Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä was being tuned by Crew Chief Sami Lehtim�ki and advisor Donny Bender. After qualifying no.2, Anita defeated Stig Neergaard in round one with a on-and-off throttle 4.47 in round one and Antti Horto with a 4.03/293 in the semi final. Sami said "We think the track temperature will be the same or lower but won't step up and hope that Risto beats himself in the final."

Top Fuel Dragster racers Pelle Lindelow and Urs Erbacher were on colour commentary duties this weekend.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard was left with engine damage and burnt pistons; only a few of these sixteen are usable. Stig said "We don't know what is going on. The car launched really well and went great to 300ft. It was good to the eighth on some passes. But on the last three runs we had broken rods. We have changed so much stuff, pistons, blower, heads, compression. It works good at the start and there is enough power but too much damage. Fortunately I have equipment to machine blocks and repair other parts. We need to take stock after this event."

Top Fuel Dragster racer and 2012 champion Risto Poutiainen said "It feeks great to win the championship. Yesterday we tried some new clutch settings but went back to the original combination today, which is good for a 4.0 time. The track is getting hot so trying to go any quicker is pushing it. I came back into Top Fuel four years ago and set a target of three years to win the Championship. I had three runner-up positions and thanks to my team for helping me to win. I look forward to defending it next year."

Pro Stock racer and 2012 champion Thomas Lindström said "I am so pleased. We have tried to do our best and run 6.6 on every pass. I hope we can win the event too but we will be smiling all the way home anyway. It means a lot not just to win for Mopar but also to beat the seven time champion. We are looking forward to next year."

Pro Modified racer Graham Ellis was packed up ready to go when we passed. After his first round pass of 6.36, Graham's crankshaft broke into three pieces and he was out for the event. We will see whether he can get replacement parts in time for the National Finals.

Pro Mod racer Roger Moore said "We are up against Micke Gullqvist like we were in qualifying. Yesterday we knocked a reflector into him, perhaps we can improve on that. We have been struggling with finding enough power to get down to the track to avoid tyre shake. We lost our way a bit in the event but it's deifficult to tune the cars when they are so much on the edge."

Pro Mod racer Bert-Ove Olofsson ran second lowest ET of round one, a 6.06 but in the process caused engine damage. Bert was understandably disappointed but is planning a return in 2013.

The extent of carnage in Bert-Ove Olofsson's engine can be seen in this shot.

Pro Modified racer and 2012 champion Micke Gullqvist regained his form on race day. Crewman Stefan Petersson said "The whole team has been working very hard. We made big changes to make the car work, not to the chassis, but to the clutch and the engine timing. We thought a lot about it and hope it goes well in the next round for the championship." Micke did continue winning rounds and the semi-final confirmed him as FIA Champion.

Pro Mod racer Bruno Bader was determined to win the championship until his chances had disappeared. Before the semi-final he said "If we need to run a 6.01 to get low ET points, we will. I hope this will be the one time we have luck like Micke has had. It was hard finding the right setup that doesn't make us have to lift." Bruno came up against David Vegter in the semi final, and the 6.17 from David put an end to Bruno's event.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann got back on the throttle after smoking the tyres. He said "The engine kicked two rods out and there was a big fire. Fortunately the block is repairable but the head is damaged. I tried everything, had a good reaction and pedalled when I went up in smoke." Timo said that after some deliberation, the team have decided not to run the FIA Championship but concentrate more on show runs and events in Germany.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dennis Habermann was defeated on a hole shot by Krister Johansson in round one of eliminations. Dennis said "We may be staying away for a time but not for ever."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson was defeated by Chris Polidano after an event which Dave had difficulty finding the right setup for his spare engine.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano was helped again by Jerry Darien who was suffering from the energy-sapping effects of a stomach bug. Jerry said "We have improved the performance of the car but not as much as I would have liked." Chris ran consistent low 5.4s and a best of 5.39 during the event.

Fuel Funny Car racers Gordon Smith and Jason Phelps were disappointed to have been eliminated in the semi final. Jason of FGR Motorsports said "I lost the blower belt on my pass against Lef Helander." Gordon Smith said "A boost valve on the fuel system collapsed and left us short of fuel pressure." Crew chief Dave Bryant said "We are looking forward to 2013 as we are 100% certain that there will be a championship as the rules are all sorted and drivers are signing up."

Pro Stock racer Micke Callin got a handle on the track in session 3 to run a 6.73, before tyre shake set in on his final qualifying pass. In round one, Micke raced Michael Malmgren and his 6.82 and quicker light resulted in a 0.17 margin of victory over Michael's 6.86.

Supertwin racer Job Heezen's Team Zodiac faced an engine change and a welding job on the engine inlet. Job said "The huge backfire blew the intake away. Gerd-Jean Laseur has a professional welder visiting and he was able to help and did a great job." Job is hoping for cooler air and track conditions to improve on his 6.61 qualifying pass.

Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson said his second pass of yesterday was set up to run at least as quick as his first, the second quickest pass ever by a wheel-driven bike. He said "The spark plug broke and the lead came out and was whipping my firesuit after half track as it was still sparking." After being checked over by the paramedics, Peter went back to the pits to change his spark plugs back to NGK. He said "We are trying to back up the ET record today."

Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad's bike is long but on the heavy side. He said "We plan to lose 50kg over the winter, including the rider. We will also get new barrels and shorter rods." In round one, Hans Olav, running another smokey pass of 7.02, was eliminated by Christian Jäger

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif André had a late night repairing the body on the car. Crewman Christoffer Lindberg said "The tyre deflated after the car hit something metallic on the track. Felix Borg from Malta who lives in England did a lot of the work. The team worked on the fibreglass until 3am and also had to weld the body frame which took us to 5am."

Supertwin racers Hans Olav Olstad and Job Heezen. Hans Olav said "We made two mistakes this weekend, one was mine and the other mechanical. My mistake was overrevving on the burnout and hit the limiter too much. On my best pass of 6.87 I did a burnout for half the track and then fishtailed. The fishtailing was not worrying and I could live with it, but it was not comfortable."

Pro Stock bike racers Fredrik Fredlund and Ulf Ögge were buddies in the startline area during a pause in the racing, but will race hard on the track in the closest championship of all, only nine points (less than a round of racing) separating them after qualifying. Fredrik said "We want to put on a good show. We will try to run 7.0s as that is what it will take to win." Ulf said "The lanes are quite even. Often, lane choice becomes more a mental thing rather than a true difference between the lanes."

Pro Stock racer Ulf Wagnhester was running consistently in qualifying and ran his best of 6.87 in the last session. He said "I had to drive through tyre shake to run that and we have changed the setup again for the first round against Jimmy Ålund who has lane choice. I will have to be good on the tree in the left lane." Ulf left first but ran into greater shake and had to lift.

Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund ran a 6.69 in round one and before the run he was giving the track a close inspection.

Supertwin racer and 2012 Champion Nate Gagnon is joined for this weekend by Ron Houliet, owner of Fastlane Racing which produces the Nitro V60 engine. Ron said "Both Nate and Samu are excellent racers and very hardworking and complement each other well. Nate winning the Championship as the first non-European to do so is the end of a storybook season." Ron himself was the only non-US racer to win the US AHRDA Championship in 2002 and an NHRA National Event and was Canadian Champion eleven years in a row.

Top Fuel Bike racer Rene van den Berg suffered a lifted head and block damage in yesterday's first session and is unfortunately out of the event. Other racers who have had to withdraw are Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Newbury (due to a burglary at his premises and the perpertrators setting fire to his trailer), Supertwin racer Chris Hannam (engine damage), Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen (engine damage), Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Andy Frost (engine and gearbox damage), Pro Mod racer Steve Hall (front end problems) and Pro Mod racers Rick Garrett (transmission failure) and Marcus Hilt (broken). Our thanks to Steve Moxley for help with bike information.

Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey ran two smoke but fishtailing free passes yesterday with a best of 6.77/208. He said "It was quite a wild ride - we were happy with the changes to the tyre pressure and clutch. When it went from side to side on the pass it was a bit like a big jelly."

Top Fuel Bike racer Peter Svensson ran a 5.72 to set the audience on its ear. He said "When it pulls really hard in the middle of the track we know it is a good run. We weren't expecting to run that quick but the bike doesn't want to run slow. There is a 5.6 in the bike but we want to back up for a new record."

Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King improved to a 6.19/219. He said "The track is getting hot and we want to step up." Ian needs just a round of racing to clinch the champsionship.

Top Fuel Bike racers Rikard Gustavsson and Steve Woollatt were congratulating each other on running 6.5s at over 200mph. On his fourth qualifying pass Steve suffered a dropped valve and is sadly unable to compete in eliminations.

Super Street Bike racer Mogens Lund was happy to run a 7.76 to go 13th in qualifying. He said "I am running a Garrett G35 and Hays clutch."

Super Street Bike racer Stefan Schmidt was no.20 and not in the field. He said "The clutch has been slipping a bit and the shift light comes on earlier than I expected."

Super Street Bike racer Garry Bowe was happy to improve to 7.51/178 and go fifth. He said "I was on it the whole way down, the clutch didn't slip and the wheelie was contollable."

Super Street Bike racers collected at the far end of the track after their qualifying session.

Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables, who is running a new Ray Debben cylinder head said "On Wednesday I tried getting the boost setting better and went 7.24 which was great, but on the last two passes and in Q1 the bike spun the wheel. So we turned it down for the second qualifier and now I am putting it back in gradually." A 7.45 in session 3 was followed by a 7.36 in the final session to go third.

Super Street Bike racer Dave Smith ran 7.70 to go 12th. He said "We are using a time-based boost controller rather than gear-based and it is quite weak coming off the line."

Super Street Bike racer Thomas Granica said "I made a rider error and didn't hit one shift point and went into '7th gear'. I also red-lit and fortunately it was qualifying rather than the race." Thomas finished 11th with 7.66/192.