Turtle Wax Internationals Tierp Arena, 21st-24th August 2014 Friday 
The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news. Click here to go back to the event index 22:45 Sitting on the front doorstep of the locked main building of our hotel, picking up the free WiFi whilst being attacked by mosquitoes, we have uploaded today's gallery which you can check out via the Event Index. There are 170 pictures in all; if you do not see all 170 updated thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. 19:30 Pro Street qualifying session 7 8.0235 for Daniel Svanberg moved him up from #9 to #8 which is significant for him as we will be running an eight-car field. Christer Åberg up from #7 to #4 at 7.6876. Comp Eliminator qualifying session 7 Fantastic 6.1179/371.13 against a 7.08 index for Andreas Arthursson in the first pair moved him up from #2 to #1. That was by no means a straight run, either, so there is more in there. Timo Ehromäki in the other lane broke and had to be towed off. Smoke from Peter Thönäs' motor in the shutdown area, clean-up ensued. On the restart an improvement for Magnus Hägglund to 7.1791 against 7.50, stayed #19 though. Mathias Stenström up from #26 to #6 at 6.7286 against a 7.48 index. Wayward run for Pär Eriksson in his Volvo, close to the guardrail and I think Kirstie probably got a faceful through her camera viewfinder. Another superb run for Odd Erik Fossum, 6.3922 against a 7.08 index, stayed #6 though. Crew very pleased with that one. Rolf Simmonson next for a wayward ride, from here he appeared to tag the guardrail with the Camaro's left rear quarter just past the eighth and the car was really fishtailing after he pulled it away. Stopped on the shutdown area and the top end safety crews rushed to check things out. On the second restart Sören Andreasson improved to 8.0632 against 8.57, stayed #17 at that point. That's qualifying done for today. Hopefully we will have a bit more luck uploading the gallery today so tune back in a couple of hours and see whether we do. 18:40 Super Street Bike qualifying session 7 Fantastic 7.2945/321.24 by Shaun Buttigieg to consolidate his #1 spot. 1.2456 to sixty feet. The ET certainly will be a Swedish record, the 321.24 (199.61 mph) will need backing up although we believe that Shaun set a new speed record yesterday. Vesa Ruhanen up from #7 to #6 at 7.6721/304.74. Henri Kolehmainen up to #4 at 7.6081. Kimmo Pulakka took out the finish line reflector which had the effect of stopping competitior Leffe Larsson's clock but not his own. Funny Bike qualifying session 7 Nils Lagerlöf and Antti Tervonen turned out for this session, no improvements in ET. Super Comp Bike qualifying session 7 Kristin Hegre improved to 9.7752 but stayed #9. Super Gas Bike qualifying session 7 Thomas Nordin up to #2 with a 9.5048 in the last pair but two. 18:20 Nordic Pro Stock Bike Championship qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Fredrik Fredlund 9.0078/148.27 bye; Roy Olsen no time (bye); Thomas Lysebraate Olsen no time, Elsa Karlsson 7.9415/204.00; Kenneth Holmberg 11.2806/114.87, Elvira Karlsson 25.7777/37.70; Kenneth Vik 7.3321/286.78, Kalle Lyrén 7.3530/251.40 1.1246 to sixty for Fredde but sounded to have a problem shifting and shut it off at the eighth. Roy's motor again cut out at the hit. Thomas' motor cut at the hit, 1.0980 to sixty for Elsa, 4.8031/229.01 to the eighth and then shut off about 1000 feet out. 1.1432 to sixty for Kenneth H, 1.2899 for Elvira with rear slick spinning and shut off as the bike headed for the centre line. Kenneth shut it off about 200 feet out. Nice match between Kenneth V and Kalle although no improvements on their earlier times; Kalle shut it off a touch early as his bike got close to the centre line. Qualifying after this session:
18:10 Nordic Supertwin Championship qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Anna-Lena Asplund 8.2951/210.20 bye; Greger Johansson shut off (bye); Trond Høiberget 7.7487/281.10 bye; Anders Hörnström 10.3585/173.91, Svein Olav Rolfstad 7.3342/212.93; Stig Olof Svensson shut off, Ulf Ledström 10.2997/158.92 bye; Harri Piensalmi 9.8980/156.07, Vidar Ravnsborg 8.6876/237.47; Petri Mattsson 9.3239/167.91, Vesa Lipponen 7.5151/314.14; Per Bengtsson 7.0007/336.66, Matti Vähäsaari 7.9777/265.23 Anna-Lena got to sixty in 1.3123 and shut off at the eighth 5.0797/241.83. 