Finnish people are reputed to be silent, stiff and introverted. So not Anita Mäkelä. The extrovert Finnish fan favourite always has a smile on her face. The only time she’s not smiling is when she has lost a round. As a real sportswoman, Anita is always ambitious to win. And Anita has won plenty: numerous Finnish titles, the European Top Alcohol Championship, the FIA European Top Alcohol Championship and in 2000 the FIA European Top Fuel Championship. “But I don’t want to look back. The future is more important and I want to win the championship again.”



For Anita, drag racing started with the Trans Am she bought. “I went to the States on a school exchange program. I came straight from the Finnish countryside and the first car I saw there was a Pontiac Trans Am. That’s what I wanted to have. When I was 22 years old I bought one, met other youngsters with American cars and went to shows, cruises and drag races. I still have the Trans Am and, after restoration, Hanna will get it when she’s 18 years old.” Anita debuted in drag racing in 1987 in a Competition dragster. She won the third race she entered and, because there was only one race left that season, she went to England for the Euro Finals at Santa Pod. “I landed in the field and damaged the car very badly. But spectators gave me money and even the winner of the race gave me his prize money to get back in competition.” After very successful years in Top Alcohol Dragster, Anita stepped up to Top Fuel. “Top Fuel is the fastest so that’s what I wanted next.” And she adds with a big smile,



“Tommi Haapanen was the only Finnish Top Fuel driver at that time, so the easiest way to get into Top Fuel was to marry him.” In 1997 she obtained her Top Fuel licence and Tommi and Anita Top Fuel Racing was established. In 2000 she won the FIA European Top Fuel Championship, and was the runner-up in 2001. Compared to other forms of motorsport, women are very successful in drag racing. Anita doesn’t have the answer. “I didn’t try anything else, so maybe I would have been successful in other forms of motorsport too. But in drag racing, physical strength is no so important. I think that’s a big difference compared to other forms of motorsport.”

Wanting to spend more time with son and daughter Heikki and Hanna and faced with a heavy workload caused by the expansion of their company, Tommi and Anita did not race in 2002, 2004 and 2005. But in 2006 Tommi returned and, in 2009, Anita announced her comeback. Both wanted to race but Anita won and found herself back in the cockpit. Again with a big smile, she explains, “We are always in competition. He tries to let me break an arm so he can drive. Otherwise when he asks me what the speed limit is I always say 120kph. If he loses his driver’s licence he can’t get into the Top Fueler. But seriously, Tommi still has the ambition to get back in the car too. We don’t know what the future will bring: just one car, two Top Fuelers or a Fueler and a Funny Car.”



Asked about the reason for her comeback she usually quips, “It’s a good reason to be a bad mother and to be away from home. When you come back the kids love you and seem to be so nice again.” But there is of course a far more serious reason. “It’s so much fun. Without it, it felt like an empty spot. When I came back, it felt like coming home. I feel at home in this sport and I like the people involved. It’s very silent where we live in Finland. To be at the racetrack with so many people around who like the sport as much as I do is great fun.” In Vilppula, 250 km north of Helsinki, Tommi and Anita run a broiler parent farm and hatchery. No fewer than 170,000 broilers a week leave their farm.



The race shop is also at the farm now. “The chassis we run is a 2008 Mats Eriksson. Last winter we were at Don Prudhomme’s shop and updated almost everything, from heads and blocks to blowers. There we met Donnie Bender, Don’s crewchief. If he had not been hired by Brandon and Kenny Bernstein he would have helped us this season.” The comeback season had its ups and downs but now Anita is ready to go for the championship again. “I felt rusty after almost five years without racing. I had no routine; I had to think about all the things I had to do in the cockpit.



I talked a lot to other drivers and especially Lex Joon. I know Lex from Top Alcohol, he helped me a lot. Now I feel much more comfortable in the car.” The next race for Anita is the only race that doesn’t require her to travel hundreds of miles. “Alastaro is a special race for me. It’s the only race for us in our home country and all our friends and relatives will be there. I’m really looking forward to it.” A home race in the world where she feels at home: that must be a great feeling.