Top Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto ran consistently and as quick as 4.12 to reach the final against Jari Halinen. Due to rain, the final wasn't run but Antti is hopeful of racing on more of the tour. He said "My team is the Finnish crew of Eagle Racing with car owner Rune Fjeld and tuner Tony Pearson. We just did two races last year and three in 2012. I'm happy with our achievements this year. We reached the final in two this year but both were rained off and went to the semi final here in June." Antti started in Junior Dragster, moved up to Super Comp for two years and Competition Eliminator for four years, then took a break to help with Janne Ahonen. Antti's main sponsor is Dolicap trucking but there is space on the car for more."
Pro Modified racer Marc Meihuizen reached the semi final where he went out against Martin Lundkvist. He said "I am content with our performance this weekend as the car ran without trouble and made mostly solid runs. In the semi final the start line procedure for Martin left me no time to go on the two step as the lights ran immediately Martin staged." Mark is grateful to MPM Oil for support.
Pro Modified racer David Vegter, another MPM supported car, was happy with the weekend despite going out in round one. He said "I didn't damage any engine parts, ran personal bests of 6.17/376kph and completed three qualifying sessions. On the third session though the rear end broke and although we had a replacement it was the wrong ratio. That hurt us in the first round when we had lots of tyre shake, not enough horsepower to the ground and that damaged the wheelie bar and body. So we have some work to do before the Finals but will be there."
Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund had a hose break on his race engine and had to swap over one from his other engine before the subsequently cancelled final. The team were working feverishly as we passed.
Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström received our congratulations as he became engaged to Nina on Friday. "He proposed to me in the stands," she said. Thomas was looking forward to a final against Jimmy Ålund, both racers having run 6.70 in the semi finals. "We are very happy, have just made small adjustments as the final is not the right time for hasty things. The winner will be the racer with the best reaction time. I am not thinking of the championship now but will do tomorrow."
Supertwin racer Nate Gagnon said after his semi final run against Samu Kemppainen "It was a great race, I couldn't ask for anything better than racing my team mate and best friend. We could give each other high fives at the top end! I am against Svein Olav in the final and his previous runs came out of the box. We are ready to go. My bike has been amazingly reliable. We will try to turn it up a little but but nothing too crazy. It will be a little bit more aggressive but I am not worrying."
Top Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem, pictured with crew chief Pål-Henning Sørenen, said "The car feels good but it is an uphill struggle. We needed some luck and it came our way and our boys and girl work hard. We had an electrical problem and had to replace another camshaft. Thanks to Jonnie Lindberg for lending us one, with three different camshaft profiles it has been like a test session."
Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson ran a 5.86 in round one of eliminations which was backed up by Friday's 5.70 for a new ET record and 5.92 in a semi final bye. He will next be travelling to Santa Pod for the Euro Finals.
Top Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja had a valve lash cap come off in his first round bye which blew a burst plate. He said "Overall we are happy with the car's performance, she is a good lady." Tuner Charlie Draper said "On the last qualifying run we put a 5.2s tuneup in it but it wouldn't have it so we backed it off."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano said "We are having a small problem with the clutch slipping and will try to tighten it up for this run. The engine has given us no problems and we are happy we have a good combination."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann said "We had a lot of problems with tyre shake and also had a transmission problem yesterday that we had to work on all night to fix. Now we have a new setup and ran 5.53 last time and won by only 0.0007s, the closest race I have ever had. The car can run a 5.3 which is what we will have to do against Manty." In the race, Timo pushed the tree a little hard and red lit.
Pro Stock Bike racer Ulf Öggewas against Elvira Karlsson in the semi-final. He said "We want lane choice in the final; we are happy with the bike's performance and nothing is broken. The Racepak is giving us good data for tuning." Elivira's engine stopped at the hit and Ulf earned lane choice against Fredrik Fredlund.
