Eurodragster.com Pit Notes Scandinavian Internationals Tierp Arena August 23-26th 2012
Thursday
The two seater dragster sponsored by Bahco is being driven by Top Fuel racer Micke Kågered this weekend.
Super
Comp bike racer Leif Larsson has Tierp as his home track. He said "I
have been racing for wight years. My bike was new for 2011 and is a
Super Street style Hayabusa GSX1340R Turbo with Hays clutch and
Precision 6265 turbo."
Competition Eliminator racer Rolf Simonsson runs this beautiful Camaro
built in 2009 by Advanced Chassis. He said "I bought it from a racer in
Norway and have run it in Super Pro Street which is a heads up class
for doorslammer cars below Pro Mod and Top Doorslammer. Last year I ran
a truck which ran elevens." The car has a nitrous Fulton of 632 cu in,
Turbin clutch and Powrglide transmission by Abruzzi racing. He ran a
6.98 in Alastaro to qualify no.1 in Super Pro Street. Sponsors are
GrävKhålen AB Orsa and Legname AB. .
Competition
eliminator racer Mathias Stenströ has returned with his BMW M3-engined
Volvo S90, which has run as quick as 6.72 using a turbo and methanol.
Competition
Eliminator racer Daniel Jedborn races a Neils & Parks slingshot
dragster and is points leader in the EDRS North Division. Daniel's car
has a 359cu in small block Chevy engine with Powerglide transmission
running in D/D (7.84 class index). You can follow the team at Facebook.
Competition
Eliminator racer Marcus Wålm from Vårgårda runs a 23-T AA/Altered with
a self built chassis. He said "This is my first event using the altered
body. I have mounted a Ford Mustang and a Corvette body on it for seven
years but at a race earlier in 2012 at Kjulla the Mustang body was
damaged. It is my fourth time out this year and am hoping to run a six,
but we will take it one step at a time. I have more power this year
with new engine and parts." The engine is a BBC of 461cu in with blower
running on methanol with Powerglide transmission.
Competition
Eliminator racer Mats Erlandsson has owned his '52 Chevy Bel Air for
two years. He said "I race at Tierp and Malmö and have run a best of
7.52 here and 4.95 at Malmö. This year I have had some engine problems
after switching from nitrous to a 14/71 supercharger and methanol. We
are looking to run a six." Mats' engine is a 509cu in BBC by Dart with
Canhield heads, Venolia pistons and Callie crank. Transmission is Lenco.
Competition
Eliminator racer Matti Rajamäki owns a Ford Mustang from 1979,
constructed by Warren Brogie as a test bed for the then-revolutionary
funny car-style roll cage in a Pro Stock car. Matti said "I owned it
ever since 1979 and run it with two Cleveland engines of 353cu in with
aluminium heads and 356cu in with iron heads. The car has run a best of
8.74 with twin Dominator carbs in E/A and Tierp is my local track.
Super
Gas racer Annica Larsson runs a Falcon Sprint from 1963. She said I
wanted to buy it from the previous owner five years ago after running
bracket classes and had to save enough to finally get it two years ago.
I like Super Gas and don't use a throttle stop. I race everywhere in
Sweden, Umeå and Tullinge included." The car has a 351cu in engine
stroked to 430cu in with Dart block.
Competition
Eliminator racer Emil Eriksson runs an ex-Jan Palmqvist Volvo C70 in
BN/A. He said "I bought the car in 2008 and have a Steve Schmidt 500cu
in engine built by Tommy Laine in 2004. I have a nitrous kit but will
only use it in good conditions." Based in Sundsvall, Emil has been
running in Comp for four years in Norway and Sweden and the car has a
best of 7.25.
Competition
Eliminator racer Magnus Hägglund races an impressive piece of
engineering, this Volvo PV constructed mainly by himself. The car,
built in 1999, features carbon fibre body and a turbo Volvo stock block
engine with 82mm turbo that has run as quick as 7.11/307kph. He said
"We raced from 1999-2002, had a break, then raced in 2006 and did three
races in 2011. We have updated the car but most is the same as the
beginning." The team, Hunchback Racing, are based in Skellefteå, a
700km trip to Tierp.
Competition
Eliminator racer Jan Ekström races this rear engined dragster in D/D.
The Neils & Parks-chassised car was built in 1992 and runs a CSB
engine of 320cu in, with JE pistons and Bryant crank. Transmission is
Powerglide.
Pro
Modified racer Tero Laukkanen has a Mustang Twin Turbo. The car was
built by Tami Brander and has run a best of 7.14/322kph with a BBC
engine. He previously ran a street legal 900+ hp BMW 2002 with
turbocharged 4cyl M3 engine
.
Pro
Modified racer Stefan Holmberg races a '70 Camaro bought in the winter
2011 from ADRL Pro Extreme racer Alex Hustler. Stefan said "It was
previously a blower car and I have put my turbo 538cu in Donovan Chevy
in it after my old car crashed at Tierp at the last meeting of 2011.
The car was built by Duncan Race Cars in 2009 and drives good." Usually
running in Top Doorslammer, Stefan lives 60km from Malmö where the
class races twice during the year. Stefan said "I had a minor crash
there with this car and so am taking it easy. The trans is a Rossler
with Coan convertor which is the quickest in the US. But I need to have
more runs and am not expecting to qualify. It would be good to combine
Pro Mod and Top Doorslammer at Tierp, the field could be 45-50 cars."
Pro
Mod racer Mats Wicktor has Eurodragster.com sponsor Trevor Langfield as
technical adviser on nitrous on Mats' '53 Vette. Trevor said "The
engine uses the Revo system which gives a unique variable nitrous
supply. The nitrous system is good for an additional 1200hp on top of
the existing 1600hp engine, although only 500hp of the potential
additional horses are being utilised as it has been detuned to account
for the conditions. Mats had similar ideas to me and decided I was the
person to help him develop the system." Another unique feature is a
pressurised fuel canister that feeds to the Revo system; the pressure
can be varied with the air supply and avoids problems with the usual
pump.
A
feature of Mats Wicktor's unique setup is running engine oil as coolant
in the cylinder head water galleries which works better as a coolant
under race conditions and the amount utilised weighs less. The fuel
system is also unique in that ordinary gasoline goes into the
carburretors but there is also a progressive supply of ethanol which
aids cooling and which means we have to work on ignition and timing
settings. There are so many variables, we can't use a dyno and we just
wish we have a computer program we could use to model it." At a recent
race on the eighth, Mats qualified no.2 in a field of blown cars with a
4.43. Utilising a unique-to-the-class TH400 gearbox the engine
combination has huge potential and Trevor's Wizards of NOS company has
a proven track record in various classes of the sport.
Pro
Mod racer Joran Persåker has installed a Top Fuel block and heads in
his car. He said "The rules don't allow for twin magnetos with turbos
in Pro Mod so I am running eight spark plugs only. I have twin 91mm
turbos but have been having starter motor problems which I hope we will
solve before qualifying starts.
Although
there was a lengthy rain delay, by the time sportsman qualifying
started just before 5pm there was a lengthy queue and we arrived at the
media centre as Stock/Super Stock was in the pairing lanes.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Timo Eronen from Mäntsälä in Finland runs a 426cu in Hemi
'Cuda and in the first and only session of qualifying today ran a
+0.31s over his 9.30 index. He has run a quickest of 8.87 in the car.
Stock/Super Stock racer P-a Lindström races a '70 Challenger and qualified no. 25 with a -0.32 on the A/SA index of 11.00.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Mats Bäckman from Umeå had a perfect reaction to three
decimal places and ran a -0.71 on his SS/FA class index of 10.45 to go
no. 7 at the end of Thursday's session.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Hannu Palasmaa from Tuusula in Finland won the 2011 NDRS
Stock/Super Stock championship which had three rounds at each of Tierp
and Alastaro. His '71 Chevelle has a 454cu in engine and Jerico
transmission. The car has run a best of 10.42 and in qualifying ran
0.14 over the A/S index of 10.95.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Thomas Wallin runs a Plymouth Duster in F/SA and went 0.46
under his 11.85 index to go no.16. The engine is a 383cu in.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Tarmo Mikkola ran 0.65 under the SS/GA index of 10.55 to go
no. 9. The car has a 350cu in engine and McClay 200 transmission.
Friday
SSAB
is a Swedish metal producing company that has a production operation
which has just moved to Borlänge, where ME Racing is located. Peter
Nilsson of SSAB explained that SFI approval has just been granted for
use of SSAB's Docol Tube for SFI's new 25.1X specs for full bodied car
roll cages. "It is a roll formed sheet metal which is tig welded. It is
of a very even thickness and can be made 2mm thick compared to chrome
moly which is 3mm thick for the same strength."
An
example of the weight benefit from using SSAB's Docol tube is this bike
frame which weighed 21kg from regular tube but 15kg when made out of
Docol. ME Racing (Mats Eriksson) has distribution rights in Sweden and
distribution for the European market will be announced later. Mats said
"The tube is already in the spec for Top Doorslammer and will be in the
SFI spec very soon." More details are at SSAB's site.
Pro
Stock racer Bo Pettersson did not make it out in the first session of
Pro Stock as he was experiencing a leakage and clutch problems. He said
"When we ran earlier in the year the clutch was too sudden and then
when we adjusted it, it was too soft and I drove through it. We also
had a leak out of the bottom end of the engine and had to change a
crankshaft seal. We are looking to run in the sixes later."
Pro
Mod racer Terje Håkonsen was delighted to run a 6.16/365kph in the
first pair of the class out this morning. He said "We made big changes
over the winter with a new BAE 7X engine and Mark Williams rear end and
new Racepak computer program. The car went down the track very
smoothly, it's a great track so we can use the car. It was a personal
best but I think it can run a lot quicker." His next run, a 6.03,
proved the point and he is in no.3 position.
Pro
Mod racer Mats Wicktor has Eurodragster.com sponsor Trevor Langfield of
Wizards of NOS advising him on nitrous set-up. Trevor commented "My
wife says I always have a computer in front of me, now I have four!"
Mats ran a 6.71 in the first session with more to come as the nitrous
gets fed in progressively going down the track and the new slicks on
the car bed in. Mats said "We are going to pick it up to 55% of
potential and want to make as many runs as possible to get good data."
The car is ex-Filippos Papafilippou (also known as Fast Fil).
Pro
Mod racer Tero Laukkanen in the Mustang twin turbo ran a new PB of
6.95/341kph to go 14th after the first session. He said "We ran Super
Pro Street in Finland with a 6.8s index. But our best before here was a
7.1. We were not happy with the launch although we have a Hestec engine
management system that works nicely and has launch control. There was
not enough boost so the 60ft time was only 1.22 rather than 1.08 that
we had in Finland. This year we are testing with a BBC engine and we
will have a new billet block.
Pro
Mod racer Marko Lantto said "I was in the right lane and the car
started sliding with the tyre shake and it was almost like a second
burnout with the revs going up high in second gear. When we get the
setup right we should run a low six."
Marko
Lantto and other Finnish racers were displaying tribute stickers for
their countryman Jarmo Kuutniemi who died on Thursday 26th July 2012
after a short illness.
Pro
Stock racer Michael Malmgren started with a 6.81/312kph which he
described as a 'decent start point'. "I drove through big tyre shake
and ran it through to 1000ft. There is definitely more to come. I am
pleased with my crew who are very skilled and are making good
momentum." Michael is sponsored by Oakley sunglasses and apparel.
Pro
Stock racer Harry Sturhan is pleased to be returning to Tierp. He said
"We had a water leak under the car, perhaps it was from yesterday's
rain! There was no problem so we will be trying again this afternoon.
The car is being run the same as June, we have a new engine in it this
year."
Pro
Stock racer Magnus Petersson said "I am running Jimmy Ålund's old car
and this is my first quarter mile pass in it after testing on the
eighth mile track at Malmö. The clutch has been slipping and I need to
work on my shifting as I was running an automatic in Comp Eliminator
and have a Liberty gearbox in Pro Stock. My engine is from Steve
Schmidt and it is his first Pro Stock engine in Europe." Magnus said he
will try to race in as many FIA races as he can in 2013.
