Sweden Internationals
Saturday


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17:45

We have posted today's pictures. Only a small gallery for obvious reasons.

A factoid to keep you going until tomorrow. The Time-Tree timing system here at Tierp Arena has a 330 foot speed trap. On her first qualifying run yesterday, Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä was clocked at 298.67 kmh or 185.58 mph at 330 feet, time to get to that speed from a standstill was 2.3471 seconds. In fact the 330 foot speed will have been even higher since speed traps give an average speed over 66 feet. How about that?

We'll see you in the morning.

17:20

As Dave the track announcer just said, "The rain kicked our asses" and we have been called for the day.

We have a small gallery of pictures from this morning's racing which we will post very shortly.

17:05

Heresy it may be to say so but it is still raining out there. The track crew are working very hard though.

In the meantime there is a set of pit notes to enjoy including a video clip. Simon posted these notes some time ago and Your Reporter owes him an apology for getting sidetracked and not posting this update earlier. As ever you can check out the pit notes via the Event Index page.

16:00

Latest word here in Race Control is that the rain is expected to stop within the next twenty five minutes or so and that the track crew are then going to throw everything they've got at the strip to get it dry. Then we'll see how far we can get with the rest of Pro qualifying. Stay tuned.

15:20

Rain still hammering down. The theory was that if the track was dry by 16:00 we could get everything done today. However we are allowed to run until 20:00 so no-one has given up yet.

The organisers have announced that day tickets for today are now valid for tomorrow whatever happens.

12:05

Still raining here. Racers are being sent back to the pits which is never a good sight. Stay tuned and we'll keep you apprised.

11:35

UEM Supertwin qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Kari Rajala 22.2518/52.13 bye; Joachim Riemer shut off, Jan Sturla Hegre 6.8191/293.00 bye; Svein Olav Rolfstad shut off; Martijn de Haas 7.0656/311.78, Janne Gustavsson 7.9645/266.40; Anna-Lena Asplund 7.9596/252.93 bye; Ulf Ledström shut off (bye), Greger Johansson shut off; Torbjörn Svensson 8.9613/220.59 bye; Christian Jäger 13.2961/99.23, Samu Kemppainen 15.4581/75.73;

Motor smoking in stage for Kari, 1.1634 to sixty and then a gron and a huge cloud of smoke from the motor and Kari shut it off and rolled through. Joachim shut off in the burnout box. Jan Sturla took the bye, 1.1434 to sixty, leaning left and right to keep the bike straight as one of his crew on the start line made the same movements, quite amusing to watch. 4.3904/272.45 at the eighth, an improvement but stayed in place. Svein Olav's motor stopped in the burnout. PB for Martijn, well done Martijn! 1.3172 to sixty for Martijn to Janne's quicker 1.2125, 4.7256/274.53 at the eighth whilst Janne was headed for the centre line and had to back off a touch, 5.0501/221.58 at the eighth. Improivement for Anna-Lena, 1.1388 to sixty and 4.9572/219.24 at the eighth, slight improvment. Huge bang from Geger's motor in the burnout. Ulf was shut off in stage as spots of rain started to fall.

Torbjörn on a bye on the restart. 1.2187 to sixty but then started to make a move for the guardrail and shut it off at about 300 feet. 1.1679 to sixty for Christian then tyre spun and he shut it off. Same story for Samu but a bit closer to the start line, 1.2963 at sixty and shut off. Track crew obviously not happy with something and are working on the second half.

We have rain in the air again, stay tuned.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Per Bengtsson 6.4835/360.00
  2. Nate Gagnon 6.5491/353.40
  3. Christian Jäger 6.7025/331.90
  4. Samu Kemppainen 6.7245/338.35
  5. Jan Sturla Hegre 6.8191/293.00
  6. Martijn de Haas 7.0656/311.78
  7. Job Heezen 7.1365/259.62
  8. Ulf Ledström 7.3211/318.02
  9. Torbjörn Svensson 7.5452/268.92
  10. Joachim Riemer 7.7517/254.48
  11. Greger Johansson 7.8312/291.58
  12. Matti Vahasaari 7.8709/269.87
  13. Janne Gustavsson 7.9462/261.25
  14. Anna-Lena Asplund 7.9596/252.93
  15. Roman Sixta 8.1646/264.97
  16. Harri Piensalmi 9.2451/184.17
  17. Trond Høiberget 15.5513/149.29
  18. Kari Rajala 16.1013/87.71

10:05

Potential issue here as the timekeepers are under pressure to get the pairs through, this might mean we lose incrementals. Their first loyalty is of course to the Race Director and not to us. They have said that they will leave the numbers on the screen as long as they possibly can, and we'll do what we can to grab them quickly. The timekeepers have been no end of help so far, we have been working together very well, and there's no reason why that should change.