Supertwin racer Jaska Salakari was trying to solve a cylinder leak after damage in round one's record 6.27s pass. "The leak is from the front cylinder", he said. "Next year we will have to have a spare engine as we don't have time to mend a big leakdown between rounds."
Supertwin racer Jan Sturla Hegre, looking forward to the team's visit to Valdosta in November, said "We are making some modifications on the bike with a new fuel pump and improved head sealing. We want to put a lot more fuel through the engine when we go to the US. It is my first visit to the US and we want to make sure the engine runs well."
Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad was delighted to run a 6.40 in the first round. He said "We needed some answers before we visit the US and would not normally do such a big change in tuneup before eliminations. We got the answer we wanted and it was a nice run. It could have gone faster as a cylinder was out after 1000ft and the speed fell from 339kph to 322kph at the quarter. An exhaust bolt in the front cylinder was the only thing that needed replacement." The team are going to put a new head and cylinder on before the US visit.
Top Fuel Bike racer Nils Lagerlöf had a coming together with the wall in qualifying yesterday. His crew said "The first round 6.59 was exactly what we needed. We had to replace the front fork and wheel but there was only a minor scuff to the fairing."
Supertwin racer Ulf Nylen said "I have been racing Supertwins since 1988. My first season with this bike was 2006 and I had a PB of 6.87 but improved this to 6.68 at Tierp. I hope I can ride the bike quicker. I will run the same bike next year and put more fuel and clutch in it." Ulf plans to contest races in Sweden, Norway and possibly Finland next year.
Pro Mod racer Martin Lundkvist was pleased to win his first round matchup against David Vegter. "It was the easiest pass for me after scraping the wall yesterday. It has got my confidence back, especially running a 6.01. We find the right lane the best for us and I have lane choice against Micke Lindahl. I thank the crew for repairing the damage yesterday evening and for turning the car round so quickly between rounds, and also my sponsors."
Pro Mod racer Johan Lindberg said "I had bad shake in the race against Niclas Andersson. You have a choice to lift off or drive through it and of course I drove through it. It didn't hurt the performance too much." Later the team discovered engine damage from a broken valve and were rushing to change heads.
Pro Mod racer Tami Brander faced Johan Lindberg in the second round of Pro Mod. "I will try to do everything; I know he will have a 6.1 tuneup in it so that is what I will try to run."
Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader's defeat at the hands of Micke Lindahl put a dent in his chances of a first FIA Championship. "We have had no luck this season", he said, "Yet the no.16 has a bye run. We have made our best performance on each run but Lindahl surprised me on that one."
Pro Mod racer Micke Lindahl's holeshot win had the racer excited. "We must be consistent and if I run a 6.1 I will have a chance against Martin Lindqvist. I saw Bruno at 300m but I was able to get more speed at the top although I went close to the centre line."
Micke Lindahl's other car was parked by his Pro Mod. Team member and developer Daniel Andersson said "The idea of the twin turbo 'Vette came from its owner and team member Göran who has run turbo cars and saw turbo Pro Mods running in the US which gave us the idea to try one. It is starting to perform but it has taken years to build up and find the performance. It has totally different parameters from a blower car and we are looking forward to running it in future."
Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist had a broken rear end in the third qualifying run which meant the team had to go back to Stockholm to get a spare. He said "That was the easy bit. The spare didn't fit so the team had to work all night to make it fit. New brackets took eight hours to make and we had to alter the links to the wheelie bars and locators for the shock absorbers. We worked to 3:30am and I wasn't focused on my reaction time as I was wondering if the car would go straight." Micke won the first round with a 6.02 and improved to a 5.98 in round two.
Pro Mod racer Jan Gunnarson was Micke Gullqvist's opposition in round two. Beforehand he said "I didn't know Urban red-lit against me and it went wrong for me with tyre shake. I looked up, saw Urban was not beside me and got back on it. I hope Micke's tired and am going to try against him." In round two Jan suffered more shake and Micke ran a smooth winning pass.
Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson was the first round victim of Micke Gullqvist. Running a best of 6.20 in qualifying and a 6.24 was a couple of tenths off the pace and was due to tyre shake. He said "We tried to do what we could. It has been the same all weekend and we have tried to adjust it from top to bottom and I have been on and off the pedal. I had the better reaction time in the race but Micke was quicker. It was impressive how he got down the track after his problem."
Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.24/441kph in round one when Risto Poutiainen's auto shutoff misdeployed. Crewman Laurie Bamford said "Everything is routine," as they thrashed to get the car ready for the next round following the mandatory turnround.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen said "The auto shutoff deployed just after the fire-up which has never happened before. We have to find out the cause. I still have a good chance of the championship and was happy with our performance this weekend although we were chasing a three second pass. The track is very good and I am very pleased with the facilities here. Three races in six weeks is a bit of a strain for the teams and it would be better spaced and less costly for travel if the second Tierp race was at the end of July."
Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered pulled out an upset in round one when he defeated no.1 qualifier Janne Ahonen. Crew member Rob Inglis said "We are happy with that run, it has been a long time coming. It was not quite a full pass and it dropped a cylinder early on and it took a couple of stabs to keep it going. But there is a lot more there. Micke's great 0.08 reaction helped too. We hope to build on the win."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Jonnie Lindberg was delighted with a 5.59/422 on his first full pass, the first half of a new European speed record and a personal best by some way. He said "I am very happy and we will try to repeat in the next round."
Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander made the first pass at Tierp for the nitro-powered cars. He was congratulated at the end of his run by Micke of the Safety Group.
Pro Stock team owner Roger Lyrén said of son and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle's bike "We are trying to take power out as we have too much. I want to say we have found the problem and are going in the right direction. Although it's not a new engine, the adjustments we have made make it feel like one. But Kalle's riding is consistent and the bike is stable."
Top Fuel Dragster racer Antti Horto ran consistently and as quick as 4.12 to reach the final against Jari Halinen. Due to rain, the final wasn't run but Antti is hopeful of racing on more of the tour. He said "My team is the Finnish crew of Eagle Racing with car owner Rune Fjeld and tuner Tony Pearson. We just did two races last year and three in 2012. I'm happy with our achievements this year. We reached the final in two this year but both were rained off and went to the semi final here in June." Antti started in Junior Dragster, moved up to Super Comp for two years and Competition Eliminator for four years, then took a break to help with Janne Ahonen. Antti's main sponsor is Dolicap trucking but there is space on the car for more."
Pro Modified racer Marc Meihuizen reached the semi final where he went out against Martin Lundkvist. He said "I am content with our performance this weekend as the car ran without trouble and made mostly solid runs. In the semi final the start line procedure for Martin left me no time to go on the two step as the lights ran immediately Martin staged." Mark is grateful to MPM Oil for support.
Pro Modified racer David Vegter, another MPM supported car, was happy with the weekend despite going out in round one. He said "I didn't damage any engine parts, ran personal bests of 6.17/376kph and completed three qualifying sessions. On the third session though the rear end broke and although we had a replacement it was the wrong ratio. That hurt us in the first round when we had lots of tyre shake, not enough horsepower to the ground and that damaged the wheelie bar and body. So we have some work to do before the Finals but will be there."
Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund had a hose break on his race engine and had to swap over one from his other engine before the subsequently cancelled final. The team were working feverishly as we passed.
Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström received our congratulations as he became engaged to Nina on Friday. "He proposed to me in the stands," she said. Thomas was looking forward to a final against Jimmy Ålund, both racers having run 6.70 in the semi finals. "We are very happy, have just made small adjustments as the final is not the right time for hasty things. The winner will be the racer with the best reaction time. I am not thinking of the championship now but will do tomorrow."
