2005 Veidec Festival Pit Notes Torsdag / Thursday
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16:30 Some of the biggest variety of race cars can be found in Competition Eliminator, which includes doorlammers, altereds and dragsters. The class index system (based on NHRA) helps even out the performance, with the potential penalty that if you run too fast against your index, it can be reduced, thus diminishing your advantage and preventing sandbagging. Pelle Eriksson (qualified 4th after 3 sessions) who runs in A/NA with a '41 Willys said that this is his fourth meeting with the car, and only the 11th or 12th full throttle run, producing a best of 7.2. Pelle said "We have 300 hp in reserve as we have only used one stage of nitrous so far." The car was built by Paul Brander (who also built Richard Sundblom's pro stock car. Pelle said "The car works really well and Paul Brander has helped with the setup. There are so many good chassis builders in Europe, why go overseas for more expensive kit?" The car's body is by Tim McAmis and engine is a 465cu in Pat Musi piece. Pelle is a former Super Gas racer, so the step up is considerable. "I am comfortable in the car and see the shift light on each gear. The car is great but with five gears it inevitably moves around." Pelle is keen to run the Comp Eliminator championship next year and sees 2005 as a learning year. "We have done well in the points but can't do anything about the Eagle team (Antti Horto)." Mikael Nord (A/AA) who has qualified second, runs a '66 Chevy Nova that has seen action in Pro Mod with Patrick Wikstrom at the wheel. Stefan Petersson (crew chief) said "Our last run (6.59) was a new Swedish record for the class and we want to back it up tomorrow. There is too much work to do to run again today, as we have found an oil leak in a cylinder head and also need to look at the gearbox and clutch. Before Patrick ran it, it was raced in the US. Patrick sold it to Aki (the current owner). The only difference to a Pro Mod car is a smaller motor (426cu in compared to 526cu in for blown Pro Mod motors) and the blower which is an earlier model. We plan to run in Top Doorslammer later in the year." Per Mikkelsen (qualified 3rd after 3 sessions), runs a '58 Chevy Impala which was built over a period of 4 years and debuted at the end of 2003. "In 2004 we took the trip around Scandinavia. This year, we have done a short season - this is our third and final race of the year as our crew chief has started his own business. Next year we hope to run more championship rounds at different tracks, although to accumulate points you do need to go a long way north." The motor is a 426cu in BBC on nitrous from Skinne Bros and is actually a destroked pro stock. The chassis for the Impala is self-built from parts supplied by Jerry Bickel. "It is the only Impala of this year racing in Europe and we built the body from pieces of original ourself." In Super Comp, we have found an isolated case of "naughtiness" as Peter Rosenqvist ran an 8.27 and aims to run a seven. The car is an '87 Thunderbird built by Jerry Haas and acquired from Rickard Nordström in Pitea. The unusual aspect is the Procharger blower kit sitting atop the Ford Small Block 405cu in motor. Peter said that he doesn't fit easily into an NDRS Comp Eliminator class but added there is a series called Super Small Block which his car is ideally suited to. Leif Andersson who qualified no. 1 said "This is the best we have ever gone. We've made very few changes, just changed the throttle stop a little. I thank my crew Jens Lindberg, Reijo Ek, and Örjan Jonsson." Leigh Morris (Super Street) whose crew chief had his birthday yesterday), said "We've gone too slow (a pair of 11s) and now we've gone too fast (10.7). "The track is very good here and in particular the start line. This is our first time in Sweden but we did go to Hockenheim three times." That's all for the pit notes today. The four cycles of qualifying ended before 5pm and we're off to meet more teams in the pits tonight and enjoy the hospitality. See you tomorrow morning! 13:30 We spoke to Pasi Mikkonen who leads Stock/Super Stock with his B/FI 2002 Formula Firebird after two sessions. Pasi said "We are pleased to be running 1.255s under the index. I built the car myself after acquiring it new in 2002. I first ran it in A/FI and went as quick as 9.99 in that trim; the NHRA record for the class is 9.97." This compares to 14.00 for the car off the showroom floor. "To run in B/FI we have had to add 150 kg in weight bringing it to 1485 kg." Torben Stenstroöm had a window frame and window part company from the door of his Comp Eliminator 105E Anglia on his 7.8s qualifying run. "We've got some liquid plastic to mend the frame and I will run without the window tomorrow, but unfortunately we are out for the rest of today", said Torben. The car, surely the fastest 105E on the planet, has a new Bob Panella 358cu in motor that has run 7.40 in the hands of its previous owner Brian Morrison and 3 speed Pruflite gearbox this year and has run 5.028 at 220kph at Malmo. Torben plans to keep the Anglia shape but may possibly plan a new chassis in chrome