 Eurodragster.com Pit Notes Sweden Internationals Tierp Arena Thursday June 14th 2012 
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The
layout of the Tierp Arena includes food and sponsors' stands behind the
right hand side grandstands and pits to the right of that area. 
Super
Stock racer Dan Williams was qualified 13th out of 29 with a 10.32 on a
A/SA index of 11.00. He said "On the first run we had wheelspin, on the
second the car hooked well but it felt like it was unloading from the
wheelie bars, so we have lifted the wheelie bars by half an inch to
prevent this." The fans are necessary to cool the cars between rounds
as the gap between passes is 90 minutes or less.
Super
Stock racer Rick McCann said "We like Stock/Super Stock but it doesn't
appear to like us." The frustrations came from running a newly
refurbished engine too lean. "We are having to use MS109 unleaded fuel
and have richened it up after looking at the spark plugs. If it goes a
faster speed we will richen it up further. We are miles off what we
should be running and a 10-teen would have been our minimum target, but
we are below our lowest expectation. But at least it is a tuning issue
and the engine is not leaking. We do need to run under the index
though." The engine was later found to have suffered a broken pushrod
after a best of +0.10 on the index of 10.40.
Stock
racer Kjell Gisslar bought his CC/S '68 Camaro from the US in 2009 to
replace a B/SA Plymouth Road Runner run since 2007 and a P/S'65 Impala
that he ran for 23 years from the mid-80s. He said "We put a new engine
and rear end in it." Kjell managed a run in the last session of
Thursday recording a new PB in the car of 10.04 on 10.60 index for no.
19 in the field.
Stock
racer Tomas Kaakinen who races in the Borlänge Drag Racing Club has a
2011 late model Drag Pak Dodge Challenger supplied by Rausch Racing.
The car runs a Dodge Viper V10 engine and Tomas has the CCSA record in
his sights, having run a best of 9.61, 0.98 under his index.
Stock racer Lars Björklund is from Söderala and runs G/SA in his 327 Camaro. Best time today was a 11.65, 0.35 under his index.
Stock
racer Håkan Nordström was qualified no.1 after the first session with a
-1.02 and improved to a -1.07 on a 11.00 index. The A/SA'70 Plymouth
Hemi-Cuda runs a 426cu in engine prepared by Dave Schmitz Racing, Don
Little heads and Torqueflite gearbox. His personal best ET is 9.87. 
Stock
racer Uffe Edwardson has a 440cu in 1970 Dodge Challenger with an
engine prepared by Dave Schmitz Racing but without Hemi heads which
puts the car in B/SA. His 10.24, seven hundredths off his personal best
was good for no.2 qualifier as his index is 11.25.
Stock
racer Rolf Cederblad was struggling to run under his index in his '74
Pontiac Ventura GTO. His best time was 0.18 under his 12.30 index. The
car has a 350cu in engine and has run a best of 11.83.
Stock racer Bo Nyland from Finland is one of four Fords in the 35-car entry.
Pit Vehicle of the Event goes to this mini-truck which has somehow been set up to sound exactly as if a V8 is up front.
Super
Stock racer Tarmo Mikkola from Finland was runner up in the NDRS last
year in his SS/GA '69 Camaro. The 350 cu in engine car has a McClay
prepared gearbox.
Stock
racer Timo Eronen from Mäntsälä in Finland runs a '68 Hemi Cuda and
improved his PB to an 8.88 today for 0.42 under the 9.30 index.
Stock racer Tomas Westberg runs a 305 cu in Camaro in H/SA. He ran a best of 0.49 under a 12.15 index for 20th place.
Super
Stock racer Anders Lindh has a Pontiac GTO with a 428 cu in engine. He
had a troubled day with a best of +4.06 on a 10.80 index.
Stock
racer Per-Erik Lindgren, like many others in the class has decades of
experience and today he was close to his best of 12.70 on an index of
13.15 ni his Chevelle Station Wagon ending with -0.42 on a 13.15 index.
Super
Comp racer Jussi Piippolainen from Skutskär runs a turbocharged 598 cu
in Camaro with Dart Big M heads, Callies crankshaft, Aeromotive fuel
pump and Powerglide trans. His 9.002 time was only good for 20th place
by the end of the day.
Super
Comp racer Richard Beltramo from Linköping runs this clean Chevelle
SS454. He said "I have owned the car since 2007 and ran it in Super
Street and Super Gas; this is my first year in Super Comp. It weighs
1650kg and because it's so heavy (all steel except the hood) I have a
nitrous system which takes the horesepower from 900 to 1250. My problem
is that with the nitrous on there is not enough grip from two metres
out and it spins the tyres, so we will reduce the nitrous for the first
60ft. I have run a 9.0009 best." 
Pro
Stock and Competition Eliminator racer Mats Jacobsson (pictured left)
is racing both classes this season. "We don't want to miss either class
here. I completed my A/A altered two days ago after buying the chassis
over the winter. It's a different ride to the Pro Stock car as it has
solid suspension and you can feel the track all the way down. It leaves
the line well." The car has a pro stock engine built by Mats and
Powerglide. Best ET was 8.20 on a 7.72 index. Mats is pictured with
main sponsor Lasse Pedersen of Midland Oil Sweden (second from left).
Mats
Jacobsson is racing Pro Stock under the All Tele and Midland banners.
"I have had the car for three years and my PB is 6.92. If I do well
here I may do the rest of the tour. I have updated a lot in the car
with my own engine rebuild and new Liberty gearbox."
Competition
Eliminator racer Timo Erhomäki from Finland has occasional
Eurodragster.com contributor and English teacher Leena Nyyssönen on the
team. She said "We are doing pretty well with an 8.35 best. Timo has
raced the car for 24 years and has been in the Street B bracket before
running Comp Eliminator." The car has a turbocharged Opel 2.4 litre
engine that has run a best of 8.25. The power goes through an AP Racing
clutch to a G-Force GF2000 five speed gearbox.
