We caught him in the middle of cutting the hair of one of his cats. But he didn’t seem too stressed about getting interrupted. This guy is one of the most frequent travelers in drag racing, we think. Last year he participated in 16 races and in 2011 it ended up to be 19!

-    That’s what I and my wife Elsie do during the summers, he said. Its kind of our holiday, I race a little and she takes care of the cooking and enjoys a glass of rosé while she´s waiting for me getting to the finish line. You should try that sometimes, he says with a smile.

Tomas races in the EDRS series in Sweden, but also in Norway’s Championship for Super Gas Bike.

-    As Sweden doesn´t have any Swedish Championship I our class, I participate in the Norwegian instead, says Tomas. So before Sweden Internationals we went to Gardemoen where they do both series (EDRS and national championship). I won that race and I am now number two in that series, so far. Maybe I can be a Norwegian Champ this year.  

Tomas has been racing since 2004 and he has stuck to the Super Gas Bike class and has no doubts of changing class. He had some thoughts last year to step up to Super Comp Bike, but changed rules with a lower index ended those thoughts. The Kawasaki ZX 14 1400cc is nothing very ordinary, almost standard from the shop.


Tomas wife Elsie is never far away. She sees that Tomas gets whatever he needs between the rounds. And between that they just relax in their caravan.

Tomas Jonsson

-    The only thing I have done, says Tomas, is to make the bike a bit lower and longer. And the only thing I do during the races is to change oil and filter. And of course clutch disc in the winter. It suits me very good to have so little work to do on the bike, as I have other things to do in wintertime, like hunting and taking care of my hunting dogs, and the cats of course.

The racing is actually a family matter, more than that wife Elsie comes with Tomas. This year Tomas father Örjan Jonsson is taking up the racing again in an age of 70. He stopped racing for five years ago, but now he is back on track again.

-    He is just doing the SDRS (Svealands Dragracing Series) this season, as it does not involve long travels for him.
Tomas travels a bit more than his father and Malmoe in the south of Sweden is the longest trip he has made.

-    But that was too long, he says. It´s much easier and closer for us to go to Norway as we live in Näsberg, a little village outside another little village, Färila in about the middle of Sweden. Last year we made a long trip as we went to Alastaro, Kalajokki, Piteå and home. That was a nice trip and Kalajokki was a really nice place. Maybe not to race at as the sand sometimes takes over the track, but it’s located very nice by the sea. It’s like a desert almost.

Right now Tomas is in the lead in EDRS Series before Jarkko Niemi. He is also, so far, the only Swede in the class up which currently include nine Finnish and two Norwegian riders. So he is a bit outstanding in many ways, this Tomas Jonsson - the globetrotter racer.