Supertwin racer Nate Gagnon said after his semi final run against Samu Kemppainen "It was a great race, I couldn't ask for anything better than racing my team mate and best friend. We could give each other high fives at the top end! I am against Svein Olav in the final and his previous runs came out of the box. We are ready to go. My bike has been amazingly reliable. We will try to turn it up a little but but nothing too crazy. It will be a little bit more aggressive but I am not worrying."
Top Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem, pictured with crew chief Pål-Henning Sørenen, said "The car feels good but it is an uphill struggle. We needed some luck and it came our way and our boys and girl work hard. We had an electrical problem and had to replace another camshaft. Thanks to Jonnie Lindberg for lending us one, with three different camshaft profiles it has been like a test session."
Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson ran a 5.86 in round one of eliminations which was backed up by Friday's 5.70 for a new ET record and 5.92 in a semi final bye. He will next be travelling to Santa Pod for the Euro Finals.
Top Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja had a valve lash cap come off in his first round bye which blew a burst plate. He said "Overall we are happy with the car's performance, she is a good lady." Tuner Charlie Draper said "On the last qualifying run we put a 5.2s tuneup in it but it wouldn't have it so we backed it off."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano said "We are having a small problem with the clutch slipping and will try to tighten it up for this run. The engine has given us no problems and we are happy we have a good combination."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann said "We had a lot of problems with tyre shake and also had a transmission problem yesterday that we had to work on all night to fix. Now we have a new setup and ran 5.53 last time and won by only 0.0007s, the closest race I have ever had. The car can run a 5.3 which is what we will have to do against Manty." In the race, Timo pushed the tree a little hard and red lit. 
Pro Stock Bike racer Ulf Öggewas against Elvira Karlsson in the semi-final. He said "We want lane choice in the final; we are happy with the bike's performance and nothing is broken. The Racepak is giving us good data for tuning." Elivira's engine stopped at the hit and Ulf earned lane choice against Fredrik Fredlund.
Supertwin racer Jaska Salakari was trying to solve a cylinder leak after damage in round one's record 6.27s pass. "The leak is from the front cylinder", he said. "Next year we will have to have a spare engine as we don't have time to mend a big leakdown between rounds."
Supertwin racer Jan Sturla Hegre, looking forward to the team's visit to Valdosta in November, said "We are making some modifications on the bike with a new fuel pump and improved head sealing. We want to put a lot more fuel through the engine when we go to the US. It is my first visit to the US and we want to make sure the engine runs well."
Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad was delighted to run a 6.40 in the first round. He said "We needed some answers before we visit the US and would not normally do such a big change in tuneup before eliminations. We got the answer we wanted and it was a nice run. It could have gone faster as a cylinder was out after 1000ft and the speed fell from 339kph to 322kph at the quarter. An exhaust bolt in the front cylinder was the only thing that needed replacement." The team are going to put a new head and cylinder on before the US visit.
Top Fuel Bike racer Nils Lagerlöf had a coming together with the wall in qualifying yesterday. His crew said "The first round 6.59 was exactly what we needed. We had to replace the front fork and wheel but there was only a minor scuff to the fairing."
Supertwin racer Ulf Nylen said "I have been racing Supertwins since 1988. My first season with this bike was 2006 and I had a PB of 6.87 but improved this to 6.68 at Tierp. I hope I can ride the bike quicker. I will run the same bike next year and put more fuel and clutch in it." Ulf plans to contest races in Sweden, Norway and possibly Finland next year. 
Pro Mod racer Martin Lundkvist was pleased to win his first round matchup against David Vegter. "It was the easiest pass for me after scraping the wall yesterday. It has got my confidence back, especially running a 6.01. We find the right lane the best for us and I have lane choice against Micke Lindahl. I thank the crew for repairing the damage yesterday evening and for turning the car round so quickly between rounds, and also my sponsors."
Pro Mod racer Johan Lindberg said "I had bad shake in the race against Niclas Andersson. You have a choice to lift off or drive through it and of course I drove through it. It didn't hurt the performance too much." Later the team discovered engine damage from a broken valve and were rushing to change heads.
