together with

Sunday at Veidec Nitro Festival

18:35 FIA, FIM, Pro Mod finals called off

It started to rain heavily immediately after the last Sportsman final, Competition Eliminator, was run. The NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified third/fourth-place run-off contestants had just started their engines when the rain came. It is still raining heavily now, and so the race officials have called a halt.

The outstanding finals were as follows:

Top Fuel Dragster: Kim Reymond v Andy Carter
Top Methanol Dragster: Peter Schöfer v Krister Johansson
Top Methanol Funny Car: Urs Erbacher v Jörgen Johnsson
Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund v Eero Knihtilä
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: Christer Jacobs v Roger Johansson
Top Fuel Bike: Roel Koedam v Peter Andersson Ström
Supertwin: Ronny Aasen v Hans-Olav Olstad
Pro Stock Bike: Roger Pettersson v Vesa Rautio

That is the end of our live reports from the Veidec Nitro Festival, but stay tuned to the Svensk Dragracing web site for today's detailed results and of course today's Photo Gallery.

17:25 NDRS Sportsman-class final results

Comp Eliminator: Lars-Åke Karlsson (7.91) 7.393/292.22 def. Micke Callin (8.27) 8.004/225.87

Super Comp: Pekka Kiviniemi 8.971/235.41 def. Sami Saapola 8.997/250.31 red light

Twinlab Super Gas: Mats Lindkvist 9.934/212.05 def. Bosse Hall 9.921/209.19

Super Street: Janne Carlsson 10.869/198.87 def. Lase Koskinen 10.920/192.28 red light

Stock/Superstock: Erik Wallin (10.97) 10.998/187.41 def. Jimmy Arvidsson (11.15) 11.212/187.01

Junior Dragster: Christoffer Jadersten (8.97) 9.045/118.13 def. Erik Johansson (9.10) 9.130/114.63 red light

Super Gas Bike: Thomas Davidsson 9.678/224.66 def. Gabbi Nikolovska 9.718/231.11

Street Bike: Tomas Ekblad 10.598/209.14 def. Mats Wuolo 10.639/206.90

16:20

Twinlab Super Gas eliminations, round 4 winners: Matts Lindkvist 9.940/214.98, Bosse Hall 9.929/209.44

Super Street eliminations, round 4 winners: Janne Carlsson 10.957/199.20, Lasse Koskinen 10.862/201.11 bye

Stock/Superstock eliminations, round 4 winners: Jimmy Arvidsson (11.18) 11.178/192.12, Erik Wallin (10.97) 10.994/191.22

Street Bike eliminations, round 3 winners: Mats Wuolo 10.542/215.81, Tomas Ekblad 10.359/223.94 bye

16:10

Super Comp eliminations, round 4 winners: Pekka Kiviniemi 8.930/222.57, Sami Saapola 8.930/253.35

Junior Dragster eliminations, round 4 winners: Erik Johansson (9.10) 12.464/67.11, Christoffer Jadersten (8.97) 9.048/118.09

Super Gas Bike eliminations, round 4 winners: Thomas Davidsson 9.506/221.71, Gabbi Nikolovska 9.452/242.67 bye

15:50

Stock/Superstock eliminations, round 3 winners: Jimmy Arvidsson (11.18) 11.364/174.13, Martti Luoso (11.74) 11.724/179.55, Erik Wallin (10.97) 11.400/160.42

Competition Eliminator eliminations, round 4 winners: Lars-Åke Karlsson (7.91) 7.864/223.54, Micke Callin (8.31) 7.762/280.31

Street Bike eliminations, round 2 winners: Mats Wuolo 10.330/188.23, Jan Anders Svensson 10.381/213.57, Tomas Ekblad 10.438/220.48

15:45

Super Street eliminations, round 3 winners: Janne Carlsson 10.935/196.66, Dave Cherrett 10.956/169.44 bye, Lasse Koskinen 11.132/188.15

15:40

Super Gas Bike eliminations, round 3 winners: Thomas Davidsson 9.671/197.17, Anders Brink 9.749/252.06, Gabbi Mikolovska 9.508/225.20

15:35 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 3

Christer Jacobs 6.476/346.67 def. Thomas Nataas 6.613/342.32

Thomas left the line first, 0.092 to 0.227, but Christer had more than enough to get round him and claim a place in the final. He will have to clean the car up some, though, before the final since he went into the kitty litter at the end of the track.