Super
Gas racer Håkan Mattsson who owned the Pro Stock car now run by Mats
Jacobsson, returned to Super Gas and won the 2011 NDRS championship. He
said "We have had a throttle stop problem. We have been using Crew
Chief Pro 7.5 software with a weather station to predict the time the
throttle stop needs to be on. It is a very complex program and I am
learning more about it every day. The only problem is it can't predict
60ft times which is obviously an important parameter, but it is a good
baseline program. I won all three main championships, NDRS, SDL and SDS
last year and am looking to do well this year."
Competition
Eliminator racer Kenneth Feldthusen told us he would like to race in
the UK again, but he is finding that having Swedish sponsors means he
lacks the funds to travel. He said "Every year we want to go a little
quicker. This year we have 6.4s as our target and in 2013 6.3s. We
built the car in 1998 but have refreshed a lot of the engine parts with
latest Brad Anderson block and heads and Waterman fuel pump. However as
we run in AB/A we are not permitted to run a high helix blower so have
the traditional roots-type 14-71 supercharger. We have had some
problems with the pushrods this event which we fixed and then found no
oil pressure, possibly due to air in the system." Nevertheless Kenneth
made a series of impressive mid-six second passes with a best of 6.56
being 0.68 under his index.
Competition
Eliminator racer Lars 'Jeppe' Jäpler has a new Ford Mustang bought from
Swedish racer Roland Bolletter. Lars said "I bought the rolling chassos
and put my old 632cu in Gene Fulton engine in with two stage nitrous. I
haven't made a full run yet and am aiming for a six second pass this
weekend - as our 60ft times are down to 1.05 I am hopeful of achieving
that, although we have been struggling with tyre shake and the car
drifting to the left." Lars said that Roger Johansson has been
mentoring him and advised on tuning after seeing the A/NA car on the
live web tv coverage at Kjula Raceway last weekend. Lar's aim for 2013
is to run the SDS Top Doorslammer Series.
Competition
Eliminator racer Bjørn Johansen from Trondheim in Norway runs this
handsome '96 ZR-1 Corvette in AN/A. He said "I have had the car since
2008 and bought it turnkey from the US following which we checked
everything and changed the engine, transmission and rear end. I ran Pro
Street in 2010 and 2011 and have joined Comp Eliminator in 2012."
Bjørn's engine suffered a snapped intake valve on his first run which
was not repairable at the track as it also punched a hole in a piston
and the team need to get the parts sent from the US. 
Competition
Eliminator racer Mathias Stenström has been running his Volvo S90 for
four years but has made major changes for this season. Crew chief
Christer Johansson explained "We bought the car as a rolling chassis
built for a big block engine and auto trans. Mathias converted the
chassis to twin rails and then we fitted a BMW M3 six cylinder engine
as the easiest way of getting more power was to increase the number of
cylinders and I have had experience with BMW engines with my company
NLR. The turbo provides 40lb of boost but the RAM clutch has been
slipping like mad and we can't get the power to the ground." The
Ransta-based team have also replaced the trans with a Liberty one and
have put in a Strange rear axle. Best time today was a 7.02, 0.47 under
the C/TA index but off the car's best of 6.72/335kph.
Super
Street racer Christer Gustafsson is racing the Dodge Challenger run by
daughters Jennifer and Jessica in recent years. Christer said "I will
be running the EDRS Central division championship with a couple of
races in the North and will also run at the Finals. Jennifer will be
driving the two seater dragster this year." 
Super
Street racer Simon Gustafsson who is Christer's nephew is in his third
year as a driver but drag racing success is in the genes of the
Gustafsson family and he was NDRS champion in 2011. He said "I have
been a crew member since 2005. We then bought this Camaro in Florida as
a turn-key car and worked on it to get it to run well. This year I have
converted to a Jericho stick shift as I enjoy racing a clutch car."
Super
Street racer Lina Braathen was qualified no.1 after the first session
with a 10.9025. Lina raced in Junior Dragsters until 2010 and then
bought her '55 Chevy from Nina Olsson. Lina said "Although it's my
second time at Tierp I love running at the small tracks and they have
their own atmosphere."
Super
Street racer Halvor Överby is a regular visitor to the UK and we last
saw him only ten days ago at Santa Pod. He said "I am racing in the
Central division and will do a couple of other races including Sunsvall
and Drachten."
Super
Street racer Mauri Kamppinen from Borlänge races under the title Team
MMV and has owned this BBC-engined Chevelle since 1990. He said "It
took me ten years to build the car and after running ET brackets this
is my second year in Super Street." More pictures of the team are on 
Super
Street racer Tony Aberg has repainted his Vette orange and races under
the banner of Club Corvette Sweden. The car is original with a 540cu in
big block, TH350 and 12 bolt rear.
Super
Gas racer Annica Larsson of Fordever Racing has an immaculate and rare
'63 Ford Falcon Sprint and runs a Ford 351 Windsor stroked to 430 with
Dart Eagle heads. As well as EDRS Central Division, she is competing in
the Mälardalen Open and Svealands Dragracing Cup in 2012. Crew chief is
Lars-Olof Larsson.
Super
Gas racer Bosse Hall is a long time competitor in his yellow Ford
Anglia 105E, having raced since 1983 and running this car since 1992.
The 405cu in Chevy engine has Brodix heads, Powerglide by Brynäs
Transmission and Chrisman rear axle. In the second session Bosse moved
into no.1 position with a 9.901.
