Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä is one half of the first all female TF final in the FIA European drag racing championship. She said 'We wanted to run a second qualifier and that made us higher. Then we ran quick on our bye when Stefan shut off and got lane choice. You have to take every opportunity to make a run, and run quick'. In the semi, Anita outran Micke Kågered with a 3.95/486 and in the final ran a 3.97/455 to overcome Birgitte Bremnes' better reaction time.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard was disappointed. 'It hasn't been a good meeting, the qualifying started late and we learned nothing from our data. We put the same tune-up in our car that we used to run a three at Santa Pod but the track was not as good as we were expecting and it went up in smoke after 0.2s. I tried to pedal but saw Birgitte was so far ahead there was no chance of catching her. We have hurt nothing so move on to the next round - but I want the championship cup!'

Super Street Bike racer Rick Stubbins showed in round one that he has a substantial margin on the rest of the field, his 7.28 being over a tenth quicker than the next quickest. He said 'We want to step up for the next round but not too much, and see what the track will take. It did exactly what I wanted in round one'. He went on to run 7.19 and 7.15 in the second round to defeat Leif Larsson and Mogens Lund.

Top Fuel Bike racer Rickard Gustavsson (not pictured as he was working on the bike as we passed) is joined this weekend by Peter Svensson, who memorably ran a 5.70 back in 2012, the quickest wheel-driven pass in the history of motorcycle drag racing. He said 'I am just watching and making a few comments. Rickard is doing a fantastic job riding the nitro bike which is almost double the weight of his funny bike. I haven't decided myself about bringing my bike back out, it's in my workshop ready but I want to be there for my son who is competing in motocross.'

Top Fuel Bike racer Thomas Pettersson ran a new PB of 7.287/277. He said 'It's fantastic, it's my first season with a new bike and I feel like a rookie! The bike was built in the UK by Dave Holland who sold it to another racer in Sweden a couple of years ago. I bought it late last year and have done just fifteen runs on it. My objective is to keep the team happy so they can make me perform better. Every run is new to me and I want to be consistent and then add power.'

Pro Stock Bike racer Jörgen Bengstsson didn't make a run in qualifying. He said 'The bike is terrible, I have two gear shifters and they are both broken. We managed to repair them by Friday night but too late to make qualifying. I wanted to run test and tune today but have had no joy. My next meeting is at Malmö, and then have to take the rest of the year off as I have no time for racing. But next year I will be back for a full season.'

Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Holmberg said he had ignition problems with the bike which aborted his first qualifier and had a similar problem in the second session. He said 'Fredrik Fredlund has been a help but the ignition problem didn't become apparent until later. The magneto was loose and had moved around so the timing was ten degrees out which meant the engine was running too weak to leave the line properly'. I'm not sure about attending Gardermoen but will be at Hockenheim and in August here, Fredrik will be racing for his sponsors PAF and also helping me depending on how much beer I can pay him.'

Super Twin racer Samu Kemppainen is on a performance mission to run his first 6.4s pass. In round two he got close with a 6.5076/350 defeat of Vidar Ravnsborg. He said 'The track is so good we can step up'.

Top Methanol dragster racer Jonny Lagg is out with cracks on the welds in his wheelie bars and engine mounts. 'It's due to tyre shake, crew member Glenn Read explained. If the traction is not there, we can't adjust the clutch cannon to suit the track. It's either on or off and an A/Fuel car doesn't take kindly to pedaling. The cylinders quickly fill up with nitro after you get off the throttle and we found at Hockenheim last year if you get back on it the engine can hydraulic. Also detuning can result in the combination going away and cylinders going out. But we have done seven runs so far this year all with standard maintenance which is good.'