Pro
Stock racer Micke Callin was pleased with a 6.70/334kph, the speed the
first half of a new European record. "The track is the best and
traction is good and it is smooth. I am pleased to have chance of a new
speed record. I have a chance to go better in the championship than
before but it does need some luck and help from others." Tomorrow will
be busy for Micke as he will be entertaining sponsors from
Skyltfrabriken AB, Sjölunds transport AB and guests from KPMG.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson ran a no.1 qualifier of
5.59/414kph and then went up in smoke in the second session. He is
joined this weekend by the ex-pat Australian Alcohol Funny Car racer
now based in the US, Steve Harker. Steve said "The 5.59 gives the
others something to shoot for. I know the car well as it has over 1000
runs on it. I have had two seasons off but look forward to being with
Leif at the European Finals and back in the US will be bringing out a
blown Top Alcohol Dragster for my daughter Diana."
Pro
Modified racer Jan Bränvall from Luleå is hoping to make his initial
pass this afternoon following some last-minute welding being carried
out in the pits to bring the roll cage up to SFI standards. He said "I
have been racing in Top Doorslammer although I did race in Pro Mod as
long ago as 1997 using parts from Mats Westman's Funny Car in a
Mustang. I have upgraded my Camaro's sfront to a new one as I have a
BAE X1 engine which is the most current model, but I will be using the
previous X5 model here. My best so far is 6.88/330kph but that was
eleven years ago at Alastaro and hope to go quicker here."
Pro
Mod racer Bert Ove Olofsson is joined by US tuner Jim Salemi of G-Force
Racecars. Bert said "I am pleased with the performance so far but want
to go quicker here than my 6.44 earlier. That should be possible as my
60ft was my best ever at 0.99 and I had no third gear." Jim said "I am
happy with the season. The conditions here are excellent with the air
being 713ft above sea level which compares to 4800ft I was racing in
recently in the US." Jim's brother Jon Salemi of Resolution Racing
Services is also here helping Mattias Wulcan.
Pro
Mod racer Micke Johansson races a beautiful '70 Challenger but was
having problems. "We traced the problem to a broken fuel valve which
let air in causing a misfire. I am really happy with the car which was
built by Bertans Race Cars and although it is my first season I want to
run quick. We hope to race in England and Finland next year depending
on my team."
Supertwin
racer Jaska Salakari suffered a front cam belt coming off on the first
run with the cover departing the bike as well. "It was running pretty
nice to that point and was doing 291kph by 330ft," he said. In testing
last weekend he ran a sub-record 6.33 showing the power of his
KTM-based engine. In the second run a 6.72/340kph put Jaska in third
place in qualifying, but at the cost of engine damage.
Supertwin
racer Torbjörn Svensson is pleased to be back this season following a
crash in 2008 at Gardermoen. He said "I have more confidence here and
want to go racing." Crewman Dennis Glanby said "We have to get him to
hold the throttle after the eighth mile as by then he is giggling like
a little schoolgirl." Torbjörn's bike is self-built including the frame
and engine block and has a Karling crankshaft and Bentec transmission.
Paint is by Johan Ek.
Supertwin
racer Job Heezen's team are Ton and Vincent Pels, pictured under the
tower just before the start. Vincent said "Job had big tyre shake on
the first run. We will soften the clutch up to get to the other end and
then decide what to do to get the bike to run quick." On the second run
Job crossed the centre line after a storming launch so he hasn't
recorded a time yet.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Nils Lagerlöf suffered a failure in the pressure
control for his turbocharger leading to the bike running only a 7.64.
He said "We only had base pressure for the whole run and no additional
power. We have fixed it and look to run a six." However on the second
pass, Nils' bike went to the left and took out the 1000ft reflector so
didn't get a time.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Rickard Gustavsson has a new tyre and he said this may
have slowed his first run, a 6.73. "We run at Tierp regularly and my
best in testing is 6.42 and will try to do the same here." The funny
bike went 6.56 on his second pass to remain in no.3 place.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson produced the pass of the day running a
5.7092/355.50kph which is the world's quickest wheel-driven bike pass.
His launch and the subsequent celebration can be seen on Youtube.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Joakim Måtenson runs in SS/FA and was in 26th with a run
0.28 under his 10.45 index at the end of Thursday. Joakim's car runs a
440cu in six pack and is the same car that Sylvia Hauser imported from
Paul Rossi, drove in the 1970s and then sold to Joran Persåker. Joakim
has run the car for over ten years.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Glen Appelgren runs his '64 Dodge Polara in GT/HA and was
qualified 24th with a run 0.33 under his 11.05 index. Glen's 383cu in
engine was prepared by PPM Racing and is linked to a Mancini Racing 727
Torqueflite trans and Dana rear end.
Junior
Dragster racer Tobias Björnsson aged 15 is from Boden and after
Friday's first session was qualified no.2 with a 0.005 RT. The car was
built by Chris McGee, who developed a quad cam Top Fuel engine in the
1980s and is now an owner of Visions Racecars in the US.
Junior
Dragster racer Callum Bradshaw is lined up for the first qualifying
session on Friday. This is 13 year old Callum's second year as a driver
and he is qualified 16th with a 0.126 RT. Father John (pictured right)
ran a 6.73 to go no.1 in Comp Eliminator and 1.2195 under the B/TA
index of 7.95.
Junior
Dragster racer Theodor Brandt from Stockholm is 13 years old and is
qualified 14th with 0.105 RT. The car has a NC chassis, Craw´s ZR4
engine on methanol and Shockwave OD clutch.
Junior
Dragster racer Angelica Larsson is qualified 11th with a 0.080. She is
from Färnäs and aged 16. This is her fifth year in competition. Her
mother Annica races Super Gas (see yesterday's pit notes).
Junior
Dragster racer Tina Olsen Frog is from Heimdal in Norway and runs a
Mike Bos Racecars-built car. She is qualified 21st with a 0.238 RT and
her car is marked 'For Sale'.
Junior
Dragster racer Amanda Sjöström-Andersson was winner of the SDL Junior
Dragster championship in 2011 which had eleven rounds of racing at
seven different tracks. Aged 14, she is from Sollefteå and has a Mike
Bos Outlaw car with a Blossom Racing Engines Super Rhino II motor. She
is qualified no.5 with a 0.027 RT.
Junior
Dragster racer Kristoffer August Nordin is qualified third with a 0.006
RT. He has been racing since 2009 and is aged 12. From Frogner in
Norway, Kristoffer drives a Pro Link car with McGee engine.
Junior
Dragster racer Trine Fossum from Fannrem in Norway is aged 17 and
drives a Motivational Tubing car. She has been racing since 2009 and is
qualified 8th with a 0.071.
Saturday
Pro
Modified racer Roger Johansson made it to the pairing lanes for two
test passes today. The car has a 903 cu in engine from US doorslammer
legend Pat Musi, who has been advising Roger for some time.
Competition
Eliminator racer John Bradshaw had a bye in the first round of
eliminations and had installed a new engine following a failure on
Friday. The problem lifted the head and cracked the block following
several runs with high water pressure. John said "We will launch and
use the first couple of gears - I don't want to lower the index."
During
the afternoon your pit reporter ventured to the top end; the Top
Methanol Funny Cars can slow rapidly even from a six second pass and
some go off at the first exit.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson said after a 5.60/411kph run,
"We needed to get back where we were. We were getting a bit aggressive
and screwed up. There is a new shifter on the car and I was not used to
the staging procedure with it and we had to change it." Leif owns the
XL Motorhome business which is being advertised heavily at the event
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem slowed from his previous 5.72 run
after bad shake meaning he lifted after 300ft. He said "At least I
didn't break anything." He ended up as no.3 in the ladder with a
first-round match-up against Jonas Staflund tomorrow.
Top
Methanol Dragster Chris Polidano said "It's quite a hard weekend for us
as this is the first event with an all Maltese crew without a main
tuner at the track. Jerry Darien has been helping and we talk to him on
the phone after each pass. Although we have gone a bit slower today
with 5.71 and 5.81, we will try to go 5.4 tomorrow." Chris is qualified
7th with 5.58 and faces Dennis Habermann in the first round.
Top
Methanol Dragster Krister Johansson said "We shook the tyres hard and
will have to change the settings to compensate." Krister started with a
5.44 but today's runs were 5.66 and 5.75 leaving him in 4th place with
a first round matchup against Timo Habermann.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer was delighted with a 5.39,
driving through big tyre shake but getting his best time in the last
three years. He is qualified no.3 and has a first round match against
Dave Wilson.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja is qualified no.1 with 5.33. On
his final pass he suffered tyre shake and had to lift to 5.77. Manty
has a bye in round one.
Pro
Stock racer Harry Sturhan suffered wheelspin on his final pass to run a
7.86, his best of 7.02 being closer to where he wants to be in timing
but not qualified for eliminations in this event.
Pro
Stock racer Bo Pettersson said "The car is starting to move well and I
am happier driving it now." The car ran a best of 7.91, some way off
its best of 7.1. The car was built by Jerry Bickel and has a Reher
Morrison engine.
Pro
Stock racer Magnus Petersson ran a 6.95 but just failed to qualify. He
said "This is a great car and I am looking forward to running it harder
at future events after I have got used to driving it."
Pro
Stock racer Christian Sagelv was delighted to qualify with a 6.91 PB.
"I have qualified and this is the first time a Ford has qualified for
Pro Stock in many years. Thanks to Gulf oil and Hansen for making this
all possible. I raced Jimmy here in June and at Alastaro in July and he
beat me both times. I have him tomorrow and hopefully it will be third
time lucky."
Pro
Stock racer Mats Jacobsson was disappointed not to qualify. He said
after a final 6.97 attempt "I should go quicker but have a clutch
problem. It is too good a track for our settings which are too soft.
The engine is running well but I can't get the power through the
clutch."
Pro
Stock racer Sampsa Palos ran a 6.78 in the final session, close to his
best for the weekend, a 6.77. He said "We have had some electrical
problems and had to change the coil and ignition, but it's something we
haven't found yet. It affects the rev limiter in 4th gear which is
coming in at 9500rpm rather than 10300 when it should." Sampsa has a
first round match against Richard Sundblom.
Pro
Stock racer Thomas Lindström was ecstatic after getting pole position
with a 6.66. He said "We have had problems with a faulty carburretor
valve which caused it to flood in the first session and then a good
6.75 in the second session. I also overreved the engine but fortunately
there was no damage. It is my first race in six weeks and it's good to
get back into the routine."
Pro
Stock racer Richard Sundblom was pleased to be fourth with a spare
engine. "We used our old spare engine from the late Bill 'Grumpy'
Jenkins and our usual engine is supposed to be stronger, but it broke
in the last race, didn't expect a lot and we are really pleased."
Pro
Stock racer Jimmy Ålund must be wondering if he can keep his
championship crown with Thomas Lindström leading by 39 points before
the start of this event. He admitted "I'm not surprised by Thomas's
success - he is doing a great job." Jimmy's last run was a 6.698
compared to his best of 6.696 and he said "I have got the car running
well now." It should be an interesting battle in eliminations.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.33. His crewmen Gary Page and
Laurie Bamford said "We will take what we are given, we are in the
field and we can tune the car up for tomorrow. We always want to run
quicker, we've plenty to work with and it hasn't hurt itself." Jari is
7th and faces Risto Poutiainen in the first round, with only a tenth
between their qualifying ETs.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä ran a 4.15 in the final session and
commented the clutch didn't work quite as she was expected coming in
quite suddenly. She also reported a small problem with the reverser
after the burnout. Tomorrow she will meet Patrik Pers in the first
round.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen has been the quickest and most
consistent running 4.15, 4.04, 4.08 and 4.10. He said "Yesterday and
today have been good. I have a great team."
Pro
Modified racer Roger Johansson was happy to be running at the track. He
said "It felt loose at the launch and lazy and then I realised it was a
driver's mistake and I had started in second. The team have done a very
good job to get the car ready for the event."
Pro
Modified racer Jan Brännvall was also pleased to have got down the
track even though he didn't qualify. He said "We had two full passes
and need one or two more to solve the tuning problems and get the car
running ok. We need to take fuel out, get the start better and solve
some Lenco problems. Now we go home to Lapland and will look to run our
BAE X1 engine." Jan and team thank sponsor MotorFist Snowmobile Gear
and Apparel.
