A 4.852sec handed Anita Mäkelä the lead on Friday evening after the first day of qualifying. In the third session, a 4.88sec made it clear the Finnish team had the right set-up for the track and car. “It runs like a bracket car right now. But we went under the index because we tuned it for a 4.89sec,” crewchief Sami Lehtimäki announced with a big smile. After Andy Carter took over the number one position in session three, Anita came back with a strong 4.800sec to take the number one qualifying position and leave all the men behind.


In the first round of eliminations the combination looked strong again and, although she had a solo run (Timo Lehtimäki had problems firing up his car), Anita made a 4.82sec full pass. This fastest run of round one, allied to her consistency, made her the favourite for the NitrOlympX Top Fuel title. But as at Mantorp, the weather was not on her side, so she failed to gain the championship points she deserved with her performance on the track.

But the ever-smiling Anita was still happy and gave all the credit to the crew. “Nothing can spoil my good mood at the moment, although I’m out of the championship race right now. I thank the crew; they do such a good job. We have the right set-up now and the car runs so consistently and fast. I’m in the spotlight but they are the heroes. After struggling for one and a half years, this feels so great. On the first full pass, the car felt a bit unstable at the top end.



The crew changed a few things and it went so straight and smooth on the next run, I had nothing to do. Even if we have a bye-run we go for a full pass. You can’t make that many ¼ mile passes on good tracks during a season, so we need the data and I have to get used to these high-speed runs. The 4.800sec run makes me feel good in another way too. So far Tommi’s 4.83sec was the best and he was the fastest in Vilppula. I had to hear that so many times. Now I’m number one in Vilppula and have the new Finnish record too.”