Super
Gas racer Anette Birkenes races a car owned by father Jan Birkenes. Jan
said "I ran the car between 2002 and 2004 and then sold it and
repurchased it in 2011. Anette, aged 17, raced Junior Dragster and
graduated this year into Super Gas. The Chevy Nova has a 598cu in Dart
engine and heads and TH400 trans. It has run as quick as 7.78 at 280kph
so the throttle stop is on for quite a time. For more details see 
Super
Gas racer Kent Elofsson is from Söderhamn and his Camaro was built by
Bad Iron Machine Shop. The engine is 505cu in with Järn block, Pro One
Heads, Custom Convertor and JW 400 trans and Dana rear end.
Super
Comp racer Tommy Thörnqvist runs a black Chevelle he bought from
previous driver, now Crew Chief Nicklas Molvik. Nicklas said "I have
had the car since 2002 and have run it in Pro Street with a 7.60 index
before running it in Super Comp. The Bertans Race Cars-built car runs a
565cu in Dart engine and Powerglide and Dana 60 rear.
Super
Comp racer Fredrik Sandberg runs a Camaro which won the World Street
Finals at Orlando in 1993. The Scott Shafiroff-built 555cu in engine
has Dart heads and power goes through a Powerglide trans to a Ford nine
inch rear end. Fredrik is from Umeå.
Super
Comp racer Mikael Nilsson races under the brand MiNi Racing and has
this rear engined dragster he built in 2010. The chassis is by Mark
Williams with a 582cu in big block engine, Dart Pro II heads, and
Hughes Shorty Glide trans. Crewman Jan Rask lists his role as 'Tyre
Kicker'. Mikael was no. 3 qualifier after session two.
Super
Comp racer Johanna Granholm aged 19 from Sollentuna races a rear engine
dragster built by Cressman in 2000 that has run as quick as 7.90
all-out. Racing in the central division Johanna and her team of parents
Åke Granholm and Sussie Granholm run as Team Quarter Mile Racing.
Johanna was no.2 qualifier after session two.
Super
Comp racer Linus Wallberg, who we last saw at Mantorp Park in 2007 when
he raced a borrowed Opel Kadett in Super Gas, now races an Opel Ascona.
Still only 21, Linus is from Västerås and races with his father Leif
crewing. The car, built by Paolo Andreini has the popular Dart engine,
this time a 421 small block with Powerglide and Mark Williams nine inch
rear.
Super
Comp racer Peter Trång races this black 582cu in Firebird and is from
Dala-Husby, racing in SHRA Avesta. The car was built by Worthy Racecars
in 2001 and uses nitrous.
Super
Comp racer Robin Norén runs this ex-Pro Stock Dodge Daytona. The team
from Järfälla Automobile Club are putting updates out from the track on
Super
Comp racer Janne Selinder races a '73 Plymouth Duster and was no.1
qualifier after session two with 8.917. The car was built by Peter Wynn
and has an Alson chassis, Chrysler 452cu in engine, Torqueflite 727
gearbox. 
Super
Comp racer Kristina Hägglund runs this dragster which has a fresh paint
job for 2011. More details and Kristina's blog are at 
Super
Comp racer Harri Forsten from Pori in Finland runs a slingshot dragster
built by Dave Tuttle in 2008. The 565cu in Chevy engine has Dart Big
Chief heads, Ross pistons, Simunaglide transmission and Ford nine inch
rear.
Super
Comp racer Matilda Sjöström-Andersson is a 16 year old graduate from
Junior Dragster and runs under the Fast Girls Racing Team banner. Her
car was built by Mullis Race Cars in 2002 and runs on E85 Ethanol-based
fuel. The ten man team have a number of part time members and Ronny
Andersson is crew chief.
Super
Comp racer Nina Olsson has stepped up to this 55 Chevy, the same model
as her previous car but now with a Tim McAmis tube chassis, 7/8 scale
body also by Tim McAmis and 565cu in Reher Morrison engine. More
details are at Eurodragster.com Pit Notes
Sweden Internationals Tierp Arena
Friday June 15th 2012
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Eurodragster.com Pit Notes Sweden Internationals Tierp Arena Friday June 15th 2012
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Top
Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson is running under Team Starta racing, the
brand which the Kendall Oil distributor for Sweden has adopted. He said
after the first run "We drifted to the centre line and hope the track
has come around to enable us to go down it. The air is cooler but we
are taking power out of it as there is too much." Peter ran a great
5.923/324kph for no.1 place in session 2.
Pro
Mod racer Anders Nilsson is running the Plymouth 'Cuda previously
campaigned by Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis. The car runs a
Brad Anderson stage 6 with Lenco CS1 trans. The car made it to the
pairing lanes but problems prevented a pass in the first session but he
ran 6.30/365kph in the second to qualify 12th.
Super
Twin racer Ulf Ledström said "This is my first season in Super Twin.
All I drag raced before was a Kawasaki H2 street bike but I raced an
ice speedway bike for many years." Ulf's new ride is a bike formerly
owned by Hans Olav Olstad who has been helping Ulf get up to speed. "I
bought it turnkey and have tuned it to make it a little kinder to
handle. I am comfortable to ride and learn." Prior to this meeting
Ulf's best was 7.4 and he improved in session 2 to 7.32/318kph.
Top
Fuel bike racer Peter Andersson Ström who lived close to Mantorp Park,
now has to travel six times as far to Tierp. "I have a new Scott Owens
gearbox and rear end and the rest of the bike is no big difference."
His run in session two was a gentle 7.824, compared to a personal best
of 6.78/347kph 
Super
Twin racer Kari Rajala from Ylistaro in Finland is the co-owner of the
KTM Nitroduke R bike ridden last year by other co-owner Jaska Salakari.
Jaska said "We are only running one bike here because of a broken crank
at the end of last year. We have made some new cranks but they need
grinding." Kari has run a best of 6.79 on the bike, and that after
running a best of eight seconds previously. "I said to him you own the
bike, you must ride it," Jaska finished.
Pro
Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle Lyrén was again
suffering a loss of sixth gear combined with wheelspin up the track. He
ran a 7.22 in the first session and lifted on the second run.