UEM Pro Stock Bike qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Kenneth Vik 18.3066/62.20 bye; Elvira Karlsson 7,5656/278.64, Kalle Lyrén 7.2627/294.92; Timo Savolainen 9.0129/199.70, Martin Bishop 7.3384/294.76; Ulf Ögge 7.1046/305.60, Fredrik Fredlund 7.1095/304.23;

Kenneth's tyre up in smoke off the line, motor screaming, no second gear, Kenneth shut it off and rolled through. 1.1365 to sixty for Elvira, 1.1360 for Kalle. Kalle with the better eighth 4.6247 to 4.7842. 1.1594 to sixty for Timo then shut off before the eighth. 1.1660 for Martin, 4.7024/245.12 at the eighth. Great match between Fredde and Ulf. 1.1193 to sixty for Ulf to Fredde's 1.1346, Ulf with the better eighth 4.5534/251.98 to 4.5571.253.28, Ulf into top spot. Both riders getting close to the European speed record.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Ulf Ögge 7.1046/305.60
  2. Fredrik Fredlund 7.1095/304.23
  3. Kalle Lyrén 7.2239/281.25
  4. Martin Bishop 7.2814/294.60;
  5. Kenneth Vik 7.2948/297.36
  6. Elvia Karlsson 7.5115/278.35
  7. Timo Savolainen 7.9082/256.17

09:35

Junior Dragster eliminations round 1 winners

Iiro Laaksonen (7.90) 8.2239/113.07 bye, Trine Fossum (7.90) 8.2115/109.02, Tobias Björnsson (7.90) 8.1865/113.28, Julie Nataas (7.90) 7.8630/134.80, Nina Björnsson (9.72) 9.7000/109.73, Johanna Carlsson (8.05) 8.1268/127.27, Angelica Larsson (8.06) 7.9798/131.93, Kevin Yrjövaara (8.45) 8.4813/124.05, Theodor Brandt (8.00) 8.0272/131.00, Hampus Staflund (7.98) 8.1311/126.91, Johanna Sjöberg (8.10) 8.1258/130.47, Amanda Sjöström-Andersson (8.00) 8.1022/122.03, Axel Jungvar (7.90) 7.9969/132.39

09:25

Super Comp Bike eliminations round 1 winners

Leif Larsson 8.9878/259.87 bye, Alexander Jonsson 9.4391/247.37, Roberth Häggblöm 8.2849/255.32, Peter Svensson 8.8895/253.40 bye, Håkan Karlsson 8.7708/274.39 bye, Niclas Johansson 23.5289/38.56, Bert Nilsen 8.9842/256.65 bye, Hakan Genberg 8.6519/215.57, Anders Blanck 7.8233/303.03 bye

09:15

Super Gas Bike qualifying after session 7

Pos 	TvlNR 	Namn 		Reaktion 	60-fot 	Hast201 	Tid201 	Hastighet 	Sluttid 	Diff
1 	131 	Tommie Johansson 	0,1405 	1,5985 	192,79 	6,2194 	236,63 	9,5321 	
2 	1 	Tomas Jonsson 	0,1559 	1,5946 	191,49 	6,0943 	226,70 	9,5341 	+0,0020 	
3 	99 	Ulf Fridolfsson 	0,2683 	1,7309 	195,79 	6,2544 	227,85 	9,5365 	+0,0044 	
4 	199 	Kristo Korpela 	0,1699 	1,7306 	195,51 	6,2251 	216,61 	9,5719 	+0,0398 	
5 	137 	Emil �stlund 	0,1590 	1,7158 	196,01 	6,3019 	240,21 	9,5736 	+0,0415 	
6 	666 	Roger �stlund 	0,1494 	1,7066 	200,30 	6,2413 	222,86 	9,6799 	+0,1478 	
7 	76 	Peter Andersson 	0,3422 	1,9822 	189,08 	6,8949 	237,89 	10,2291 	+0,6970

