Curious to learn what has been going on and what is to follow, we let Micke answer a few questions.   

SG: First of all ... wow! ... can you comment on the season and the "happenings" it produced for you?

MG: It was an overwhelming year at times for sure. I learned a lot of things racing in the US, not only the racing itself, but I also got a great inside view on NHRA Drag Racing and the operation of a professional team. At the Gatornationals in March I red-lighted in the final and I was extremely disappointed at myself, thinking I just blew the chance of winning the biggest event of my life. I mean, when would I ever get the chance to win the final of a NHRA national event again? At that point it seemed very distant, but the incredible answer to that was just a few weeks away, when legendary Alcohol F/C racer Bob Newberry called me and asked if I wanted to drive one of R2B2 team owner Roger Burgess’ cars in Atlanta. I think Bob had a lot of trust in me as a driver and convinced Roger to bring me over when there was an opening. And then I just had to win when I got that second chance! One thing followed the other and we had one car shipped over to Europe for Melanie Troxel to drive as my R2B2 team-mate. I believe this was a great promotion for European drag racing and it got a lot of attention. Other highlights of the season include winning at Alastaro and the race against my friend Mats Eriksson in the semi-final at Hockenheim, winning an extremely close race.


The plate of the "Wally" trophy - a great memory from Micke´s historic NHRA win

SG: How come you decided to sell the ‘57 Chevy and do you know what the new owner´s plans are for the car?

MG: I’ve raced with the ‘57 since 2004 and when I was approached by a potential buyer during the season, I thought it was a good time to make some changes. I sold it to a Swedish team and they will run some other classes with it. I don’t think it will run in PM in the near future.


FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro - Micke with runner-up Johan Lindberg. Lindberg later beat Gullqvist in the battle for the championship title

SG: What are you plans for the "off race season" period ahead?
MG: Right now, I’m on my way to Atlanta for some meetings about next season and to decide what I should drive next. At some point soon, we’d better start working on the next project. Meanwhile we’re going through other equipment such as the trailer and other things.


Reliable products are important to perform well. Here Rock Batteries on display by Micke and R2B2 mechanic Johnny Maguda

After the win at Alastaro

SG: Any thoughts you can share looking ahead towards the 2011 season? For instance, any goals you are aiming for performancewise, will you still be in Pro Mod and will you run the full championship season?

MG: I’m always excited to run another season in PM and that’s my plan right now. But before everything is in place you never know; before I have another car ready to go, things can change. I’m not too worried about performance, I want to win races. Of course you need performance to win, but it’s more important to be consistent than to set records. It’s always hard to predict performance, but I’m sure it will be necessary to run 5.9s pretty consistently at some point. I have three championship runner-ups and one win over the last five years, so I’m getting a bit bored with having a #2 on the car. I think we’ve done very well over the last years, it’s just that things need to progress now and then.


In discussions with R2B2 tuner Al Billes

SG: 43 drivers earned championship points in the Pro Mod class this season and it makes it by far the biggest and also one of the most competitive classes. Any reflections as to why it is so attractive and what do you think we can expect for the 2011 season?

MG: I think it’s been an incredible development of the PM class in Europe and I think the reason is that people really can relate to the cars we run. It’s one of few classes where racers can “sneak” up to it, by first racing in other classes with the same car like Comp or Advanced ET until they feel ready to enter an event. And they can actually win races with out-of-the-box equipment if they only learn to tune it for the conditions.


The R2B2 Camaro - run by Gullqvist at Alastaro and Troxel at Santa Pod and Hockenheim Ring

SG: Last but not least.. Is there anyone in particular you wish to thank for contributing to the success you have had this season? 

MG: I want to thank the great guys in my European team this year; Rickard “Rille” Lundin, Anders Holm, Fred Westerlind, Peter Kunc, Leif and Johnny Helander. Then of course big thanks to the American part of our R2B2 team, a bunch of great people. And huge thanks of course to Roger Burgess, who has been instrumental for the Pro Mod class in the NHRA; without him I would not have had the great opportunity to race in the US. I also want to thank all the great companies that supported the European Championship contingency program this year and my personal supporters like Lucas Oil, AirMobile, 7LAB and Kjelland Transport.


The experienced and well-functioning crew is one of the keys to success. 

Follow team R2B2 by visiting
www.r2b2racing.com