Eurodragster.com Pit Notes
European Finals
September 6-9th 2012


Thursday


Super Comp racer Malcolm Motler tested his Procharger-equipped Morris Minor pickup yesterday to his first eight, 8.94/150. He then ran a 8.94 and finished with 8.93/151. He said "I have finally met the target I have had over many years. I am hoping to repeat that today." There are five sportsman qualifying sessions in which he can run.


Super Comp racer Andy Williams has made a return to the sport after five years out following his engine being totally destroyed at the 2007 Euro Finals. He said "It feels like I've only been off one winter, but we had to save for a new engine and then two grandchildren came along. I bought Mark O'Halloran's old Super Gas engine which was identical to my old motor. I tried it at the test and tune and it is capable of running low eights, so the problem is slowing it down enough."


Super Pro ET and Pro ET racer Paul Brown has the opportunity of running ten passes today and was rushing to get out to the second session of Pro ET having run the first session of each.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer and Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Jon Webster is running a Mercury Comet built by Webster Race Engineering. He said "The car has the drivetrain from the old MG, with a turbocharged 400cu in small block Ford and Andy Frost Powerglide. They work better in this car which has a SFI 25.1 full tube chassis compared with the MG's stock chassis setup. It ran a 8.1 at Bugjam but since then we have developed a new fuel injector which showed promise, running a PB speed of 173mph." The promise was justified with a run in the second session of 7.98/175.


Super Pro ET racer Simon Gough's Chevy Camaro was built for him in the US and is well supported by Chevrolet in the UK. He said "The car was fabricated by Alston Racecars in Chicago and the build started nine months ago. I tested it in Chicago and airfreighted it to the UK last Saturday. It has a 595cu in naturally aspirated engine by Nye's Automotive with split Dominator carbs and TH400 trans by FTI. The car was built in conjunction with Heidts Muscle Car Fabrication. I tested it at Great Lakes Dragway in Chicago to a 8.31 and once dialled in, it should run 7.8s." Simon owns the rights to importing Alston Racecars products in Europe and can offer a service of eleven weeks from order to turnkey delivery. The UK sponsorship comes from Toomey Chevrolet in Basildon after contact was made with Chevy UK. Part of the deal is a free giveaway tomorrow of £4000 worth of team shirts, caps and other accesories. Simon also has a 2012 Camaro 45 Limited Edition as a tow car. Why not buy a pre-used turnkey car and import it? "There is a lack of flow of new technology in the sport from the US to the UK and we can now offer the latest and tested parts for racers."


Super Pro ET racer Ashley Bell is racing his AC to times in the high eights. He said "At the last event at Shakey, there were drinks laid on for racers at the top end and I would really like to thank the organisers for that as it gets very hot waiting in the staging lanes. I love Super Pro because you need to run really close to your dial in to qualify and there is such a diversity of cars."


Super Pro ET racer Bernard Saz has a cool pit vehicle as well as a powerful racecar. Getting that power to the track is a key factor and a great (too great?) start of 8.44 on an 8.49 dial was followed by a hard launch and big move to the left. Regardless of performance, the team have got style.


Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs had run his first 200mph at Shakey but the engine's rear main cap cracked in the process with two bearings getting scuffed in the consequent loss of pressure. Vince had spares of these stock parts but the Moroso oil pump drive shaft was a special order. He said "The spare should be arriving at Hauser Race Cars and we are awaiting the call. If we can get it and install it which should take about an hour, we hope to be out this afternoon. We have left the tuneup where it was so that we can repeat the 200mph here too."


Super Pro ET racer Ian Turburville is planning an addition to his Mr Spokehead slingshot, this Ed Pink magnesium supercharger run in 1979-80 by Raymond Beadle in the Blue Max funny car. Ian said "Kenny Gomez of Superpower Unlimited has restored it and converted it to work with methanol." Ian's first run was aborted after the seal on a transcooler split. He improved to 8.74 and a subsequent 8.45 breakout in later sessions. Daughter Laura will be alternating driving with Ian next year after taking her DOT test during the winter months to enable her to run at non-permit events. Ian has bought the Ramraider dragster from Ed Yates to bring the family's slingshot count to two.


Super Pro ET racer Paula Atkin has achieved another landmark this year becoming the first UK female doorslammer driver to run 200mph. Today she displayed the car's consistency by running 6.9s and driving it right down the track every time even when it wanted to write an S.


Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones achieved a long-awaited performance by running his first five in testing last Sunday, a 5.94/227. "It felt good but when I deployed the single chute we used, it didn't come out. I was probably distracted by wondering what I had run. By the time I put the brakes on it was inevitable that I was going off the end of the track. They reckoned I must have gone 200-300ft through the field and when I got out, I couldn't see the track. They had only cut the corn the day before and there was lots of straw around - fortunately the car didn't ingest any and the straw didn't catch on fire. But when we got back to the pits and cleared it up we discovered a problem with the steel brakes which must have overheated. I want to run another five and then we will slow it down for the 6.00 minimum Super Pro dial." His next pass was a 5.96/229.


Super Pro ET racer Ian Hanson ran in the Supercharged Outlaws sessions last Saturday to a best of 7.8, the car shaking the tyres on all four passes. He said "Our best so far is 7.24 at Shakey and we have selected a 7.29 dial-in and will match the car to that. It kicked two rods out and we have a fresh engine that I built from components. Ian's aim for the colourful '53 Vette is to run a six with a bigger blower.


Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell now has a Hemi and Lenco in his funny car, but unlike Jayne Kay who swapped it with Mark's BBC/'Glide setup, he is having big problems putting the power to the ground through the clutch. He said "We are at the bottom step of the learning curve whereas Jane is up and running. We ran with no.7 cylinder out with a damaged plug. We check and double check but will only take the heads off if there is a problem we need to look at."


Pro ET racer Pel Norman ran his second eight today following a similar performance at the Mopar Euronats. He said "We put 100 jets in rather than 150 and it went too quick, but there are too many cars entered in Super Pro for us to switch! The car now has an anti-roll bar to stop wheelying. We will hopefully be doing a full championship season next year but a looking for sponsors to display on the car. We run the car at York in the heads-up Super Cup catgory and Pro ET and would love to see more southern racers come up to race against us, the track is good for anything down to 7.5s."


Super Gas racer Richie Webb ran a 9.091 at yesterday's test session for a new personal best but kept the times the other side of the class index at 10.2s today. The car was extensively reworked during Richie's time in the US.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook recently announced his retirement from racing. He appears determined to go out on a high running back in the sevens today, a 7.97 in Super Pro which he is also running in. He said "The only physical change we will make to the car are tuning adjustments and we will dial in according to our best run, although we have a target of 7.80. The reason I am retiring is the level of work I need to do in the sport outside my day job. I have raced cars for 28 years, always street legal cars. I would have kept on longer with more sponsorship but am really grateful for the support I have had. My wife has let me take time out to compete in the sport and now she deserves to get some of that time back." Although he still enjoys racing he can't see himself come back in another capacity. "My team have always pulled through and we all come from the same area. My crew chief Martin Kerr is setting up a fabrication and welding business. My last meeting will be the National Finals." Ian's long-owned car and trailer is still for sale, although potential buyers will need to be quick as there is interest already.


Pro ET racer Fred Barenose is one of a number of Dutch racers here. He said "I came to SPR for the first time in 2011. My car, a Dodge Charger, runs on E85 bio ethanol and I only had to change the carburettor jets and a bit of plumbing to get it to run well - my best so far is 10.52. Fred is excited at the additional race being staged in Drachten in October to replace the rained-out event earlier in the year. He said "The track is great, we will have a field of eight Pro Mods and the quickest Pro Mod pass on the eighth will get a prize of €5,000."


Pro Modified racer Rick Garrett, pictured with crew (left to right) Ryan, Daniel, Rick and Nick, suffered severe transmission problems with his new '41 Willys and is doubtful for competition at an event he was hoping to license at. "I was hoping to do a licensing pass on Wednesday but the pump on the aftermarket two speed Powerglide failed, it lost oil pressure and there are damaged parts. It's unlikely anyone would have spares that would fit although I have been offered spare convertors." The car was built by Tommy Mauney and run in ADRL by Blake Housley where it won meetings and ran 3.97. Rick said "The car is made very light with lots of carbon fibre and titanium, 115 inch wheelbase and 45 inch front overhang making a front 'flag' unnecessary. The engine is a Fulton 740cu in with nitrous from Roger Johansson and runs on SV05 unleaded fuel." Rick plans to run the National Finals to complete licensing requirements and then run the full MSA series in 2013.


Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison is running in the 7.7s area, rather than low sevens the car is capable of. He said "We have detuned the car for this weekend as it is being hired out next year and we agreed the ET with Mark Adams, the initial driver of the car. We will be able to have a good weekend's racing using these settings." The plan is to get funds from hiring the car out to run the team's Funny Car which has received a big rebuild with an ex-Shockwave bodyshell and new engine parts. Plans are for rwyb testing in October.


Allard Chrysler Action Group project partners the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) have a large group of interested students attending. schools and colleges on IMI programmes have been invited to attend by ACAG Chairman and Eurodragster.com blogger Brian Taylor. They were accompanied on their tour of the pits by British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chairman Stu Bradbury. More details of IMI including how to join their apprentice scheme are at www.motor.org.uk


Friday


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson had problems getting the power to the track in both of today's qualifying sessions and was no.4 by the end of the day. After the first session he said "On that run the car had too much clutch so we have softened it up. I believe the track can hold a 5.5s pass but we haven't been down it at full power yet." Leif last ran at Santa Pod in 2009.


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Rob Turner's brother crew chief (pictured right, with 'car chief' Ricky Gowen) said the car got unsettled in the first run. "It was ok to just before half track then, just as Rob shifted, the car bounced. At the Main Event it was enough to get the car across the centre line and into the other lane so Rob played it safe. We have softened the clutch for the next pass." Steve said the team were unable to make the Hockenheim and Tierp races due to work commitments and a lack of relief trucks. "It's a shame we have only been able to do two events but hope to do more next year," he said.


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio was working hard to get the car back together after a broken transmission in the first session. He said "We are ready for the next session and the rest of the car is fine." He ran a 5.98 in the second session to go no.2.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen said "The weather this weekend is a miracle!" On the first pass the car shook the tyres hard but up to then left as well as it did in Tierp. Team member Gary Page said "We have changed a few things. It wasn't worth pedalling to improve the time on the first run." On the second pass Jari ran a 4.22 to go 5th.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto ran the quickest time in the first session, a 4.08/298. He said "I am happy to be no.1 and delighted to run a personal best time and speed, but we will miss the second session to save parts. The left lane I ran in was smooth and it is great to race here."


