Top Fuel racer Chris Andrews warms up his engine for today's qualifying. He plans a run to 330ft in the first session and a full pass in the second session.

Top Fuel Racer Chris Andrews said after a 4.51/329kph run yesterday "It was a good day and the car felt good. It shook at about 80ft out and I kept on it to 660ft. There was an issue with the fuel pump we had to resolve and we decided to miss session two as we wanted to make sure there would not be a problem going down the track. We have had to try to solve it using data analysis."

Top Fuel racer Anita Mäkelä had a difficult day when a rod broke on the first run, causing a fireball out of the engine, and a blower belt snapped half a second into the second run. She said "We haven't torn the engine down but there is some damage. We put in our spare engine in and now need to make a baseline run. It was disappointing but there is always a new day."

Top Fuel racer Håkan Fallström ran a best of 4.24/387kph in the morning to go 2nd yesterday. Crewman Dennis Glanby said "We were really pleased to run like that off the trailer. We tested in Norway two weeks ago and made a small burnout and had some things with the electrics to sort out. The problem was the chutes didn't deploy and the car went into the sand trap. We had to clean it up and take it apart. There were no mechanical problems apart from losing a valve. Håkan said "I'm enjoying it greatly. I clicked off the run early." Håkan's team has Peter Lantz as tuner.

Top Fuel racer Janne Ahonen whose crew chief is Simo Patoharju (pictured right) is joined by US tuner Donnie Bender and Jarmo Pulkkinen of Jarmo's Custom Auto. Donnie was tuner on Brandon Benstein's Top Fuel team in 2011 and Jarmo supplies parts and was a contact in the deal to buy the car. Simo said "On the first run it was an A to B baseline run although it shook a little. On the second there was a system malfunction and the tyres went up in smoke and there was some minor damage. The maintenance has been routine but most of the team are new to Top Fuel racing and I am really pleased with them. We had to get a few extra parts and tools and then tested a month ago. We have two short blocks which we hope will be sufficient for the season."

Top Fuel racer Timo Lehtimäki is unable to run due to a technical issue with his rear wing. Crew chief Ulf Hultholm said "The rules say that the rear wing has to be recertified at the manufacturer which would involve airfreighting it to the US. We had been to eight races and two test runs with it, and US teams have to run their cars 4-5 times more. Our spare wing had hardly been used since it was last recertified." There is a meeting of the Rules Group of the FIA Drag Racing Commission on Monday to cover issues that might be recommended for change. In the meantime Ulf is hoping the team can find enough funds to get the wing certified before the Alastaro round.

Top Fuel racer Antti Hortto had a good day, making two passes and not hurting any parts. Crewman Tony Pearson said "The car was dropping cylinders at the top end but is getting better. Antti's equipment is very good as the car is rented from Rune Fjeld and has a good record."

Top Fuel racer Risto Poutiainen suffered a bruised rib on his final pass at the Main Event, but is now recovered. He said "Unfortunately there was damage from going up in smoke. We expected the track to be super but although it is smooth, it couldn't take all the power that we gave it. We tried to drive through it and the high rpm damaged the valve train and blackened the crank. We took it easy getting the car ready and missed the second session." Risto is under no pressure with qualifying as there are eight cars with qualifying pass and three missing.

Top Fuel racer Jari Halinen ran a good 4.22/381kph for no.1 qulifier yesterday but suffered a problem with the blower belt on firing up which meant an aborted run.

Pro Mod Johan Lindberg was working on brother Jonnie's TMFC when we arrived at the pit. He said "We have three crew members for each car and Jonnie and I can alternate between the two. On my 6.13 pass I had to pedal once, otherwise it was pretty good. My main priority this season is to take back the gold, but it is hard work running two cars. If we run out of time the Pro Mod will get priority over the TMFC as this is a learning year for Jonnie."

Pro Mod racer Patrik Wikström is no.17 with a 6.72. He said "I want to qualify but don't have a target time. There is a lot of tuning work to do and we are taking it easy, one step at a time. The problem here has been the chassis; the car was going left and we have had to adjust the rear end which hopefully will cure it." Patrik contoinues to build Boss superchargers for customers.

Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson ran a 6.32 on his only pass yesterday as son Ludwig Perés was graduating. He said "It was a tyre shake filled run and I had to drive like crazy to get to the other end." Mats said that not attending the Main Event for the first time in many years was a hard decision but the only possible one. "I love the English fans, racers and crew so it felt bad. But at September I felt the last 100m and run-off area were more bumpy than before; my car is set up stiff and it was bottoming out so I have had to get different shocks and springs to avoid problems, so hope to be back in September if I do well." Mats is also racing the Swedish Pro Mod championship making for a busy racing season.

Mats Eriksson has a new body to save weight with carbon doors and roof. The fibreglass front end has a paint job by Ray Hill who painted Freddie Fagerström's car. Ray has applied his distinctive style to the hood using paint with actual rust particles in it. Mats said "There are now two Goblins and the other complete car is a show car that can be fired up."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders (pictured left with Freddie Fagerström) was happy with a 5.70 and 5.64, but thought the car could do better. "The traction here is average but the race surface is very smooth which means you can apply the same amount of power down the track and be sure that all the wheels are on the ground and no freewheeling or revs jumping between 9 and 10 thousand down the track. We want a 5.50 this weekend."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jarmo Kuutniemi is ill and can't attend. So the teams are displaying these stickers and we are sure our readers will join us in wishing Japa a speedy recovery.

Pro Mod racer Marco Maurischat said he has replaced all the damaged parts from last year. "The season was quite bad for us as we broke two rods at the Main Event and also at Tierp. In the off season we repaired both the blocks and the heads. So engine wise we are fine and the current one is powerful. But the handling is no longer what it should be and we have to figure it out. We have had tyre shake in 2nd gear and have changed the suspension and shocks. My business commitments prevented me attending the Main Event so I have to treat this weekend as a test session."

Pro Mod racer David Vegter ran a 9.64 and 6.75, good for only 20th in qualifying. He said "We underestimated the track and were not putting enough power down and it shook so we had to lift on both runs. Mechanically the car is fine and we will put in a new clutch and change the ignition settings to make more power and hope I can make a good run."

Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist ran a 5.94 in Pro Mod to go no.1 and first half of a new European ET record. He said "We are testing with new rear shocks and are at the early stages finding out what they can do although I feel we are not having success yet. If we can't find out a good setting with the data we are getting I will go back to the old ones. These new ones enable us to deal better with different track conditions." Micke talked about the FIA Rules Group and said it includes two racers from each class as well as tech people and representatives from the FIA Drag Racing Commission.