Pro
Modified racer Mattias Wulcan was helped by Jon Salemi of Resolution
Racing Services but despite running a 6.57, didn't make the field for
eliminations. He said "I ran a 5.93 here two months ago and ran several
4.01s and won the Power Street Finals at Malmö. But I am dialling in a
Leanders clutch to go quicker and former Pro Stock racer Pelle Eriksson
is helping me set it up."
Pro
Modified racer Johan Lindberg said "This is a great field and we
changed the rear shocks to new ones to make it a little quicker. We
will try to figure it out. It is very competitive. Johan is 14th with
6.17 and his final run was his quickest.
Pro
Modified racer Tero Laukkanen was in 20th on what is essentially a
testing weekend. He said "The clutch is slipping too much but we are
pleased to run our best of 6.68." Tero's car was constructed by Tami
Brander.
Pro
Modified racer Bert-ove Olofsson is eighth with a 6.0946 which he ran
in the last session. He said "We need to go quicker". He meets Mark
Meihuizen in the first round tomorrow.
Pro
Modified racer Patrik Wikström is first alternate after running 6.37.
He held up an aluminium stud which he said "Came loose and caused
pressure to drop causing me to lose earlier runs. On this last run I
spun the tyres.
Pro
Modified racer Tami Brander arrived at 8:00 on Friday morning after
attending a show in Finland. He said "This is my best meeting so far
although the injector scoop was blown off which we fixed last night."
Tami ran a 6.13 in the last session to qualify 11th. He faces Ola
Dahlblom in round one tomorrow.
Pro Modified racers Bruno Bader (closest to camera), Ola Dahlblom and Urban Johansson all have '63 Vettes and are qualified 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.
Pro
Modified racer Ola Dahlblom said "Everything is working well with the
crew working very hard on the car. As I run Top Doorslammer I get a lot
of track time on eighth mile tracks. We are in Pro Mod here and of
course I want to win." Ola is qualified no.6 with a 6.07 and ran 6.10
in the final session.
Pro
Modified racer Martin Lundqvist suffered a scrape with the wall. He
said "It is repairable. There is nothing wrong with the performance. I
was trying for a good pass and it felt good. I just didn't realise that
I was so close to the wall." The damage does appear superficial and he
is qualified no.4 with 6.02 and races David Vegter in the first round
tomorrow.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher was upset
when he was unable to start in the second session yesterday. He said
"It was a stupid mistake by one of our new crew members who put the
spark plug cable in the wrong place, a rookie problem. In the first
session I was running in the first pair in the left hand lane and
without other cars having run down, my time was slower. We then set the
car up for the record but couldn't run it. So today we have set it up
slightly softer to run between 4.14 and 4.18 and have new slicks on it.
As Robin Grice has business commitments, Glenn Mikres has come over
from the US to tune. This is my last race this year and we would love
more sponsors to be able to do more in Europe." Urs is grateful to
Midland Oil for its support.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Håkan Fallström had a torrid time in qualifying.
Crew chief Peter Lantz said "We had some Apache ambushes like in a
western. On the first run a blower belt came off for no reason other
than it had been used up. On the second run the car left on seven
clutch fingers and went up in smoke instantly. There was no damage but
we changed engines anyway as the other one was leaking. All was fine
until we were rocking the car and a carbon fibre brake fell off. Bad
Apache. We are trying to find some spares and have asked over 80
teams." Håkan managed to find a spare only to suffer a kaboom on his
pass. The team have plenty of spares though, and Bjorn Martensson (who
ran a Topolino in Comp) is licensing in it. They still hope to compete
at the Finals.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Patrik Pers is assisted by Crew Chief Mark 'Animal'
Bodimeade and tuner Alan Jackson. Animal said "Congratulations to
Tierp, I have never come across a surface so well prepped. It caught us
out by surprise and on our first pass the shake was so violent that
Patrik's nice shiny new helmet was scratched to hell. We turned the car
round and there was no damage. On the second we had a lot more power on
the launch and higher rpm. The result was shake not as bad, but still
too much to complete the pass. So we serviced it, no damage but a
softer clutch and more rpm at the hit. It is digging in like there's no
tomorrow. We need to qualify to do Santa Pod." Patrik's run of 4.22
this morning put the car in no.7 spot.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä said "It is so good to do a full pass
when one can count on the track. You can drive with a full heart and
not worry about the track not taking the power. The car was lacking
some power at the hit and not getting enough wheel speed on the launch
but can tune round that and hope to run a 4.0 next time." This was
confirmed when her subsequent pass produced a 4.099, good for third
place.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Micke Larsson's engine blew supercharger burst
panels at the eighth on both runs yesterday, causing minor body damage.
"I had good speed at that point and still ran 6.75 on the second pass.
We traced the problem to a loose magneto which gave wrong ignition.
Fortunately there was no engine damage and thanks to Arvid Grødem's
team for helping with the repair work and we provided them with a
camshaft in return. We want to make a full pass as the track is good
and go for a five, as we ran a 6.06 at Alastaro. I would like to do the
whole tour next year if we have the budget."
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Jonas Staflund said "I have told my son I will
quit racing if I don't run quicker than a six this year and he can take
the steering wheel. I went up in smoke at the hit on the first run and
the blower belt went. In the second session on the pass the engine blew
a head gasket and burned one head and a piston. I had a spare head and
we worked until 2am doing the engine rebuild. I was thinking we hadn't
done something like that for five years." Jonas, who didn't appear in
this morning's session, is qualified 5th with a 6.25.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem said "We had camshaft lifter
problems on the first run which resulted in bent pushrods, squared
lifters and needing a new camshaft. We got shut down due to fuel
leakage in the second session yesterday and with bent pushrods in the
engine, it was fortunate that we did. It started ok in the pits but
felt wrong on the burnout. We worked to 2am rebuilding the engine."
Arvid
Grødem has a team with four Norwegians, two Danish clutch guys from Dan
Larsen's team and two Swedes. When asked what language they worked in,
Arvid said "SweDaneNorse, with a few Anglo Saxon words when it goes
wrong!"
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio ran a single pass yesterday as on
his second attempt a throttle linkage came off. "on the first run the
shift light came on and off so I was on and off the throttle several
times. I need to go at full speed and the chutes need to come out on
time." The car flipped at the end of the track after the chutes failed
in June, and it was a huge effort to get the car repaired in time for
the NitrOlympX in August. "Mats Eriksson did the chassis work and Dan
Larsen spent hours on repairing the body and remounting the chute
externally. Many thanks to Harteveld and Deukie.nl who sponsored the
repair work."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer (pictured right, with brother and crew chief Wolfie)
was happy with his time from Friday. Crewman Kirsten Krause said "The
first run had tyre shake and had to be aborted, but in the second it
went down the track well for a 5.41 to go second. The track is really
smooth and hopefully we can go even quicker and we will lean on it.
Every car can improve from yesterday, but it was our best 60ft time for
a long while and we need to get more power in top gear by half track."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson was cajoling his team to make his
next run a good one after his first yesterday was tractionless and
second a 5.68, off his and the competition's best. "It may be my last,"
he said. Son David explained that if Dave has no chance of the TMD
championship this year, he may quit ahead of the Euro Finals as he is
appealing against the points awarded at Hockenheim. David continued "We
are now back to our normal settings, but when you are used to a quarter
turn of a screw and then turn it three times, you forget where you were
in the first place. We are up against it and have lost the combination
and may have only one more run to get it back." In this morning's
session, Dave improved to a 5.49/423kph but only moved up one place to
sixth.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen's crew member Harry Räikkönen told us
that the team is hosting sponsor Janne Niska, a Finnish crane company.
He said "We are happy with the performance, we had a little damage but
only to one cylinder head from a small issue with the fuel system, and
nothing bad. We would like to run a three second pass having gone 4.15
and 4.04 for no.1 but will have to see. This has been a good starting
season, the team is working well under crew chief Simo Patoharju and we
have Donnie Bender and Jarmo Pulkkinen joining us again." In this
morning's session, Janne ran a 4.08 and remained no.1 qualifier.
Pro
Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund was pleased to run the first half of
a new ET record, a 7.055/304kph in yesterday's second session. He said
"We are very pleased with that. We have finally got our Racepak working
and analysing our data was one of the reasons why the second run was an
improvement. If the track is there and I don't mess up I can back it
up. But the weather is very humid today, it takes the oxygen out and
you can't burn water. Fredrik is joined by Gary Stoffer who is also
helping Kenneth Vik, who ran a 7.10 in the second session and Anders
Larsson.
Pro
Modified racer Roger Johansson was left with a thrash in the pits to
get his new Mustang ready for competition. "The engine from Pat Musi
only arrived on Wednesday evening and we have to do things to get it in
the All-in Race Cars chassis. We want to test just a couple of times
this weekend. Our original plan was to test in Gardermoen but had no
engine. It is not good to be at a track with a car and no engine."
Roger now plans to test at Malmö and also run at the EDRS Finals at the
end of September, before resuming the tour next year.
Supertwin
racer Vidar Ravnsborg has bought the bike run by Ton Pels and Job
Heezen up to 2011 and is getting to know it this season. He said "I
have been racing for 18 years in Supertwins and got to try the bike for
the first time at Gardermoen. This is my first event running it
seriously and a 7.4 is fine for that. The bike is more advanced than my
old one but I am hoping to do the full UEM tour in 2013. Thanks to the
Harley Davidson shop in Oslo who are my sponsor."
Super
Comp bike racer Thorsten 'Skorpion' Appel is qualified 16th with 9.52.
He said "I changed the tyre before the meeting after a demo burnout and
spun the new tyre on the hit following a short burnout. The burnout for
the second run was harder and my 1.4 60ft time would have been a 8.57
on a full pass. But it broke traction, the bike got close to the wall
and the Sidewider exhaust scraped it a bit. I have raised the bike at
the back by an inch to help traction, but I am learning. The bike is
capable of 8.50."
Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad has a new bike prepared by Puma Engineering's Gerard Willemse (pictured right).
He said "We first brought it out at Hockenheim where I was able to get
a round win. It is hard to get used to the bike as it is heavier and
longer than my old bike. So I have to forget all my old habits. We are
refining the settings to get it drivable and will then work out speed.
But the weight of 532kg means it is hard to pick up the front wheel."
The bike has a parallel twin and Gerard said "I have built other
Supertwin engines but this is the first whole Supertwin bike from
Puma." Hans Olav said his old bike was sold to Ulf Nylen.
Supertwin
racer Per Bengtsson qualified second with 6.69/324kph. He said "The run
was not too bad but I expect to go faster. I was on and off the
throttle three times and it was a combination of the track and the
rider. We hope to run better today and get the 60ft time down to below
1.1."
Supertwin
racer Anna-Lena Apslund is selling her Supertwin Top Gas bike to go
into the nitro ranks. "We have put a new engine and gearbox in it after
the block split at Gardermoen and it has run well here, although I
won't be in the ladder. My best time is 7.99 compared with a PB of
7.70. There is no Supertwin Top Gas competition in Sweden so the bike
would suit someone in Norway or the Euro Top Gas Serie. This is a super
track and I love it. The air is very good."
Supertwin
racer Nate Gagnon said "This is the best track I have ever run at and I
can really use the bike here. It is my best opportunity to lay down
some numbers and is something special. We will turn it up as the track
keeps coming round the more Top Fuel cars run on it. I think we can run
a low 6.4 and would like to run a 6.3 here. But we want to win. The
best final for me would be to run against Samu and to have a good, hard
race." Nate is qualified no.1 with 6.63 after Saturday's first session.
Supertwin
racer Samu Kemppainen said "Our 6.73 run yesterday was one of our best.
We want to go quicker and I have some goals for this season. We wanted
to win the Nordic Supertwin Championship and I did that at Gardermoen.
Our other targets are to run a 6.5 and do well in the UEM championship
and I feel we can achieve these too. We have stepped forward this year
and it is great having Nate as a running mate."
Supertwin
racer Vesa Lipponen said "We spun the tyre with too much clutch on the
first run and went close to the wall, although there was not a big
problem. On the second pass there was a fuel leak so we were shut off."
