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Pro Modified racer Freddy Fagerström started running a great 6.09/225 with new slicks and into a headwind. But in session two the bugs bit and a broken valve after 1.4s caused head and piston damage on a 6.48/203 pass. After a late night thrash, the team had the engine looking like new, and ran a 6.23/225 in Q3. But in Q4 there was a bang from the engine and the prospect of another late pit session for the team who are qualified 11th and are due to race Kim Kiristiansen in round one.	Pro Modified racer Micke Gullqvist ended qualifying in 10th place, uncharacteristically far down the order for the championship leader. The team reported problems with the four-link and his best time, recorded in session one was a 6.083/234 with a couple of pedals. Session two held in very changeable conditions, saw the car shake and Micke shut off, and more shake occured in session three and four, the latter of which produced a 6.09. But we don't count Micke out as he is a master of raceday car setup.
Pro Modified racer Bobby Wallace has a new ex-Roger Johansson engine and it produced superb performance last weekend, running a 6.094/226. After 6.34 and 6.55 yesterday with early shake followed by pedals on both runs, he ran two 6.032s at 226 and 228mph in today's superb qualifying session. Whilst he will want to have race settings for eliminations, could Bobby be the next five second runner in the class?	Pro Modified racer John Tebenham improved from a 6.24 best to a 6.030, driving through considerable shake in the final session. He said 'I'm driving through the shake as long as the car is still travelling in a forward direction. I'm running the Pop here too in Super Pro ET and ran a 8.8s winning time in the first round, perhaps that is helping my Pro Mod driving. And I'm racing my hero Freddy in the next session, what could be better?' John's run was quicker than previous owner Marco Maurischat's best time of 6.035.
Pro Stock Bike racer Joanne Koskinen suffered problems with the Suzuki TLR1000's engine cutting out and came back this morning in session two and ran 7.250/178, compared with his best of 7.125 recorded at the Main Event, to go number two in the order. Janne is in a tight points chase with leader Fredrik Fredlund who at the start of the event was only 10 points ahead.	Pro Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Martin Newbury is number one in the order with a 7.150/181. Martin and wife Cindy thank Gary Stoffer, Karen Stoffer, Red Line Oil, Old Hall Performance for their support. Martin improved to 7.108 but on the same run Fredrik Fredlund ran a 7.045/189 to take over the top position.
Super Twin racer Christian Jäger has had a much better qualifying experience than he did in Hockenheim when the engine exploded in session one and was unable to start on Saturday due to rain. A 7.233 in session one was followed by 7.141/149 in session two, 7.808 in session three and 7.160/152 in the final session.	Super Twin racer Marcus Christiansen finished qualifying with a 6.299/218 run which needs to be backed up for a new FIM-E record, his previous best at this event being a 6.380/215. He is very close to taking the championship from Gert-Jan Laseur who came into this event 86 points behind.
Junior Drag Bike racer Megan Talbot came into this race in the lead of the championship but with a margin over second placed Marie Madleen Rosen of only six points. So this championship will be decided on race day. She finished first in the qualifying order with a 9.606 on a 9.60 dial.	Top Fuel Bike racer Al Smith ran a great 6.275/194.70 in session three on the PBR Rocket 3 machine. Bike owner and builder Phil Baimbridge said 'The launches are great but we need further work down the track as we haven't been there much yet'. The three cylinder machine is one of the loudest of the fuel bikes and at its first FIM race. Al looks completely at ease controlling the bike down the track and there is definitely more in the bike.
Top Fuel Bike racer Eric Richard ran a new PB of 6.485/209.9 on his turbo funny bike in session four having previously run a 6.522/204 in session two, excellent runs and Europe's all-time second quickest funny bike after Rickard Gustavsson's 6.466 back in 2011.	Nostalgia Funny Car racer Tony Betts is in test mode after a visit by US legend Roland Leong produced a list of things to change. Tony said 'We have a new clutch and gearbox, the gearbox is now shifting properly and the tyres are spinning up so the clutch needs to slip a bit more. We learned a lot from Roland's visit and have invited John Wright to advise on tuning at this event as his usual tuning gig, Rob Elsom's Trans Am, is not racing at this event'. Tony is pictured with son and crew member Dean, to whom we wish a Happy Birthday.