Pro Stock racer Robin Norén started his drag racing career in 2011. 'I raced in Super Comp until 2013 and was runner up in the championship in 2012 and winner in 2013. I decided I wanted to learn about running a Pro Stock engine before I ran in the class, so in 2014 I bought from Mats Jacobsson the Steve Schmidt engine which I now use in this car and raced in Competition Eliminator with an automatic transmission in C/A. I then bought his rolling chassis and have only made three runs in the car, so to go 6.85s has been very nice. My crew have been great.' Robin plans the other Scandinavian FIA rounds and the Euro Finals if all goes well.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågerad ran a 4.52/313 in round one, the car suffering shake and then head gaskets going away. Crew man Rob Inglis said 'The track is coming round very well and the team are doing a great job of prepping it during the day.' An improved 4.04/458 in the semi final came up just short against a 3.95/486 from Anita.

Pro Stock racer Bengt Ljungdhal qualified second with a 6.660/332, remarkable that this is only his second race in the class. Then in round one he unleashed a 6.554/337 new PB. This was followed by a 6.584/336 defeat of a tyre shaking Thomas Lindström for Bengt's first final. We have a rising star in Pro Stock.

Top Doorslammer racer Anders Vanhatalo has raced in the category since 2007. His Camaro was built by Jerry Bickel and is powered by a turbo methanol Chevy engine with Donovan block, Profiler Hitman heads, Diamond pistons, a Crower clutch and Lenco CS2 gearbox. He qualified seventh with a 4.63/273 and went out in round one to Lenn Lindell.

Top Doorslammer racer Caroline Strand in her Corvette C6 qualified twelfth and then stepped up to a 3.923/316 in round one to defeat Rimbert Vahlström's '53 Vette. She said 'That was just short of my PB of 3.90. I got into racing because my father Tommy who is crew chief and tuner, ran a Funny Bike. When I came to the races as a youngster I saw Pro Mods and said 'I want to drive one of those'. It's my first year in Top Doorslammer, I was in Pro Street last year, and I want to stay in Top Doorslammer which is a great series.'

Top Doorslammer racer Michael Joneskog has been in TD since 2010 and run a best of 4.08/282. His '68 Camaro was built in 2006 by Tim McAmis and has a turbo BAE engine and Bruno Lenco trans. He said 'This is my first year with a turbo, the 4.08 was run with nitrous and our best turbo time is 4.17 on my first run. We are trying to launch well and improve on every part of the track. His web site is at www.joneskog.com.

Top Doorslammer racer Jussi Piippolainen has run his self-built '69 Camaro in the category since 2014 with a best of 4.434/278.20. The car has a Hairy Glass body, Turbo 596cu in BBC, Dart Big M block, Brodix heads, Diamond pistons, Bryant crank, Rossler gearbox and Mark Williams rear end. Here, he has been unable run quicker than 6.6 and went out to Mats Wicktor in round two.

Pro Modified racer David Vegter was delighted to run a new PB of 6.003/389 in round one and 6.001/390 in the semi final, but the semi final run was beaten on a hole shot by Mats Eriksson's slower 6.05. He said 'The car is running good, in round two the track couldn't take it so we turned it down a bit.' Sponsor Willem van Baalen pointed out that his WVB logo on the car's left hand door had been partly burnt away by the heat from the zoomie headers. 'I don't want it repaired, it is good luck for us!' he said.

Pro Modified racer Johan Lindberg slowed against Micke Gullqvist but still ran a 6.02/364. He said 'I felt good before the race and was pretty confident to run a five second pass. Micke is tough to beat and I had bad luck that the burst panel went. If it hadn't there would have been more of a fight. I love driving the Old 51, the car is good and the team work very hard to make it perform.'

Åke Persson revealed he had used Jonnie Lindberg's tuning advice last August to help him improve from a best of 6.58 to 6.03 and in round two today scored low PM ET of the event of 5.88 to defeat Anders Nilsson. Åke said 'We reduced our PB by 0.7s in five runs which is fantastic.' Jonnie said 'It's great that my combination works so well on this car. We have a Mike Janis supercharger and a camshaft which I designed and has been made by Bullet Cams in Memphis. The fuel system is my design and I am designing my own barrel valve and thinking outside the box.'