The bike is a Bill Furr frame from 1997 with a new PRP engine and
B&J two speed trans. He said "7.7 is the best time in testing and
we are refining tuning and want to run in the sixes when it is sorted."
Vesa is running in the Extreme Fuel Circus event at Alastaro on 1-2
September and he is dependent on getting new sponsors to run the UEM
season in 2013.
Pro
Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson is back after a five year break with a
Vance & Hines engine acquired from Gary Stoffer. He said "It's a
good engine, 1755cc and on my very first pass in five years I ran a
7.20 compared to my previous best of 7.59. I am just happy to be here
and to go down the track. Being away for so long, I need to get it
together and feel I'm just a passenger." Anders runs a rock blasting
company ("It's really cool, I blow things up for a living") which will
prevent him from racing outside Scandinavia in 2013.
Supertwin
racer Trond Jostein Høiberget has a new clutch setup with bigger
springs. He said "It's difficult to tune with the new springs. We also
broke a sprag in the gearbox on the second run on power. We have
replaced this and are ready to go quicker than our 8.02 from yesterday.
The engine is fine but we spun the tyre on the first run and it was
difficult going before the cars had laid down rubber in qualifying."
Supertwin
racer Roman Sixta was also struggling having built new fuel lines for
the race to run a 7.73 yesterday, good only for 12th place. He said "We
had no time to try the new system and the engine is running much too
rich, so we are borrowing a new fuel valve in order to make it run
leaner. There is a lot of power and yesterday we were only using 40%
throttle. Roman's PB on the Fast Cat-engined bike is 7.41.
Supertwin
racer Svein Olav Rolfstad ran a 6.81/317kph on his first pass and then
had problems in the second. "The fuel pump slided out from its mounting
so we lost fuel pressure and the engine stopped. I had made my burnout
and was about to make a pass so I am glad nothing was hurt." Svein Olaf
and three others (team-mate Jan Sturla Hegre, Per Bengtsson and Rickard
Gustavsson) are competing at the Manufacturers' World Cup at Valdosta,
Georgia, USA on 10-11 November. He said "The container has to be loaded
and ready by mid-September so it's difficult to compete at the Euro
Finals as breaking anything would make it impossible to be ready on
time."
Sunday
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto ran consistently and as quick as 4.12
to reach the final against Jari Halinen. Due to rain, the final wasn't
run but Antti is hopeful of racing on more of the tour. He said "My
team is the Finnish crew of Eagle Racing with car owner Rune Fjeld and
tuner Tony Pearson. We just did two races last year and three in 2012.
I'm happy with our achievements this year. We reached the final in two
this year but both were rained off and went to the semi final here in
June." Antti started in Junior Dragster, moved up to Super Comp for two
years and Competition Eliminator for four years, then took a break to
help with Janne Ahonen. Antti's main sponsor is Dolicap trucking but
there is space on the car for more."
Pro
Modified racer Marc Meihuizen reached the semi final where he went out
against Martin Lundkvist. He said "I am content with our performance
this weekend as the car ran without trouble and made mostly solid runs.
In the semi final the start line procedure for Martin left me no time
to go on the two step as the lights ran immediately Martin staged."
Mark is grateful to MPM Oil for support.
Pro
Modified racer David Vegter, another MPM supported car, was happy with
the weekend despite going out in round one. He said "I didn't damage
any engine parts, ran personal bests of 6.17/376kph and completed three
qualifying sessions. On the third session though the rear end broke and
although we had a replacement it was the wrong ratio. That hurt us in
the first round when we had lots of tyre shake, not enough horsepower
to the ground and that damaged the wheelie bar and body. So we have
some work to do before the Finals but will be there."
Pro
Stock racer Jimmy Ålund had a hose break on his race engine and had to
swap over one from his other engine before the subsequently cancelled
final. The team were working feverishly as we passed.
Pro
Stock racer Thomas Lindström received our congratulations as he became
engaged to Nina on Friday. "He proposed to me in the stands," she said.
Thomas was looking forward to a final against Jimmy Ålund, both racers
having run 6.70 in the semi finals. "We are very happy, have just made
small adjustments as the final is not the right time for hasty things.
The winner will be the racer with the best reaction time. I am not
thinking of the championship now but will do tomorrow."
Supertwin
racer Nate Gagnon said after his semi final run against Samu Kemppainen
"It was a great race, I couldn't ask for anything better than racing my
team mate and best friend. We could give each other high fives at the
top end! I am against Svein Olav in the final and his previous runs
came out of the box. We are ready to go. My bike has been amazingly
reliable. We will try to turn it up a little but but nothing too crazy.
It will be a little bit more aggressive but I am not worrying."
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem, pictured with crew chief
Pål-Henning Sørenen, said "The car feels good but it is an uphill
struggle. We needed some luck and it came our way and our boys and girl
work hard. We had an electrical problem and had to replace another
camshaft. Thanks to Jonnie Lindberg for lending us one, with three
different camshaft profiles it has been like a test session."
Top
Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson ran a 5.86 in round one of eliminations
which was backed up by Friday's 5.70 for a new ET record and 5.92 in a
semi final bye. He will next be travelling to Santa Pod for the Euro
Finals.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja had a valve lash cap come off in
his first round bye which blew a burst plate. He said "Overall we are
happy with the car's performance, she is a good lady." Tuner Charlie
Draper said "On the last qualifying run we put a 5.2s tuneup in it but
it wouldn't have it so we backed it off."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano said "We are having a small
problem with the clutch slipping and will try to tighten it up for this
run. The engine has given us no problems and we are happy we have a
good combination."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann said "We had a lot of problems
with tyre shake and also had a transmission problem yesterday that we
had to work on all night to fix. Now we have a new setup and ran 5.53
last time and won by only 0.0007s, the closest race I have ever had.
The car can run a 5.3 which is what we will have to do against Manty."
In the race, Timo pushed the tree a little hard and red lit.
Pro
Stock Bike racer Ulf Öggewas against Elvira Karlsson in the semi-final.
He said "We want lane choice in the final; we are happy with the bike's
performance and nothing is broken. The Racepak is giving us good data
for tuning." Elivira's engine stopped at the hit and Ulf earned lane
choice against Fredrik Fredlund.
Supertwin
racer Jaska Salakari was trying to solve a cylinder leak after damage
in round one's record 6.27s pass. "The leak is from the front
cylinder", he said. "Next year we will have to have a spare engine as
we don't have time to mend a big leakdown between rounds."
Supertwin
racer Jan Sturla Hegre, looking forward to the team's visit to Valdosta
in November, said "We are making some modifications on the bike with a
new fuel pump and improved head sealing. We want to put a lot more fuel
through the engine when we go to the US. It is my first visit to the US
and we want to make sure the engine runs well."
Supertwin
racer Svein Olav Rolfstad was delighted to run a 6.40 in the first
round. He said "We needed some answers before we visit the US and would
not normally do such a big change in tuneup before eliminations. We got
the answer we wanted and it was a nice run. It could have gone faster
as a cylinder was out after 1000ft and the speed fell from 339kph to
322kph at the quarter. An exhaust bolt in the front cylinder was the
only thing that needed replacement." The team are going to put a new
head and cylinder on before the US visit.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Nils Lagerlöf had a coming together with the wall in
qualifying yesterday. His crew said "The first round 6.59 was exactly
what we needed. We had to replace the front fork and wheel but there
was only a minor scuff to the fairing."
Supertwin
racer Ulf Nylen said "I have been racing Supertwins since 1988. My
first season with this bike was 2006 and I had a PB of 6.87 but
improved this to 6.68 at Tierp. I hope I can ride the bike quicker. I
will run the same bike next year and put more fuel and clutch in it."
Ulf plans to contest races in Sweden, Norway and possibly Finland next
year.
Pro
Mod racer Martin Lundkvist was pleased to win his first round matchup
against David Vegter. "It was the easiest pass for me after scraping
the wall yesterday. It has got my confidence back, especially running a
6.01. We find the right lane the best for us and I have lane choice
against Micke Lindahl. I thank the crew for repairing the damage
yesterday evening and for turning the car round so quickly between
rounds, and also my sponsors."
Pro
Mod racer Johan Lindberg said "I had bad shake in the race against
Niclas Andersson. You have a choice to lift off or drive through it and
of course I drove through it. It didn't hurt the performance too much."
Later the team discovered engine damage from a broken valve and were
rushing to change heads.
Pro
Mod racer Tami Brander faced Johan Lindberg in the second round of Pro
Mod. "I will try to do everything; I know he will have a 6.1 tuneup in
it so that is what I will try to run."
Pro
Mod racer Bruno Bader's defeat at the hands of Micke Lindahl put a dent
in his chances of a first FIA Championship. "We have had no luck this
season", he said, "Yet the no.16 has a bye run. We have made our best
performance on each run but Lindahl surprised me on that one."
Pro
Mod racer Micke Lindahl's holeshot win had the racer excited. "We must
be consistent and if I run a 6.1 I will have a chance against Martin
Lindqvist. I saw Bruno at 300m but I was able to get more speed at the
top although I went close to the centre line."
Micke
Lindahl's other car was parked by his Pro Mod. Team member and
developer Daniel Andersson said "The idea of the twin turbo 'Vette came
from its owner and team member Göran who has run turbo cars and saw
turbo Pro Mods running in the US which gave us the idea to try one. It
is starting to perform but it has taken years to build up and find the
performance. It has totally different parameters from a blower car and
we are looking forward to running it in future."
Pro
Mod racer Micke Gullqvist had a broken rear end in the third qualifying
run which meant the team had to go back to Stockholm to get a spare. He
said "That was the easy bit. The spare didn't fit so the team had to
work all night to make it fit. New brackets took eight hours to make
and we had to alter the links to the wheelie bars and locators for the
shock absorbers. We worked to 3:30am and I wasn't focused on my
reaction time as I was wondering if the car would go straight." Micke
won the first round with a 6.02 and improved to a 5.98 in round two.
Pro
Mod racer Jan Gunnarson was Micke Gullqvist's opposition in round two.
Beforehand he said "I didn't know Urban red-lit against me and it went
wrong for me with tyre shake. I looked up, saw Urban was not beside me
and got back on it. I hope Micke's tired and am going to try against
him." In round two Jan suffered more shake and Micke ran a smooth
winning pass.
Pro
Mod racer Mats Eriksson was the first round victim of Micke Gullqvist.
Running a best of 6.20 in qualifying and a 6.24 was a couple of tenths
off the pace and was due to tyre shake. He said "We tried to do what we
could. It has been the same all weekend and we have tried to adjust it
from top to bottom and I have been on and off the pedal. I had the
better reaction time in the race but Micke was quicker. It was
impressive how he got down the track after his problem."
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.24/441kph in round one when
Risto Poutiainen's auto shutoff misdeployed. Crewman Laurie Bamford
said "Everything is routine," as they thrashed to get the car ready for
the next round following the mandatory turnround.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen said "The auto shutoff deployed
just after the fire-up which has never happened before. We have to find
out the cause. I still have a good chance of the championship and was
happy with our performance this weekend although we were chasing a
three second pass. The track is very good and I am very pleased with
the facilities here. Three races in six weeks is a bit of a strain for
the teams and it would be better spaced and less costly for travel if
the second Tierp race was at the end of July."
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered pulled out an upset in round one when
he defeated no.1 qualifier Janne Ahonen. Crew member Rob Inglis said
"We are happy with that run, it has been a long time coming. It was not
quite a full pass and it dropped a cylinder early on and it took a
couple of stabs to keep it going. But there is a lot more there.
Micke's great 0.08 reaction helped too. We hope to build on the win."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Jonnie Lindberg was delighted with a 5.59/422
on his first full pass, the first half of a new European speed record
and a personal best by some way. He said "I am very happy and we will
try to repeat in the next round."
Fuel
Funny Car racer Leif Helander made the first pass at Tierp for the
nitro-powered cars. He was congratulated at the end of his run by Micke
of the Safety Group.
Pro
Stock team owner Roger Lyrén said of son and Eurodragster.com blogger
Kalle's bike "We are trying to take power out as we have too much. I
want to say we have found the problem and are going in the right
direction. Although it's not a new engine, the adjustments we have made
make it feel like one. But Kalle's riding is consistent and the bike is
stable."
