Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen is preparing to run at least as quick as he did at the Main Event, when a 5.9136/242.51mph made him no.1 qualifier. He said "We have a completely new engine set-up and it was only our third run, so we are very pleased at that performance. Sadly we had an oil leak in eliminations which was our own mistake. The 5.91 was not a perfect run and we believe it is possible to do better. But the information from that run will be useful here. The main change is that we switched to a new blower, a Kobelco Fowler F-11 Superman. We have also made some fuel changes. We only have one engine and some of the parts are old, such as the Alan Johnson heads which are six years old. It was easier to sell the blower (which went to a tractor puller) rather than refurbish it. The old car was capable of 6.0s but a lot has changed in blower technology in the last six years. David (Vegter) has exactly the same setup and he is on the same level performance wise as us but we are not sharing data, there are two separate teams and both are capable of winning.

Marc Meihuizen continued "We will try for low ET even in eliminations. I would prefer to run a 5.9 or 5.8 and lose rather than run consistent 6.2s and win a championship. My team are technical and get their fun from seeing how quick we can go. We are running all FIA races. We would run at Drachten but it is not an FIA track and organisers would like to run a lot more races there. Santa Pod have a great track team, Tierp is a great facility and Finland have great crowds for their location, but Hockenheim needs to be a good race this year to be in the best interests of the racers." Marc said his time is largely spent with his transport company, M Trex which he has run for 20 years. "We have twelve tractor units and fourteen trailers and operated across Europe from Netherlands through Germany and Switzerland to Italy. It is a seven day a week job. I work every day apart from race meetings. I am fortunate to have clients that sponsor my racing as well as my major sponsor MPM."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Ulf Leanders was adjusting the pedals of daughter Erika's Junior Modified dragster. He said "Erika will be driving a Junior Modified for the first time this weekend, whereas my son Fredrick is still racing Junior Stock as he is ten years old. The clutch business is going well, with contacts in Florida and Mark Brew of Proforce Motorsports in Australia to help with sales, service and support to Top Doorslammer racers there. In the US a big part of the Pro Stock field are using our clutch. More Top Alcohol cars are also using our clutch." On the racing side, Ulf said "We want to run as much as possible. The only reason we did not attend The Main Event was we had ordered new blocks and the delivery was six weeks later than quoted. We have not yet fired the engines up with the new blocks."

Ulf Leanders continued "The problem about receiving blocks late is you can't have precise measurements for things like rods and pushrods if you don't have the block so you need them delivered early." Ulf's target is to run a 5.5. "We should have run that quick some time ago. Running quick will help sell our products." The team's various products and race updates are at www.leandersbros.se.

Pro Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle Lyrén made a burnout and untimed test launch on his rebuilt bike, which has many new features and parts,for instance carbon fibre wheels and new front forks. Kalle said "I have been doing a lot of work on the bike and will be doing more of the tuning this year." With the competition stepping up as well, could this be the year for Europe's first PSB six?

Top Fuel racer Patrik Pers' team created a new paint scheme which looked great on display yesterday. Patrik said "The paint job took a lot of effort and late nights and we only finished it on Tuesday." The TV coverage on Sweden's TV4 channel of the Press Call is here.

The press room at Tierp Arena is now on the first floor with excellent views of the facility. A racing circuit is now in place using the return road and tarmac between the left side of the track and the grandstand, but not touching the drag strip surface.

Super Street racer Simon Gustavsson's Camaro waiting in the staging lanes under the tower. The car was built in 2008 by US doorslammer racer Rick Losee. The SBC engine has Dart block and Brodix heads.

Super Street racer Tomas Hägg was no.1 qualifier in the class after session one in his wheelstanding '69 Corvette. Tomas was EDRS Champion in 2012 and has run the car for several years having started racing in 1977.

Super Gas racer Jan Hallman from Borlänge runs this Volvo with a SBC engine of 383cu in with Holley carb, Patriot Performance heads, Mahle pistons, Eagle crank and a TH350 box. Jan is posting team updates from the track on hallmandragracing.se.

Super Street racer Garth Haworth has this beautiful Chevelle which runs with nitrous. Garth is from København in Denmark and was sixth after the first session with an 11.286 time.

Super Gas racer Angelica Larsson has graduated from Junior Dragster to this '62 Ford Fairlane with 427 cu in engine. Angelica's mother Annica also runs in the class. More details on the team including their 11 race 2013 schedule, are on www.teamfordeverracing.se.

Super Gas racer Morten Tiainen is from Dal in Norway and has run this 1985 Firebird since 2000. The tube-chassised car has a 461 cu in BBC engine and Powerglide transmission. Details of Morten's racing history until 2006 are archived here.

Super Gas racer Fredrik Gravningen, who races as Team Tiger, has this Chevy pickup. Fredrik is eighteen and his parents and grandparents are also involved in the racing operation. Fredrik is from Skollenborg in Norway and his web site, on which the team is posting event updates, is team-tiger.no.

Super Comp racer Leif Andersson was runner up at the recent EDRS Nationals at Tierp and runs this slingshot dragster with a 572cu in BBC engine, Powerglide and new Hilborn injectors. Leif said "I used to have a rear engined dragster but find the slingshot more exciting to drive. The car was built in the UK in around 1975." Readers - any guesses as to the original owner/driver?

Super Comp racer Kent Elofsson is from G�vle which is local to Tierp and has been racing since 2006. Kent said "I have a new engine for this season, a 540cu in BBC with AFR geads and this is my first time out this year. The car was only ready a couple of days ago."

Stock/Super Stock racer Dan Williams of Eurodragster.com sponsors OCS Paint brought the A/SA Nova to the EDRS Nationals, qualified 11th with a 10.33 on an 11.00 index and went out in round one. He said "We kept the car in Sweden and Nic brought another engine at the start of the week which we fitted and hope to run better." With a rain delay the team are still waiting. The engine is supplied by Tilburg Racing Engines in Pennsylvania.

Stock/Super Stock racer Rick McCann is pitted alongside Dan and this is the team's third trip to Sweden, albeit without most of their crew this time. On each trip there has been a tyre failure on the camper and partner Carla Pittau said the help they received to get back on the road was excellent. Of the race car, Rick said "After our parts breakage last year we have got more spares for the valve train and even a spare transmission, however we didn't have space for a spare rear axle."

Stock/Super Stock racer Markus Svensson is well known as a crew chief for George Marnell�s NHRA Pro Stock team in the early 2000s but now he is lives in Sweden and used to work on the Leanders clutch with a number of US teams. Here, he is racing a 1970 Dodge Dart in F/S.

Stock/Super Stock racer Dennis Andersson is one of three members of the class running a '67 Ford Fairlane. Dennis has had his own example since 2011. He said "I tested in 2011 and have run a best of 11.11, but I believe it can run a 10.9. It is a four speed stick shift car which is harder to be consistent in than an automatic but is fun. I also have a '69 Mustang bracket car with a four speed stick shift which I use as a training car. I run here and at small tracks."