Top Fuel Dragster team owners Karsten and Per Andersen are running their only race of the year this weekend. Karsten said "The last time we ran was at Pomona at the Finals last October with Thomas driving. We are sort of happy although the car overpowered the track and the driveshaft speed was way too high. The car is loaded, we have softened everything and hopefully the track will be better next session and will take what we give it." Karsten said he is working on a programme for next year, definitely in Europe rather than the US. "There are so many sidelined US Top Fuel racers, companies will sponsor them rather than European teams."


Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas was delighted to be racing here again after his last outing, which was in a Fuel Funny Car in 2008. He said "It is like coming home again to race here and the car feels great off the line. We are here to run quick and we have no championship points to worry about, just to go quick."


Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard produced two early shut-off runs in the mid fours with engine smoke. "We broke a blower belt on the first pass", he said "and we will soften the clutch for the second pass." Stig ended the day in sixth place with 4.37. The team are missing regular tuning adviser John Smith, who is at Indy following a rain-out last weekend.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä is joined by US tuner Donnie Bender for this race. He said "I am here on a on-off basis to advise the team and look at the operation. The team is well set up and the car runs settings close to what I have been using in Janne Ahonen's car this year. I hope to continue to be at the races in Europe next year." Anita said "I was pleased with running a 4.18 in the first session but prefer not to predict what we will run this year." Anita let her driving do the talking by going 4.02/287 in the second session.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Chris Andrews was pleased with 4.12/280 to go fourth. He said "The test sessions we ran earlier in the season have helped us to improve our performance, particularly with several sessions lost at the FIA race meetings. The track is great and the weather is helping too. We will just see what it will take. We had problems at Tierp when a supercharger failed and we couldn't get a replacement. But we have proved what we set out to do as a test year and are working towards being championship contenders next year. We are open to running at another event and will be making appearances at various events.


Pro Stock Bike team owner Roger Lyren said "During the semi final at Tierp our crank went. which was a shame because we had taken him on the tree but lost power going into sixth gear. So our number one engine was no good and we tested on Wednesday with our no.2 engine. We ran two passes, 7.25 and 7.20 but on the third run the cam chain went, which broke the engine. We took all our spare parts and put them on a table and were able to select what we could and built a new engine from scratch. We finished at 9:30pm. Kalle has a cold and fever and has to rest. Elivira has been struggling with electronics which led to the engine cutting out at 8000rpm. We changed the ignition and hope it works. The Championship door is still open and we won't give up, we know we are on the podium but not which colour the medal will be." Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle end the day fourth with 7.31 and Elvira fifth with 7.43.


Supertwin racer Chris Hannam said "We came here to test and ran our best 60ft at 1.11 and eighth at 4.49 with an old tyre. After we changed the tyre and wheelie bar setup the bike went to the right which is what we wanted. We have completely rebuilt the engine for this year and it is proving mechanically reliable. The 4.4 is at 65% throttle and we are confident that it would be a six second pass. But the bike dropped a cylinder and we were left thinking 'what if'. We have talked about 'what if' for four years." Cannon ran a best of 7.32/166 to be sixth at the end of two sessions.


Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen said after the first session "We have had no mechanical problems and hope conditions will be conducive to a five second pass. We tried too hard today and had big tyre shake. We wpm't change the settings yet as we want to see how it will go down the other lane and what it will take." The second run was also full of tyre shake and Marc was 15th at the end of the day.


Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist also suffered problems in both lanes, but more on the launch. He said "We made a lot of changes to try to get a handle on the bumps, mainly in the weight distribution and the shock absorbers. But the car didn't get off the startline and we have not got a good baseline. We have changed other things for the second run to how we would normally run and need to get down the track with a low 6.0 as a baseline." An off-it, on-it pass was a 7.900, good only for 12th at the end of Friday.


Pro Mod racer Freddie Fagerström was hugely entertaining on his first burnout and high-speed reverse, but after a pause he had to abort the run. He said "I had an oil leak which we traced to two small screws behind the blower drive. We fixed those and are ready. We want to beat Gullqvist, but seriously, I broke the engine at Tierp and the spare we have in is not in that good a shape." Freddy was able to muster a 6.24 which put him fourth at the end of the day.


Sponsors of the Shockwave Fuel Funny Car team Marshall Amps and MPM Oil are putting on some bands on Saturday. The specially decorated speakers give a hint that there may be some sounds in the pits tomorrow.


Super Pro ET racer Marc Henney from Germany is qualified 3rd with 7.604 on a 7.60 dial-in. His Mike Bos-built car runs on Ethanol. The spread of no.1 to no.32 qualifier in Super Pro after seven sessions was only seven hundredths, with the top eight separated by less than one hundredth.


Super Pro ET racer John Atkinson (pictured with son and Eurodragster.com brother-in-law Tom) was delighted to get no.2 qualifying position with 8.913 on an 8.91 dial-in. He said "We weren't as close as we wanted yesterday so were glad to get a good run in."


Super Pro ET racer Russ Fellows has run a best of 9.08 in his stock-appearing Beetle. Crewman Paul Jackson said "We are trying everything to get into the eights and have even taken the wing mirrors and wipers off. The engine is looking good. When we run an eight we would like to dedicate it to Jim Smith's father who passed away earlier in the year as Jim has been chasing an eight too."


Super Pro ET racer and Wild Bunch co-ordinator Chris Hartnell was delighted to run a 8.767/149 to go fifth after session 7. The team are delighted with the new engine and the 40-year old car has never run better.