The two seater dragster sponsored by Bahco is being driven by Top Fuel racer Micke Kågered this weekend.
Super
Comp bike racer Leif Larsson has Tierp as his home track. He said "I
have been racing for wight years. My bike was new for 2011 and is a
Super Street style Hayabusa GSX1340R Turbo with Hays clutch and
Precision 6265 turbo." 
Competition Eliminator racer Rolf Simonsson runs this beautiful Camaro
built in 2009 by Advanced Chassis. He said "I bought it from a racer in
Norway and have run it in Super Pro Street which is a heads up class
for doorslammer cars below Pro Mod and Top Doorslammer. Last year I ran
a truck which ran elevens." The car has a nitrous Fulton of 632 cu in,
Turbin clutch and Powrglide transmission by Abruzzi racing. He ran a
6.98 in Alastaro to qualify no.1 in Super Pro Street. Sponsors are
GrävKhålen AB Orsa and Legname AB. .
Competition
eliminator racer Mathias Stenströ has returned with his BMW M3-engined
Volvo S90, which has run as quick as 6.72 using a turbo and methanol.
Competition
Eliminator racer Daniel Jedborn races a Neils & Parks slingshot
dragster and is points leader in the EDRS North Division. Daniel's car
has a 359cu in small block Chevy engine with Powerglide transmission
running in D/D (7.84 class index). You can follow the team at 
Competition
Eliminator racer Marcus Wålm from Vårgårda runs a 23-T AA/Altered with
a self built chassis. He said "This is my first event using the altered
body. I have mounted a Ford Mustang and a Corvette body on it for seven
years but at a race earlier in 2012 at Kjulla the Mustang body was
damaged. It is my fourth time out this year and am hoping to run a six,
but we will take it one step at a time. I have more power this year
with new engine and parts." The engine is a BBC of 461cu in with blower
running on methanol with Powerglide transmission.
Competition
Eliminator racer Mats Erlandsson has owned his '52 Chevy Bel Air for
two years. He said "I race at Tierp and Malmö and have run a best of
7.52 here and 4.95 at Malmö. This year I have had some engine problems
after switching from nitrous to a 14/71 supercharger and methanol. We
are looking to run a six." Mats' engine is a 509cu in BBC by Dart with
Canhield heads, Venolia pistons and Callie crank. Transmission is Lenco.
Competition
Eliminator racer Matti Rajamäki owns a Ford Mustang from 1979,
constructed by Warren Brogie as a test bed for the then-revolutionary
funny car-style roll cage in a Pro Stock car. Matti said "I owned it
ever since 1979 and run it with two Cleveland engines of 353cu in with
aluminium heads and 356cu in with iron heads. The car has run a best of
8.74 with twin Dominator carbs in E/A and Tierp is my local track.
Super
Gas racer Annica Larsson runs a Falcon Sprint from 1963. She said I
wanted to buy it from the previous owner five years ago after running
bracket classes and had to save enough to finally get it two years ago.
I like Super Gas and don't use a throttle stop. I race everywhere in
Sweden, Umeå and Tullinge included." The car has a 351cu in engine
stroked to 430cu in with Dart block.
Competition
Eliminator racer Emil Eriksson runs an ex-Jan Palmqvist Volvo C70 in
BN/A. He said "I bought the car in 2008 and have a Steve Schmidt 500cu
in engine built by Tommy Laine in 2004. I have a nitrous kit but will
only use it in good conditions." Based in Sundsvall, Emil has been
running in Comp for four years in Norway and Sweden and the car has a
best of 7.25.
Competition
Eliminator racer Magnus Hägglund races an impressive piece of
engineering, this Volvo PV constructed mainly by himself. The car,
built in 1999, features carbon fibre body and a turbo Volvo stock block
engine with 82mm turbo that has run as quick as 7.11/307kph. He said
"We raced from 1999-2002, had a break, then raced in 2006 and did three
races in 2011. We have updated the car but most is the same as the
beginning." The team, Hunchback Racing, are based in Skellefteå, a
700km trip to Tierp.
Competition
Eliminator racer Jan Ekström races this rear engined dragster in D/D.
The Neils & Parks-chassised car was built in 1992 and runs a CSB
engine of 320cu in, with JE pistons and Bryant crank. Transmission is
Powerglide.
Pro
Modified racer Tero Laukkanen has a Mustang Twin Turbo. The car was
built by Tami Brander and has run a best of 7.14/322kph with a BBC
engine. He previously ran a street legal 900+ hp BMW 2002 with
turbocharged 4cyl M3 engine
.
Pro
Modified racer Stefan Holmberg races a '70 Camaro bought in the winter
2011 from ADRL Pro Extreme racer Alex Hustler. Stefan said "It was
previously a blower car and I have put my turbo 538cu in Donovan Chevy
in it after my old car crashed at Tierp at the last meeting of 2011.
The car was built by Duncan Race Cars in 2009 and drives good." Usually
running in Top Doorslammer, Stefan lives 60km from Malmö where the
class races twice during the year. Stefan said "I had a minor crash
there with this car and so am taking it easy. The trans is a Rossler
with Coan convertor which is the quickest in the US. But I need to have
more runs and am not expecting to qualify. It would be good to combine
Pro Mod and Top Doorslammer at Tierp, the field could be 45-50 cars."
Pro
Mod racer Mats Wicktor has Eurodragster.com sponsor Trevor Langfield as
technical adviser on nitrous on Mats' '53 Vette. Trevor said "The
engine uses the Revo system which gives a unique variable nitrous
supply. The nitrous system is good for an additional 1200hp on top of
the existing 1600hp engine, although only 500hp of the potential
additional horses are being utilised as it has been detuned to account
for the conditions. Mats had similar ideas to me and decided I was the
person to help him develop the system." Another unique feature is a
pressurised fuel canister that feeds to the Revo system; the pressure
can be varied with the air supply and avoids problems with the usual
pump. 
A
feature of Mats Wicktor's unique setup is running engine oil as coolant
in the cylinder head water galleries which works better as a coolant
under race conditions and the amount utilised weighs less. The fuel
system is also unique in that ordinary gasoline goes into the
carburretors but there is also a progressive supply of ethanol which
aids cooling and which means we have to work on ignition and timing
settings. There are so many variables, we can't use a dyno and we just
wish we have a computer program we could use to model it." At a recent
race on the eighth, Mats qualified no.2 in a field of blown cars with a
4.43. Utilising a unique-to-the-class TH400 gearbox the engine
combination has huge potential and Trevor's Wizards of NOS company has
a proven track record in various classes of the sport.
Pro
Mod racer Joran Persåker has installed a Top Fuel block and heads in
his car. He said "The rules don't allow for twin magnetos with turbos
in Pro Mod so I am running eight spark plugs only. I have twin 91mm
turbos but have been having starter motor problems which I hope we will
solve before qualifying starts. 
Although
there was a lengthy rain delay, by the time sportsman qualifying
started just before 5pm there was a lengthy queue and we arrived at the
media centre as Stock/Super Stock was in the pairing lanes.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Timo Eronen from Mäntsälä in Finland runs a 426cu in Hemi
'Cuda and in the first and only session of qualifying today ran a
+0.31s over his 9.30 index. He has run a quickest of 8.87 in the car.
Stock/Super Stock racer P-a Lindström races a '70 Challenger and qualified no. 25 with a -0.32 on the A/SA index of 11.00.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Mats Bäckman from Umeå had a perfect reaction to three
decimal places and ran a -0.71 on his SS/FA class index of 10.45 to go
no. 7 at the end of Thursday's session.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Hannu Palasmaa from Tuusula in Finland won the 2011 NDRS
Stock/Super Stock championship which had three rounds at each of Tierp
and Alastaro. His '71 Chevelle has a 454cu in engine and Jerico
transmission. The car has run a best of 10.42 and in qualifying ran
0.14 over the A/S index of 10.95.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Thomas Wallin runs a Plymouth Duster in F/SA and went 0.46
under his 11.85 index to go no.16. The engine is a 383cu in.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Tarmo Mikkola ran 0.65 under the SS/GA index of 10.55 to go
no. 9. The car has a 350cu in engine and McClay 200 transmission.
SSAB
is a Swedish metal producing company that has a production operation
which has just moved to Borlänge, where ME Racing is located. Peter
Nilsson of SSAB explained that SFI approval has just been granted for
use of SSAB's Docol Tube for SFI's new 25.1X specs for full bodied car
roll cages. "It is a roll formed sheet metal which is tig welded. It is
of a very even thickness and can be made 2mm thick compared to chrome
moly which is 3mm thick for the same strength."
An
example of the weight benefit from using SSAB's Docol tube is this bike
frame which weighed 21kg from regular tube but 15kg when made out of
Docol. ME Racing (Mats Eriksson) has distribution rights in Sweden and
distribution for the European market will be announced later. Mats said
"The tube is already in the spec for Top Doorslammer and will be in the
SFI spec very soon." More details are at 
Pro
Stock racer Bo Pettersson did not make it out in the first session of
Pro Stock as he was experiencing a leakage and clutch problems. He said
"When we ran earlier in the year the clutch was too sudden and then
when we adjusted it, it was too soft and I drove through it. We also
had a leak out of the bottom end of the engine and had to change a
crankshaft seal. We are looking to run in the sixes later."
Pro
Mod racer Terje Håkonsen was delighted to run a 6.16/365kph in the
first pair of the class out this morning. He said "We made big changes
over the winter with a new BAE 7X engine and Mark Williams rear end and
new Racepak computer program. The car went down the track very
smoothly, it's a great track so we can use the car. It was a personal
best but I think it can run a lot quicker." His next run, a 6.03,
proved the point and he is in no.3 position.
Pro
Mod racer Mats Wicktor has Eurodragster.com sponsor Trevor Langfield of
Wizards of NOS advising him on nitrous set-up. Trevor commented "My
wife says I always have a computer in front of me, now I have four!"
Mats ran a 6.71 in the first session with more to come as the nitrous
gets fed in progressively going down the track and the new slicks on
the car bed in. Mats said "We are going to pick it up to 55% of
potential and want to make as many runs as possible to get good data."
The car is ex-Filippos Papafilippou (also known as Fast Fil).
Pro
Mod racer Tero Laukkanen in the Mustang twin turbo ran a new PB of
6.95/341kph to go 14th after the first session. He said "We ran Super
Pro Street in Finland with a 6.8s index. But our best before here was a
7.1. We were not happy with the launch although we have a Hestec engine
management system that works nicely and has launch control. There was
not enough boost so the 60ft time was only 1.22 rather than 1.08 that
we had in Finland. This year we are testing with a BBC engine and we
will have a new billet block. 
Pro
Mod racer Marko Lantto said "I was in the right lane and the car
started sliding with the tyre shake and it was almost like a second
burnout with the revs going up high in second gear. When we get the
setup right we should run a low six."
Marko
Lantto and other Finnish racers were displaying tribute stickers for
their countryman Jarmo Kuutniemi who died on Thursday 26th July 2012
after a short illness.
Pro
Stock racer Michael Malmgren started with a 6.81/312kph which he
described as a 'decent start point'. "I drove through big tyre shake
and ran it through to 1000ft. There is definitely more to come. I am
pleased with my crew who are very skilled and are making good
momentum." Michael is sponsored by Oakley sunglasses and apparel.
Pro
Stock racer Harry Sturhan is pleased to be returning to Tierp. He said
"We had a water leak under the car, perhaps it was from yesterday's
rain! There was no problem so we will be trying again this afternoon.
The car is being run the same as June, we have a new engine in it this
year."
Pro
Stock racer Magnus Petersson said "I am running Jimmy Ålund's old car
and this is my first quarter mile pass in it after testing on the
eighth mile track at Malmö. The clutch has been slipping and I need to
work on my shifting as I was running an automatic in Comp Eliminator
and have a Liberty gearbox in Pro Stock. My engine is from Steve
Schmidt and it is his first Pro Stock engine in Europe." Magnus said he
will try to race in as many FIA races as he can in 2013.
