Speedgroup Club Europe

Championship leader Jimmy Ålund qualified number one at Santa Pod with runs which pretty much matched the European records that he holds. Jimmy has also recently been racing in the Racestar Pro Stock Shoot out; held at Malmo over the weekend of the 14th and 15th June. Jimmy won the event against a fast starting Christian Sagelv, and I understand Jimmy was using his second engine. This proves everything we previously thought, Jimma has strength in depth. The spares are as highly tuned as the number one choice.

Thomas Lindström was number 3 qualifier at Santa Pod. This is his lowest qualifying position for a very long time. The team were scratching their heads a little at the end of the Santa Pod event. They came to England off the back of a very successful test at Malmo, and certainly expected more speed out of the Dodge. Thomas also competed at Malmo and was eliminated by Christian Sagelv on route to the final. He did qualify number one though, breaking his own Malmo track record in the process, and was charging hard all weekend, but Sagelv got him on the lights, and in only an 8th mile, there is not so much time to catch up a holeshot.

Magnus Peterson sits in third place currently, but was actually number two qualifier at Santa Pod. The car looked good on the one day we got to race in England, and I am sure Magnus would have been hard to beat if we had actually gone in to eliminations.

Magnus P.

Magnus was another racer who competed at Malmo, also losing to that man Sagelv on a holeshot. Magnus just keeps getting quicker and faster, so expect top end qualification points from the Red GTO

Michael Malmgren is in his new car this year, and was effectively testing at Santa Pod. He qualified fourth in the 6.7’s and also raced at Malmo qualifying 6th in the 9 car field but losing in rd1 to Jan Palmqvist. If the team are getting to grips with the car after a lot of testing, then we can expect them to feature high in the running at Alastaro.

Malmgren

FIA Pro Stock Car - Preview Round #2 2014 The FIA Pro Stock competition at Alastaro will be more intense than we saw at Santa Pod. For a start there are eleven cars competing. With some new names and some welcome returning drivers. Championship leader Jimmy Ålund qualified number one at Santa Pod with runs which pretty much matched the European records that he holds. Jimmy has also recently been racing in the Racestar Pro Stock Shoot out; held at Malmo over the weekend of the 14th and 15th June. Jimmy won the event against a fast starting Christian Sagelv, and I understand Jimmy was using his second engine. This proves everything we previously thought, Jimma has strength in depth. The spares are as highly tuned as the number one choice. Thomas Lindström was number 3 qualifier at Santa Pod. This is his lowest qualifying position for a very long time. The team were scratching their heads a little at the end of the Santa Pod event. They came to England off the back of a very successful test at Malmo, and certainly expected more speed out of the Dodge. Thomas also competed at Malmo and was eliminated by Christian Sagelv on route to the final. He did qualify number one though, breaking his own Malmo track record in the process, and was charging hard all weekend, but Sagelv got him on the lights, and in only an 8th mile, there is not so much time to catch up a holeshot. Magnus Peterson sits in third place currently, but was actually number two qualifier at Santa Pod. The car looked good on the one day we got to race in England, and I am sure Magnus would have been hard to beat if we had actually gone in to eliminations. Magnus P. Magnus was another racer who competed at Malmo, also losing to that man Sagelv on a holeshot. Magnus just keeps getting quicker and faster, so expect top end qualification points from the Red GTO Michael Malmgren is in his new car this year, and was effectively testing at Santa Pod. He qualified fourth in the 6.7’s and also raced at Malmo qualifying 6th in the 9 car field but losing in rd1 to Jan Palmqvist. If the team are getting to grips with the car after a lot of testing, then we can expect them to feature high in the running at Alastaro. Malmgren	Jan Palmqvist is currently fifth in the championship. Jan has new engines this year and went to the semi-final at Malmo where he met and was put out by Jimmy Ålund. Jan was running in the 6’s at Santa Pod, and was running well at Malmo. Christian Sagelv makes his first appearance in the FIA championship this year at Alastaro. The Ford man went to the finals against Jimmy in Malmo, and managed to get a holeshot on everyone he faced. With race winning margins like they are in Pro Stock, being deadly on the tree is a decent skill, and it looks like Sagelv has it. Richard “Nixxon” Sundblom debuts in the championship at this round. I haven’t seen Richard race for a while, but the car used to exhibit some huge top end speed. If he still has the kind of terminal speed that he used to carry, then Richard could upset some results at this event. Jan Ericsson’s Pontiac Grand Am has run down into the 6.7’s so we will see if it can go further. Jan was considering competition outside Scandinavia at the end of last season. I hope this consideration is reinforced this weekend, and that we may see Jan in Germany or even in the UK. New in the class - Simon Gustafsson Since Ulf Wagnhester retired from the driver seat in the Samantha Racing Dodge, Simon Gustafsson has taken on the duties. The Samantha Racing Dodge Avenger will likely not be beating the top teams in the horsepower stakes, but sometimes power is not everything, and to win, you have to first get down the track consistently. Sampsa Palos only contest the Scandinavian rounds in 2014. Over winter they have had their engines refreshed so we should see Sampsa matching and improving on the 6.7’s he was running in 2012. This leaves the last entrant – Bengt Ljungdahl. I do not know Bengt, but I do know the car he is competing in. This is the ex-Michael Malmgren Pontiac GTO. If Bengt has some good engines, then he definitely has a decent chassis, and we could see another fast car. If Alastaro gets the weather and the guys can find the sweet spots in their tuning, there can be some very close competition in the Pro Stock class. With ideal weather at Tierp last year the class had an 8 car field separated by just 0.27 seconds. As ever, I do not make predictions but I will say that the racing will be close if conditions allow it.
Thomas Lindström and the Ernrud Cars team was popular and appreciated at Alastaro last year, not least for interacting with the spectators when the car was towed back along the bank grandstand.
Text: Ian Hart Photos: Remco Scheelings, Lena Perés, Åsa Kinnemar, Patrik Jacobsson This article is part of the Speedgroup Club Europe Online Newsletter July Preview Alastaro 2014 Published by Speedgroup www.speedgroup.eu All material, text, images and logtypes are the property of Speedgroup AB Any use of the above requires permission from Speedgroup email: asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu © Speedgroup 2014