Super
Twin racer Martijn de Haas like several competitors has a fondness for
soft toys in the inlet pipes. He said "This is our first meeting this
year as I hurt my knee before the Main Event and had to withdraw. We
have a new PRP engine but dropped a cylinder on the start line. I have
changed the tyre from Mickey Thompson to Goodyear and hope that will
improve the grip."
Super
Twin racer.Torbjörn Svensson has been racing since 1998 and formed his
team 38 Top Fuel in 2002. The immaculate body is by Ziggi at HD-service
Eichstadt with paint by Johan Ek. The nitro-powered machine has
home-made block and Bentec trans and the nitro-fuelled machine has run
a new PB of 7.54 in the second session.
Super
Twin racer Per Bengtsson (crew member L-O Jonsson pictured) continues
to lead the performance of the class with a 6.48/360kph in the second
session. L-O said before this run "The bike went right and got close to
the centre line in the first session but the 60ft was good so we know
we are going in the right direction. The bike could be quicker in the
first 100m but after 200m there is so much power. There is a new
camshaft and new fuel system and after testing know there is a
potential for a new PB speed.
Super
Twin racer Janne Gustavsson is on another beautiful bike, this time
running on petrol (Super Twins now incorporate Top Gas at UEM events).
The bike was built in 2009 and has an S&S 2.6 litre engine, Bandit
clutch and Zippers gearbox.
Super
Twin racer Samu Kemppainen ran a 6.72 in the first session and 6.89 in
the second to go fourth at the end of the day. A couple of good runs
and more to come.
Super
Twin racer Nate Gagnon on an identically engined machine to Samu is at
his first race and he is impressed with the track. He said "We have not
made too many changes from the Main Event and have started with a run
similar to our best at Santa Pod. The track is smooth but we don't want
to smoke the tyre at the hit.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Ian King is aiming to start cautiously and step up. His
first run was a 6.78 and then improved to a 6.64. He said "We have
lowered the wheelie bars as we don't want the rear tyre to unload." The
result was slight engine bogging indicating they may have been too low.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja had some minor issues preventing
him from running in the first session and then ran a superb 5.297/428
for the first half of a new ET record. Before the second pass a
cautious Charlie Draper said "We learned enough from Norm Grimes which
was fantastic - he is brilliant but it was a pity the heads and block
were torched on the last run. We are using our spare block while our
main one is being welded by a member of Leif Helander's crew. We have
backed the new engine off." 
Top
Methanol dragster racer Krister Johansson suffered a cylinder out at
the hit and another from half track in the first session to run 5.72.
The team found the problem and the second run was an improvement to
5.52. 
Top
Methanol dragster racer Chris Polidano ran a first session pass
described by Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn as a "good A to B. We
didn't want to be too aggressive and shake and I could mentally hear
Jim Rizolli telling me not to." Derek judged it superbly in the second
session when a 5.383 was coupled to a 437.96 speed (271.53mph) for a
new speed record backed up by his earlier 433kph.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer is running his first race of the
year and ran 5.70 followed by a 5.45 for sixth place in a highly
competitive class.
Top
Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann was one place above Peter with
a best of 5.39 followed by a 5.49 in the second session. Team mate and
brother Timo ran a pair of 5.38s for no.3 behind Dave Wilson and Manty
Bugeja.
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio made a big performance
improvement to a 5.69 in session one. He said "It felt good and was a
nice run. We now want to stay in the 5.6s and avoid shake but go
faster. A 5.5 is not possible as we have no spare engine. We run the
car conservatively and the spark plugs were clean after the 5.69."
Danny ran a 5.79 on the next pass.
Pro
Stock racer Michael Malmgren said "We have been waiting for this race.
We have some new guys on the team and they have a learning curve and we
will do better." Michael hit bad shake on both runs and is currently
no.12.
Pro
Stock racer Jan Palmqvist was delighted with performance improvements.
"We have a different setup which gave us the result we wanted straight
away. I was one hundredth away from my PB and ran my best 60ft time
ever. I have an all new crew who are much easier to teach than my old
friends who wanted it their own way!" After 6.79 and 6.83 passes, Jan
will put on new tyres for tomorrow.
Pro
Stock racer Jimmy Ålund has repaired one of the engines damaged at the
Main Event. Crewman Putte said "We are using the no.3 engine and will
change it to the number one for the second session and put a 200m test
pass on that." Jimmy said that he had to regroup after the new car's
setup proved unsuitable for European tracks. "It was the smartest thing
to do. We changed things around and then tested last weekend at Kjula
and got some good data."
Pro
Mod racer Joran Persåker came to the rescue for Super Stock racer Rick
McCann by arranging to have a I & E 7.700 pushrod sent up from his
shop by DHL. Joran has a, electric powered tow vehicle which his
catalogue says runs the quarter in 37s at 42kph terminal speed.
Mikael
Lindahl is racing two of the team's three cars this weekend. The
Competition Eliminator turbo Corvette pictured ran a 6.51 on a 7.16
index and the Pro Mod Camaro ran a slower 6.67 to go 18th. The third
car, a screw blower Top Doorslammer car is not entered...
Super
Gas racer Janne Noren from Pori in Finland runs this beautiful Ford 3
window coupe. At the end of session six he was 7th with a 9.949.
Junior
Dragster racer Julie Nataas is running in her Batmobile car and father
Top Fuel racer Thomas is heading up the team, including Julie's brother
Kevin who runs an identical car.
Junior
Dragster racer and 2011 NDRS champion Amanda Sjöström-Andersson is the
younger sister of Super Comp racer Matilda who we featured in
yesterday's pit notes. Amanda also runs under the Fast Girls banner.
The car, built in 2008 by Mike Bos Race Cars, has a Blossom Racing
Engines Super Rhino II engine. 