Pro
Stock racer Micke Callin was pleased with a 6.70/334kph, the speed the
first half of a new European record. "The track is the best and
traction is good and it is smooth. I am pleased to have chance of a new
speed record. I have a chance to go better in the championship than
before but it does need some luck and help from others." Tomorrow will
be busy for Micke as he will be entertaining sponsors from
Skyltfrabriken AB, Sjölunds transport AB and guests from KPMG.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson ran a no.1 qualifier of
5.59/414kph and then went up in smoke in the second session. He is
joined this weekend by the ex-pat Australian Alcohol Funny Car racer
now based in the US, Steve Harker. Steve said "The 5.59 gives the
others something to shoot for. I know the car well as it has over 1000
runs on it. I have had two seasons off but look forward to being with
Leif at the European Finals and back in the US will be bringing out a
blown Top Alcohol Dragster for my daughter Diana."
Pro
Modified racer Jan Bränvall from Luleå is hoping to make his initial
pass this afternoon following some last-minute welding being carried
out in the pits to bring the roll cage up to SFI standards. He said "I
have been racing in Top Doorslammer although I did race in Pro Mod as
long ago as 1997 using parts from Mats Westman's Funny Car in a
Mustang. I have upgraded my Camaro's sfront to a new one as I have a
BAE X1 engine which is the most current model, but I will be using the
previous X5 model here. My best so far is 6.88/330kph but that was
eleven years ago at Alastaro and hope to go quicker here."
Pro
Mod racer Bert Ove Olofsson is joined by US tuner Jim Salemi of G-Force
Racecars. Bert said "I am pleased with the performance so far but want
to go quicker here than my 6.44 earlier. That should be possible as my
60ft was my best ever at 0.99 and I had no third gear." Jim said "I am
happy with the season. The conditions here are excellent with the air
being 713ft above sea level which compares to 4800ft I was racing in
recently in the US." Jim's brother Jon Salemi of Resolution Racing
Services is also here helping Mattias Wulcan.
Pro
Mod racer Micke Johansson races a beautiful '70 Challenger but was
having problems. "We traced the problem to a broken fuel valve which
let air in causing a misfire. I am really happy with the car which was
built by Bertans Race Cars and although it is my first season I want to
run quick. We hope to race in England and Finland next year depending
on my team."
Supertwin
racer Jaska Salakari suffered a front cam belt coming off on the first
run with the cover departing the bike as well. "It was running pretty
nice to that point and was doing 291kph by 330ft," he said. In testing
last weekend he ran a sub-record 6.33 showing the power of his
KTM-based engine. In the second run a 6.72/340kph put Jaska in third
place in qualifying, but at the cost of engine damage.
Supertwin
racer Torbjörn Svensson is pleased to be back this season following a
crash in 2008 at Gardermoen. He said "I have more confidence here and
want to go racing." Crewman Dennis Glanby said "We have to get him to
hold the throttle after the eighth mile as by then he is giggling like
a little schoolgirl." Torbjörn's bike is self-built including the frame
and engine block and has a Karling crankshaft and Bentec transmission.
Paint is by Johan Ek.
Supertwin
racer Job Heezen's team are Ton and Vincent Pels, pictured under the
tower just before the start. Vincent said "Job had big tyre shake on
the first run. We will soften the clutch up to get to the other end and
then decide what to do to get the bike to run quick." On the second run
Job crossed the centre line after a storming launch so he hasn't
recorded a time yet.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Nils Lagerlöf suffered a failure in the pressure
control for his turbocharger leading to the bike running only a 7.64.
He said "We only had base pressure for the whole run and no additional
power. We have fixed it and look to run a six." However on the second
pass, Nils' bike went to the left and took out the 1000ft reflector so
didn't get a time.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Rickard Gustavsson has a new tyre and he said this may
have slowed his first run, a 6.73. "We run at Tierp regularly and my
best in testing is 6.42 and will try to do the same here." The funny
bike went 6.56 on his second pass to remain in no.3 place.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson produced the pass of the day running a
5.7092/355.50kph which is the world's quickest wheel-driven bike pass.
His launch and the subsequent celebration can be seen on 
Stock/Super
Stock racer Joakim Måtenson runs in SS/FA and was in 26th with a run
0.28 under his 10.45 index at the end of Thursday. Joakim's car runs a
440cu in six pack and is the same car that Sylvia Hauser imported from
Paul Rossi, drove in the 1970s and then sold to Joran Persåker. Joakim
has run the car for over ten years.
Stock/Super
Stock racer Glen Appelgren runs his '64 Dodge Polara in GT/HA and was
qualified 24th with a run 0.33 under his 11.05 index. Glen's 383cu in
engine was prepared by PPM Racing and is linked to a Mancini Racing 727
Torqueflite trans and Dana rear end.
Junior
Dragster racer Tobias Björnsson aged 15 is from Boden and after
Friday's first session was qualified no.2 with a 0.005 RT. The car was
built by Chris McGee, who developed a quad cam Top Fuel engine in the
1980s and is now an owner of Visions Racecars in the US.
Junior
Dragster racer Callum Bradshaw is lined up for the first qualifying
session on Friday. This is 13 year old Callum's second year as a driver
and he is qualified 16th with a 0.126 RT. Father John (pictured right)
ran a 6.73 to go no.1 in Comp Eliminator and 1.2195 under the B/TA
index of 7.95.
Junior
Dragster racer Theodor Brandt from Stockholm is 13 years old and is
qualified 14th with 0.105 RT. The car has a NC chassis, Craw´s ZR4
engine on methanol and Shockwave OD clutch.
Junior
Dragster racer Angelica Larsson is qualified 11th with a 0.080. She is
from Färnäs and aged 16. This is her fifth year in competition. Her
mother Annica races Super Gas (see yesterday's pit notes).
Junior
Dragster racer Tina Olsen Frog is from Heimdal in Norway and runs a
Mike Bos Racecars-built car. She is qualified 21st with a 0.238 RT and
her car is marked 'For Sale'. 
Junior
Dragster racer Amanda Sjöström-Andersson was winner of the SDL Junior
Dragster championship in 2011 which had eleven rounds of racing at
seven different tracks. Aged 14, she is from Sollefteå and has a Mike
Bos Outlaw car with a Blossom Racing Engines Super Rhino II motor. She
is qualified no.5 with a 0.027 RT.
Junior
Dragster racer Kristoffer August Nordin is qualified third with a 0.006
RT. He has been racing since 2009 and is aged 12. From Frogner in
Norway, Kristoffer drives a Pro Link car with McGee engine.
Junior
Dragster racer Trine Fossum from Fannrem in Norway is aged 17 and
drives a Motivational Tubing car. She has been racing since 2009 and is
qualified 8th with a 0.071.
Pro
Modified racer Roger Johansson made it to the pairing lanes for two
test passes today. The car has a 903 cu in engine from US doorslammer
legend Pat Musi, who has been advising Roger for some time.
Competition
Eliminator racer John Bradshaw had a bye in the first round of
eliminations and had installed a new engine following a failure on
Friday. The problem lifted the head and cracked the block following
several runs with high water pressure. John said "We will launch and
use the first couple of gears - I don't want to lower the index."
During
the afternoon your pit reporter ventured to the top end; the Top
Methanol Funny Cars can slow rapidly even from a six second pass and
some go off at the first exit.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson said after a 5.60/411kph run,
"We needed to get back where we were. We were getting a bit aggressive
and screwed up. There is a new shifter on the car and I was not used to
the staging procedure with it and we had to change it." Leif owns the
XL Motorhome business which is being advertised heavily at the event
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem slowed from his previous 5.72 run
after bad shake meaning he lifted after 300ft. He said "At least I
didn't break anything." He ended up as no.3 in the ladder with a
first-round match-up against Jonas Staflund tomorrow.
Top
Methanol Dragster Chris Polidano said "It's quite a hard weekend for us
as this is the first event with an all Maltese crew without a main
tuner at the track. Jerry Darien has been helping and we talk to him on
the phone after each pass. Although we have gone a bit slower today
with 5.71 and 5.81, we will try to go 5.4 tomorrow." Chris is qualified
7th with 5.58 and faces Dennis Habermann in the first round.
Top
Methanol Dragster Krister Johansson said "We shook the tyres hard and
will have to change the settings to compensate." Krister started with a
5.44 but today's runs were 5.66 and 5.75 leaving him in 4th place with
a first round matchup against Timo Habermann.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer was delighted with a 5.39,
driving through big tyre shake but getting his best time in the last
three years. He is qualified no.3 and has a first round match against
Dave Wilson.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja is qualified no.1 with 5.33. On
his final pass he suffered tyre shake and had to lift to 5.77. Manty
has a bye in round one.
Pro
Stock racer Harry Sturhan suffered wheelspin on his final pass to run a
7.86, his best of 7.02 being closer to where he wants to be in timing
but not qualified for eliminations in this event.
Pro
Stock racer Bo Pettersson said "The car is starting to move well and I
am happier driving it now." The car ran a best of 7.91, some way off
its best of 7.1. The car was built by Jerry Bickel and has a Reher
Morrison engine.
Pro
Stock racer Magnus Petersson ran a 6.95 but just failed to qualify. He
said "This is a great car and I am looking forward to running it harder
at future events after I have got used to driving it."
Pro
Stock racer Christian Sagelv was delighted to qualify with a 6.91 PB.
"I have qualified and this is the first time a Ford has qualified for
Pro Stock in many years. Thanks to Gulf oil and Hansen for making this
all possible. I raced Jimmy here in June and at Alastaro in July and he
beat me both times. I have him tomorrow and hopefully it will be third
time lucky."
Pro
Stock racer Mats Jacobsson was disappointed not to qualify. He said
after a final 6.97 attempt "I should go quicker but have a clutch
problem. It is too good a track for our settings which are too soft.
The engine is running well but I can't get the power through the
clutch."
Pro
Stock racer Sampsa Palos ran a 6.78 in the final session, close to his
best for the weekend, a 6.77. He said "We have had some electrical
problems and had to change the coil and ignition, but it's something we
haven't found yet. It affects the rev limiter in 4th gear which is
coming in at 9500rpm rather than 10300 when it should." Sampsa has a
first round match against Richard Sundblom.
Pro
Stock racer Thomas Lindström was ecstatic after getting pole position
with a 6.66. He said "We have had problems with a faulty carburretor
valve which caused it to flood in the first session and then a good
6.75 in the second session. I also overreved the engine but fortunately
there was no damage. It is my first race in six weeks and it's good to
get back into the routine."
Pro
Stock racer Richard Sundblom was pleased to be fourth with a spare
engine. "We used our old spare engine from the late Bill 'Grumpy'
Jenkins and our usual engine is supposed to be stronger, but it broke
in the last race, didn't expect a lot and we are really pleased."
Pro
Stock racer Jimmy Ålund must be wondering if he can keep his
championship crown with Thomas Lindström leading by 39 points before
the start of this event. He admitted "I'm not surprised by Thomas's
success - he is doing a great job." Jimmy's last run was a 6.698
compared to his best of 6.696 and he said "I have got the car running
well now." It should be an interesting battle in eliminations.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.33. His crewmen Gary Page and
Laurie Bamford said "We will take what we are given, we are in the
field and we can tune the car up for tomorrow. We always want to run
quicker, we've plenty to work with and it hasn't hurt itself." Jari is
7th and faces Risto Poutiainen in the first round, with only a tenth
between their qualifying ETs.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä ran a 4.15 in the final session and
commented the clutch didn't work quite as she was expected coming in
quite suddenly. She also reported a small problem with the reverser
after the burnout. Tomorrow she will meet Patrik Pers in the first
round.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen has been the quickest and most
consistent running 4.15, 4.04, 4.08 and 4.10. He said "Yesterday and
today have been good. I have a great team."
Pro
Modified racer Roger Johansson was happy to be running at the track. He
said "It felt loose at the launch and lazy and then I realised it was a
driver's mistake and I had started in second. The team have done a very
good job to get the car ready for the event."
Pro
Modified racer Jan Brännvall was also pleased to have got down the
track even though he didn't qualify. He said "We had two full passes
and need one or two more to solve the tuning problems and get the car
running ok. We need to take fuel out, get the start better and solve
some Lenco problems. Now we go home to Lapland and will look to run our
BAE X1 engine." Jan and team thank sponsor MotorFist Snowmobile Gear
and Apparel.