Super Pro ET racer Sascha Pretzsch from Switzerland usually runs in Comp Eliminator where cars run all-out against a class index. In bracket racing the emphasis is on running close to the dial-in and Sascha was 0.11 off his 7.90 dial-in which was good only for 35th. The 2003 Cavalier was built by Jerry Bickel and runs a 706cu in Dart engine with nitrous.


Super Pro ET racer Roy Walker ran a 8.858 on a 8.85 dial-in to go seventh.


Super Pro ET racer Tom van der Wijden is qualified 6th in Super Pro ET with 8.957 on an 8.95.


Super Pro ET racer John Gerritsen has a new engine and it is his first year with a supercharger. John's times have improved to the 7.39 in the stock looking car but the closest to his dial-in was a 7.68 on a 7.50 and he is 38th.


Super Pro ET racer Steve Saunders is qualified 9th with a 8.62 on 8.61 dial.


Super Pro ET racer Chris Orthodoxou ran a best of 7.86 on a 7.81 dial-in to go 30th in the field.


Super Pro ET racer Mike Bruckmueller ran a 8.40/151 on a 8.36 dial to go 24th. His team said "We have competed in Germany, Czech Republic and Holland and we want to go quick here too. The car has an Alston chassis, BBC with Dart heads and a Callies Powerglide trans.


Super Pro ET racer Nick Good ran some 6.9s on the wrong side of his dial yesterday but also ran a 7.033 on a 7.02 to go 13th.


Super Pro ET racer Dave Catton is now running regular seven second passes in his four link dragster and a 7.833 on a 7.82 dial made him 14th.


Super Pro ET racer Ian Turburville improved to run 8.4s yesterday, breaking out in doing so but a 8.74 on 8.7 has made him no.28 qualifier.


Super Pro ET racer and Pro ET racer Paul Marston said "I ran ten out of twelve possible runs yesterday, we just missed a couple in order to have some lunch. We have brought the Monza again after the Bruiser broke and it reacts well to the changes we make." He is 10th in Super Pro and 5th in Pro ET.


Super Comp and Super Gas racer Pete Creswell is 5th in Super Comp and 6th in Super Gas after seven sessions.


Super Comp racer Paul Vrind from the Netherlands has a panoply of race event stickers as he has entered the cars in many races over the last decade. He is 13th in qualifying with a 8.95 after seven sessions. The small car runs a big engine, 620cu in


Super Comp racer Eric Roerade from the Netherlands improved from 13th to 6th in this morning's session with a 8.91 in his Chevy Nova.


Super Comp and Super Gas racer Martin Curbishley is 10th in Super Comp and 9th in Super Gas.


Super Comp racer Noah Stutz missed some runs yesterday with a rear axle bearing problem. Team member Patrick Tschanz said "Geof Hauser gave us helped and replaced them on both sides. We are looking forward to having Urs Erbacher with us for the weekend." The team plan to add nitrous and go into Super Pro ET next year


Super Street racer Dave Cherrett suffered a broken front kingpin on the launch yesterday. He said "We had the same problem five years ago and the weld appeared to have broken when the car came down from its launch. He said "Thanks to John a.k.a Shakey for his help in welding it back and to Bob and Stuart Doignie for the contact and loan of front runners which should help get us through the weekend. Perhaps I will have to set it up not to wheelie in the future."


UEM Super Street Bike Cup racer Thomas Granica said "We had a new engine in Hungary which is working very well. On Wednesday I tested with a best of 7.6/192 and good RT of 0.07 so we are in good shape. We are 6th in the UEM championship and would like to remain there but it will be hard work. I will have to qualify in the top ten and go rounds."


UEM Super Street Bike Cup racer Erich Gruber is returning after his first visit to SPR at the Main Event. He said "I qualified 8th in Hungary and won the Hungarian Super Street Bike Championship. My best is 8.12 and I want to run a 8.0 or 7.9 which I expect I will need to qualify." Erich (just celebrated his 60th birthday) has a Kawasaki ZX12 with a GT30 turbo, MTC slider clutch and Michelin tyre. Thanks to Woppi for interpretation.


UEM Super Street Bike Cup racer Mark Wells is chasing a lower ET. His Suzuki has run a best of 7.68. He said "I have run the ACU rounds and Straightliners as well. My bike has a GT40 turbo and MTC full slider clutch which means the engine is struggling to 'wake up' on the start line. I will change the clutch for next year." The bike has Guinness stickers all over it which Mark informs us is from a love of the product rather than sponsorship.


Saturday


Super Pro ET racer Ian Turburville had to rerun his first round against Paula Atkin following a timing glitch. But when Paula didn't make the call Ian ran a single to go through.


Santa Pod Raceway's two seater dragster was run on all four days with delighted passengers. This morning, Chrstophe from Belgium was in the passenger seat. He said "I have been to Santa Pod Raceway several times, am a fan of Danny Bellio's and love Top Fuel so I saved to see what riding in a dragster is like- it was very exciting, both the launch and the speed down the track."


Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas was delighted with 4.01/301 in the third session, however the final session was back to the tyre smoke.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto said after the third run "It felt quick and the car is running really good - it is a bracket car. There is a little tyre shake but I drove through it." Both of his qualifying passes were 4.08, both run in the morning.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Chris Andrews ran 4.22, 4.12, 4.38 and 4.23 to go fifth. On his third pass he said "I had to lift at half track due to shake - I lost vision and got out of it as the car was going to the right." Tuner Eddie Corr is providing input to the team this weekend.


Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander ran a 5.52/265 in the first session (over the full quarter mile) but was unhappy with his helmet when a locking bracket became unlocked and allowed the visor to rise at speed and obscure his vision in the shut-down area. He brought the car to a safe halt and ran a 5.47/280 in the second session. After recovering the helmet from the grass verge where he had deposited it, he said "I will tape it on next time."


Fuel Funny Car racer John Spuffard was off the throttle with tyre spin on the first pass and shake on the second but had sufficient momentum to go 5.73 on the second attempt. He said after the first pass "It blew the tyres off at half track after it got up on them and the rear end washed out."


Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith said "It was shake rattle and roll, but we ran on quite low oil pressure. It was 65lb/in on the start line but didn't move - if it had gone below 50, I would have been worried. The car went towards so I had a driving job on." A 5.78/231 was followed by shake and early shut-off on the hotter track in the afternoon.


Pro Stock Bike racer Ulf Ögge was improving throughout the qualifying, a pair of 7.20s in Q1 and Q3 being followed by a 7.16 in the final session to consolidate his second place in qualifying. Ulf leads the Championship by 10 points from Fredrik Fredlund and Kalle Lyren is another 16 points further back. With 20 points for a round win it will be close tomorrow.


Pro Stock Bike racer Gert-Jan Laseur also runs a Buell and ran a best of 7.28 to qualify fourth. He said "I am now sure of my shift points and everything I dreamed of in the bike's performance is now coming true."


Pro Stock Bike racer Ray Debben celebrated his 65th birthday on Thursday. He said "For me it's draw your pension on Thursday and race on... Saturday, because I don't think my best pass will qualify me. I have been struggling with different transmissions. Ray will continue to run his shop and continues to make parts for bike racers.


Pro Stock Bike racer Elvira Karlsson suffered ignition cutout problems yesterday which were cured by Veidec team principal Roger Lyren and she then ran 7.43, 7.33 and 7.49 to go no.5.


Pro Stock Bike Racer Martin Bishop is only five thousandths behind Elivira with the bike working well and consistently in 7.3-7.4s range. Martin was suffering slight burns from the exhaust on his foot and as a precaution, covered his riding boot in foil.


Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund ended in no.1 position with 7.10 with his other runs 7.16 and 7.14. He said "I need one more round than Ulf Ögge to get the championship. It is tight as we both have good bikes and teams."


Supertwin racer Martijn de Haas had problems with a gearbox shaft, clutch, an engine gasket and throttle linkage. His best of 7.69 came in session four, but it still left him on the outside looking in.


Pro Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle Lyrén, suffering from a fever and a less-than-perfect engine, also has had to contend with gearbox issues today. He finished in third place with a 7.26.


Supertwin racer Job Heezen's bang from the engine on his 6.65 run this morning was an explosion resulting in the inlet coming off altogether. It looked repairable but there may be damage to the engine internals.


Supertwin racer Trond Høiberget is being helped by Supertwin racers Svein Olav Rolfstad and Hans-Christian Nilsen and Trond was pleased to improve his performance to a 6.99 in both sessions one and three.


Supertwin racer Nate Gagnon ran his best in the last session, a 6.664. After his third run, he sprayed the clutch area with water to avoid the primary belt melting. He said "We have been trying a few things that didn't work."


Supertwin racer Christian Jäger said after running his best of the weekend, 6.84, "We have now got a good baseline. We hope to have a good race and go third or even second in the championship. That is a big improvement from last year when I was tenth."


Supertwin racer Chris Hannam said "The bike left harder and dropped a cylinder in the same place. There are no issues, we are still learning and will turn it up. We are happy, there is great weather and the people are great. Thanks to Lucas for your support." On the fourth session engine problems resulted in the exit of what looked like a camshaft and a large pool of oil in the starting area.


Supertwin racer Samu Kemppainen said "We are happy with our setup and it is good to have Ron Houniet here. He is available when we need him and although the setup we are using is the same as when I ran a personal best, he is giving us ideas for what we should try.


Super Street Bike racer Danny Cockerill ran a 7.54 to go sixth this morning. He said "We wanted to step up. I have changed the turbo from a Garrett which is adapted for a bike, to a Precision turbo from Owen Developments which is designed specifically for a bike. To make it side-mounted I have a new header as well. It works well with the Hays clutch."


Super Street Bike racer Graham Dance said "There is a very tight spread in the first ten places and need to move up. The nitrous line came off in my second pass and the gas being pressurised at 900lb/in, whipped me in the face and got under my visor. It was a bit of a moment." Graham's best ET stayed at 7.59 after this morning's session in 8th place.


Super Street Bike racer Chris Reed, pictured with daughter and Junior Dragster racer Stacey, said we went out was no.1 qualifier for two pairs. The track is awesome, it seems to say "give me more and then takes it. I tried something in the second session and ran 8.7 - I won't bother to do that again. It wasn't quick but it was spectacular," he said of the wheel-up launch.


Top Fuel Bike racer Otto Knebl has suffered the bike cutting out on the launch which resulted in a broken cam at Tierp. With new parts and different settings, he ran a 9.33/139 to get in the field for tomorrow's eliminations.


Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey warmed the bike in the pits. Two tractionless passes on a new Hoosier tyre were put down to too high tyre pressure and too tight clutch setting. "The engine is fine and strong", he said. A later run with less pressure brought back the fishtailing which Steve calmly rode through to a 7.56/181 baseline pass.


Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt was happy to run a good time in the first session, 6.37/208. "We made a couple of things different on the fuel system and will try more of the same today." Steve went 6.57/218 this morning and remains in third place.


Pro Stock Bike racer Len Paget was joined by Motorcycle News Sports Editor Gary Pinchin, who covers a range of UK circuit racing, MotoGP and drag racing. Len said "I lowered and shortened the bike, put a different combination in the engine and changed the gearbox. We will disassemble it all after the season. We want to run a 7.4 or even 7.3 here, but yesterday I had wheelspin in 4th, 5th and 6th gears. The settings were too violent and the four link keeps stalling the tyre off the line - it needs to turn more."


Pro Stock racer Micke Callin suffered traction loss on launch. "I changed the four link for the first and second runs but have changed it back now. It ran fine at the Main Event but shook the tyres. It will get down the track if we can get the power down."


Junior Dragster racer Joe Kellett is collecting championship trophies in the UK, not being able to compete for the EDRS, although this is being looked at for next season.


Junior Dragster racer Harry Elliott runs the Santa Pod-owned junior funny car but is not in competition at this event.


Topspeed Automotive Steet Eliminator racer Mark Todd ran a best of 7.62 and is using the parachute to the extent of stripping the material off the pilot chute, used to deploy the main parachute. He said "It gets constant wear."


Topspeed Automotive Steet Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby said after this morning's run "The boys on the team have done a great job, they are tuning the car to get around the tyres. It's a fine line between shake and spinning the wheels, but this felt like a nice run." He qualified fourth with 7.76/186.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja was looking to run a safe pass after 5.32 in the first session and shake in the second. The results were 5.37 and 5.35 which keeps him in no.1 qualifying position.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Krister Johansson ran a best of 5.45 and 5.55 in the final session to end fourth in the qualifying list. Tim Read is back with the team after work commitments took him to New York. Krister is looking hard for sponsors for next year.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson gets to stand on his slick to wrap the chute over the wing. He said "We haven't gone up in smoke all weekend but need to find the power to go quick. We are using our spare motor and it has thrown us a curved ball and we didn't quite catch it. We need a better baseline but will give it all we have got."


Several racers were carrying this tribute to the late Knut Soderqvist.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano has Jerry Darien on the team for the second event and the results of his input are now starting to happen. A 5.45 and 5.41 yesterday were followed by a 5.38 and 5.39 today for a solid no.2 on the qualifying list.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann is no.3 in the listing with a 5.40. He said "We have suffered tyre shake and blown burst panels on both cars."


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson had a rear tyre failure at speed on a 5.67/253 run which put him into no.2 position. The tyre caused body damage at the rear which the team will try to repair before eliminations tomorrow. The rules mandate an inner lining to the tyre which prevented a bad situation getting even worse.


Pro Mod racer Norbert Kuno also suffered problems when an exhaust manifold came off on the left bank. There was also distortion at the top of the windows caused by the air at speed.


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis had problems with the car not going into stage on the launch control. The result was three consecutive passes with no times recorded. He said "The transbrake works fine, but just about everything else doesn't." On the last pass he appeared to have found the problem and ran an easy-launching 6.58/230 for seventh.


Pro Mod racer Wayne Nicholson said "We are trying to use too much power and the car is not going straight. We keep taking bits out of it. It is tiring but still good fun." His best ET was 7.08 which put Wayne in 11th position.


Pro Mod racer Marcus Hilt appeared relatively pleased. He said "We used less clutch and drove through a lot of clutch dust on the last pass. But it got down the track and felt better..."


...then the team arrived and told Marcus it was his long awaited first six. Celebrations and hugs were the result.


Pro Mod racer Andy Wright opened his account with 6.56 but as the track warmed susequently, the car went into shake. He said "We need to put more power down and less energy off the start line."


Pro Mod racer David Vegter was also a sufferer of tyre shake as the track got hotter and needed more power to go down. He said "The engine is fine." David is qualified no.2 with 6.11.


Pro Mod racer Kev Slyfield is qualified no.14 with 7.34. He said "Only one chute came out so I was on the brake quick. It was going straight but smoked the tyre on launch and then went into shake. So we have backed the engine off."


Pro Mod racer Andy Frost had a problem when he went into third gear. "Something in the trans or engine broke mid-track, when I shifted into third it revved to the Moon - I got on the brake quick. We will have to look at what happened when I get back to the pits. We will try to repair as I am in the show, but we don't have the spare parts for the engine."


Pro Mod Racer Jean Dulamon, pictured with crew chief Benoit, is happy with the weekend, although he has been out of the sixes on all runs. "We kept the parts safe and that means an enjoyable event for us."


Pro Mod racer Bert-Ove Olofsson is running a special wheelie bar he devised, similar to the Top Methanol Funny Car item, and to great effect, running a 6.02, 6.06 and 6.03. He said "We are working on getting the car off the line quick and I thank Jim Salemi for help this weekend." Bert-Ove is qualified first.


Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist was only able to run 7.22. On his third pass he said "We had to pedal five times, so it's not great. It's hard to smile right now," he said, knowing the championship race may be tilting in Bruno Bader's favour with Bruno 46 points behind and running consistent 6.1s.


