Pro Stock Review Sweden Internationals 
Sadly I was unable to attend the Sweden Internationals in person, however I remained updated through a combination of the excellent web TV service and live updates from the ever informative Eurodragster team. 
Before this event, the championship leader was Thomas Lindström with 82 points leading from Micke Callin on 58 points, Conrad Stanley with 36 and Jimmy Ålund on 35.

Jimmy had a Main Event I am sure he would rather forget.  Thomas Lindström by contrast had a Main Event he will remember forever.  Thomas’ first event win and a European speed record, no engine damage and prize money as well, all together a great start to the season for the crazy man of pro-stock.

Conrad Stanley has not made the trip to Sweden.  Budgetary restraints and a lack of parts make it impossible for Conrad to make the trip.  One certainty for this weekend then is that we will have a new man in third place.

First outings this season for former European champion Michael Malmgren.  Lahega sponsorship has ended on Michaels car but Oakley still feature strongly.  Michael has other changes in his team personnel.  Sampsa Palos, Jan (Snowball) Palmqvist, Ulf Wagnhester, Jonas (Lord Dante) Pontanus also start their European season here.

Bo Pettersson and Mats Jacobsson are not often seen outside Sweden, both drivers start at Tierp as expected, with the major difference that they will see two full FIA rounds in 2012.

A new car and driver this season is Christian Sagelv with a stunning looking Gulf Oil sponsored Ford, the only Ford in European Pro-Stock.  Christian has moved into Pro-Stock from Competition Eliminator, and we look forward to seeing this car for the rest of the season.

Friday Q1
First pair out onto the track are the Gulf sponsored Ford of Christian Sagelv and the Pontiac GTO of Mats Jacobsson.  Unfortunately, Christian suffered a fluid leak and shut the car down.  Mats has a clean run for a solid 7.06, and Pro stock are off and running.


Jan Palmqvist

Next pair are Harald Sturhan and Jan Palmqvist.  Harald suffers some sort of engine failure, and Snowball runs through for an excellent 6.79. 


Hararld Sturhan


LIndström and Ålund on the podium at Tierp Arena

Bo Petterssen and Ulf Wagnhester cone through the tunnel next.  Bo has a wild looking ride from the web TV view, and looks to click off at around half track.  Ulf runs a 6.88 which is the fastest he has ever run.
Jonas Dantanus and Sampsa Palos are the next pair, Neither make representative runs, with Sampsa clicking off at half track (possibly a check out pass?) and Jonas suffering spin and shake before clicking off.
First pass for Michael Malmgren this year, and he is paired with his arch rival Jimmy Ålund in the new Camaro.  Michael suffered shake that was visible on the web cam, whilst Jimmy puts Santa Pod gremlins firmly behind him with a class leading 6.70.
Final pair are Micke Callin and Thomas Lindström.  Micke shut off after the burn out for some technical reason.  Thomas has a bye.  If he could repeat his Santa Pod speed record, he would go into number one qualifier.  Thomas looked quick and fast for the early part of the run, but slowed towards the end to finish with a 6.95 in the Dodge

Friday Q2
Pro Stock rules require cars to be run in alternating lanes, so it is sometimes a little confusing when spectators expect to see qualifiers come out in “reverse order” and yet somehow they seem to come through randomly.

First out in the second qualifier are Sampsa and Christian. Delivering a 6.77 and 6.99 respectively
Next up are Mats and Harald with 6.89 and 8.43 runs
Thomas and Micke come next with Thomas running a solid 6.72 whilst Micke suffers shake and gets out of the groove before shutting off and rolling through the traps for a 10 second run.
Ulf and Jonas deliver representative runs in the next pair both improving on their earlier times

Jan and Michael are the next pair.  Michael suffers shake at almost exactly the same point as earlier in the day and shuts off, whilst Jan does not improve on this morning’s effort.  Also smoke from the motor is of possible concern.
The final pair is Jimmy and Bo.  Jimmy launches well but seems to be off the pedal by mid track and drops the chutes early.  In the other lane, Bo rolls through stage and is disqualified

Saturday Qualification 3 and 4

Unfortunately Saturday was rained off at Tierp and so no further qualifying action took place.  The qualification times for Friday will be carried forward into eliminations for an eight car field.
The usual two suspects have qualified first and second, however outside the eighth position are Michael Malmgren and Micke Callin, which is definitely not where they planned to be.  Christian Sagelv in his first competitive outing in the Ford has qualified, so we have Chevrolet, Dodge, Pontiac and Ford competing in the elimination rounds for the first time.