Pro Mod racer Tami Brander faced Johan Lindberg in the second round of Pro Mod. "I will try to do everything; I know he will have a 6.1 tuneup in it so that is what I will try to run."
Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader's defeat at the hands of Micke Lindahl put a dent in his chances of a first FIA Championship. "We have had no luck this season", he said, "Yet the no.16 has a bye run. We have made our best performance on each run but Lindahl surprised me on that one."
Pro Mod racer Micke Lindahl's holeshot win had the racer excited. "We must be consistent and if I run a 6.1 I will have a chance against Martin Lindqvist. I saw Bruno at 300m but I was able to get more speed at the top although I went close to the centre line." 
Micke Lindahl's other car was parked by his Pro Mod. Team member and developer Daniel Andersson said "The idea of the twin turbo 'Vette came from its owner and team member Göran who has run turbo cars and saw turbo Pro Mods running in the US which gave us the idea to try one. It is starting to perform but it has taken years to build up and find the performance. It has totally different parameters from a blower car and we are looking forward to running it in future."
Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist had a broken rear end in the third qualifying run which meant the team had to go back to Stockholm to get a spare. He said "That was the easy bit. The spare didn't fit so the team had to work all night to make it fit. New brackets took eight hours to make and we had to alter the links to the wheelie bars and locators for the shock absorbers. We worked to 3:30am and I wasn't focused on my reaction time as I was wondering if the car would go straight." Micke won the first round with a 6.02 and improved to a 5.98 in round two.
Pro Mod racer Jan Gunnarson was Micke Gullqvist's opposition in round two. Beforehand he said "I didn't know Urban red-lit against me and it went wrong for me with tyre shake. I looked up, saw Urban was not beside me and got back on it. I hope Micke's tired and am going to try against him." In round two Jan suffered more shake and Micke ran a smooth winning pass.
Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson was the first round victim of Micke Gullqvist. Running a best of 6.20 in qualifying and a 6.24 was a couple of tenths off the pace and was due to tyre shake. He said "We tried to do what we could. It has been the same all weekend and we have tried to adjust it from top to bottom and I have been on and off the pedal. I had the better reaction time in the race but Micke was quicker. It was impressive how he got down the track after his problem." 
Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.24/441kph in round one when Risto Poutiainen's auto shutoff misdeployed. Crewman Laurie Bamford said "Everything is routine," as they thrashed to get the car ready for the next round following the mandatory turnround. 
Top Fuel Dragster racer Risto Poutiainen said "The auto shutoff deployed just after the fire-up which has never happened before. We have to find out the cause. I still have a good chance of the championship and was happy with our performance this weekend although we were chasing a three second pass. The track is very good and I am very pleased with the facilities here. Three races in six weeks is a bit of a strain for the teams and it would be better spaced and less costly for travel if the second Tierp race was at the end of July."
Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered pulled out an upset in round one when he defeated no.1 qualifier Janne Ahonen. Crew member Rob Inglis said "We are happy with that run, it has been a long time coming. It was not quite a full pass and it dropped a cylinder early on and it took a couple of stabs to keep it going. But there is a lot more there. Micke's great 0.08 reaction helped too. We hope to build on the win."
Top Methanol Dragster racer Jonnie Lindberg was delighted with a 5.59/422 on his first full pass, the first half of a new European speed record and a personal best by some way. He said "I am very happy and we will try to repeat in the next round."
Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander made the first pass at Tierp for the nitro-powered cars. He was congratulated at the end of his run by Micke of the Safety Group.
Pro Stock team owner Roger Lyrén said of son and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle's bike "We are trying to take power out as we have too much. I want to say we have found the problem and are going in the right direction. Although it's not a new engine, the adjustments we have made make it feel like one. But Kalle's riding is consistent and the bike is stable."