2010 FHRA Nitro Nationals
Sunday
 Martin Lundkvist I Comp eliminator have had a great weekend. "We have been chasing a 6 second run for two seasons now, and we finally got it", says "We were very close at Hockenheim last year when we had 7,02 on the time slip." The team campaigns a very yellow S10 pick up with a 301cui smallblock turbocharged engine in it. That places the truck in BT/A, meaning they ran 1,19 seconds under index on that qualification run! "We don't run that much on ¼ mile tracks. We don't have that far to the track in Malmö and runs there almost every wednesday". |
 Stefani Robinson says that it is a lot of work to do on the Robinson Pro Mod after the fire. "After an initial check up yesterday we do believe that engine is more or less gone, perhaps can the heads be reused" she says. "The body is pretty badly damaged, especially the front and drivers door. Most of the resin burnt leaving just the carbon fiber as a wobbly mesh. The good thing is that we do have the old fiberglass body back home. All the plumbing and wiring is totally burnt away. That includes, of course, everything with a rubber sealing as well. The original plan was to leave the car by Gullquist until the Mantorp race in three weeks, and we have had a lot of offers from racers to help us out, but we want to get the car home and work through the whole car in our own workshop." |
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 "It is our first Super Twin final" says a happy Ismo Mäenpää! "This is our second season in the class. We earlier ran Pro Harley and we have been 4 time Finnish Champion. Running in Super Twin is different and we only went here to run our first 6 second run. And we did that in the semifinal, 6,997! We will run the full UEM championship tour this year." |
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| Urs Erbacher told us after his first round win, that they up until that run, not had found a good base line for the right lane. "I was going for a deep stage and was concentrating on that, and when I looked up Anita left! We don't have lane choice for next round so we have to figure out how to keep the set up for the first half track and take some power out of it for the last part." | Jaska Salakari confused a lot of fans when he entered
both Top Fuel Bike and Super Twin in Alastaro. "We have two identical Super Twin bikes, one that I normally run and one that Kari Rajala runs. This year Kari has to work abroad, so I got the idea of entering his bike in Top Fuel Bike. We found out that it was totally possible" Jaska explain."We had problems with the bike running in Super Twin, but the one in Top Fuel Bike ran 6,69, good enough for qualifying #1! " "I started building these bike 6 years ago and today it is not much left of the first version! We feel that today are the bikes finally ready and it is now "just" tuning the beasts to run really good numbers!" |
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| We managed to have a chat with Michael "Gullan"
Gullquist right after his 5,91 run in first round of elimination. "I felt early that it was a good run. It
felt very distinct all the way. So when one of the guys told me it was a 5,99 I believed him. Then I must admit
I was a bit surprised that it was as quick as it was." Fellow 5 second Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson are curios
about the top Speed, and we had it clarified that Mats ran 388 on his 5 second run, Gullan ran 395 this time and
ran 400 on his quickest run in Gainsville. "What's most rewarding of all, is that we are tuning and experimenting ourselves here at Alastaro" says Gullan. |
The Lindahl twins were working hard between first
and second run, still giving finding time to give us some info! "We started out with a 6,30 baseline set up on Friday. Then we started to try new things. We had a couple of wild tire shakes on the way to the current set up. We managed to eliminate Mats Eriksson in the first round and are now up verses Gullquist. Anything can happen in drag racing, all the time! |
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| Kai Selkämaa torched the head badly during the
second round of Top Fuel Bike qualifying yesterday. "The bike ran good up that point", smiles Team member
Steve Porter! He continuous: "As the engine blew up the both ends of the cylinder head got a big hole and quite a big piece of the block went off, too. During the night between Friday and Saturday we took apart the whole engine and then early on the Saturday morning we managed to take the cylinder head and the block to Special Motors in Noormarkku where they were welded and machined. Thanks to Heikki Lehtikangas and Special Motors. We do have new one coming and it will hopefully be ready and on the bike to Mantorp." |
Fred Hansen qualified 5th in Top Methanol Dragster. "I have had problems with my shift light all weekend. That is supposed to be lit when I shall shift. We tried to fix it but then it started to go off and on as it liked and that can really take the concentration out of the run, Fred says. "We have decided unplug the light and leaving me to shift by the tach. It is hard to change a routine, but we will manage! | |
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| Mats Eriksson had a very wild ride yesterday in the
last Pro Mod qualifying session. He says: "Normally you get a little notice that the car will behave badly,
but not this time. Suddenly it was just heading for the centerline or the wall and I had to turn the steering wheel
in a way I never have done before! When I brought the car to a stop I actually thought that I had a flat tire,
but when kneeing down and watch the fourlink it all became obvious. Both lower links where broken! One theory is that they have been a bit soft for a while and that should explain why the chassie have not responded to our tuning during this event. |
Petri Paljakka had never driven a really fast bike
until he bought his Top Fuel Bike! Crew member Pasi Söderlund (picture) tells us that this is just the second
race they are attending. "We ran a 7,35 to qualify us in a third place, but that is far from the potential
of the bike. We are learning all the time and we like to point out that we do get a lot of help from the bikes
previous owner Ian King. Also a big thanks to Ians mechanics Chris and Mike that are in Finland to help the team. Eurodragster ask Pasi who they will meet in first round of elimination, and the answer (with a smile) shows the right spirit: "In first round its Rene van Den Berg, then it is Selkämaa or Salakari we have to beat to win the event!" |
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 Michael Malmgren tells us that the team found a problem with fuel pump and it has probably been an increasing problem the whole season. "We managed to get out there and run a 6,811 under conditions when no one else improved, so we feel confident for the first round of eliminations in a while" |
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