Junior
Dragster racer Kevin Yrjövaara from Habo in Sweden is in his second
year of racing at the age of 14. Parents Olle and Jessica head up the
crew and the car has a McGee engine.
Junior
Dragster racer Marcus Back Andersson has a Mike Bos built car with
Craw's Racing engine. Aged 16, he has been racing since 2005.
Junior
Dragster racer Hampus Staflund, son of Top Methanol Funny Car racer
Jonas Staflund, is qualified 4th after six sessions and runs a car
built in 1998 by Mckinley.
Junior Dragster racer Fredrik Leanders is qualified 3rd with a reaction of 0.0044 and races a dragster with a B&S engine.
Competition
Eliminator racer Krister Adeen runs a Volvo S70 in C/TA and his index
is 7.50. He said "We have been running 6.8s in the car since Finland
last year. I built the car in 2002 and it was originally a turbo street
car. But I wanted to go faster and faster and I never thought I would
get this quick." Krister has given up his Volvo stock block for a
specially prepared rallycross engine for 2011 with an 88cm turbo with
Leanders clutch and Liberty gearbox. The chassis was built by
ME-Racingservice.
Competition
Eliminator racer Marcus Linde races with brother Olaf as crew chief and
has a 106mm turbo in front of his big block engine. Transmission is
Liberty five speed and Marcus races in Top Doorslammer, the only German
competitor in that series. An 8.29 on a 7.39 index signalled engine
problems for the team. More details about the car are at 
Competition
Eliminator racer Torben Stenström has made a return to racing after a
couple of years out and was quick to thank his cousin Tony Westman,
born and bred in Tierp, whose company Riv und Scanering AB is
sponsoring him this weekend. "I would like to sell the car but have not
done a deal just yet. Tony has arranged a bus for 25 employees to visit
the race and be entertained by us and because of the local connection,
we are in all the newspapers and their posters." Torben is running the
car as before and has achieved 8.06. "I want a seven this weekend and
with my new body and wider tyres I expect to run 7.6s."
Competition
Eliminator racer Per Erik Lindgren from Piteå has full time truck
mechanic Mary-Sissel Eilertsen as crew chief. Per Erik has been racing
in the category for 25 years and is a master of choosing a class where
the index can be run well under, this time in C/BA. He said "We are
running with some lead on the rear to get the car to react better and
go quicker to 60ft. I went 0.83 under in qualifying but could remove
weight and also increase overdrive from 19% to 25% which would make the
car run 1.1s under the index if there was no handling problem. But we
don't want to hurt the index in eliminations and I would prefer to win
on getting a better light." Mats Jacobsson is running an altered
previously campaigned by Per Erik.
Competition
Eliminator racer Martin Petersson, aged 20, runs his ex-Bob Glidden
Ford Probe in C/A. He said "It's my second season in Competition; I
bought the car as a roller and have put a 500cu in Bob Ingles engine in
with a Cohen auto box." Martin is qualified 12th with a 0.56-under
7.40s pass, a new PB. Future plans are for a debut in Pro Stock later
this season in Jimmy Ålund's multi-championship winning GTO, with major
sponsors Valvoline continuing their support.
Competition
Eliminator racer Jens Zimmerman from Germany is at Tierp for the first
time. He said "It's an amazing facility, unbelievable. The car is
running well but we need a couple more tenths off the ET, but the track
is perfect." The car's 7.30 is 0.15s under his 7.45 index for A/NA. 
Competition
Eliminator racer Lars-Georg Johansson runs his Camaro in BB/A and built
the car himself from 2006 and bought a Bob Pannella small block engine
with 326cu in and a 10-71 supercharger with 18% underdriven. He said
"AS it's only our second year in Comp we are taking small steps and
don't want to hurt it. We ran a 7.52 yesterday and hope to run 7.2-7.3
this event. 
Pro
Stock bike racers Fredrik Fredlund and Kenneth Vik were happy after the
first qualifying session when they finished no.2 and no.3 respectively
with times in the 7.2s zone. Kenneth who is running under the Hawgs
Racing banner has worked on his Suzuki engined machine over the winter
to improve the performance and get back to the seven-teens or better.
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Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson was relaxed before his first
qualifying pass having driven up from the UK between Monday and
Wednesday. He ran a strong 5.36/428kph (265mph) to go no.1 after the
first session.
Pro
Stock racer Christian Sagelv said "My father started racing in 1974 and
I have been to many race tracks around the world before I earned by
license in 1995. I ran Competition Eliminator for twelve years and am
now living the dream by running Pro Stock." The car is owned by Äge
Kristofferson from Norway and is the only Ford Pro Stock in Europe so
we are getting some factory support from Ford as well as main sponsors
Gulf and MSD. We tested four weeks ago and whilst the track was
diffcult, we got some valuable information. As it's our first season we
will watch and learn and hopefully qualify." Christian is helped by
Christer Säfström who built the engine, the only wholly Swedish-built
engine in the class.
The
race control, media tower dominates the startline area and provides a
suitable backcloth for racers as they prepare to go down the Tierp
Quarter. 
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Fuel Racer Chris Andrews said after a 4.51/329kph run yesterday "It was
a good day and the car felt good. It shook at about 80ft out and I kept
on it to 660ft. There was an issue with the fuel pump we had to resolve
and we decided to miss session two as we wanted to make sure there
would not be a problem going down the track. We have had to try to
solve it using data analysis." 
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Fuel racer Anita Mäkelä had a difficult day when a rod broke on the
first run, causing a fireball out of the engine, and a blower belt
snapped half a second into the second run. She said "We haven't torn
the engine down but there is some damage. We put in our spare engine in
and now need to make a baseline run. It was disappointing but there is
always a new day."
