Pro Mod racer Micke Gullqvist admitted the championship is more of a difficult task for him than for the racers in the first couple of places. "We have run consistently quick and set the car for a 6.15 at Mantorp, when we were surprised by a 6.12 from a car which had not previously run anywhere that quick. I guess we have to set the car up to run as quick as each of our opponents which is not easy."

Super Twin racer Matti Vahasari said "We were on a good pass with a 60ft time of 1.15 and 4.5 to the eighth but the blower lifted slowing us to a 7.3. Our best is 6.77/334kph and we need to get into the sixes to be sure of doing well".

Super Twin racer Jaska Salakari is running a two bike team of KTM-based machines with himself and Kari Rajala as riders. "After the problems at Mantorp where we didn't qualify we tested at Sundsvall and made five passes. We had good data from that and made modifications which we were able to take to the FHRA finals two weeks ago. We ran a best of 6.79 with Kari's bike with 4.9 to the eighth and mine with 4.24 to the eighth. We hope we have solved the little problems, are ready and hope to do well here." The KTM machines rev to 9500rpm compared with 5000 for the Harley Davidson type engine, although both use about 15 litres of nitro on a pass.

Super Twin racer Chris Hannam said "That was our best 60ft time of 1.19 and eighth time of 4.58/154. But we dropped a cylinder in the second half of the track. We tested the bike at the same weekend as the Hockenheim race and ran 7.12 and 7.14. We changed the front sprocket to one with one less tooth and that helped.

Super Twin racer Greger Johansson said "This is not our first race but it is the first time we went down the track. It felt good but the clutch was slipping. The speed was good and it is a long time since we made a full pass as we have been having problems with the cylinder head. This time the motor was unhurt and we want to beat our PB of 7.18 and try to run a high six to qualify."

Top Fuel Bike owner Dave Newbury said "We are happy with progress and the engine is in good condition. We had a little issue of drifting left and want to turn the wheel in the frame to cure that. It looked as if the adjustment had worked when rider Ian "Rush" Carruthers ran a 6.6839 at only 179.21 in the second session, two tenths away from the bike's best of 6.48.

Super TWin racer Samu Kemppainen's run in the first pairing of 7.3 was the bike's second best ever time. "We ran a 7.28 in the FHRA Finals and hope to improve on that. We are sharing the same pit as Top Fuel Bike racer Kai Selkamaa which we did in Hungary and helps the costs. With the nice weather and the great track we are looking to make small steps and run well." Samu's run in the second session was an almost identical time of 7.37 at a speed of 175mph, slower by 20mph.

Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson made history by running a 5.9787/232.45, the first five in UEM competition. "The bike got a little loose a couple of times but was always controllable. I knew we were on a great pass because the final clutch stage coming in was really strong. The bike is fine mechanically. This afternoon's session we expect the air not to be as good as this morning but we hope the temperature will stay down so we can improve." The eighth mile incremental of the run was 3.97 compared with 3.91 for the run in Norway which was the first five but outside UEM competition.

On his very first run in UEM competition, Pro Stock Bike racer Dave Beck came off the trailer to run a near-record 7.1666/185.07 to go no.1. "You couldn't have written the script better," he said. Everything went perfectly and if I can repeat that over the weekend I stand a good chance of winning."

Super Twin racer Hans Olav Olstad said "We are still running the new clutch floaters we ran in Hockenheim.The clutch is a bit slippery so we are playing with it to find the answer. We will try to beat our PB of 6.67 which we did at this event two years ago."

Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King clinched the championship at Kumandaras so he has the opportunity to eperiment a little here. "We have had a play with the valve timing and the result was a new PB of 6.12 which I am really pleased with. The bike only picked up from 195mph to 222mph in the second half of the track so there is more to come." Ian said that the track crew did wonders at Hungary to enable me to run in the mid-sixes and there is a distinct possibility of Gardermoen returning to the UEM fold in 2010.