moly for a year or two's time. Halvor Överby who was the 2004 NDRS Super Street champion was also No. 1 qualifier after the second session. His car is an extremely rare 1962 Opel Kapitän "The car was originally built by Mårten Johansson in 1993 and has been rebuilt with a new BBC motor of 540cu in. The car is all steel apart from the front bumper." Halvor has had the car for five years and driven it for four. "My son Hanka drove it for a year following seven years in Junior Dragster from 1994 to 2000 in which he won the championship for 2 years (1997 and 1999) and was also runner-up twice (1998 and 2000)." Family commitments prevent Hanka continuing racing but Dad is keeping up the family tradition! Joachim Ljungberg who we last spoke to at the Euro Finals in 2004 has sold his Competition Eliminator Funny Car to Ricky Gowen (formerly with Turner Racing). A new Funny Car destined for A/BA in Comp Elim.inator is currently being built by Joachim who holds European class records with his old car. In the meantime the team have taken their old Super Gas Capri which they raced from 1994-2000 and have put it into no. 3 qualifying position virtually out of the box. Joachim said "We've run it as fast as 9.07." Christer Uhlin from Norway was pleased after being No. 1 qualifier in Super Gas after 2 sessions, slipping to No. 2 later. "We've had our 1965 Ford Fairlane for two and a half years and it was built in Sweden. The engine is a 540 cu in Big Block Ford. He aims to improve his 6th place in the NDRS championship and run as many NDRS meetings as he can get to, including UK rounds in 2006. David Vegter (Super Gas) said that whilst he usually does double duty with Super Comp, he is running just the one class this weekend, as is the entire field. "This is our fourth season with this car ('68 Camaro); next year we would like to mount a serious challenge on the NDRS championship and visit the UK rounds as well as those in Scandiniavia." Bosse Hall (Super Gas 105E Anglia) has pulled some great wheelies whilst still running close to the index. He said "We plan to counter this by setting the throttle stop to come on earlier in the run." Bosse has owned the car, which he built himself, for 22 years, adding a new frame in 1997 and a new 405 cu in SBC in 2005. "The car could do Super Comp if we removed the throttle stop." I wonder what the wheelies would then be like... 10:30 Good morning and welcome to today's pit notes. The weather is warm and sunny and we're onto round 2 of qualifying. There are a couple of teams new to Comp Eliminator this year. Hans Knuters is running an A/A '57 Thunderbird which he imported from the US. The car was built by Atlanta Performance Engineering and sports a Steve Schmidt-prepped Donovan motor. Without nitrous, Hans expects to run low 7s times. The plan is to run Comp and Top Doorslammer this year prior to a possible move into Pro Mod. In the US the car ran 1/8 mile tracks only with a best of 4.70. Hans has been fairly queit in the sport since 1996 but was a major force in Pro Stock in the late eighties, leaving the class after 1991. He said that in the meantime the sport has become more expensive but he clearly still relishes it. He'll be running later today... Åland's Pelle Eriksson has run and notably was for a short time no. 1 qualifier in Comp, finishing the first session in 2nd place with a 7.425 on an B/NA index of 7.96. The car is a pro mod-style 41 Willys. Mats Brag is running a Chevrolet S-10 Pro Stock Truck he built himself in D/Altered. The chassis comes from Competition Cars and the body was imported from the US. The motor is a SBC of 358ci and the trans a G-Force 2000 5 speed. Mats was SDC Competition Eliminator Champion in 2004 and also won best engineered awards. A sub-par run happened in the first round after a fuse for the fuel pump failed; he aims to run an 8.0 on the class index of 8.4. Top qualifier in Super Comp from session 1 was Bo Ragnebro in a 564cu in Dodge Demon running on methanol. Bo's local track is Våsteras and has had this car for two years, previously racing a '70 Cuda with the same motor for 20 years. Bo said "This car is much more stable than the old one". It was built in Sweden by Leif Gotland, and Bo has run the car down to 8.4. Also from Våsteras is Peter Trånge, who runs a late 70 Corvette in Super Comp and was no. 5 qualifier in the first session. The 540cu in BBC produced an 8.98. Zane Llewellyn was delighted with his no. 2 spot in the first session but had to be patient. "I staged too shallow and moved after setting the transbrake. I had to wait for the throttle stop to recycle before I could reset it which resulted in a 2 second R.T. The last time I raced was last September's Euro Finals and we've used data from last year's Mantorp event." This is Zane's seventh consecutive year at Mantorp; at his first visit in 1991, he ran as part of a 4-car Super Gas demo eliminator which helped pioneer the class in Scandinavia. Jan Ekström who is Vice President of Meca Raceway is here running a Ford Thunderbird in Super Comp. Jan said "We ran our best ever 60ft time on the last round. The Ford sports a Dart Small Block Chevy engine of 377cu in. |
