hard right turn and a loose car all the way up the track, Micke was charging hard. Standing next to me at the time was a man waiting for a 2 seat dragster ride who commented that Micke “drove it like he stole it”. Both drivers hitting bad shake, Michael Malmgren had made up two and a half hundredths by the stripe, but the holeshot was enough for Micke.

Elimination 3 Finals
Micke Callin – Richard Sundblom
Both these cars are running brand new DRC3 heads, so this is a historic first in Europe. A bit of messing about in staging as Micke goes straight into full stage trying to pile a bit of pressure onto Richard, but Nixxon has been racing too long to let things like that worry him, taking the tree by two hundredths. Micke had to pedal at 60ft for shake and after that couldn’t catch Nixxon who took the stripe by four tenths, handing Richard second place in the championship.

At the end of the season, Jimmy Ålund is crowned champion, with Richard Sundblom runner up, but they should all watch out for Thomas Lindström in 2012, the rookie taking third place with one less event than those around him may well have been in contention for the title if he had come to Santa Pod back in May.

Check the full points table under a separate headline.

All in all a great season, thanks to everyone involved in Pro Stock for your help and friendship throughout the year. I look forward to working with you all again in 2012.

Ian Hart