Nostalgia Funny Car racer Paul Harris ran a best of 6.788/212, his first full pass in the car since licensing. He said 'It was an awesome run, it pulled strong and straight, I shifted at half track although I had wanted to shift earlier. I was happy enough with the ET but to run my first 200mph and then have it run 212mph was beyond awesome.	Funny Car racer Jason Phelps succeeded in getting the car further down the track than other racers in the class. He said 'Mark Hawkins and the team have managed to tune round the track and made a good adjustment on the clutch today. Although it shook, it went a fair distance before I lifted'. Jason's best time was a 6.483, good for third although he was quickest in both sessions today.
Funny Car racer Kevin Kent's car sounded great on the burnouts but it shook instantly on the runs and he ended in fourth qualifying place with a 7.379. He said after session three 'We are trying to creep up on it, and are working hard on the car with many late nights to try to get it sorted'.	Pro Modified and Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund's car owner Magnus Petersson was delighted that the Old 51 was the first supercharged car in Europe to run a 6.7s run, a 5.7806/246. He said 'It was a great run and it put us number one in a really competitive field. The only problem we had was with a crank support which we are solving through machining it'.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Maja Udtian was calm about the car problems the team experienced. 'I know the guys are doing their best and its up to me to go fast and win. In Q3 I had my first taste of tyre shake and lifted before 60ft. But the first 60ft was good. In any case the run was planned to be a 100m launch because of our previous engine problems. But in the last session we will try to get down the track'. She definitely went down the track in session four - to a new FIA ET record of 3.8068/315 and to take the number one position in the ladder.	Top Fuel Bike racer Filippos Papafilippou had an outstanding day running 5.663/233 and 5.662/246, the latter his PB speed and the ET being a new FIM-E record. He said 'I am really happy to run the quickest run ever outside the US and the quickest in the last two years. We are looking forward to eliminations and to taking the bike to Valdosta for the Man Cup Finals. Thanks to my team and all our sponsors'.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Liam Jones had problems with tyre pressures yesterday, but today the problem was shake and in the fourth session, the front end lifting simultaneously. Being in eighth position in qualifying, he comes up against RFM team-mate Maja Udtian in round one.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard is in sixth place with a 6.498 shake-filled run, the cold track producing problems for all of the teams. He will face Anita Mäkelä in round one.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Patrik Pers suffered a linear bracket breakage in the clutch can resulting in the clutch seizing after the burnout in session one. Then the safety system deployed in session two after a malfunction. In the third session the car went up on its tyres, and in the fourth there was a sheet of flame out of the right cylinder bank, followed by fluids which were fortunately retained within the diaper. The team, with long time fuel crew Mark 'Animal' Bodimeade, Robin Grice as tuner, and Rob Inglis, all hoped for better luck. Patrik announced a big change for next year, the car is being sold (�30,000 for the rolling chassis including headers, injectors, clutch can and oil pan ex remainder of engine and trans) and a Funny Car is being imported, previously campaigned by Bob Bode in NHRA competition.	Pro Stock racer Simon Gustafsson's new Samantha racing car is still in development mode as explained by car owner Mikael Sjökvist. 'We broke the engine at Tierp and Thomas Lindström's engine built by Allan Johnson recently. We now have two Allan Johnson, two V Gaines engines and one Larry Morgan one. It was the V Gaines engine that broke and we didn't have time to get it repaired. Recent engines now rev to 11200 on carburettor engines whilst the older ones should go to 10700rpm. The engine is good but we need a new combination with our chassis which we made at home. We have already changed the chassis so the car launches flatter and made a new rear end setup on Thursday. There is a lot of work to do, but we hope it will be very good next year'.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Indja Erbacher came into this race pleased to have set new ET and speed records (the ET record later eclipsed by Maja Udtian). 'We've brought in good parts for the last race and want to go for third place in the Championship and get the ET record back. So we're excited. In the first session we discovered too late the engine had a broken pushrod and so weren't able to fire up, but with good weather for Saturday we are optimistic'.