100-foot burnout for Greger but then shut off for a fluid leak after returning. Last-minute adjustment to Trond's bike before staging, Trond still not happy about something as he gestured to a crew member. Took the run though, 1.3773 to sixty and 5.1656/247.82. A haze from the motor at the top end, track checked and all OK. Anders' motor was struggling from the hit, 1.7028 to sixty and was feathering the throttle from there on. Svein Olav on a stormer, 1.1362 to sixty and 4.3016/270.14 at the eighth but then a puff of smoke from the motor and shut off. Stig Olof shut off before the bleach box. Ulf took the bye, 1.1984 to sixty but the motor was labouring and he shut it off before 330 feet. Very brief burnout for Harri. Both Harri and Vidar off the gas about 300 feet out, Vidar's bike was headed for the centre line. After a couple of seconds Vidar squeezed the throttle back on and kept on it to the stripe. Petri set a new European record for taking our reflectors in the last round, would he try to back it up this time? Hopefully not. Close thing though, 1.1461 to sixty to Vesa's 1.316, motor started to smoke and he was feathering the throttle from the eighth onwards and got very near the 1000-foot and finish line reflectors. 1.1921 to sixty for Per to Matti's 1,2756, Per had lost something by the eighth 4.6416/262.39 but was still ahead of Matti's 5.1778/224.53. Qualifying after this session:
17:50 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Antti Horto 4.1802/445.18, Anita Mäkelä 4.0745/380.01; Micke Kågered 7.1300/133.86, Stig Neergaard 4.2263/433.39; Thomas Nataas 4.0212/493.60, Chris Andrews 11.0886/58.98; Duncan Micallef 6.9469/162.65, Urs Erbacher 4.0744/441.90; Antti away first 0.1452 to 0.2264, Anita's incrementals better from then on, 0.8633 to sixty to Antti's 0.8897, 2.1978/306.12 at 330 feet to Antti's 2.3055/285.11, quite some lead at the eighth 3.1564/423.53 to Antti's 3.3176/402.99. A flash of flame and smoke from Anita's motor past the eighth and the dragster made a dramatic move to the right and the right rear slick looked to sideswipe the guardrail. First question is Anita OK, she is A-OK. Second question, did Anita hit the guardrail and if so did she do it before the finish line. Judges of fact checked it out and the verdict was that the contact with the guardrail was past the finish so Anita's run stood and she went to the top of the ladder... in fact Anita just towed past us and there is no real sign of contact even on the slick. 0.9038 to sixty for Micke to Stig's storming 0.8595, smoke and then a huge ball of flame from Micke's motor about 100 feet out. Stig to 330 feet in 2.3227/277.35 and the eighth in 3.3549/395.31, smoke and then a flash of green flame from Stig's motor just past the eighth. Stig's lane clean, long oildown in Micke's lane. On the restart Thomas away first 0.1043 to 0.1403, storming 0.8468 to sixty feet to Chris' 0.8933. Chris' blower panel blew and the safety cut-off released a chute. Thomas to 330 feet in 2.2650/294.92 and to the eighth in 3.2258/430.28. Thomas into #1 spot. There was a bang shortly after he shut off. Visible holeshot for Duncan 0.1593 to Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs' 0.3289, Duncan to sixty in 0.8781 but then his tyres started to smoke, a pedal and his tyres smoked again and he shut off. Urs to sixty in a relatively gentle 0.9278 but he was really moving at 330 feet 2.2874/303.54 and got to the eighth in 3.2433/426.88. Urs up to #2. Qualifying after this session:
17:05 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Åke Persson did not start, Marko Lantto shut off; Marc Meihuizen 6.1636/389.89, Urban Johansson 10.376/124.94; Micke Johansson 10.1092/142.29, Anders Nilsson 6.2329/367.01; Micke Gullqvist 11.6841/169.23, David Vegter 6.0819/383.52 DQ; Johan Westberg 6.4286/352.48, Norbert Kuno 6.4075/360.96; Mattias Wulcan 6.0363/390.46, Jöran Peråker 8.1466/183.74; Robert Joosten 6.0614/387.10, Roger Johansson no time DQ; Tami Brander 7.9183/227.37 bye, Roland Bolleter did not start; Tero Laukkanen no time DQ, Freddy Fagerström 6.6441/354.33; Niclas Andersson 12.9913/96.86, Mats Eriksson 6.0401/388.21; Benny Strand 15.8154/95.19, Bruno Bader 6.0027/378.15 Thanks to MSA Championship PR Robin Jackson for getting in touch to let us know that Benny Strand's 6.0740, Bruno Bader's 6.0424, Roland Bolleter's 6.8485/318.02 and Tero Laukkanen's 6.1301 of Q1 were all Personal Bests. First outings of the event for Åke and Markko, my first look at both Markko's new 'Cuda and Åke's Firebird and both are very nice pieces of kit. Åke's motor did not start and he was pushed away. Markko backed up from his burnout at quite some speed, passed the bleach box and to frantic gesticulating from his crew, and not just them, only just stopped before backing into Urban Johansson's 'Vette which was next up. Marrko then put it back in forward gear and drove it off the track. 