Regular NHRA-competitor and reigning FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car champion Leif Andreasson qualified fifth, but had an oil pressure problem in the first round. For 2011 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster champion Fred Hanssen it was his first ever NHRA race. From sixth qualifying position the Norwegian won the first round and as he was already afraid of, his reaction time killed him, but instead of being too slow….he pulled a red light in the quarter final.



Four times and reigning FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car champion Leif Andreasson spent the ’80’s in the States and after his NHRA racing debut in 1999, went back at least seven times to take part in a total of 23 races. So nothing new for the Swede. What a difference to Fred Hanssen. “I had never been in the States before when I bought my Top Methanol Dragster, so this is the second time”, said the 2011 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster champion.

Dream
“Last year I couldn’t defend my title, as I was too busy with my work. In European racing nothing could beat that 2011 title and as it has always been my dream to race in the States, we shipped the car. Depending on sponsorship we will try to do a few more races this year and a full championship next season.” Although you can never make enough runs before an official race, Hanssen and his (as usual) Will Hanna tunes car and team of American and Norwegian mechanics, were race ready, as they came straight back from two testdays in Las Vegas, the weekend prior to the Winternationals. “The car felt totally different to what I was used to in 2011. We changed a few things again and the last run in Vegas was good. But after more than a year without competition, my reaction times are not good enough and will have to improve, otherwise in this strong competition the lights will kill me”, said  the Norwegian during qualifying, not knowing how right he was. Hanssen was really excited about his first time racing in America. “It’s like a dream come true, everything is absolutely fantastic, the race cars, the teams, the trucks, the competition, the track, grandstands, pit area, the fans, everything.”


Crew
For Andreasson it was already a race in itself to be ready in time and no testruns at all before qualifying started on Thursday. “When I got the phone call the car was ready to pass customs, I still had to book a flight and had to leave immediately to catch that plane. When I arrived in Atlanta, friends had already picked up the car and with only a three hours break, we drove 3.400 kilometres to California. There we had to strengthen the body after the tyre explosion at Santa Pod and prepare the car.” With only three crewmembers, Andreasson could need some help, so when Jürgen Nagel, who was at Pomona for a holiday, showed up, the German TMFC-driver got a Disab shirt and was a crewmember for the rest of the weekend. And what a lucky move that was, as Friday morning, just before the second round of qualifying, crewchief Frank fell over the towing line between the tow-car and the Funny Car, broke his right arm, had to go to hospital and was back late Friday evening.

Leif Andréasson right was accompanied by European fellow competitor and friend Jürgen Nagel at Pomona

Top five
Thursday was the first round of qualifying and in the staging lanes Andreasson faced one of those ‘winterbreak problems’. The tubes of the wheely bar ware clamped together and only brute force could get the wheely bar in ‘racing position’. The start of the run was okay but then a pop before halftrack and the car slowed down to 7.92 seconds. “We were fastest at the 60ft and third fastest at the 660ft, when I had a problem with two valves. It could have been a 5.6sec. The computer did not work and we have to repair the head, but tomorrow we want to run a 5.6”, said Andreasson Thursday evening. And how right the Swede was, as Friday morning in the second qualifying session Andreasson ran a great 5.62sec. and was the number four qualifier! “We had the best 60ft of all, but had to short shift one time, otherwise it would have been a 5.58 or 9”, said Andreasson after the run. The third and last qualifying run was Friday evening in the dark, but at the startline the Disab Monte Carlo went up in smoke. “We had a 5.5 set-up but that was too much power.” With the 5.62sec. Andreasson was the number five qualifier out of a 17 car field and only 0.063sec behind number one qualifier Shane Westerfield. Great to see a European team come so close to the American frontrunners. About raceday Andreasson was loud and clear. “Win, that makes racing so much fun.”



No oil pressure
But what a disappointment for the Swede, as his race was already over after the burn out. “There was no oil pressure during the burn out. I hoped it would be back after the burn out, but still nothing when I was back at the startline and I had to shut off.” Later the team found out a small part of the oil pump broke and was the reason for the problem.

Consistency
For Hanssen his American dream continued in qualifying. With a straight 5.49sec. late Thursday afternoon, the Norwegian was number eight after the first round of qualifying. “This was not what we were looking for; too much tyreshake”, said Hanssen, not satisfied with the run. Friday morning he improve to a 5.37 while the Hanna set-up was good for an even better 5.34sec in the third and last qualifying session. Hanssen was number six qualifier in the 16 car field and only 0.091sec behind number one and champion Jim Whiteley! Like Andreasson, Hanssen and his team did an excellent job, so close behind the American top competitors. “In the second run we still had tyreshake and in the third run a few minor things were not 100%. You need more runs to get the perfect set-up, but I’m very happy with the sixth position in my first American race. But my reaction times are still not good enough.”



First win
In the first round of eliminations, Saturday afternoon, Hanssen had to face Casey Grisel and in another consistent 5.39sec Hanssen was much faster (Grisel 5,56) and as Grisel pulled a red light, the race was already won at the startline. “With a 0.023sec my reaction time is already much better now and I’m very happy to win my first round in America. The 5.39sec is okay, but the 60ft was not as good as in qualifying, so we have to find out what’s the reason for that. But we are racing on Sunday raceday, so that is great”, said an exciting Hanssen Saturday evening.

Red
In the quarter final Hanssen had to race Don St.Arnaud. And as he predicted in qualifying, the reaction times killed him, but instead of too slow, Hanssen pulled a 0.025sec red light and lost at the startline. But with another 5.38sec the Norwegian team showed consistency again and could look back at a great American debut. Hopefully the team can find a sponsor soon, and show their potential again.