Top Fuel Dragster Birgitte Bremnes was thrilled to have reached the final. 'This weekend has been great from qualifying up to this final round. I hadn't been in a car since last August and this is a new car to me. I feel so comfortable with it even if it went slightly sideways after the finish line on the last run; I think that was the old tyres we were using and we will have new ones in the final. The only problem was my visor misting up against Stig, but that race was on and off the throttle. It was fantastic to defeat Urs, my team is really good and the new guys we have are working really well. After this weekend I want to get funding to go to Hockenheim'.

Stock/Super Stock racer Dan Williams was reinstated on his second qualifier after a mix-up over the weight for the class he is running, A/S rather than last year's A/SA. He defeated Markus Svensson in round one but came up against three time champion (2008, 2010 and 2015) Tarmo Mikkola. Dan's breakout 10.01 on a 10.02 dial in was overcome by Tarmo's 9.86 on a 9.85 dial in.

Stock/Super Stock racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Nic Williams went through to round two and broke out against P-A Lindström with a 10.04 on 10.10 dial.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä warming the engine in the pits, was the only car in the class to run both sessions on Friday night. After turning the car around in 90 minutes, she was rewarded with a 4.46/303 pass which placed her second with a first round matchup with Stefan Gunnarson.

Pro Mod racer Freddy Fagerström had a rod break in his turbo engine on a 7.23 run on Friday evening, and had no choice but to change to his spare engine - which has a blower. He said 'It is a difficult thing to change and we spent all the time between Friday evening and now doing it. There are different electronics and David Vegter has donated some parts which we thank him for'. Other teams looked on and gave a hand where they could - Jonnie Lindberg welded Freddy's gas tank overnight. But Freddy is definitely happy having a 'back to basics' blown engine in the truck, despite going out in the first round to David Vegter.

Pro Mod racer Jöran Persåker faced Bruno Bader in round one. He said 'The truck is good, we have 91mm Precision turbos on it and it is ready. I will be running both Tierp races and a Top Doorslammer race in July.' In his race he came to a halt after moving out of stage. Persåker's Speed Shop catalogue is in its 20th edition and is full of information.

Pro Mod racer Åke Persson is pictured with Jonnie Lindberg's crewman Peter Ström. Åke who ran 6.2434/373.96 to go third in qualifying said 'We are really please with Jonnie's help and he will be helping us at every race.' Jonnie said 'It's good to use our Pro Mod experience to help other teams. We are tuning the chassis as well as the engine to get it to run like our old PM car. Next week we race in Norwalk. We are looking next year to do Brainerd, the August Tierp race and the US Nationals back to back so it will be pretty full on for me.'

Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson, pictured left, with Jonnie Lindberg, was delighted with a no.1 qualifier of 6.1402/358.57 on Friday. Mats said 'It was good but the engine was almost destroyed at the end of it as it leaned out before the finish line in third gear and the burst panel went. We had to change the engine on Saturday and Lars-Göran and I were working on it until 6am this morning as we swapped our Mike Janis blower over between engines.' The work was rewarded with a 6.1946/337.29 win over Micke Johansson.

Pro Mod racer H˚kan Persson tested at Malmö but suffered on the tricky track on Friday. 'We ran it through to 371kph but the ET wasn't quick at 6.90. Hopefully it will be better today. We will be at Alastaro, Hockenheim, and possibly Santa Pod depending on where we are in the championship. The car is good but it is up to us to make it perform, we have more to learn about our new setup but we are in the right direction'. Tyre shake and a move to the centre line caused the car to slow to a 7.11 loss to Micke Gullqvist.

Pro Mod racer Thomas Stiefel raced here in Comp Eliminator in 2012. After running well at Santa Pod he was more cautious here. 'We don't quite know where we stand as although the car is in good shape, we have had transbrake issues and we are eleventh with only a 7.0 ET'. The transbrake issues may have played a part in his 0.42 reaction time, his 6.23/377 being beaten by a slower time from Anders Nilsson.

Pro Mod racer Anders Nilsson was frustrated at not being able to run the car to its limits 'We have a new BAE engine this season and other new parts and want to see how they do.' His 6.3190/381.36 was good enough to stay ahead of Thomas Stiefel. Anders will be racing Scandinavian PM rounds only this year.

