2005 Veidec Festival Pit Notes Söndag / Sunday
De senaste uppdateringarna är högst upp på sidan. Klicka på "uppdatera" knappen för att vara säker på att se de senaste nyheterna.
19:00 The race was called at 17:30 in advance of the curfew of 18:00 so as to avoid running an incomplete second round. To have a round of Pro racing is a tremendous tribute to the hard work of the crew who worked tirelessly after 18 hours of continuous rain to turn the track around. Our thanks go to the teams who gave us their time and hospitality so freely. We look forward to seeing you again at the Finals. 18:00 Mikael Kågered said "We ran a 5.00 after lifting twice and shutting off early. I was also a little late on the lights." Of the next race against Lex, he said, "We haven't lost to Lex for many years." Niclas Andersson (TMFC) said "After the motor problems we had in qualifying, we're delighted to have beaten Urs. We had some oil out of the engine and need to look at that. We were a match for Urs on the line and had a faster time. The team have done a good job. We want to win the event!" Leif Andreasson said "We were lucky against Jarmo Kuutniemi as we shook and he red-lighted. We tried to have a decent run but came up short. Dan Larsen is running well and we need to do something in the next round." Urs Erbacher said "The race against Niclas was really close. We were a bit late on the lights as we had to use the brake as the clutch started dragging. It was a bit of a game on the start." Dan Larsen said "We were off the pace due to the clutch being too soft and will tighten it up for the next round. The mechanical side is ok. This is the third time we've been against Andreasson this season and beat him on the other two occasions. Now we have a chance to beat him again!" Martin Lindqvist red-lit and then came to an abrupt halt. "I made an old ladies' mistake and had not enough rpm when I staged. The starter was fast and we were not ready - we're newcomers. We're happy that we've stepped our performance up and the team work with Ulf Leanders has helped immensely. We will do better next weekend." We spoke to Robert Andersson of Leanders sponsors Ironcad. "Ironcad is a 3D CAD system used for mechanical applications, which is made in Atlanta and resold by us here. The Leanders team are using it on their car including work on the car's body. We have had many leads from the sponsorship display. We have a customer base of 2,200 in Sweden, and use drag racing material as part of our marketing function." Magnus Hansson said of his 6.98 win over Jöran Persåker, "We have run well this weekend. We will try to repeat as we want the car to remain stable." Richard "Nixon" Sundblöm (Pro Stock) said "The performance of the team was very good, that of the driver less good as I red-lit. I made a mistake with the brakes on the start. We have experienced much engine damage to the valve centres and seats from using unleaded gasoline." Richard said "My friends called me "Nixon" when I was 6 or 7 years old after the US President. It has stayed with me ever since!" Chris Hope (PSB) said said of his race with Martin Bishop, "I had to lift when the bike got too close to the wall. I treed him by eight hundredths and had a better 60' time but we were off the throttle by 4.5s." Roger Petterson's team said "We were happy with the 7.352 and are going in the right direction, but are still spinning the wheel in 5th and 6th gears and losing some traction. We are doing more work to adjust the clutch." Martin Bishop's telemetry crewman Dean Todd said of the winning 7.465, "Based on the data of the runs we had both done so far we were expecting to run quicker than Chris. We're now resting in Sweden before the next round." 16:00 Fast Fredde Fagerström said "We lost an intake rocker arm on the burnout and which resulted in loss of some power, and then shook the tyres. Our next definite race is the European Finals, although we will run Tullinge if funding permits." Siw Nystad will become a familiar name in Top Fuel next year when she completes her licensing. The 19 year old from Honefoss, Norway has completed her launch and half pass and a debut license has been issued. "I will need 4 full runs to complete licensing." Siw carried out the licensing at Gardermoen during July in Thomas Nataas's car under the tutelage of Rune Fjeld. She said, "I have bracket raced a '71 Mustang for the last two years. The Top Fueler is so different, it almost can't be described. The runs more than exceeded my expectations and I am keen to learn as this has been my dream. Next year we plan to run the European Championship." Siw is grateful to Rune Fjeld for offering her this wonderful opportunity and also to Ronnie K., her media promoter, Thomas Nataas and his crew. "A special thanks to my parents, Tor and Barit, for their support." Thomas Nataas said "We were slowed by losing a spark plug which caused a small fire. Our ET needs to be quicker for the next round (against Tommy)." Tommy Moller said "We had a good run to a 4.87/465 and had no damage. We had tyre shake ofter 100m and had to pedal. We plan to step up in the next round." Lex Joon said, "We are thrilled as we ran a 4.78 in the right hand lane which is the less favourable one, and it was a great side-by-side race. It is great for the sport that we have managed to run racing today." Susanne Callin said of her race against Thomas Nataas "This was very close