With thirteen teams trying to qualify for an eight-car elimination ladder, qualifying was an event on its own. Tommy Johnson Jr. was the first one to come close to the 4.00sec barrier by running a 4.019 in the second qualifying session on Friday afternoon. The Andersen Racing team skipped Saturday morning’s third session and broke the blower belt on the fourth qualifying run but kept the number one position with their Friday time. But behind the leader, everything was up for grabs and positions changed with every run. With a solid 4.153sec, Risto Poutiainen’s second spot seemed safe until he dropped to third in the last session, to strike back with a great 4.028sec and 305mph(490kph), Europe’s first ever 300mph pass over the 1000-foot distance!

Anita Mäkelä was worried about her ninth qualifying position which left her off the elimination ladder on Friday evening. But Saturday was her day. In the third session, the Finnish fan favourite moved up to seventh and a storming 4.091sec on the last run gave her and the Finnish team something to cheer about along with the third qualifying spot. The low speed of 411kph caused by the lost blower belt was an indication there was more to come. That dropped Urs Erbacher into fourth after the reigning FIA European Top Fuel champion could not improve on his Friday 4.167sec run. A solid 4.27sec put Micke Kågered in fourth place after the first day’s qualifying. But with one run remaining, the Swede was on the bump spot, only to strike back with a great 4.199sec, good for number five.

The best rookie, doing a great job, was Antti Horto driving the Eagle Racing Top Fueler into sixth position with 4.35 and 4.20sec passes.

Andy Carter and the new Team West-Tec recovered from a disappointing Main Event to qualify at 4.21sec for seventh qualifying position. The multiple champion had to skip the fourth session after an engine-destroying third qualifying pass. With 4.244sec in the last session, Timo Lehtimäki jumped into eighth and was the last one to qualify, dropping Stig Neergaard into ninth after the Dane had to give up his last attempt when his tyres twice went up in smoke.


Stig Neergaard on track and in the pits


Monica Öberg ended qualifying in tenth position, followed by a disappointed ‘up in smoke’ Jari Halinen and Patrik Pers. With rear-end problems, Håkan Fällström could not complete a run and had no time registered.

There were no major surprises in the first round of eliminations as the top four qualifiers won their races and advanced to the semi-finals. Johnson Jr. impressed with a 4.033sec at a speed of 490kph/304mph, his first 300mph 1000-foot run in Europe, to beat Lehtimäki. Mäkelä showed consistency with a solid 4.18sec to beat Horto, while Erbacher had no problems with Kågered. Carter did not move at the green and idled down the track, giving Poutiainen (4.10sec) an easy win.


Micke Kågered


Andy Carter

Tommy Johnson Jr interviewed by the tv-crew

In the semi-finals, Johnsson had to race Erbacher and the Andersen Racing car had already shown that big things were coming. Erbacher was away first but could not match Johnson’s 4.009sec and 302mph. The other, all-Finnish semi-final was a real thriller. Poutiainen was away first but was caught up by a storming Mäkelä. Their numbers: 4.028sec/300mph for Mäkelä and a 4.081sec/304mph for Poutiainen; but the better reaction time gave Poutiainen the win by a margin of 0.0006sec! Drivers hate to lose on a holeshot but this time Mäkelä was still ‘happy’ because for the first time this season her car had run really great numbers.

So Tierp got the dream final between the top two qualifiers. Poutiainen and Johnson left the line with almost identical reaction times but, from that moment on, the Andersen Racing Top Fueler was in a class of its own. Johnson passed the finish line in 3.956sec at 495.41kph/307.83mph, Europe’s first ever 3sec 1000-foot Top Fuel pass and top speed of the event. Poutiainen tried his best but had to give up when his tyres started to smoke at half-track. When the numbers showed up on the scoreboard the complete Andersen Racing crew went mad and don’t be surprised if they still have a party going in Denmark.


Urs Erbacher


Risto Poutiainen


Timo Lehtimäki


Anita Mäkelä seconds before entering the track and after the run




Johnson Jr monitoring the work with the car in the pits


Johnson´s 3.95 sec. pass