09:10

Super Gas qualifying after session 7

Pos 	TvlNR 	Namn 		Reaktion 	60-fot 	Hast201 	Tid201 	Hastighet 	Sluttid 	Diff
1 	1339 	Bosse Hall 	0,1004 	1,4446 	182,06 	6,4041 	225,09 	9,9012 	
2 	3 	Christer Uhlin 	0,0550 	1,4096 	180,90 	6,1193 	195,58 	9,9014 	+0,0002 	
3 	4476 	Gideon Liljegren 	0,1255 	1,5921 	186,27 	6,4951 	224,16 	9,9042 	+0,0030 	
4 	1232 	Erik Jansson 	0,1943 	1,3620 	182,12 	6,1140 	184,93 	9,9057 	+0,0045 	
5 	4888 	Jan Hallman 	0,2687 	1,4364 	177,98 	6,3162 	218,54 	9,9115 	+0,0103 	
6 	1 	H�kan Mattsson 	0,0745 	1,6161 	191,90 	6,6395 	241,94 	9,9130 	+0,0118 	
7 	4429 	Kent Elofsson 	0,1721 	1,3939 	176,70 	6,3244 	218,71 	9,9236 	+0,0224 	
8 	5 	Olav Skjerv� 	0,4573 	1,4216 	179,76 	6,1815 	197,87 	9,9409 	+0,0397 	
9 	9416 	Anette Birkenes 	0,2514 	2,0261 	192,10 	6,6579 	242,37 	9,9485 	+0,0473 	
10 	1934 	Janne Noren 	0,1752 	1,5806 	183,61 	6,3179 	203,24 	9,9495 	+0,0483 	
11 	4777 	Roger Forsstr�m 	0,3733 	1,5982 	183,18 	6,4532 	226,99 	9,9602 	+0,0590 	
12 	713 	Fredrik Gravningen 	0,3699 	1,4092 	175,27 	6,3065 	213,52 	9,9703 	+0,0691 	
13 	6958 	Harald Johansen 	0,2896 	1,3571 	181,21 	6,1690 	172,52 	10,0302 	+0,1290 	
14 	309 	Annica Larsson 	0,0571 	1,4448 	174,03 	6,4338 	218,89 	10,0644 	+0,1632

09:05

Super Street qualifying after session 7

Pos 	TvlNR 	Namn 		Reaktion 	60-fot 	Hast201 	Tid201 	Hastighet 	Sluttid 	Diff
1 	2960 	Lina Braathen 	0,5480 	1,5341 	161,00 	6,9119 	194,59 	10,9025 	
2 	1618 	Tomas H�gg 	0,0817 	1,6452 	173,02 	7,2533 	215,40 	10,9045 	+0,0020 	
3 	3128 	Christer Gustafsson 	0,1684 	1,6765 	169,97 	7,1809 	212,68 	10,9080 	+0,0055 	
4 	130 	Jan Jonsson 	0,2535 	1,4738 	160,05 	6,6163 	186,01 	10,9159 	+0,0134 	
5 	2811 	Mikael Nor�n 	0,2403 	1,5297 	160,38 	6,8874 	183,30 	10,9174 	+0,0149 	
6 	3924 	Tony Aberg 	0,1481 	1,5151 	166,46 	7,1389 	205,87 	10,9607 	+0,0582 	
7 	2628 	Johan Stam 	0,1194 	1,4864 	162,99 	6,9302 	186,34 	10,9676 	+0,0651 	
8 	2 	Halvor �verby 	0,0510 	1,5062 	159,06 	6,7893 	184,17 	11,0074 	+0,1049 	
9 	1 	Simon Gustafsson 	0,1435 	1,5759 	168,22 	7,3129 	215,57 	11,0227 	+0,1202 	
10 	2897 	Mauri Kamppinen 	0,0126 	1,4878 	136,95 	7,1347 	121,27 	12,7887 	+1,8862

08:30

Good morning and welcome from Tierp Arena for our coverage of the Sweden Internationals brought to you in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car.

Outside we have a high overcast and a gentle but cool breeze.

A big Good Morning to all of the Eurodragsterholics out there. Hope you are enjoying the coverage and we'll do our best to bring you all the news as quickly as we can today.

The Racing Action Web TV is broadcasting today and tomorrow. As at the FIA Main Event, $10 buys you two days of multi-camera High Definition coverage. A link to the sign-up can be found on the Event Index.

That was quite some day yesterday with three new European records set and five others awaiting back-up. The records which were set were:

Top Methanol Dragster speed: 437.96 kmh (272.14 mph), Chris Polidano
Top Methanol Funny Car ET: 5.659 seconds, Leif Andréasson
Top Methanol Funny Car speed: 417.96 kmh (259.71 mph), Leif Andréasson

The records awaiting back-up are:

Top Methanol Dragster ET: 5.297 seconds, Manty Bugeja
Top Methanol Funny Car ET: 5.558 seconds, Leif Andréasson
Pro Modified ET: 5.949 seconds, Micke Gullqvist
Top Fuel Bike ET: 5.923 seconds, Peter Svensson
Supertwin speed: 360.00 kmh (223.69 mph), Per Bengtsson

Thanks to Andy Marrs and Will Hanna who got in touch to ensure that we had picked up on the records.

Today's plan is for one more qualifier for Super Street, Super Gas and super Gas Bike and then eliminations to get all Sportsman classes down to sixteen where appropriate. Today's two Pro qualifying sessions are scheduled for 09:43 and 14:16.

Stay tuned and when qualifying starts we'll bring you all the news.


Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com