Jimmy Ålund

To add a little spice to the event, a pretty stiff headwind was making set-up and predictions more difficult. However, this was the same for everyone, so qualification became a game of ‘who has the best data for the conditions?’

Micke Callin

Micke Callin, Sampsa Palos and Jan Palmqvist all came into this event with new engines with varying degrees of testing. Micke in particular would use Q1 as a testing session, while Jan has a new (Ex Greg Stanfield) motor with 50 extra horsepower and little test time. All teams have some changes, large and small. Conrad Stanley and the Panther Racing Pontiac are commencing their first full season in Pro Stock. If they can produce 200mph runs in the high 6’s and find a place in Monday’s show, they will be delighted. Conrad and team have been welcomed into the class with open arms and are particularly glad of the help they have received from Tommy Leindahl. The windy conditions are a new factor for which this team have no data but they are relaxed in the knowledge that every run this year will be part of the learning curve.

Michael Malmgren

Reigning champion Michael Malmgren has made only small changes from last year and has extensive data from testing and hopes to qualify at the top of the ladder with consistent mid-six-second drives. Jimmy Ålund has also made only minor changes during the off-season, but is carrying new paint and sponsorship from DHL. As Jimmy says, in racing we need a reliable parcel service from the US which DHL provides. Jimmy is fresh from testing at Tierp where he recorded a 207mph personal-best speed. With very public numbers like that in testing, there can be no doubt that Jimmy is out to regain his Pro Stock crown in 2011.

Jonas Dantanus

Saturday - Q1
The first qualification session on Saturday showed the teams that the wind, though strong, is not affecting their performances as much as the cold track. Only four of the nine cars manage to make a full pass without tyre shake or a mechanical issue. Jimmy Ålund drives straight to number one qualifier with a solid 6.827, pursued by Sampsa Palos and Tommy Leindahl with identical 6.879 passes. Reasonable passes from most competitors suggest that even those who were using first qualification as a test session have good baselines for their cars and the winter changes have all worked well.

The number nine spot after Q1 is occupied by Jonas Dantanus, who suffered tyre shake. The team, though, are pleased with the information on the data-logger, as an old and persistent problem seems to have disappeared. Tyre shake is also to blame for Michael Malmgren’s uncharacteristic number eight qualifying position, and Micke Callin’s early shut-off after shake is the first 400 meters this motor has ever driven to qualify seventh.

Richard Sundblom

In the middle order, Richard Sundblom at number six had a cylinder out due to a damaged plug, Jan Palmqvist dropped the chutes early to qualify fifth as this run was primarily for data collection and Conrad Stanley drove strongly into the number four position without any particular issue, but the team were hoping for a 200 mph pass which they missed by just 0.12 mph. Without the wind, it is likely that they would have reached this target

Tommy Leindahl

Saturday - Q2
Q2 begins with a bump spot of 7.46. Jonas Dantanus does not get under the bump as he runs an out-of-the-groove 7.598. Next car is Michael Malmgren who drives straight from one end of the ladder to the new number one qualifier which moves the bump to 7.28. A pair of sub-7-second passes from Callin and Palos moves the bump further still to 7.27. Sundblom and Leindahl are also in the sixes in the next pair which drags the bump spot all the way to 6.95. Stanley and Ålund stay safely in the 6’s with Jimmy only 2000th of a second behind Malmgren’s number one slot. Final car is Palmqvist with a 6.8 second pass that goes the long way round, straying out to the wall at mid-track.

Overnight changes for Sunday include an engine change for Micke Callin after hurting a couple of valves. All other changes in the class are chasing set up.

Sunday
The wind is still present, and if anything, stronger than on Saturday. The bump spot is 6.91 so as it stands, Jonas Dantanus is out of the game. Everything changes for Jonas as he manages a 6.891 pass in the right lane to move up two positions to number seven ahead of Micke Callin. In the next pair, Conrad Stanley puts in his best pass of the weekend, but his 6.916 is not enough to make it into the pack and he drops to number nine. The only other position change in this qualifier comes in the last pair as Jimmy Ålund moves back into the number one spot ahead of Michael Malmgren.

Sampsa Palos

Between rounds both Jan Palmqvist and Sampsa Palos change engines with the Finnish team claiming a victory over the Swedish as the Palos crew change their block in twenty minutes compared to twenty-five minutes for the Palmqvist crew. National pride notwithstanding, this kind of time for a complete engine change is still impressive. Jan Palmqvist has changed back to his number two block from the ex-Greg Stanfield motor. The new motor is all good, but the team do not have enough data to be able to use it to its fullest potential at this time. Q4 will be the first run for Sampsa Palos on this block.

Conrad Stanley

Sunday - Q4
Conrad Stanley drives well from a good light but does not make it into the top eight. There are no position changes in Q4 but both Richard Sundblom and Jonas Dantanus improve their times marginally.

Monday - Eliminations
Sadly the rain began to fall at around nine am on Monday, and did not cease all day. The Main Event Race Director called the event at around 2:30 and so we go on to Tierp with Jimmy Ålund leading Michael Malmgren by six points courtesy of number one qualifier and low ET points. A bigger field is likely in Tierp, and so we look forward to perhaps a twelve- or thirteen-car battle.

Malmgren vs. Ålund

As a final footnote I would like to thank all the teams for the friendly welcome, the honesty and access they all gave me throughout my first weekend as Pro Stock correspondent.

Ian Hart