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Fuel racer Håkan Fallström ran a best of 4.24/387kph in the morning to
go 2nd yesterday. Crewman Dennis Glanby said "We were really pleased to
run like that off the trailer. We tested in Norway two weeks ago and
made a small burnout and had some things with the electrics to sort
out. The problem was the chutes didn't deploy and the car went into the
sand trap. We had to clean it up and take it apart. There were no
mechanical problems apart from losing a valve. Håkan said "I'm enjoying
it greatly. I clicked off the run early." Håkan's team has Peter Lantz
as tuner.
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Fuel racer Janne Ahonen whose crew chief is Simo Patoharju (pictured
right) is joined by US tuner Donnie Bender and Jarmo Pulkkinen of
Jarmo's Custom Auto. Donnie was tuner on Brandon Benstein's Top Fuel
team in 2011 and Jarmo supplies parts and was a contact in the deal to
buy the car. Simo said "On the first run it was an A to B baseline run
although it shook a little. On the second there was a system
malfunction and the tyres went up in smoke and there was some minor
damage. The maintenance has been routine but most of the team are new
to Top Fuel racing and I am really pleased with them. We had to get a
few extra parts and tools and then tested a month ago. We have two
short blocks which we hope will be sufficient for the season."
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Fuel racer Timo Lehtimäki is unable to run due to a technical issue
with his rear wing. Crew chief Ulf Hultholm said "The rules say that
the rear wing has to be recertified at the manufacturer which would
involve airfreighting it to the US. We had been to eight races and two
test runs with it, and US teams have to run their cars 4-5 times more.
Our spare wing had hardly been used since it was last recertified."
There is a meeting of the Rules Group of the FIA Drag Racing Commission
on Monday to cover issues that might be recommended for change. In the
meantime Ulf is hoping the team can find enough funds to get the wing
certified before the Alastaro round.
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Fuel racer Antti Hortto had a good day, making two passes and not
hurting any parts. Crewman Tony Pearson said "The car was dropping
cylinders at the top end but is getting better. Antti's equipment is
very good as the car is rented from Rune Fjeld and has a good record."
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Fuel racer Risto Poutiainen suffered a bruised rib on his final pass at
the Main Event, but is now recovered. He said "Unfortunately there was
damage from going up in smoke. We expected the track to be super but
although it is smooth, it couldn't take all the power that we gave it.
We tried to drive through it and the high rpm damaged the valve train
and blackened the crank. We took it easy getting the car ready and
missed the second session." Risto is under no pressure with qualifying
as there are eight cars with qualifying pass and three missing.
Top
Fuel racer Jari Halinen ran a good 4.22/381kph for no.1 qulifier
yesterday but suffered a problem with the blower belt on firing up
which meant an aborted run.
Pro
Mod Johan Lindberg was working on brother Jonnie's TMFC when we arrived
at the pit. He said "We have three crew members for each car and Jonnie
and I can alternate between the two. On my 6.13 pass I had to pedal
once, otherwise it was pretty good. My main priority this season is to
take back the gold, but it is hard work running two cars. If we run out
of time the Pro Mod will get priority over the TMFC as this is a
learning year for Jonnie."
Pro
Mod racer Patrik Wikström is no.17 with a 6.72. He said "I want to
qualify but don't have a target time. There is a lot of tuning work to
do and we are taking it easy, one step at a time. The problem here has
been the chassis; the car was going left and we have had to adjust the
rear end which hopefully will cure it." Patrik contoinues to build Boss
superchargers for customers.
Pro
Mod racer Mats Eriksson ran a 6.32 on his only pass yesterday as son
Ludwig Perés was graduating. He said "It was a tyre shake filled run
and I had to drive like crazy to get to the other end." Mats said that
not attending the Main Event for the first time in many years was a
hard decision but the only possible one. "I love the English fans,
racers and crew so it felt bad. But at September I felt the last 100m
and run-off area were more bumpy than before; my car is set up stiff
and it was bottoming out so I have had to get different shocks and
springs to avoid problems, so hope to be back in September if I do
well." Mats is also racing the Swedish Pro Mod championship making for
a busy racing season.
Mats
Eriksson has a new body to save weight with carbon doors and roof. The
fibreglass front end has a paint job by Ray Hill who painted Freddie
Fagerström's car. Ray has applied his distinctive style to the hood
using paint with actual rust particles in it. Mats said "There are now
two Goblins and the other complete car is a show car that can be fired
up."
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Methanol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders (pictured left with Freddie
Fagerström) was happy with a 5.70 and 5.64, but thought the car could
do better. "The traction here is average but the race surface is very
smooth which means you can apply the same amount of power down the
track and be sure that all the wheels are on the ground and no
freewheeling or revs jumping between 9 and 10 thousand down the track.
We want a 5.50 this weekend." 
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Methanol Funny Car racer Jarmo Kuutniemi is ill and can't attend. So
the teams are displaying these stickers and we are sure our readers
will join us in wishing Japa a speedy recovery.
Pro
Mod racer Marco Maurischat said he has replaced all the damaged parts
from last year. "The season was quite bad for us as we broke two rods
at the Main Event and also at Tierp. In the off season we repaired both
the blocks and the heads. So engine wise we are fine and the current
one is powerful. But the handling is no longer what it should be and we
have to figure it out. We have had tyre shake in 2nd gear and have
changed the suspension and shocks. My business commitments prevented me
attending the Main Event so I have to treat this weekend as a test
session."
Pro
Mod racer David Vegter ran a 9.64 and 6.75, good for only 20th in
qualifying. He said "We underestimated the track and were not putting
enough power down and it shook so we had to lift on both runs.
Mechanically the car is fine and we will put in a new clutch and change
the ignition settings to make more power and hope I can make a good
run."
Pro
Mod racer Micke Gullqvist ran a 5.94 in Pro Mod to go no.1 and first
half of a new European ET record. He said "We are testing with new rear
shocks and are at the early stages finding out what they can do
although I feel we are not having success yet. If we can't find out a
good setting with the data we are getting I will go back to the old
ones. These new ones enable us to deal better with different track
conditions." Micke talked about the FIA Rules Group and said it
includes two racers from each class as well as tech people and
representatives from the FIA Drag Racing Commission.