Thomas Lindström and crew was presented with the Speedrecord certificate that was set at the Main Event Santa Pod Raceway earlier in June.


Sunday – Eliminations Link to Elimination ladder
Rain in the morning has delayed proceedings, and the Pro-Stock teams do not get called to the line until after 5pm

First pair in eliminations are Jan Palmqvist (L) and Mats Jacobsson (R)
Snowball leaves visibly earlier than Mats, who gets loose before the tree and has to drive the long way round.  It looks as though Snowball has this one in the bag, but then smoke from Jan’s motor and he slows allowing Mats through for the win.  6.99 to 7.15.

Second pairing is Thomas Lindström against Jonas Dantanus.  Thomas simply out powering Jonas for the win, pulling away from half track to the stripe.  Thomas takes the win with a 6.73 ET to Jonas’ 6.94
Sampsa Palos and Ulf Wagnhester come through the tunnel next.  Another great drag race with Sampsa just having the edge on Ulf to take the stripe in 6.74 to Ulf’s respectable 6.82

Final pair is the Gulf oil Ford of Christian Sagelv against the Chevrolet Camaro of Jimmy Ålund.  This is really a baptism of fire for Christian, first time out in eliminations and he is faced with a multiple European champion in a powerful new car.  All speculation turns out to be irrelevant though, as Christian is shut down for a fluid leak and Jimmy takes the opportunity to stamp his authority with a storming 6.70

Sunday Eliminations Round 2
Winners and pairings from round one are

Jimmy Ålund against Mats Jacobsson
Thomas Lindström against Sampsa Palos

Jimmy despatches Mats with a slightly out of the groove 6.76 to Mats 6.92

Thomas sends Sampsa back to start packing for home by laying down an event fastest time of 6.69 to Sampsa’s 6.75

So despite the best efforts of Germany and Finland, it is an all Swedish final which will pit the European Speed record holder against the European ET record holder.

Sunday – Final
This time last year, Jimmy Ålund led the championship after a rain affected Main Event, and Thomas Lindström was competing in his first FIA round.  We could see then that this guy had speed as he qualified number one in 2011.  Now Thomas has an event win under his belt, will he be able to carry on with his winning streak? The answer is yes, but only just.

Even on web TV this was a great race, virtually nothing in it from the TV view off the line, and the cars side by side all the way up the track. In one of those moments where the non-drag racers of our acquaintance look confused, Jimmys clocks stopped with a lower ET than Thomas’, but the win light came on in Thomas’ lane.  Back at home I was left frantically pressing refresh on Eurodragster to get the MOV and RT’s.

Thomas won on a holeshot of 0.02 which Jimmy reeled in over the 1360ft to be an advantage of just 0.003. 

Thomas Lindström RT 0.0269, 8th Mile 4.3241, Quarter Mile 6.7041 at 334.37kph
Jimmy Ålund RT 0.0472, 8th Mile 4.3185, Quarter Mile 6.7010 at 334.37

Identical terminals and a margin of victory equivalent to 27.86cm (Thanks Tog)
After the Sweden Internationals, the championship is led by Thomas Lindström from Jimmy Ålund.  Uncharacteristically at the lower end of the table is Michael Malmgren.  Michael will be looking to do something about that over the next rounds.  We are also missing Richard Sundblom from the championship so far.  Perhaps Thomas will not have it all his own way for the rest of the year, but we watch carefully what the field can find to do about his speed and power.


Jimmy Ålund just narrolwy lost the final in one of the quickest side by side passes ever


Christian Sagelv is new in the class this season


Thomas Lindström was a rookie 2011, this year he is in championship points lead after two events


Text: Ian Hart
Photos: Remco Scheelings, Patrik Jacobsson & Åsa Kinnemar

This article is part of the Speedgroup Club Europe Newsletter #7/2012

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