and we were side-by-side until my blower belt broke. I'm still really pleased with the way the weekend went." 15:00 In the first round of Pro Mod, the biggest shock was Terje Hakonsen's holeshot win over Andy Robinson, the Wally Boys Racing team pulling a time of 14 hundreths better than their previous best to defeat the no. 1 qualifier. Terje said "We turned up the power for this one and I did a better driving job this time. The boys on the team always do a good job! It's about the first time we have had lane choice too. Andy was good opposition to beat." Andy Robinson was not too downbeat. "The win margin was 12 thousandths and it was a good race. The car didn't react as well as Terje did. We are very pleased overall with the event and to qualify no.1" My thanks go to all the crew. The crew gave me the power!" Marc Meihuizen was delighted with a PB 6.48 over Fast Fredde Fagerstrom. He asked us to say a special "Hello" to all Dutch fans tuned in. Gordon Appleton lost oil pressure after previously being shut off over a track problem and had to withdraw. Micke Lindahl went right through the gravel trap and into the field after his parachutes failed to deploy. The front end bodywork is slightly damaged but there is more concern over a bent steering arm. "We will mend this, check everything over and hope to be running against Patrick in the next round." Patrick Wikstrom was doing routine maintenance and with his usual smile, said "We're confident!" Jallo Maako said "Our 6.59 was a PB. The ride was bumpy but the car felt good." Jorgen Karlsson had a wild ride in the MSS Racing Camaro in losing to Jallo Makimaa. "We had problems with tyre shake and after 3rd gear the car got loose and I had to make a lot of steering input. It was a tough time, but we are pleased with the event and had our best 60' time ever on this run." 11:30 Mats Eriksson is a shock non-qualifier in Pro Modified, the Green Goblin '56 Ford Crown Victoria suffering tyre shake on each run so far. He said "This is our first meeting having changed the rear suspension setup from a swing arm to four-link.We made the change to get more adjustment potential in the suspension. We have run fast with a swing arm (Mats' best is 6.339) but the window of adjustment is too narrow. We have only made three runs on the new setup and need more runs to tune it to work properly. We have had problems with the clutch as well and may need to change that as well. We needed a fourth qualifying session. The whole season has been a mess as we have not been able to get down the track. We need to test more before we go to the European Finals in September." Mats explained that virtually all teams in Pro Mod now have the four-link setup, only Bert Englefield and Bert-Ove Olofsson still using a swing arm. "As the tracks have got better and the cars more powerful, the swing arm has needed to be longer and be adjustable. Mats is displaying the Green Goblin and firing up the motor at an exhibition organised by Clas Ohlsson (a well-known Swedish company selling hardware and tools) at Insjön, a village in Darlecarlia state. This event should be well worth attending by local fans. Gordon Appleton (Pro Mod) said of his run yesterday, "We got loose after the shift from 2nd yesterday and got off the the throttlewhen we got too close to the guardrail. The right lane is trickier than the left. There has been no damage to the motor. We have a fairly tough place in the ladder, with Roger Johansson in the first round and potentially H&arin;kan Nilsson and Micke Gullqvist in the second round and semi-final respectively." Jorgen Karlsson (Pro Mod) said with the bump in the right lane we lost a couple of hundreths but improved our qualifying place to seventh. We need to go towards the left hand side of the lane to avoid the bump. We are against Jallo Mäkimaa in the first round and have lane choice; we will most likely choose the left lane." Robert Koper started racing in 1993 in Super Gas and has run jis nitrous Chevy Monte Carlo Pro Mod since 2004. "We built the car for Competition Eliminator but liked Pro Mod so much, we stepped up", said Robert. "We have run the Main Event, Malmo and here so far. We also run non-championship events at Drachten. The car handles very well, but I need to improve my driving; I had a lane-swapping moment at the Finals last year. We have not been able to make a full run this weekend: on our first pass we had wheelspin, the second had a nitrous backfire, and on the third we were off the throttle after two seconds." Robert's next races are at Drachten and then the European Finals. Robert owns Pro Street USA Cars, a business that sells US cars and high performance engines, based in Heemskerk, Netherlands. Magnus Hansson, No. 1 qualifier in Pro Stock, with a 6.95, ran three six second passes and slowed slightly to a 7.01 in the final session, when he drifted a little in the left lane. "We wanted to go for the championship but first round losses at both Santa Pod and Alastaro have spoilt this and we are now fifth. At Santa Pod we had a clutch that was too loose and at Alastaro my reaction time lost the race. The car has bigger wheels and a different clutch from last year and we have dialled these in now, so we are confident for the rest of the season." I asked how the switch to unleaded fuel has affected the car. "We have changed the ignition settings and our engine can cope with it, although