Pro
Mod racer Martin Lundkvist qualified no.8 with a 6.18/387kph in his
turbocharged '68 Camaro and went one round in eliminations defeating
Marc Meihuizen with a holeshot 6.34. He said "I'm glad I got down the
track in the second session with the bad weather. So far the season has
been tough, we are trying to get to run fast and made a lot of changes,
now we are back to the settings for our 6.08/250mph run earlier in the
year. We are trying to only make small steps since we started in 2011."
Martin said the team built the car and relies on its own expertise to
tune it, although they get clutch advice from the US. There is a
special technique to launch the car because you have to get the boost
at the right level at the hit." The turbo Pro Mods have a three step
control, one for pre-stage and one for stage. "We are keeping it
straight and are working on going more quickly to the 330' by adjusting
the clutch." 
Pro
Stock Bike racer Martin Bishop was delighted with a PB 7.28 in
qualifying and 7.30 bye round one against a no-show Kenneth Vik. He
said "There is more to come, on the 7.28 the 60ft could have been
better and the bike went from fourth straight into sixth gear. We did a
lot of work over winter and were just settling it in at the Main Event.
We knew we had power and were confident to run big numbers but we
didn't think it would happen that quickly."
Pro
Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle Lyrén had a problem
with the bike refusing to shift into sixth gear. He said "We changed
engine and gearbox from our backup to our no.1 engine which we have not
run on the track yet. I am looking forward to racing my team-mate
Elvira Karlsson in round one, she now has a new 1755cc engine and we
will need to go for the finish line."
Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund was joined by 
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Jürgen Nagel (pictured right) and crew chief
Frank Schwimmer are at their first race this year. Jürgen said before
round one "We made two checkout passes to test our new carbon fibre
brakes and new ignition system so didn't get a representative time. I
am against Ulf Leanders but will try our best. We are ready and the car
is ready to go down the track. Our racing schdule depends on how we do
at Hockenheim as there is a small gap before the August Tierp event."
Jürgen was gifted the win when Ulf couldn't find reverse.
Top
Fuel Bike racer Lars Lagerhof was also on a bye run into round two when
Peter Andersson-Ström withdrew. He said "We are pleased to have
qualified third ahead of Rickard. We will meet Peter Svensson in the
semi final. We don't know how the track is and if it is too cold it
could be to our advantage. We will aim to run a 6.5 and will see how we
do."
Super
Twin racer Christian Jäger was quietly confident ahead of a first round
match with Job Heezen. He said "We have only had small problems, normal
race problems. Everything is working very well and I hope to do better
this race."
Super
Twin racer Job Heezen was also confident in the Netherlands v Germany
match-up reflecting the Euro 2012 competition. Vincent Pels said "We
have had problems with rod bearings we have tried to overcome. We have
gone back to the settings for last year at Hockenheim and the Finals
where we were flowing less fuel through the engine. We were worried
about the amount of fuel going through our new engine and have gone
back to what we know. On our first qualifying pass we had soft settings
and checked the rod bearings were ok, the second pass would have been a
6.7 or 6.8 but Job saw the low oil pressure light and shut off."
Super
Twin racer Per Bengtsson was delighted to qualify no.1 with a 6.48. He
said "I think we found a good combination in running three weeks ago
with more power. It seems to like us producing a lot of power and also
using a lot of clutch. This track will be good for drag racing in
Scandinavia and we can see the effect on the quantity and quality of
entrants." Per said he will only run events at Tierp to improve in
consistent conditions.
Super
Twin racer Matti Vähäsaari had fuel issues with most fuel going to the
back cylinder resulting in the front cylinder leaning out and causing
damage to the piston and head. His best ET was 7.87 for eleventh. 
Super
Twin racer Joachim 'Acka' Riemer also had problems and finished in
ninth qualifying place. He said "We had a broken crankshaft and Dyna
ignition box which caused other problems. On the second qualifier the
bike looked good but sounded bad so shut it off early which was wise
because I would have damaged it. We changed the systems and found that
worked and the bike was doing what it should have done. It is difficult
for everyone not havin enough practice runs but we are working for
ourselves and just want to concentrate on having a good time and going
well."
Super
Twin racer Samu Kemppainen looked forward to a first round match-up
again Jan Sturla Hegre. "We have both run the same ETs but I spun the
tyre on the second session and have gone back to the old setup. It's
Jan Sturla's best time with a new motor so it should be good."
Pro
Mod racer Marc Meihuizen said after the holeshot defeat to Martin
Lundkvist "I was surprised that the turbo car was so quick to stage. I
thought he needed lots of staging time so he took me at the tree. It
was my own mistake but at least the car went well."
Pro
Mod racer Urban Johansson won the first two rounds but damage in the
second round win against Ola Dahlblom meant that he couldn't make the
call for the semi-final. He said earlier "We had too little power in
and too much clutch in round one; we can do better in the first 100m of
the track. Ola has done very well to run 6.07; he was on my crew and
has clearly learned a lot from me!" 
Top
Alcohol Funny Car racer Steve Harker sold his car to Leif Andréasson.
He said "It's great to be in Europe and this is a fantastic facility,
this would impress any US racer." Steve was brought up in Australia and
raced there in the 1980s, winning the Top Fuel Bike championship. He
changed to alcohol funny cars in 1990 and started racing in the US in
1998-9, starting by doing six races a year while living in Australia.
"I sold my business in 2004 and spent six years racing exclusively in
the US and had a top five finish every year and was second in 2008 and
2009. In 2010 I met Leif when he was racing in the US and wanted to cut
down so I decided to sell my car to him. He has really got it under his
belt and his times here are close to my best of 5.52/261 although he
has upgraded the engine to Stage 8 heads and 60mm cam since I ran it."