Pro Mod racer Urban Johansson who was away when we visited is as ever supported by son David and partner Linda Thun. Linda said 'We were a bit disappointed to go 17th and be the first alternate. We took a year off in 2015 to set up two new paint shops and only raced here in the '53 Vette in Top Doorslammer. But it is good to have our '63 Vette out this season. We are considering Alastaro and would like to come back to Santa Pod if we have funds.'

Pro Stock racer Hannu Kalliomäki bought his ex-Rick Stanfield car in 2012 and ran his first Pro Stock race last year in Finland. He said 'I did most of the learning myself but other teams helped. I found the hardest thing is getting the burnout right, you have to warm the tyres but if you use too many revs it will hurt the valve springs. We are doing both Tierp races and Alastaro this season.' His qualifier was 7.277/307 to go ninth, or first alternate.

Pro Stock racer Jonas Boberg ended on the bump spot with a 7.180/306. He said 'I bought the car from Bengt Ljungdahl in December 2015, it had been built by Michael Malmgren in 2007 and was in the US. Previously I was in Super Pro Street (6.60 index) with the ex-Jari Konola LeBaron. This more recent car feels more comfortable although I have not had many passes on it.' Jonas is helped by Tommy Leindahl who, after retiring from driving, has been a father figure to several budding PS racers. A Scandinavian schedule is planned for this year.

Pro Stock racer Magnus Petersson ran 6.76/330 to qualify fourth. He said 'It was a tricky track on Friday and no-one ran very quick. We did well in the conditions. I think we will have a close race with Simon Gustafsson.'

Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader qualified in third with a 6.3481/344.17 but then sideswiped the guardrail in the second session. He said 'We had to spend a lot of time repairing the left hand zoomies and some bodywork damage, and there is still some duck tape visible, but we are ready now.' His time improved to 6.2646/348 in round one against Jöran Persåker who broke off the line.

Pro Mod racer Hussain al Shammari qualified for his first FIA race aith 7.957/207 after a Main Event with problems starting. He said 'We have a new engine and blower and need to refine the tuneup as a lot has changed in the car'. Hussain races in the Bahrain Drag Racing championship which is held in Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates over eighth mile. His best time over that distance is 3.8s.

Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher went 4.0855/463.52 to qualify no.1. He said 'It is good to be back in the game. We have the right parts, the right car and the right team. In the UK we had new car troubles as our Hadman chassis was brand new and there were small issues. But we have solved those and we will be racing in the third pair which will enable us to see how the other cars are running in these conditions. We don't know about Alastaro, but will definitely do Hockenheim with Jndia also in her A/Fuel car, and Tethys will join us at the Finals'. In round one Urs was ahead of Liam Jones all the way although flame came out of the right side of his engine on a 4.2073/399.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Johnny Oksa is leading the performance of the class after testing at Alastaro. He said 'We did a PB to half track in testing of 3.766 and recorded a 5.92 despite lifting after five seconds. We did a 5.8052/405 in qualifying and I am sure the conditions will be better today. This track needs a lot of power to avoid tyre shake and get good speed.' Plans are to include Hockenheim as well as the Scandinavian FIA rounds.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson has an expanded team this weekend with the addition of Georg Noor from Estonia, who has bought Leif's repaired ex-Steve Harker car and is learning about running these cars. Leif said 'The track was very cold on Friday with temperature of only 64 degrees. We wanted to make changes to get in touch with the car but the clutch setting was too much. but today we are hoping it will be 80-90 degrees and better for us. We have changed the rear end on the car and reduced weight, this is my old car which was sponsored by the Swedish Army'. Leif is now backed by Disab Group which does industrial vacuum technology. At the end of this, his twentieth season in the championship, he plans to ship the car to the US to do Las Vegas national and divisional events and Pomona and then see what 2017 holds for him.

Pro Mod racer Micke Johansson's Challenger is one of the best looking Pro Mods around. Built by Bertans racecars in 2007, it has a blown methanol BAE engine with series 6 heads, Leanders clutch and Lenco CS1 gearbox. However a 6.7878/335.20 after a lengthy pedal for shake in round one was no match for Mats Eriksson's 6.19.