Pro
Modified racer Mattias Wulcan was helped by Jon Salemi of Resolution
Racing Services but despite running a 6.57, didn't make the field for
eliminations. He said "I ran a 5.93 here two months ago and ran several
4.01s and won the Power Street Finals at Malmö. But I am dialling in a
Leanders clutch to go quicker and former Pro Stock racer Pelle Eriksson
is helping me set it up."
Pro
Modified racer Johan Lindberg said "This is a great field and we
changed the rear shocks to new ones to make it a little quicker. We
will try to figure it out. It is very competitive. Johan is 14th with
6.17 and his final run was his quickest. 
Pro
Modified racer Tero Laukkanen was in 20th on what is essentially a
testing weekend. He said "The clutch is slipping too much but we are
pleased to run our best of 6.68." Tero's car was constructed by Tami
Brander.
Pro
Modified racer Bert-ove Olofsson is eighth with a 6.0946 which he ran
in the last session. He said "We need to go quicker". He meets Mark
Meihuizen in the first round tomorrow.
Pro
Modified racer Patrik Wikström is first alternate after running 6.37.
He held up an aluminium stud which he said "Came loose and caused
pressure to drop causing me to lose earlier runs. On this last run I
spun the tyres.
Pro
Modified racer Tami Brander arrived at 8:00 on Friday morning after
attending a show in Finland. He said "This is my best meeting so far
although the injector scoop was blown off which we fixed last night."
Tami ran a 6.13 in the last session to qualify 11th. He faces Ola
Dahlblom in round one tomorrow.
Pro Modified racers Bruno Bader (closest to camera), Ola Dahlblom and Urban Johansson all have '63 Vettes and are qualified 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.
Pro
Modified racer Ola Dahlblom said "Everything is working well with the
crew working very hard on the car. As I run Top Doorslammer I get a lot
of track time on eighth mile tracks. We are in Pro Mod here and of
course I want to win." Ola is qualified no.6 with a 6.07 and ran 6.10
in the final session.
Pro
Modified racer Martin Lundqvist suffered a scrape with the wall. He
said "It is repairable. There is nothing wrong with the performance. I
was trying for a good pass and it felt good. I just didn't realise that
I was so close to the wall." The damage does appear superficial and he
is qualified no.4 with 6.02 and races David Vegter in the first round
tomorrow.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher was upset
when he was unable to start in the second session yesterday. He said
"It was a stupid mistake by one of our new crew members who put the
spark plug cable in the wrong place, a rookie problem. In the first
session I was running in the first pair in the left hand lane and
without other cars having run down, my time was slower. We then set the
car up for the record but couldn't run it. So today we have set it up
slightly softer to run between 4.14 and 4.18 and have new slicks on it.
As Robin Grice has business commitments, Glenn Mikres has come over
from the US to tune. This is my last race this year and we would love
more sponsors to be able to do more in Europe." Urs is grateful to
Midland Oil for its support.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Håkan Fallström had a torrid time in qualifying.
Crew chief Peter Lantz said "We had some Apache ambushes like in a
western. On the first run a blower belt came off for no reason other
than it had been used up. On the second run the car left on seven
clutch fingers and went up in smoke instantly. There was no damage but
we changed engines anyway as the other one was leaking. All was fine
until we were rocking the car and a carbon fibre brake fell off. Bad
Apache. We are trying to find some spares and have asked over 80
teams." Håkan managed to find a spare only to suffer a kaboom on his
pass. The team have plenty of spares though, and Bjorn Martensson (who
ran a Topolino in Comp) is licensing in it. They still hope to compete
at the Finals.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Patrik Pers is assisted by Crew Chief Mark 'Animal'
Bodimeade and tuner Alan Jackson. Animal said "Congratulations to
Tierp, I have never come across a surface so well prepped. It caught us
out by surprise and on our first pass the shake was so violent that
Patrik's nice shiny new helmet was scratched to hell. We turned the car
round and there was no damage. On the second we had a lot more power on
the launch and higher rpm. The result was shake not as bad, but still
too much to complete the pass. So we serviced it, no damage but a
softer clutch and more rpm at the hit. It is digging in like there's no
tomorrow. We need to qualify to do Santa Pod." Patrik's run of 4.22
this morning put the car in no.7 spot.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä said "It is so good to do a full pass
when one can count on the track. You can drive with a full heart and
not worry about the track not taking the power. The car was lacking
some power at the hit and not getting enough wheel speed on the launch
but can tune round that and hope to run a 4.0 next time." This was
confirmed when her subsequent pass produced a 4.099, good for third
place.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Micke Larsson's engine blew supercharger burst
panels at the eighth on both runs yesterday, causing minor body damage.
"I had good speed at that point and still ran 6.75 on the second pass.
We traced the problem to a loose magneto which gave wrong ignition.
Fortunately there was no engine damage and thanks to Arvid Grødem's
team for helping with the repair work and we provided them with a
camshaft in return. We want to make a full pass as the track is good
and go for a five, as we ran a 6.06 at Alastaro. I would like to do the
whole tour next year if we have the budget."
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Jonas Staflund said "I have told my son I will
quit racing if I don't run quicker than a six this year and he can take
the steering wheel. I went up in smoke at the hit on the first run and
the blower belt went. In the second session on the pass the engine blew
a head gasket and burned one head and a piston. I had a spare head and
we worked until 2am doing the engine rebuild. I was thinking we hadn't
done something like that for five years." Jonas, who didn't appear in
this morning's session, is qualified 5th with a 6.25.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem said "We had camshaft lifter
problems on the first run which resulted in bent pushrods, squared
lifters and needing a new camshaft. We got shut down due to fuel
leakage in the second session yesterday and with bent pushrods in the
engine, it was fortunate that we did. It started ok in the pits but
felt wrong on the burnout. We worked to 2am rebuilding the engine."
Arvid
Grødem has a team with four Norwegians, two Danish clutch guys from Dan
Larsen's team and two Swedes. When asked what language they worked in,
Arvid said "SweDaneNorse, with a few Anglo Saxon words when it goes
wrong!"
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio ran a single pass yesterday as on
his second attempt a throttle linkage came off. "on the first run the
shift light came on and off so I was on and off the throttle several
times. I need to go at full speed and the chutes need to come out on
time." The car flipped at the end of the track after the chutes failed
in June, and it was a huge effort to get the car repaired in time for
the NitrOlympX in August. "Mats Eriksson did the chassis work and Dan
Larsen spent hours on repairing the body and remounting the chute
externally. Many thanks to Harteveld and Deukie.nl who sponsored the
repair work."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer (pictured right, with brother and crew chief Wolfie)
was happy with his time from Friday. Crewman Kirsten Krause said "The
first run had tyre shake and had to be aborted, but in the second it
went down the track well for a 5.41 to go second. The track is really
smooth and hopefully we can go even quicker and we will lean on it.
Every car can improve from yesterday, but it was our best 60ft time for
a long while and we need to get more power in top gear by half track." 
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson was cajoling his team to make his
next run a good one after his first yesterday was tractionless and
second a 5.68, off his and the competition's best. "It may be my last,"
he said. Son David explained that if Dave has no chance of the TMD
championship this year, he may quit ahead of the Euro Finals as he is
appealing against the points awarded at Hockenheim. David continued "We
are now back to our normal settings, but when you are used to a quarter
turn of a screw and then turn it three times, you forget where you were
in the first place. We are up against it and have lost the combination
and may have only one more run to get it back." In this morning's
session, Dave improved to a 5.49/423kph but only moved up one place to
sixth.
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen's crew member Harry Räikkönen told us
that the team is hosting sponsor Janne Niska, a Finnish crane company.
He said "We are happy with the performance, we had a little damage but
only to one cylinder head from a small issue with the fuel system, and
nothing bad. We would like to run a three second pass having gone 4.15
and 4.04 for no.1 but will have to see. This has been a good starting
season, the team is working well under crew chief Simo Patoharju and we
have Donnie Bender and Jarmo Pulkkinen joining us again." In this
morning's session, Janne ran a 4.08 and remained no.1 qualifier.
Pro
Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund was pleased to run the first half of
a new ET record, a 7.055/304kph in yesterday's second session. He said
"We are very pleased with that. We have finally got our Racepak working
and analysing our data was one of the reasons why the second run was an
improvement. If the track is there and I don't mess up I can back it
up. But the weather is very humid today, it takes the oxygen out and
you can't burn water. Fredrik is joined by Gary Stoffer who is also
helping Kenneth Vik, who ran a 7.10 in the second session and Anders
Larsson.
Pro
Modified racer Roger Johansson was left with a thrash in the pits to
get his new Mustang ready for competition. "The engine from Pat Musi
only arrived on Wednesday evening and we have to do things to get it in
the All-in Race Cars chassis. We want to test just a couple of times
this weekend. Our original plan was to test in Gardermoen but had no
engine. It is not good to be at a track with a car and no engine."
Roger now plans to test at Malmö and also run at the EDRS Finals at the
end of September, before resuming the tour next year.
Supertwin
racer Vidar Ravnsborg has bought the bike run by Ton Pels and Job
Heezen up to 2011 and is getting to know it this season. He said "I
have been racing for 18 years in Supertwins and got to try the bike for
the first time at Gardermoen. This is my first event running it
seriously and a 7.4 is fine for that. The bike is more advanced than my
old one but I am hoping to do the full UEM tour in 2013. Thanks to the
Harley Davidson shop in Oslo who are my sponsor."
Super
Comp bike racer Thorsten 'Skorpion' Appel is qualified 16th with 9.52.
He said "I changed the tyre before the meeting after a demo burnout and
spun the new tyre on the hit following a short burnout. The burnout for
the second run was harder and my 1.4 60ft time would have been a 8.57
on a full pass. But it broke traction, the bike got close to the wall
and the Sidewider exhaust scraped it a bit. I have raised the bike at
the back by an inch to help traction, but I am learning. The bike is
capable of 8.50."
Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad has a new bike prepared by Puma Engineering's Gerard Willemse (pictured right).
He said "We first brought it out at Hockenheim where I was able to get
a round win. It is hard to get used to the bike as it is heavier and
longer than my old bike. So I have to forget all my old habits. We are
refining the settings to get it drivable and will then work out speed.
But the weight of 532kg means it is hard to pick up the front wheel."
The bike has a parallel twin and Gerard said "I have built other
Supertwin engines but this is the first whole Supertwin bike from
Puma." Hans Olav said his old bike was sold to Ulf Nylen.
Supertwin
racer Per Bengtsson qualified second with 6.69/324kph. He said "The run
was not too bad but I expect to go faster. I was on and off the
throttle three times and it was a combination of the track and the
rider. We hope to run better today and get the 60ft time down to below
1.1."
Supertwin
racer Anna-Lena Apslund is selling her Supertwin Top Gas bike to go
into the nitro ranks. "We have put a new engine and gearbox in it after
the block split at Gardermoen and it has run well here, although I
won't be in the ladder. My best time is 7.99 compared with a PB of
7.70. There is no Supertwin Top Gas competition in Sweden so the bike
would suit someone in Norway or the Euro Top Gas Serie. This is a super
track and I love it. The air is very good."
Supertwin
racer Nate Gagnon said "This is the best track I have ever run at and I
can really use the bike here. It is my best opportunity to lay down
some numbers and is something special. We will turn it up as the track
keeps coming round the more Top Fuel cars run on it. I think we can run
a low 6.4 and would like to run a 6.3 here. But we want to win. The
best final for me would be to run against Samu and to have a good, hard
race." Nate is qualified no.1 with 6.63 after Saturday's first session.
Supertwin
racer Samu Kemppainen said "Our 6.73 run yesterday was one of our best.
We want to go quicker and I have some goals for this season. We wanted
to win the Nordic Supertwin Championship and I did that at Gardermoen.
Our other targets are to run a 6.5 and do well in the UEM championship
and I feel we can achieve these too. We have stepped forward this year
and it is great having Nate as a running mate."
Supertwin
racer Vesa Lipponen said "We spun the tyre with too much clutch on the
first run and went close to the wall, although there was not a big
problem. On the second pass there was a fuel leak so we were shut off."