Steve is joined by his wife and team member Jenelle. 
Top
Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andreasson (pictured right) was having
some trouble getting through to Keith Bartlett (pictured left) on the
phone on a busy Sunday morning before the rains came. Leif said "I have
two crews, one at Tierp Arena and the other on my car. They work so
hard, it's unbelievable. I have been racing for 27 years and never
understood how hard the guys work behind the scenes from the guy on the
gate to the people at the top end. It's the same with the car crew,
Keith (now 22) has been with me since he was 14 and Frank has worked on
the team since 1996. Our plans for Tierp Arena are wide ranging with a
circuit race planned for September, drifting, 4th July celebration and
a huge show for farm and garden equipment. We want to put on 20 events
a season and four of these will be big drag races."
Pro
Mod racer Robert Joosten was qualified and has Freddie Fagerström in
the first round. He said "We are still working on the car and had some
problems with shake in the last qualifying pass. We have changed some
things and hope we can go through. In reality we are racing ourselves
and we have more knowledge about the car on each run."
Pro
Mod racer Fredrik Lundh is qualified fifteenth with a personal best of
6.45 (before this event 6.57). He said "We are testing a new lean out
timing device which retards the ignition in the first second of the run
and it is working well. This is our first Pro Mod race - I have run Top
Doorslammer but we think quarter mile racing is best for us, so we will
be running Pro Mod in the EDRS and at Tierp FIA events." Thanks to
crewman Daniel Larsson for interpretation.
Pro
Mod racer Ola Dahlblom was also pleased to qualify and he had
impressive times of 6.17 and 6.25 on Friday. He said "We have had the
car for four years and this is my second year in Pro Mod. We plan to
run both Pro Mod and Top Doorslammer." Ola races a '63 Corvette
supplied by Tim McAmis with a 521cu in blower engine.
Pro
Mod racer Anders Nilsson ran a best of 6.30 to qualify 12th. This puts
him against Bruno Bader in round one. The car was previously owned by
Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis. He said after a red-light in the
first round "The starter wasn't quick enough! A 6.3 was a great time
and our goal was to qualify so I guess it was a successful weekend but
we want to try to improve." Anders will be running events at Tierp only.
Pro
Mod racer Micke Johansson runs this beautiful '70 Challenger and
finished 21st of 26 runners with a 6.84. The car was built by Bertans
Race Cars with a carbon fibre body, a supercharged Brad Andersen series
6 engine, Crower Clutch and Lenco CS1 gearbox.
This
Gulf-sponsored '32 hot rod owned by Goräran Pihl is not on the entry
list, but we could not resist it. The engine is a supercharged 545cu in
Ford with Powerglide transmission. The car was at Kjula last weekend
which you may have seen on the live webcast.
Pro
Mod racer Jari Paren from Kuusankoski in Finland failed to qualify
after two attempts at burnouts. He said "The weekend didn't go well
because of problems before we ran, firstly a broken throttle cable and
then a leak from the water pump. We will race at Alastaro and back here
in August."
Pro
Mod racer Niclas Andersson said "We shook the tyres in session one and
did a safe 6.20 pass in the second session which was important with the
weather getting worse. It is a fast car and capable of a 6.0 or a high
5 second pass. Our plans this year only to run a couple of Top
Doorslammer meetings and to do all the EDRS and Swedish FIA rounds."
Niclas is qualified eleventh and races Jan Gunnarson in round one.
Pro
Mod racer Johan Samuelsson went 8.46 for no.24 position. He said "We
have had some small issues with an ignition trigger problem, but think
we have solved that so should be prepared for the next race. We will
race Top Doorslammer and be back here in August and hope weather
conditions are better. Sadly we can't do Finland as getting time off
and paying for travel is difficult. We need more runs and information
to tune the car; we have run a best of 6.55 but know it can go quicker.
The ignition trigger is a device to avoid misfiring and damage to the
engine and gearbox going down track and we have an MSD ignition and
Autronic fuel system that the trigger works between."
Pro
Mod racer Freddie Fagerström has modified his colour scheme with even
more rust coloured areas as before. Performance-wise, he astonished
with a 6.13 in session one and new PB 6.04 in session two for
qualifying no.3. The new bests have already been updated in the 
Car
restorer Jan Johansson is here with two superb examples of his work
from the 1970s. This Monza was built by John Butterra (his second last
car before the 1978 Prudhomme Army car) and campaigned in the US by
Pisano & Matsubara with Jake Johnston driving. It was imported into
Sweden by Lee Anders Hasselström and campaigned as Flygvapnet with the
same body and then with a Datsun body. Jan said "I have a spare Monza
body which I will be restoring in Flygvapnet colours and the original
Datsun body. The car can be fired up and do a burnout.
The
two restored funny cars of Jan Johansson are displayed together with a
stall selling the latest history book oon Swedish drag racing, Legend
and History. On the web, more about the history of the sport in Sweden
is 
The
Opel Manta funny car was originally owned by Jungle Jim Liberman and
won the 1975 NHRA Summernationals as a Chevy Vega. It was then imported
into Sweden by Bjorn Andersson and Tage Hammermen and campaigned in
these colours in 1976-7; in 1976 had the distinction of being the first
Swedish-owned Funny Car in the sixes with a 6.92 at Santa Pod driven by
John Andersson. It was then sold to Tommy Svensson in 1978 being
campaigned as Blue Swede on methanol and then being sold to Werner
Habermann who owned it from 1979 to 2007. Jan has restored it to its
1976 colours. He also has the Vega body restored in Jungle Jim colours
and, having spoken to Jungle Pam, hopes to take both cars to
Bakersfield in 2013.
Fredrik
Lundh's Pro Modified was in the pairing lanes on Friday. As we post
this, the crew are hard at work drying the track so, with a curfew
extended to 10pm, we are hopeful of some racing today.