we understand others have had damage." Even so, Magnus estimates a loss of 20-30 horsepower compared with US cars running C44 racing gasoline. Magnus said of the Bahrain "It's great - we need to get the Championship in other countries as it will be easier to get more sponsorship with the additional exposure. It would be good to have Greece and Italy in the Championship too, and also get some more countries competing in the class." Magnus thanked his sponsors Teknos Paint and his crew, "who have done a great job and have really got to grips with the car." Over in the Super Twin Bike Pits, Anders "Charley" Karling said "We're so pleased to get back racing and my ankle is fine. We have found out that it was a malfunction with the bike that caused the crash at the European Finals, but it is always in the back of your mind until the first run afterwards. So it was great that our first run was a 6.70, which exceeded our expectations. On the second run, we had the right lane and staged in the wrong position and the bike moved about so I lifted. On our final run we made more power and spun the tyre at the start, but at half track it hooked up in second and the g-force was really strong in the second half, to produce a 6.54. We had no real dramas in the shutdown area as we have very good brakes and are careful to get off the throttle and brake at the right point." "It will be great to race in Bahrain and if we can get the finances fixed it can only be a positive thing for everyone and will drive forward the professional side. We are unfortunately unable to attend the Invitational in November as the bike was already booked to go to the PRI (Performance Racing Industries) show. Whilst Charley's own firm builds specialist components for Super Twin racers, manjor sponsor, Uddeholm, sells high quality steel to companies around the world making racing parts, including drag racing and NASCAR series. "We work with Uddeholm to promote both their product and our racing and manufacturing operation." Petri Kaltonen, from Laihia in Finland is really happy at being in the field. His crew chief, Harry Raikkonen, said "We have struggled all season with ignition problems and our 7.15 was our first full run this year. We have run Alastaro and one FHRA Championship event where we ran a 60' pass." This is Petri's first season with Super Twin, having run Top Gas for ten years. The bike has a V-Rod motor (60 degree) with Autorotor blower, Bentec transmission and a Fuel Express frame that was "Happily made in Finland", said Harry. Thanks go to associate sponsors Iron Zone and Peräseinäjoen Teräsmiehet oy. Johachim Riemer made his first six second pass and his first 200mph on his 6.85/321.61kph pass, good for 5th place in Super Twin. "Our bike was new in 2004 and we had some problems with tyres at the start of the year, but this came good in the last two races. We were runner-up at the Main Event but couldn't run fast enough at Alastaro and went out in the first round. We have invested in more tools and improved here, but went deep in the gravel on our fast pass after braking too late and I almost came off the bike. We missed the second session and in the third had too much fuel and the bike only ran for 200m. We have made it leaner now." The bike has a Gunnar Olsson fram, PRP unblown motor on 97%, and Bentec transmission. Thanks to sponsors Tough Stuff Harley Davidson dealers in Germany, Berliner Motortrad Tage, Direct Specialties Parts in the US and HD Service. Vincent Pels said "We tried to step it up in the third session and made it too aggressive. The bike left really hard but hit the bumps and got out of shape. We need to feed more of the clutch in after the bumps. Our best time, a 6.68, was after lifting at 1100ft to get stopped before the end of the track. What excites us is that the field is so tight. It could be anyone's race and anyone's championship." On Bahrain he said "We're pleased that it is the first round of the championship next year as it fits in well with weather conditions in Europe at that time." Ian King (Top Fuel Bike - qualified no. 3) said, "We have struggled with the clutch settings this weekend and have been adjusting the fuel too. On the third session our computer said we were optimal but only recorded a 6.6 as the tyre was spinning. We'll make more changes." On Bahrain, Ian had been working on the negotiations on behalf of bike teams for some time and he is happy on behalf of all the racers. He said "The enthusiasm and interest that the Bahrain International Circuit show is fabulous and in the long term there is no reason why this shouldn't be the best race. Logistical issues such as shipping and security have been addressed at our meetings here by heads of the specific functions. The Invitational Racer list will be published in due course." 09:00 Good morning and welcome to race day pit notes from the 2005 Veidec Festival. It's rained pretty much constantly since 16:00 Saturday and track sweepers have been clearing standing water since 06:00 this morning. The race has to be run today as there are no rain-off dates, and a curfew is also in force at the end of the day. Nevetheless, we have heard from several sources that it is due to clear in a couple of hours time and hopefully there will be on-track action today. Many teams have closed up their canopies in an attempt to keep the wet out, but we'll see who we can get comments from. |