The bike is a Bill Furr frame from 1997 with a new PRP engine and
B&J two speed trans. He said "7.7 is the best time in testing and
we are refining tuning and want to run in the sixes when it is sorted."
Vesa is running in the Extreme Fuel Circus event at Alastaro on 1-2
September and he is dependent on getting new sponsors to run the UEM
season in 2013.
Pro
Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson is back after a five year break with a
Vance & Hines engine acquired from Gary Stoffer. He said "It's a
good engine, 1755cc and on my very first pass in five years I ran a
7.20 compared to my previous best of 7.59. I am just happy to be here
and to go down the track. Being away for so long, I need to get it
together and feel I'm just a passenger." Anders runs a rock blasting
company ("It's really cool, I blow things up for a living") which will
prevent him from racing outside Scandinavia in 2013.
Supertwin
racer Trond Jostein Høiberget has a new clutch setup with bigger
springs. He said "It's difficult to tune with the new springs. We also
broke a sprag in the gearbox on the second run on power. We have
replaced this and are ready to go quicker than our 8.02 from yesterday.
The engine is fine but we spun the tyre on the first run and it was
difficult going before the cars had laid down rubber in qualifying."
Supertwin
racer Roman Sixta was also struggling having built new fuel lines for
the race to run a 7.73 yesterday, good only for 12th place. He said "We
had no time to try the new system and the engine is running much too
rich, so we are borrowing a new fuel valve in order to make it run
leaner. There is a lot of power and yesterday we were only using 40%
throttle. Roman's PB on the Fast Cat-engined bike is 7.41.
Supertwin
racer Svein Olav Rolfstad ran a 6.81/317kph on his first pass and then
had problems in the second. "The fuel pump slided out from its mounting
so we lost fuel pressure and the engine stopped. I had made my burnout
and was about to make a pass so I am glad nothing was hurt." Svein Olaf
and three others (team-mate Jan Sturla Hegre, Per Bengtsson and Rickard
Gustavsson) are competing at the Manufacturers' World Cup at Valdosta,
Georgia, USA on 10-11 November. He said "The container has to be loaded
and ready by mid-September so it's difficult to compete at the Euro
Finals as breaking anything would make it impossible to be ready on
time." 
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto ran consistently and as quick as 4.12
to reach the final against Jari Halinen. Due to rain, the final wasn't
run but Antti is hopeful of racing on more of the tour. He said "My
team is the Finnish crew of Eagle Racing with car owner Rune Fjeld and
tuner Tony Pearson. We just did two races last year and three in 2012.
I'm happy with our achievements this year. We reached the final in two
this year but both were rained off and went to the semi final here in
June." Antti started in Junior Dragster, moved up to Super Comp for two
years and Competition Eliminator for four years, then took a break to
help with Janne Ahonen. Antti's main sponsor is Dolicap trucking but
there is space on the car for more."
Pro
Modified racer Marc Meihuizen reached the semi final where he went out
against Martin Lundkvist. He said "I am content with our performance
this weekend as the car ran without trouble and made mostly solid runs.
In the semi final the start line procedure for Martin left me no time
to go on the two step as the lights ran immediately Martin staged."
Mark is grateful to MPM Oil for support.
Pro
Modified racer David Vegter, another MPM supported car, was happy with
the weekend despite going out in round one. He said "I didn't damage
any engine parts, ran personal bests of 6.17/376kph and completed three
qualifying sessions. On the third session though the rear end broke and
although we had a replacement it was the wrong ratio. That hurt us in
the first round when we had lots of tyre shake, not enough horsepower
to the ground and that damaged the wheelie bar and body. So we have
some work to do before the Finals but will be there."
Pro
Stock racer Jimmy Ålund had a hose break on his race engine and had to
swap over one from his other engine before the subsequently cancelled
final. The team were working feverishly as we passed.
Pro
Stock racer Thomas Lindström received our congratulations as he became
engaged to Nina on Friday. "He proposed to me in the stands," she said.
Thomas was looking forward to a final against Jimmy Ålund, both racers
having run 6.70 in the semi finals. "We are very happy, have just made
small adjustments as the final is not the right time for hasty things.
The winner will be the racer with the best reaction time. I am not
thinking of the championship now but will do tomorrow."
Supertwin
racer Nate Gagnon said after his semi final run against Samu Kemppainen
"It was a great race, I couldn't ask for anything better than racing my
team mate and best friend. We could give each other high fives at the
top end! I am against Svein Olav in the final and his previous runs
came out of the box. We are ready to go. My bike has been amazingly
reliable. We will try to turn it up a little but but nothing too crazy.
It will be a little bit more aggressive but I am not worrying."
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem, pictured with crew chief
Pål-Henning Sørenen, said "The car feels good but it is an uphill
struggle. We needed some luck and it came our way and our boys and girl
work hard. We had an electrical problem and had to replace another
camshaft. Thanks to Jonnie Lindberg for lending us one, with three
different camshaft profiles it has been like a test session."
Top
Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson ran a 5.86 in round one of eliminations
which was backed up by Friday's 5.70 for a new ET record and 5.92 in a
semi final bye. He will next be travelling to Santa Pod for the Euro
Finals.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja had a valve lash cap come off in
his first round bye which blew a burst plate. He said "Overall we are
happy with the car's performance, she is a good lady." Tuner Charlie
Draper said "On the last qualifying run we put a 5.2s tuneup in it but
it wouldn't have it so we backed it off."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano said "We are having a small
problem with the clutch slipping and will try to tighten it up for this
run. The engine has given us no problems and we are happy we have a
good combination."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann said "We had a lot of problems
with tyre shake and also had a transmission problem yesterday that we
had to work on all night to fix. Now we have a new setup and ran 5.53
last time and won by only 0.0007s, the closest race I have ever had.
The car can run a 5.3 which is what we will have to do against Manty."
In the race, Timo pushed the tree a little hard and red lit. 
Pro
Stock Bike racer Ulf Öggewas against Elvira Karlsson in the semi-final.
He said "We want lane choice in the final; we are happy with the bike's
performance and nothing is broken. The Racepak is giving us good data
for tuning." Elivira's engine stopped at the hit and Ulf earned lane
choice against Fredrik Fredlund.
Supertwin
racer Jaska Salakari was trying to solve a cylinder leak after damage
in round one's record 6.27s pass. "The leak is from the front
cylinder", he said. "Next year we will have to have a spare engine as
we don't have time to mend a big leakdown between rounds."
Supertwin
racer Jan Sturla Hegre, looking forward to the team's visit to Valdosta
in November, said "We are making some modifications on the bike with a
new fuel pump and improved head sealing. We want to put a lot more fuel
through the engine when we go to the US. It is my first visit to the US
and we want to make sure the engine runs well."
Supertwin
racer Svein Olav Rolfstad was delighted to run a 6.40 in the first
round. He said "We needed some answers before we visit the US and would
not normally do such a big change in tuneup before eliminations. We got
the answer we wanted and it was a nice run. It could have gone faster
as a cylinder was out after 1000ft and the speed fell from 339kph to
322kph at the quarter. An exhaust bolt in the front cylinder was the
only thing that needed replacement." The team are going to put a new
head and cylinder on before the US visit.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Nils Lagerlöf had a coming together with the wall in
qualifying yesterday. His crew said "The first round 6.59 was exactly
what we needed. We had to replace the front fork and wheel but there
was only a minor scuff to the fairing."
Supertwin
racer Ulf Nylen said "I have been racing Supertwins since 1988. My
first season with this bike was 2006 and I had a PB of 6.87 but
improved this to 6.68 at Tierp. I hope I can ride the bike quicker. I
will run the same bike next year and put more fuel and clutch in it."
Ulf plans to contest races in Sweden, Norway and possibly Finland next
year. 
Pro
Mod racer Martin Lundkvist was pleased to win his first round matchup
against David Vegter. "It was the easiest pass for me after scraping
the wall yesterday. It has got my confidence back, especially running a
6.01. We find the right lane the best for us and I have lane choice
against Micke Lindahl. I thank the crew for repairing the damage
yesterday evening and for turning the car round so quickly between
rounds, and also my sponsors."
Pro
Mod racer Johan Lindberg said "I had bad shake in the race against
Niclas Andersson. You have a choice to lift off or drive through it and
of course I drove through it. It didn't hurt the performance too much."
Later the team discovered engine damage from a broken valve and were
rushing to change heads.
Pro
Mod racer Tami Brander faced Johan Lindberg in the second round of Pro
Mod. "I will try to do everything; I know he will have a 6.1 tuneup in
it so that is what I will try to run."
Pro
Mod racer Bruno Bader's defeat at the hands of Micke Lindahl put a dent
in his chances of a first FIA Championship. "We have had no luck this
season", he said, "Yet the no.16 has a bye run. We have made our best
performance on each run but Lindahl surprised me on that one."
Pro
Mod racer Micke Lindahl's holeshot win had the racer excited. "We must
be consistent and if I run a 6.1 I will have a chance against Martin
Lindqvist. I saw Bruno at 300m but I was able to get more speed at the
top although I went close to the centre line." 
Micke
Lindahl's other car was parked by his Pro Mod. Team member and
developer Daniel Andersson said "The idea of the twin turbo 'Vette came
from its owner and team member Göran who has run turbo cars and saw
turbo Pro Mods running in the US which gave us the idea to try one. It
is starting to perform but it has taken years to build up and find the
performance. It has totally different parameters from a blower car and
we are looking forward to running it in future."
Pro
Mod racer Micke Gullqvist had a broken rear end in the third qualifying
run which meant the team had to go back to Stockholm to get a spare. He
said "That was the easy bit. The spare didn't fit so the team had to
work all night to make it fit. New brackets took eight hours to make
and we had to alter the links to the wheelie bars and locators for the
shock absorbers. We worked to 3:30am and I wasn't focused on my
reaction time as I was wondering if the car would go straight." Micke
won the first round with a 6.02 and improved to a 5.98 in round two.
Pro
Mod racer Jan Gunnarson was Micke Gullqvist's opposition in round two.
Beforehand he said "I didn't know Urban red-lit against me and it went
wrong for me with tyre shake. I looked up, saw Urban was not beside me
and got back on it. I hope Micke's tired and am going to try against
him." In round two Jan suffered more shake and Micke ran a smooth
winning pass.
Pro
Mod racer Mats Eriksson was the first round victim of Micke Gullqvist.
Running a best of 6.20 in qualifying and a 6.24 was a couple of tenths
off the pace and was due to tyre shake. He said "We tried to do what we
could. It has been the same all weekend and we have tried to adjust it
from top to bottom and I have been on and off the pedal. I had the
better reaction time in the race but Micke was quicker. It was
impressive how he got down the track after his problem." 
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.24/441kph in round one when
Risto Poutiainen's auto shutoff misdeployed. Crewman Laurie Bamford
said "Everything is routine," as they thrashed to get the car ready for
the next round following the mandatory turnround. 
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen said "The auto shutoff deployed
just after the fire-up which has never happened before. We have to find
out the cause. I still have a good chance of the championship and was
happy with our performance this weekend although we were chasing a
three second pass. The track is very good and I am very pleased with
the facilities here. Three races in six weeks is a bit of a strain for
the teams and it would be better spaced and less costly for travel if
the second Tierp race was at the end of July."
Top
Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered pulled out an upset in round one when
he defeated no.1 qualifier Janne Ahonen. Crew member Rob Inglis said
"We are happy with that run, it has been a long time coming. It was not
quite a full pass and it dropped a cylinder early on and it took a
couple of stabs to keep it going. But there is a lot more there.
Micke's great 0.08 reaction helped too. We hope to build on the win."
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Jonnie Lindberg was delighted with a 5.59/422
on his first full pass, the first half of a new European speed record
and a personal best by some way. He said "I am very happy and we will
try to repeat in the next round."
Fuel
Funny Car racer Leif Helander made the first pass at Tierp for the
nitro-powered cars. He was congratulated at the end of his run by Micke
of the Safety Group.
Pro
Stock team owner Roger Lyrén said of son and Eurodragster.com blogger
Kalle's bike "We are trying to take power out as we have too much. I
want to say we have found the problem and are going in the right
direction. Although it's not a new engine, the adjustments we have made
make it feel like one. But Kalle's riding is consistent and the bike is
stable."