1.0368 to sixty for Urban and his tyres were alread shaking then, shut it off soon after. 1.0096 to sixty for Marc, the car looked to hesitate a little just before the eighth 4.1100/302.69 but obviously nothing much wrong as Marc stayed with it all the way. Wheels up and shake for Micke, 1.1539 to sixty, looked like a piece of bodywork came loose at the front of the car, shut off before 200 feet. 1.0045 to sixty for Anders, 4.0728/291.73 at the eighth, nice pass. Wild burnout for Micke G with a hard right and crossed lanes after he got off the gas. 0.9898 to sixty for Micke and then hideous shake, shut it off before 100 feet. 1.0121 to sixty for David, his crew starting to bounce up and down as he passed the eighth in 4.0068/301.17... then they will have been jumping up and down back in the pit as the run was subsequently DQ'd because the car was too light on the scales at the top end. Johan to sixty in 1.1149 to Norbert's 1.0197, Norbert with the eighth mile advantage 4.1893/280.67 to Johan's 4.2115/287.08. Norbert very close indeed to the centre line around the eighth. Nice run for Mattias, into #1 at that point. 1.0287 to sixty to Jöran's 1.1629 although Jöran's pick-up looked to roll the beams slightly before accelerating, storming eighth for Mattias 3.9954/306.82. Jöran to the eighth in a slowing 4.6206/228.23 with a big cloud of smoke from his motor. Mop clean-up in Jöran's lane but the Berrymans dispenser sent to the shutdown area. On the restart Robert away first 0.1736 to 0.1883 and the better sixty 0.9764 to 0.9919. Roger drive through shake but his Mustang was heading further and further left. Off the top of my head the first side-by-side three-second eighth-miles I can remember seeing, 3.9919/303.54 for Robert to Roger's better 3.9601/303.71. Roger then did what he had been threatening past about 200 feet and hit the 1000-foot reflectors DQing his run. For the record 6.0748/346.83 were Roger's ET and speed but that run won't count. Roland's motor didn't start and he was towed back to the pits. Tani took the bye, 1.0511 to sixty with shake, a pedal, more shake which he sorted by shifting, the Camaro was moving about its lane though and Tami shut it off before the eighth 4.8368/223.70. The usual big burnout and high-speed backup by Freddy. Tero was bulbed by the Autostart. Sat on the line for a couple of seconds and then put in a run, but no time or speed of course. Freddy to sixty in 1.0012 then bad shake, a couple of pedals and then back on it, 4.4037/277.35 at the eighth but had lost a lot of time to the shake and pedals. 0.9912 to sixty for Niclas then terrible shake and he shut it off. 1.0035 to sixty for Mats, 2.6766/227.94 at 330 feet, 3.9928/306.30 at the eighth, into second spot. Straight pass with no sign of shake. Shake for Benny and shut it off. Fantastic best for Bruno and another PB. 1.0099 to sixty, no sign of shake, perfectly straight pass, storming 3.9193/305.78 at the eighth and into top spot. Qualifying after this session:
16:05 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Michael Malmgren 6.6806/331.90, Tommy Leindahl 7.0744/314.14; Bengt Ljungdahl 9.5270/158.92, Sampsa Palos 10.1316/144.54; Jan Palmqvist 9.9496/124.65, Christian Sagelv 6.8992/321.05; Simon Gustafsson 6.7453/330.28, Thomas Lindström 6.6278/339.20; Magnus Pettersson 6.6759/336.03, Jimmy Ålund 6.5408/340.26 0.9974 to sixty for Michael to Tommy's 1.0540, looked like Tommy drove through a little shake and Michael had the big advantage by the eighth 4.2953/265.23 to Tommy's 4.5422/248.96. Tommy looked to shut it off just before the stripe. Sampsa visibly away first 0.024 to 0.1975 and had the better sixty 1.0044 to 1.0942. Bengt's car headed left and he shut it off before the eighth, meanwhile Sampsa sounded to have trouble selecting gears and he too shut it off before half track. Instant shake for Jan, felt it here in Race Control. 1.2980 to sixty, tried pedalling and then off the gas with smoke from the motor. 1.0489 to sixty for Christian, 4.4409/258.74 at the eighth, his run good for a couple of places on the ladder. Nice match between Simon and Thomas, great 0.0422 RT for Simon but that was his last better incremental. Thomas to sixty in 1.0200 to Simon's 1.0344, Simon looked to drive through a little shake. Thomas way ahead at the eighth 4.2835/269.46 to Simon's 4.3460/264.45. Slight improvement for Simon and big improvement for Thomas, up into second. Another great match between Magnus and Jimmy. Jimmy away first by a long way 0.1021 to 0.2436, didn't hear or feel shake from either. 0.9883 to sixty for Jimmy to Magnus' 1.0139, Jimmy straight down the middle of his lane whilst Magnus' car drifted left a little. Jimmy to the eighth in 4.2124/271.90 and Magnus in 4.3096/267.86. Mgnus up to third, Jimmy improves upom his #1. Qualifying after this session:
15:50 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Danny Bellio 6.7012/311.78 bye; Johan Lindberg 6.7541/239.36, Johnny Oksa 6.0072/398.82; Ari Pietilä 5.8676/393.30, Leif Andréasson 5.6171/415.07 Danny's FC rolled the beams very slightly. 1.0471 to sixty, a pedal for shake, and off the gas as the car got close to the guardrail. Quite a long pause before getting back on the gas. 4.4425/282.87 at the eighth and a puff of smoke at about 1000 feet. Track checked but all OK. 1.0014 to sicty for Johan, 1.0150 for Johnny. Johan drove through shake then got very close to the guardrail before to the eighth 3.9748/279.07, shut it off. 4.0151/315.79 to the eighth for Johnny, looked to shut it off a touch before the stripe. Great match-up between Ari and Leif. Leif away first 0.2210 to 0.2297, Leif off and running with a stellar sixty of 0.9628 to Ari's 0.9898 which wasn't shabby itself. Leif with the advantage at the eighth 3.7136/331.70 to Ari's 3.8611/313.59. Another PB for Ari, well done Ari! Qualifying after this session:
15:40 FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 2 (left lane first) Stefan Gunnarsson 5.4785/368.60 bye; Chris Polidano 5.3610/448.13, Manty Bugeja 8.1631/171.48 Great pass from Stefan to open the session, Peter Lantz and the team were celebrating before Stefan got to half track and rightly so. 0.9337 to sixty feet, 2.3920/268.52 at 330 feet, a puff of smoke towards the eighth but can't have been a problem. 3.5143/355.73 at the eighth and into #1 spot at the stripe. Our two fearless Maltese next up, paired burnouts with an element of drifting from Chris. -0.0463 red light for Manty not that it matters in qualifying, 0.0637 RT for Chris. Chris had the better sixty 0.9747 to 0.9932, Manty hit shake and kept pedallig it to try to get some sense out of it but backed out of it at half track as the dragster got close to the centre line. 3.5972/361.45 to half track for Chris and the first half of a European speed record (equates to 278.46 mph). I have a mental image of Jerry Darien saying to Chris before the run "Make sure you hang on tight". Well done Kalanc Racing! Qualifying after this session:
14:30 Stock / Super Stock qualifying session 7 Lars Rodeblad up to #16 with an 11.2214. Improvement for Jarmo Markkanen, 10.1871 but stayed #11. Next up is today's second FIA qualifying session. 14:15 Super Comp qualifying session 7 8.9048 for Julie Nataas moved her up to #3 from #8. Another improvement for Marita Granholm, 8.9241, moved her up to #8. 8.9116 for Niklas Öhlin moved him up to #6. Mattias Evdinsson up to #6 from #16 in the second pair after the rain delay, 8.9110. This session was interrupted by a heavy shower but the track crew did an excellent job of drying what was a very wet track and we were up and running again in less than an hour. 13:15 Junior Dragster qualifying session 7 Tobias Björnsson up to #7 at 0.0252. Erika Leanders up to #3 at 0.0140 in the last run of the session. Super Street qualifying session 7 No changes to the standings in this session. Super Gas qualifying session 7 No changes to the standings in this session. Super Comp qualifying session 7 8.9048 for Julie Nataas moved her up to #3 from #8. Another improvement for Marita Granholm, 8.9241, moved her up to #8. 8.9116 for Niklas Öhlin moved him up to #6. On hold for sprinkles of rain, stay tuned. 12:35 Super Street Bike qualifying session 6 Kimmo Pulakka up from #10 to #12 at 8.1423. Improvement for Niclas Johansson, 8.4421 good for one plave to #14. Nils-Ola Andersson up to #3 from #5 at 7.6112. leffe Larsson in at #3 with his first run of the event, 7.4885. Shaun with the speed record, could be take the ET record too? Not this time, but a 1,2799 sixty foot time is always an advantage. Big move for Jani Kumpulianen, up from #14 to #7 at 7.7570. Funny Bike qualifying session 6 A 100% increase in the field size with the appearance of Nils Lagerlöf. 7.1060/225.85 for #1 even shutting off early as he got very close to the guardrail towards the stripe. Super Comp Bike qualifying session 6 8.6787 for Robban Pettersson moved him up to #5. Eil Ostlund up to #4 at 8.5532 in the last pair. Super Gas Bike qualifying session 6 No changes to the standings in this session. 