Pro Stock racer Conrad Stanley came to the far end at the same time as the combine harvesters were making a huge cloud of grain dust. Conrad was quick to place his jacket over the air scoop. He said "We had to take the car to Zane Llewellyn's workship when pistons turned up the wrong size and the supplier turned the corrected order round real quick. It was the seat of our pants but we made it, although an oil leak yesterday didn't help." Colin is putting his race cars and trailer up for sale. Team manager Trevor Graves said "When we have sold them we will go shopping."


Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is fifth in the championship standings and will move to fourth with Mats Jacobsson being forced to miss the event due to illness. A pair of 6.80s today made him fourth at the end of qualifying.


Pro Stock racer and championship leader Thomas Lindström ran alongside Jimmy Ålund in all four sessions and each run was like a race for the championship. Thomas said "I want to go no.1 and have put my best engine in." The result was a best pass of 6.664 in the third session which consolidated his no.1 position.


Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund got a new speed record of 208.09 and celebrated with his crew.


Pro Stock racer Ulf Wagenhester ran 6.94, 7.02, 7.09 and 6.87 for fifth place. The car is for sale and runs consistently straight.


Sunday


Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä was being tuned by Crew Chief Sami Lehtimäki and advisor Donny Bender. After qualifying no.2, Anita defeated Stig Neergaard in round one with a on-and-off throttle 4.47 in round one and Antti Horto with a 4.03/293 in the semi final. Sami said "We think the track temperature will be the same or lower but won't step up and hope that Risto beats himself in the final."


Top Fuel Dragster racers Pelle Lindelow and Urs Erbacher were on colour commentary duties this weekend.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard was left with engine damage and burnt pistons; only a few of these sixteen are usable. Stig said "We don't know what is going on. The car launched really well and went great to 300ft. It was good to the eighth on some passes. But on the last three runs we had broken rods. We have changed so much stuff, pistons, blower, heads, compression. It works good at the start and there is enough power but too much damage. Fortunately I have equipment to machine blocks and repair other parts. We need to take stock after this event."


Top Fuel Dragster racer and 2012 champion Risto Poutiainen said "It feeks great to win the championship. Yesterday we tried some new clutch settings but went back to the original combination today, which is good for a 4.0 time. The track is getting hot so trying to go any quicker is pushing it. I came back into Top Fuel four years ago and set a target of three years to win the Championship. I had three runner-up positions and thanks to my team for helping me to win. I look forward to defending it next year."


Pro Stock racer and 2012 champion Thomas Lindström said "I am so pleased. We have tried to do our best and run 6.6 on every pass. I hope we can win the event too but we will be smiling all the way home anyway. It means a lot not just to win for Mopar but also to beat the seven time champion. We are looking forward to next year."


Pro Modified racer Graham Ellis was packed up ready to go when we passed. After his first round pass of 6.36, Graham's crankshaft broke into three pieces and he was out for the event. We will see whether he can get replacement parts in time for the National Finals.


Pro Mod racer Roger Moore said "We are up against Micke Gullqvist like we were in qualifying. Yesterday we knocked a reflector into him, perhaps we can improve on that. We have been struggling with finding enough power to get down to the track to avoid tyre shake. We lost our way a bit in the event but it's deifficult to tune the cars when they are so much on the edge."


Pro Mod racer Bert-Ove Olofsson ran second lowest ET of round one, a 6.06 but in the process caused engine damage. Bert was understandably disappointed but is planning a return in 2013.


The extent of carnage in Bert-Ove Olofsson's engine can be seen in this shot.


Pro Modified racer and 2012 champion Micke Gullqvist regained his form on race day. Crewman Stefan Petersson said "The whole team has been working very hard. We made big changes to make the car work, not to the chassis, but to the clutch and the engine timing. We thought a lot about it and hope it goes well in the next round for the championship." Micke did continue winning rounds and the semi-final confirmed him as FIA Champion.


Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader was determined to win the championship until his chances had disappeared. Before the semi-final he said "If we need to run a 6.01 to get low ET points, we will. I hope this will be the one time we have luck like Micke has had. It was hard finding the right setup that doesn't make us have to lift." Bruno came up against David Vegter in the semi final, and the 6.17 from David put an end to Bruno's event.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann got back on the throttle after smoking the tyres. He said "The engine kicked two rods out and there was a big fire. Fortunately the block is repairable but the head is damaged. I tried everything, had a good reaction and pedalled when I went up in smoke." Timo said that after some deliberation, the team have decided not to run the FIA Championship but concentrate more on show runs and events in Germany.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann was defeated on a hole shot by Krister Johansson in round one of eliminations. Dennis said "We may be staying away for a time but not for ever."


Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson was defeated by Chris Polidano after an event which Dave had difficulty finding the right setup for his spare engine.


Top Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano was helped again by Jerry Darien who was suffering from the energy-sapping effects of a stomach bug. Jerry said "We have improved the performance of the car but not as much as I would have liked." Chris ran consistent low 5.4s and a best of 5.39 during the event.


Fuel Funny Car racers Gordon Smith and Jason Phelps were disappointed to have been eliminated in the semi final. Jason of FGR Motorsports said "I lost the blower belt on my pass against Lef Helander." Gordon Smith said "A boost valve on the fuel system collapsed and left us short of fuel pressure." Crew chief Dave Bryant said "We are looking forward to 2013 as we are 100% certain that there will be a championship as the rules are all sorted and drivers are signing up."


Pro Stock racer Micke Callin got a handle on the track in session 3 to run a 6.73, before tyre shake set in on his final qualifying pass. In round one, Micke raced Michael Malmgren and his 6.82 and quicker light resulted in a 0.17 margin of victory over Michael's 6.86.