NFAA racer Jim Usher said that the team faced a thrash after low oil pressure on the warm-up. "We found a rubber seal on the camshaft. The oil pump and oil system were working fine so it was not easy to locate, but Ollie (Burn) is a wise crew chief. We will try to run today." Jim said that the plan is for a 125" chassis for next year which will have a stretched T body with pick-up bed and a funny car body based on the Komodo Dragon (a Pro Comp car from the late seventies that Ollie drove. Support for the Mob team has come from Trailercare who have help maintain the team's 40-year old trailer, and Premier, Jim's firm, who have sponsored the tractor unit.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian ran his quickest ever eighth time and then the fuel line came off the bug catcher intake. This caused one melted and six singed pistons as the engine leaned out and the resulting pressure caused the oil to blow through to the catch cans which overflowed<. Crew member Thor Larsen said "We hope to be back in the net qualifying round." The team made the call but problems on the burnout prevented another run.

Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson was delighted to be the first European Pro Mod racer to run a five second pass with a 5.988/241.59. Mats, pictured with wife Lena Perés, said "The car felt the same as at Hockenheim at the start, just a little shake, but down the track it was noticeably quicker. It was just an extraordinary pass. I had T shirts printed with 6.09 after Hockenheim and will need to get them changed now!" The incrementals were 1.0393 to 60ft and 3.9511/191.23 to half track.

Super Twin racer Lorenz Stauble ran straighter than he has all year. He said "It's a bit boring like that. The bike left fairly soft and then went completely straight. I'm epecting some good passes as the air is perfect. So we have put some more fuel in it and hope to run at least consistently." The result was 6.55/216 which consolidates his no.1 position in the field after an earlier 6.57/218.

Top Fuel Bike racer Rene Van Den Berg had suffered loss of power and had searched for it successfully in preparation for this event. The clutch settings from Kumandaras proved too aggressive and the bike went up in smoke. In the second session, problems on the burnout meant that Rene is now in 11th at the end of the first day. Rene said "We had a problem with the fuel pump and a broken exhuast pipe. Thanks to Danny from Frost Autoparts who made a new one up on Wednesday."

Top Fuel Bike racer, and organiser of the sport in the Czech Republic, Otto Knebl is making his final passes on the current machine before bringing out a new bike in 2010. "My objective is to run a seven here", he said. The first pass bode well, an 8.04.

Pro Stock Bike racer Gert-Jan Laseur is racing in his first Pro Stock Bike event. He said "I ran the bike in European Top Gas Serie in three events at Hockenheim. I built the bike myself using a Kosman TSE frame and a Buell engine from S&S. My best ET and speed are 7.34/185mph. I haven't needed to make changes to run in PSB as it was built for this class." Gert-Jan is joined by team mates Federico (starting line crew, left) and Rick (mechanic, right).

Super Twin racer Per Bengtsson is leading the championship and had a great race in Hungary according to crew member L-O Jonsson (pictured). "We didn't make any mistakes in spite of the extreme heat and made nine runs without any problem. This was with a concrete track which meant we had nothing to refer to for tuning decisions. The main goal is the championship and the main competitor is Lorenz Stauble who we beat four times out of four in qualifying and eliminations. Per was the happiest he has been for years and we will be welcoming guests later this weekend." In the first round of qualifying the bike overpowered the track.

Top Fuel racer Andy Carter was warming the engine when we passed. Tuning adviser Jim Brissette said "I'm not sure you're going to see record breaking times straight away because not many quick cars will have been down the track. So I expect the cars will be run more conservatively at the start of qualifying." Andy ran a 4.7894/310.58 which is a pretty awesome baseline to start with.

Top Fuel racer Joran Persåker is racing in Stig Neergaard's second car this event. Support comes from Persåker's speed shop. The car has seen action with three drivers this year, Tommy Rostgaard at the Main Event, Stig at the night show in Hockenheim and now here. John Smith is overseeing tuning on both cars as Stig fights for second place in the championship with current second placed Risto Poutiainen.

Top Fuel racers Anita Måkelå, Tommi Haapanen and Risto Poutiainen are looking forward to the race on an excellent track. Risto said "It's ladies first - until we get to the startline."

Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith has a new body purchased from Bob Jarrett and John Spuffard. It has been prepped by Jason Phelps of FGR Motorsports and the Shockwave lettering was only applied overnight. The new bodywork matches the black wheel rims with blue beadlocks.

Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson is one of five racers that can win the Pro Modified championship, the others being Mats Eriksson, Mikael Lindahl, Michael Gullqvist and Urban Johansson. Crew member Jerry Clayton said "We have come with a spare engine and have made a lot of changes which we hope will help the performance."