12:20 Nordic Pro Stock Bike Championship qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Bo Thorselius no time, Thomas Lysebraate Olsen 17.1471/66.60; Elsa Karlsson 13.508/91.37, Kenneth Holmberg 7.4803/288.62; Elvira Karlsson 7.3381/269.87, Kenneth Vik 7.1836/289.39; Kalle Lyrén 7.2314/292.21, Roy Olsen no time Bo suffered a flash fire passing the Tree. At the same time Thomas' motor cut out but he made it to the top end on momentum. Elsa shut it off about 200 feet out. Sister Elvira, who was next up, must have been cursing the crew member stood right in front of her as she was leaning right off her own bike to try to see past him to watch Elsa's run. We think a new PB or close to it for Kenneth H. Nice pair for Elvira and Kenneth V into #2 and #1 respectively. Roy's motor cut out at the hit. Qualifying after this session:
12:10 Nordic Supertwin Championship qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Matti Vähäsaari no time, Petri Mattsson no time DQ; Vesa Lipponen 12.79996/104.55, Stig Olof Svensson 9.1533/243.79; Ismo Mäenpää 8.8032/221.67 bye; Vidar Ravnsborg 13.8570/91.23, Harri Piensalmi 9.0257/157.53; Ulf Ledström 18.1783/61.23, Per Bengtsson 6.5847/341.34; Svein Olav Rolfstad 24.9005/73.78, Hans Olav Olstad 11.4650/118.58 Matti to sixty in 1.2894 with rear tyre shaking, 1.1358 for Pettri. Pettri's bike was heading left and he took out all of the reflectors from the eighth onwards. Looked from here as if he almost had the bike on its side trying to pull it straight. Vesa had the better sixty 1.3829 to 1.4550 as Stig Olof's bike was headed towards the centre line, but problems for Vesa before the eighth 6.6260/132.58 and he was off the gas. Stig Olof to the eighth in 5.8744/186.66. 1.2376 to sixty for Ismo, bike felt at attraction for the centre line and it was a close thing past the eighth 5.2759/196.58. The motor hesitated for a moment in the second eighth - the nitro flames went out then on again. Vidar to sixty in 1.1637 and Harri in 1.1074, Vidar was off the gas by 330 feet and Harri at the eighth. 1.1987 to sixty for Per, 1.2139 for Ulf but then Ulf shut if off and played no further part. Storming 4.3584/286.17 at the eighth for Per, the bike wanted to cross the centre line but Per kept hold of it. Svein Olav lost drive at the hit and the bike's chute came out into the bargain. 1.1977 to sixty for Hans Olav, looked to be on one but there was a puff of smoke when the front end came down and the motor stopped, from here it looked like a belt broke. Qualifying after this session:
11:45 FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Chris Andrews 4.4315/319.72, Antti Horto 18.4935/43.00; Urs Erbacher 4.2581/434.08, Duncan Micallef 4.0924/406.63; Anita Mäkelä shut off, Micke Kågered 7.8139/149.92 bye; Stig Neergaard no time, Thomas Nataas 7.6741/156.66 Antti's tyres up in smoke at the hit, 1.3603 to sixty and looked like a flas of flame from the motor, off the gas. 0.9120 to sixty for Chris, 2.3276/288.77 at 330 feet, some smoke from the motor towards the eighth, shut it off just before the eighth 3.3366/372.67. Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs away first 0.1318 to 0.1826, Duncan had the much better sixty 0.8768 to Urs' 0.9170. Duncan with the advantage at 330 feet 2.2579/297.03 to Urs' 2.3232/277.63, a puff of smoke from Urs' motor at the eighth 3.3766/390.17, I think maybe Urs' blower belt quit at that point. Smoke from Duncan's motor at the eighth too 3.2207/426.88, close to the centre line at the stripe. But the Maltese Lion into #1 at that point. Anita shut off before staging, not obvious from here what the problem was. Micke took the bye, 0.8958 to sixty, a couple of pedals and off the gas. Stig's tyres up in smoke, 1.3416 to sixty feet, a flash of flame and looked like the safety cut-off kicked in, motor stopped and chute out, stopped about 300 feet out. Thomas' tyres up in smoke at the hit, 1.3329 to sixty, a couple of pedals and back on it, pedalled more downtrack before shutting it off. Qualifying after this session:
11:30 FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Freddy Fägerström 6.4660/341.77, Benny Strand 6.0740/338.13; Anders Nilsson no time DQ, Micke Johansson no time DQ; Urban Johansson no time, Johan Westberg 6.7108/343.73; Jöran Persåker 7.4060/273.69, Niclas Andersson 6.0802/378.15; Roland Bolleter 6.8485/318.02, Tami Brander 6.1507/375.00; Norbert Kuno 7.4318/219.78, Marc Meihuizen 14.1221/91.49 Mats Eriksson 6.1051/386.62, Tero Laukkanen 6.1301/399.11; David Vegter 13.7727/83.32, Robert Joosten 6.2216/380.28; Bruno Bader 6.0424/372.67, Micke Gullqvist 8.0457/197.08; Roger Johansson 7.3477/212.68, Mattias Wulcan 6.2767/383.80 0.0406 RT for Freddy but Benny had the much better sixty 0.9831 to Freddy's 1.0192. Freddy driving through shake to the eighth 4.2614/288.62, Benny way ahead by then 3.9226/303.03 with the car weaving left and right. Fantastic run off the trailer for Benny. Anders and Micke, Anders to sixty in 1.0121 and Micke in 1.0599, both cars' tyres shaking big time. Anders' Cuda turned right as Micke's Challenger turned left. Anders' car hit the 330 foot reflectors, meanwhile Micke crossed the centre line just behind him and took out the eighth-mile reflectors before he pulled it back. Problems for Urban in the burnout, no revs at all and a cylinder out on the right bank, sounded like a Top Fueller with the burnout clip on or a motor with the plug leads in the wrong holes. Urban's motor didn't want to know at the hit, the car didn't move and he shut off. 1.1520 to sixty for Johan and 4.4052/276.50 at the eighth. Jöran sat on the line for some time before launching, 1.4545 to sixty, the looked to be labouring but started to pick up. No such problems for Niclas, 1.0103 to sixty feet and a gutsy drive with the Old 51 fishtailing left and right, 4.0017/305.26 to the eighth to Jöran's 4.8780/266.80. Jöran off the gas in the second half. Stormer for Tami, 1.0386 to sixty, the car was fishtailing gently all the way, very solid 4.0410/375.00 at the eighth. 1.0494 to sixty for Roland, 4.4913/266.14 at the eighth, I think a new PB for Roland. 1.0223 to sixty for Marc and then shake which we could feel here in Race Control. Off the gas before 330 feet. 1.0114 to sixty for Norbert but the motor sounded to be labouring, 4.4160/243.90 and off the pedal just about there. Burnout Lite for Mats, not much smoke. Didn't hurt the run though, 1.0207 to sixty and a solid enough 4.0475/303.03 at the eighth, a great straight baseline run and the team very pleased with that one. 1.0315 to sixty for Tero, 4.1125/304.40 at the eighth, also straight down the middle of the lane and his team punching the air. Tero's speed not far off the European record. David's motor sounded to be misfiring, got to sixty in 1.1702 but then hit shake, two pedals and off it. Great launch for Robert, 0.9554 to sixty, 4.1145/297.52 at the eighth and a good baseline. 1.0162 to sixty for Bruno and 0.9921 for Micke, Micke then hit shake and the Camaro moved left and right as he pedalled, more shake and gave it up. Storming 3.9414/303.54 to the eighth for Bruno and into #1 spot with what we think is a new PB, if so then well done Bruno! 1.0047 to sixty for Roger, 1.0427 for Mattias, Mattias hit shake and there was a clearly audible pedal but he still had the quicker eighth 4.1876/296.70 to Roger's 4.1983/245.01. Roger's exhausts were spitting orange flame and he shut it off right on the eighth. Qualifying after this session:
11:00 FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Tommy Leindahl shut off (bye); Jan Ericsson 17.8024/72.37, Bengt Ljungdahl 9.6390/151.56; Sampsa Palos 9.5568/155.08, Simon Gustafsson 6.7520/329.87; Christian Sagelv 7.5898/320.09, Jan Palmqvist 7.5660/302.52; Thomas Lindström 7.4351/205.56, Magnus Pettersson 6.7423/329.47; Jimmy Ålund 6.5646/341.34, Michael Malmgren 25.9207/43.88 Tommy's name one I have not typed enough recently, good to see him here and the Cobalt looks great. Tommy shut off after the burnout, safety crew sprinted to his assistance. Couldn't tell from here whether the car refused to restart or Tommy decided against it, either way he was towed off the track. Very brief burnout for Bengt with a suited and helmeted Michael Malmgren supervising on the start line. Lots of nose but little forward movement for Jan, 1.3566 to sixty and shut off not long after. 1.0446 to sixty for Bengt, the car was heading for the centre line and almost got there at 330 feet. Shut off before the eighth 5.1392/168.38. Simon left Sampsa for dead off the line 0.0653 to 0.2638. Sampsa had the better sixty 1.0041 top Simon's 1.0284 with a fishtail but then Sampsa was off the throttle way before the eighth. 4.3486/263.29 to the eighth for Simon and into #1 at that point. Troublesome runs for Christian and Jan, both hit shake off the line, Christian to sixty in 1.2471 and Jan in 1.1771, Jan's car was bouncing up and down quite severely to about 300 feet. Christian to the eighth in 5.0942/250.35, Jan in 5.0279/246.35. Jan off the gas before the stripe. Thomas and the Ernryd Cars team welcoming US sar Allen Johnson to their pit this weekend. Good runs to start with for Thomas and Magnus, Thomas to sixty in 1.0338 and Magnus quicker at 1.0135, Thomas to the eighth in 4.3543/255.44 to Magnus' 4.3560/264.45, Thomas got off it and had the chutes out by 1000 feet. Hideous shake for Michael at the hit, off the gas by sixty feet 1.3717. Great opener for Jimmy. 1.0036 to sixty, 4.2324/271.77 to the eighth and not at all far off European records for ET and speed. Qualifying after this session:
10:40 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Ari Pietilä 5.8744/392.16 bye; Johnny Ocksa 6.2219/392.16, Danny Bellio 14.0292/86.76; Leif Andréasson 5.6515/411.90, Johan Lindberg 6.1940/414.11 Very nice run for Ari to start the session. 1.0044 to sixty, the car was heading towards the centre line but Ari held on to it and gently guided it back. 3.8689/314.50 at the eighth. Minor clean-up for the first hundred feet of his lane, the rest of the lane checked and all OK. 300-foot burnouts by both Danny and Johnny, Johnny looked to have front wheel wobble as he got off the throttle and braked. Shakefest for Johnny and Danny, 1.0692 to sixty for Johnny and 1.0345 for Danny both with shaking tyres. Danny pedalled once, the FC turned left and he got off the gas. Pedal for Johnny and then back on the pedal, close to the guardrail towards half track 4.1810/303.54. 0.9822 to sixty for Leif, 1.0756 for Johan with tyres shaking. No such problems for Leif, very solid to the eighth 3.7412/330.48, Johan's pedal lost him time although when the tyres bit the FC picked up, 4.2676/319.91 at the eighth. Qualifying after this session:
10:30 Keep hitting Refresh during the Pro session and I'll upload as often as I am able. FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 1 (left lane first) Marcus Wålm shut off (bye); Stefan Gunnarsson 20.7247/56.62, Jonny Lagg 5.5401/416.02; Manty Bugeja 5.4816/423.86, Chris Polidano 19.9684/59.47 Norm Grimes (tuning for Manty Bugeja) and Jerry Darien (tuning for Chris Polidano) interested spectators of Marcus' run, very welcome visitors. Krister Johansson overseeing Marcus. Marcus looked to have problems getting reverse after the burnout, a stab of the throttle looked to do the trick as one of his crew ran to assist. he then has trouble getting forward gear, in fact almost took out a photographer and the team's camera on a tripod behind the car. Eventually starter Nettan signalled the team to shut it off. Krister Johansson also overseeing Jonny, changed Midland team shirt to a 76 team shirt with a grin. Stefan's tyres up in smoke at the hit, tried one stab of the throttle but gave it up before sixty feet 1.4316. 0.9969 to sixty for Jonny, the launch looked languid but can't have been judging by the sixty foot time. Straight pass blackstriping the lane, 3.6942/349.51 at the eighth. Chris tyres up in smoke at the hit, shut it straight off. Great run for Manty to open the Mister Whippy account, 0.9810 to sixty, the car fishtaling some but Manty held on to it - when did you ever see him back off. 3.6263/341.99 at the eighth and into #1 spot. Qualifying after this session:
10:05 Comp Eliminator qualifying session 6 Out of shape burnout for Stig Olsson, not inappropriately wrote an S on the track. If you've not checked out yesterday's gallery then it's worth it for Kirstie's picture of Sacke Syrjälä up on two wheels crossing lanes... plus of course her other 144 pictures. Troubled pass for Sacke this session, shut it off early. Rolf Simonsson having been pushed away yesterday put in his first run of the event. 7.27 index, 6.6868/331.09, good for #12. Team very happy indeed with that. 7.2256 for Jens Eklund's Audi, up to #18. In the other lane a 6.4529 for Odd Erik Fossum, pretty consistent with his previous best. Identical violent shake at the hit for Andreas Arthursson and Peter Thörnäs. 8.0738 against 8.57 index for Sören Andreasson moved him up to #15. 6.3616 against 7.08 for Yngve Solberg, stayed seventh whilst Niklas Heilikää hit terrible shake at the hit. Next pair and Lasse Britsmar was pushed back after his burnout, not immediately obvious what the problem was... Daniel Jedborn took a troubled bye and then fluid clean-up in Lasse's lane. Good to see Mathias Stenström back after yesterday's fire. Jan Ekström in the other lane pushed back and fluid cleaned up. Wheels-up with tyre spin for Mathias, pedalled then back on the gas, through the gears and then shut it off in the second half. 7.2922 for Robin Norén againast a 7.97 index, further improvement and good for #10. 