Supertwin racer Job Heezen's Team Zodiac faced an engine change and a welding job on the engine inlet. Job said "The huge backfire blew the intake away. Gerd-Jean Laseur has a professional welder visiting and he was able to help and did a great job." Job is hoping for cooler air and track conditions to improve on his 6.61 qualifying pass.


Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson said his second pass of yesterday was set up to run at least as quick as his first, the second quickest pass ever by a wheel-driven bike. He said "The spark plug broke and the lead came out and was whipping my firesuit after half track as it was still sparking." After being checked over by the paramedics, Peter went back to the pits to change his spark plugs back to NGK. He said "We are trying to back up the ET record today."


Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad's bike is long but on the heavy side. He said "We plan to lose 50kg over the winter, including the rider. We will also get new barrels and shorter rods." In round one, Hans Olav, running another smokey pass of 7.02, was eliminated by Christian Jäger


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif André had a late night repairing the body on the car. Crewman Christoffer Lindberg said "The tyre deflated after the car hit something metallic on the track. Felix Borg from Malta who lives in England did a lot of the work. The team worked on the fibreglass until 3am and also had to weld the body frame which took us to 5am."


Supertwin racers Hans Olav Olstad and Job Heezen. Hans Olav said "We made two mistakes this weekend, one was mine and the other mechanical. My mistake was overrevving on the burnout and hit the limiter too much. On my best pass of 6.87 I did a burnout for half the track and then fishtailed. The fishtailing was not worrying and I could live with it, but it was not comfortable."


Pro Stock bike racers Fredrik Fredlund and Ulf Ögge were buddies in the startline area during a pause in the racing, but will race hard on the track in the closest championship of all, only nine points (less than a round of racing) separating them after qualifying. Fredrik said "We want to put on a good show. We will try to run 7.0s as that is what it will take to win." Ulf said "The lanes are quite even. Often, lane choice becomes more a mental thing rather than a true difference between the lanes."


Pro Stock racer Ulf Wagnhester was running consistently in qualifying and ran his best of 6.87 in the last session. He said "I had to drive through tyre shake to run that and we have changed the setup again for the first round against Jimmy Ålund who has lane choice. I will have to be good on the tree in the left lane." Ulf left first but ran into greater shake and had to lift.


Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund ran a 6.69 in round one and before the run he was giving the track a close inspection.


Supertwin racer and 2012 Champion Nate Gagnon is joined for this weekend by Ron Houliet, owner of Fastlane Racing which produces the Nitro V60 engine. Ron said "Both Nate and Samu are excellent racers and very hardworking and complement each other well. Nate winning the Championship as the first non-European to do so is the end of a storybook season." Ron himself was the only non-US racer to win the US AHRDA Championship in 2002 and an NHRA National Event and was Canadian Champion eleven years in a row.


Top Fuel Bike racer Rene van den Berg suffered a lifted head and block damage in yesterday's first session and is unfortunately out of the event. Other racers who have had to withdraw are Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Newbury (due to a burglary at his premises and the perpertrators setting fire to his trailer), Supertwin racer Chris Hannam (engine damage), Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen (engine damage), Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Andy Frost (engine and gearbox damage), Pro Mod racer Steve Hall (front end problems) and Pro Mod racers Rick Garrett (transmission failure) and Marcus Hilt (broken). Our thanks to Steve Moxley for help with bike information.


Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey ran two smoke but fishtailing free passes yesterday with a best of 6.77/208. He said "It was quite a wild ride - we were happy with the changes to the tyre pressure and clutch. When it went from side to side on the pass it was a bit like a big jelly."


Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson ran a 5.72 to set the audience on its ear. He said "When it pulls really hard in the middle of the track we know it is a good run. We weren't expecting to run that quick but the bike doesn't want to run slow. There is a 5.6 in the bike but we want to back up for a new record."


Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King improved to a 6.19/219. He said "The track is getting hot and we want to step up." Ian needs just a round of racing to clinch the champsionship.


Top Fuel Bike racers Rikard Gustavsson and Steve Woollatt were congratulating each other on running 6.5s at over 200mph. On his fourth qualifying pass Steve suffered a dropped valve and is sadly unable to compete in eliminations.


Super Street Bike racer Mogens Lund was happy to run a 7.76 to go 13th in qualifying. He said "I am running a Garrett G35 and Hays clutch."


Super Street Bike racer Stefan Schmidt was no.20 and not in the field. He said "The clutch has been slipping a bit and the shift light comes on earlier than I expected."


Super Street Bike racer Garry Bowe was happy to improve to 7.51/178 and go fifth. He said "I was on it the whole way down, the clutch didn't slip and the wheelie was contollable."


Super Street Bike racers collected at the far end of the track after their qualifying session.


Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables, who is running a new Ray Debben cylinder head said "On Wednesday I tried getting the boost setting better and went 7.24 which was great, but on the last two passes and in Q1 the bike spun the wheel. So we turned it down for the second qualifier and now I am putting it back in gradually." A 7.45 in session 3 was followed by a 7.36 in the final session to go third.


Super Street Bike racer Dave Smith ran 7.70 to go 12th. He said "We are using a time-based boost controller rather than gear-based and it is quite weak coming off the line."


Super Street Bike racer Thomas Granica said "I made a rider error and didn't hit one shift point and went into '7th gear'. I also red-lit and fortunately it was qualifying rather than the race." Thomas finished 11th with 7.66/192.



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