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä had car handling issues at Tierp a couple of weeks ago, which ultimately cost her the final. 'The car moved violently before the finish line and I had to lift to avoid going into the guardrail. The car needed to run straighter every pass, so after the event we added some extra tubes to strengthen the chassis. In the first session the car ran very straight and I got the quickest time and fastest speed of the session. The extra weight is not significant'. Points-wise Anita is very close to having secured her fourth championship, but is not concentrating on counting the points. 'I am simply wanting to run well in qualifying and win the race'.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Maja Udtian has had an up and down couple of weeks where she got through the first round of Tierp after an appeal over the race result showed her car did not contact the blocks, but they were moved by the exhaust and/or wind from the chutes. She then went on to win her first event and set a new European ET record of 3.816. Winning Tierp was heavy on parts though, and the team were lucky to get a delivery in time for this event. After assembling a new engine and missing session one, the warm-up produced smoke and two subsequent attempts after changing parts showed no improvement. So Maja had to sit out session two as well.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Liam Jones had parts attrition at Tierp, with the rods exiting the block, and so the team had to order spares and have them delivered within a week, and then the team got to work fitting them. Before session two he said 'We were working late into the night and the car fired up fine'. But in the lanes for session two, it was discovered that the tyre pressures on the car were too high and there was not enough time to correct the problem, so the team elected to not fire the car up.
Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car racer Gary Page, who was forced to miss Tierp after suffering a multi car motorway accident, fortunately unhurt, talked about the effort needed to prepare. 'After Tierp we had no undamaged blocks so we had to get to work preparing for the arrival of replacements. We spent last weekend taking Liam and Maja's cars apart and between Rune and some members of the team, stayed up late every day to build up the engines and cars, and worked to 1:30am last night. So we are hopeful of being able to put on a show'.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard had suffered parts attrition throughout the season but is more positive after investigating the problem. 'Five or so years ago we bought eight sets of rods, and they lasted all that time, we put 20-25 runs on each set and replaced them after that. We then bought seven new sets of rods from the same company with the same size and parts number as the old ones. But on every run we were getting problems with spinning bearings or kicking the rods out. At Tierp the engine kicked the rods out and we discovered they were not the correct size and a fraction tight. The company made and sent us three new sets of rods of the size we needed. So Q1 was important to check the new parts worked. Happily the engine came back clean, and there was no evidence of any bearing or rod damage. So we're happier'.
Top Methanol Dragster racer Jonny Lagg had a hood scoop depart the car and then bounce off the gantry into the rear wing, both parts being made out of carbon fibre. 'The run was quite bad for us even without the damage as we burnt two heads and sleeves on our new engine. We only have one Alan Johnson head left, so are having to use old Brad Andersen Stage 5 heads which will work, although they don't fit ideally. We are grateful to Danny Bellio, our championship competitor, for helping to mend our wing, and we are able to use a spare air scoop'. Jonny's' time on the engine-damaging pass was a 5.457/258.	Pro Modified racers Mats Eriksson and David Vegter were discussing track conditions. Mats said 'We underestimated the track in the first session and hit shake, the hit was good but the run went downhill after then. We are here to test the car and get it ready for next year'. David said 'The track temperature is 66F and if it gets much cooler the tuning window becomes very small, along with it being close to the dewpoint which will make it impossible to run. Also we are trying to get third position in the championship from Jimmy'. Their results in the cooling conditions were Mats running a great (and straight) 5.926/230 and David a 6.720/227 after initial shake to go 13th. This morning David ran 5.8174/247 after changes to the fuel system yesterday.
Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson made consistent runs in the varying conditions, 5.960/239 and 5.970/223. He said 'The run in session one was decent-looking. We had trouble in Tierp with the engine down on power and took it apart after the race. The 5.96 was quite an easy run, we are using four nitrous stages on unleaded, whereas in the US they use five stages and on race fuel. We are planning to put more power in it. Bobby Wallace bought my other 903ci Pat Musi engine which I upgraded and was pleased to see him get into the 6.0s'.	Pro Mod racer Marck Harteveld in the Voodoo Hemi Superbird was joined by team member 'Superfred' in a matching colour wig. On track however, the car suffered in the cool conditions; it got to 60ft in a quick 0.98s but shake set in quickly after that and Marck lifted after 150ft. After changing the chassis setup from those used at Hockenheim back to those used at the Mopar Nationals he ran a 6.70/216 to get into the show.
Pro Mod racer Dmitry Samorukov, pictured with tuner Adam Flamholc, has had a busy year running both his home Russian championship, which he has won for the fourth time, and the whole FIA series. Mishaps such as his fire at the Main Event, and a trip into the gravel at Tierp ('I'm very happy in the car, so happy I sometimes leave the braking too late!') have not deterred him. In session two he ran straight down for his first five in Europe, a 5.992/238 and well done to him. On Wednesday the team will be shipping the car to Adam's base in Florida where the team and Adam will both be running doorslammer events over the winter months.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Susanne Callin was interviewed live on BBC's Look East regional news programme on Thursday, which was an excellent piece of publicity for the event and rightly emphasised the gender equality in the class. She said on Friday evening 'Today has been quite chaotic for RFM but we are ready for tonight's night show with the same setup that we had at the Main Event. Although I only ran here this year, the family had success at Hockenheim with Lara winning Junior Dragster against a very competitive international field, and we will be looking to run the Top Fuel Dragster at more events'. In the night session, conditions only allowed a tyre spinning launch, but Susanne will be going for a quick time today.
Top Fuel Bike racer Filippos Papafilippou set the Top Fuel Bike world on its ear this morning with a 5.663/233, straight down the track with a comparatively soft launch (1.017 to 60ft) and then really strong after 330ft. Yesterday he said his first run was hampered by wheel spin. 'It spun a lot at 330ft, not smoking the tyre but deforming it. We are trying to step up but prefer not to run at night as the conditions are too cold'. Fil said to get the championship he can get qualifying points for quickest in each session, and then he will need to reach the final to secure it. After that, Fil and the team will take the bike to Valdosta, Georgia for former owner Ian King to race it at the Man Cup Finals.	Super Twin racer Neil Midgley ran a string of six second passes at the NitrOlympX culminating in a 6.58/185 in eliminations and reached the final where engine problems prevented a full pass. Here the drive belt broke 1.7s into the run in session one, after having made the bike's second best ever 60ft time of 1.0361. Bike owner Chris 'Cannon' Hannam said 'We were gutted when the belt broke, it is a really strong Kevlar one and has to take huge amount of shock on the launch. We will replace it and increase the fuel volume next run'. In session two, the tyre spun up and he pedaled the bike to an eight second run which placed him eigth and last in the ladder.
Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt suffered major engine damage at the Main Event and had to order new bottom end, crankcase, liner, sump, rods and pistons. He said 'I also have a stroker crank which increases the engine capacity from 1327cc to 1405cc. But the effect of all these changes is that I have to tune the bike all over again to find the sweet spot, on the first pass it was too rich and dropped a cylinder which put it into tyre shake so shut it off at 330ft'. Running in session two on Saturday morning, he went right and was off the gas by the eighth. Steve has another two sessions to improve above the bump spot of 7.621.	Top Fuel Bike racer Dale Leeks ran a great 7.082 in session one on the turbo methanol bike, compared with a 7.046 at Hockenheim. However the crank case split and the team were thrashing to assemble the spare for Saturday, but is in the field. In the final session he went 6.941/197 with the new engine for his first six with turbo methanol power.