8.8254 for Matti Rajamaki with his rear hatch open pretty much all the way. Pär Eriksson closed the session, 6.6779/331.90 against 7.50 index, good for #5. Track prep and then we're into today's first FIA qualifying session. 09:30 Pro Street qualifying session 6 Christer Åberg up from #10 to #6 at 7.8019 in the first pair. 0.0011 breakout for Lars sJöholm on his first run of the event. 7.7971 for Micke Norén good for one place, #7 to #6. First run of the event for Peter Kihlman a 0.0996 breakout at 7.5004. Kermith Karlsson very close to the 330 foot reflectors, either there was a fag paper in it or both reflectors stepped aside. 09:15 Junior Dragster qualifying session 6 First to improve Pontus Garefelt, 0.0259 good for #7. Oskar Norling up from #4 to to #3 at 0.0169. Tobias Björnsson up from #15 to #11 at 0.0407. 0.0322 good for a move for Victor Heleander, up to #11. The top sixteen are separated by 0.084. Super Street qualifying session 6 Jan Jonsson returned to the pits before making the bleach box. No changes to the standings in this session but a number of racers ran 10.9s consistent with their previous bests, raceday set-ups being checked out I guess. Super Gas qualifying session 6 Wayward launch for Lennart Edlund, the car making a left turn and getting close to the Tree. Lennart straightened it out and hit the gas again and the car turned left again etc etc. Dion Hansen up to #8 at 9.9146. Improvement for Stefan Fallkvist, 9.9320 good for #14. 9.9828 for hampus Gisséln good for #15, fifteen of sixteen in the 9.9s at the end of this session. Super Comp qualifying session 6 Improvement for Leif Andersson, 8.9377 good for #10. Marita Granholm next to post an improvement, 8.9532 and #13. Deep stage foul for Laura Sacksa, interesting that the system timing system here invalidates a DS foul run during qualifying, no run data is posted. 8.9320 for Niklas Öhlin good for #8. Leif Nyström's wild Beetle improved to 9.6986 with several pedals, propping up the rest of the field at #19. Kevin Yrjövaara with an 8.9366 good for #11. Sixteen of nineteen in the 8.9s after this session. Stock / Super Stock qualifying session 6 Rolf Cederblad up from #24 to #22, Jarmo Markkanen up to #11 with a 10.2156. Improvement for Björn Bondesson, 10.2005, up from #3 to #2. So few changes to standings that again I am guessing that raceday set-ups are being tested. 08:30 Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the Turtle Wax Internationals brought to you in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. As you can see we are again using the popular split-screen format which will allow you to see full Sportsman qualifying standings courtesy of Time-Tree. We will post commentaries of significant events in each Sportsman class and we will of course be posting the usual full results and commentaries of Pro classes. Keep hitting Refresh! Unfortunately there will be no pit notes from this event as Simon has remained in the UK to cover this weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Yesterday's gallery has now been posted with apologies for the delay. We were not able to get stable internet access at our hotel, and we were out in the sticks so the mobile broadband dongle could not pick up a signal. You can check out the gallery via the Event Index. There are 145 pictures in all; if you do not see all 145 updated thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button. The Smart TV Web TV broadcast commences today. Today's broadcast will be free - all you need to to view it is to register which is quick and painless - and then €15 will get you tomorrow's and Sunday's webcasts. More details at www.smarttv.se. Please note that as we are not producing this webcast, comments about it on our Facebook pages will be removed and any E-Mails about it will be deleted unread. We have sun and high cloud here at Tierp, an improvement on yesterday when we were surrounded by very dark cloud none of which, thankfully, unloaded upon us. A big Hello to all of the Eurodragsterholics and especially to those tuned in from their day jobs. Don't get into trouble on our account guys. An especial Hi to our good friend Ivar Kolberg who is tuned in from Norway, hope you are enjoying the coverage buddy. We open with a cycle of car class qualifying and then the first Pro session is due at 10:00. Stay tuned and when the wheels start to turn we'll bring you the news. Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com |