Roger Johansson 6.508/349.02 def. Håkan Nilsson 6.465/351.05

A 0.058 to 0.139 holeshot won Roger this race, but it was very close at the top end.

15:20 Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 2

Roger Pettersson 7.395/290.88 def. Anders Larsson 7.534/284.63

The old rivalry resurrected, and it's just like old times. Roger ran yet another 7.3-second pass and took the win although Anders is improving in leaps and bounds on each run.

Vesa Rautio 7.481/280.63 def. Chris Hope 7.591/279.60

This was finished on the start line as Vesa pulled a .015 light to Chris' .350. Chris improved but Vesa had him more than covered.

15:15 Pro Stock eliminations round 2

Eero Knihtilä 7.075/311.46 def. Michael Malmgren 7.150/309.57

Eero always runs well at Mantorp Park and this was no exception, taking out the six-second Camaro. Eero got the jump on Michael off the line and although Michael tried hard he couldn't make it.

Jimmy Ålund 7.055/314.45 def. Jan Murén 7.043/316.82

Just as we said earlier, Jimmy doesn't look at all like a Pro Stock rookie and there's more proof, a .042 to .087 holeshot against Jan's six-second Olds making the difference.

15:05 Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 2

This session took place with the trackside temperature at 24.4 C, 57% humidity, 1001 Mb air pressure.

Urs Erbacher 5.809/401.36 def. Ulf Leanders 5.836/393.22

Urs left first, .054 to .130, and broke the 400 kmh barrier here at Mantorp Park but is decimal places short of a European speed record (so far). A very fine pass from Ulf, too, but the Fat Attack juggernaut just keeps on rolling.

Jörgen Johnsson 5.938/370.87 def. Fredde Fagerström 6.242/376.43

Jörgen broke his PB again, whilst Freddy's improvements this weekend deserted him just at the wrong time.

15:00

Twinlab Super Gas eliminations, round 3 winners: Mats Lindkvist 9.939/230.92 bye, Anders Branström 9.916/215.71, Bosse Hall 9.914/210.36, Pelle Eriksson 10.034/235.71

14:55 Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 2

Peter Schöfer 5.510/403.40 def. Dave Wilson 5.492/420.02

Peter won this with a 0.115 to 0.160 holeshot. Dave set a new European speed record of 420.02 kmh, 261.04 mph, trying to catch him, the cars were absolutely welded together down the track, but didn't quite make it.

Krister Johansson 6.173/317.66 bye

Krister's car sounds evil, it shakes everything for a large diameter. A nice development pass and Krister is ready to take on Peter Schöfer.

14:40 Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 2

Kim Reymond 4.897/475.71 def. Susanne Callin 7.466/195.03

All eyes were quickly on Susanne in this race as about sixty feet out flame started to appear from her engine, the right bank of cylinders appeared to go out and a huge fireball erupted. Gary Page kindly stepped in to race control to tell us that Susanne's engine spat a plug for starters: our spies in the pits have since seen half of a rod and assorted other nastiness. Meanwhile Kim was long gone on a picture-perfect pass: the fourth quickest ever run in Europe and equalling Andy Carter's European ET record.

Andy Carter 5.374/452.46 def. Tommy Möller 5.396/432.46

Andy strapped a .109 to .373 holeshot on Tommy, then his tyres started to smoke but he pedalled at least once and stayed out in front. Tommy had cylinders out and just couldn't catch Andy.

13:55 Supertwin eliminations round 2

Hans-Olav Olstad 8.028/238.36 def. Svein-Olaf Rolfstad broke after burnout

Svein-Olaf's bike never sounded right as soon as he fired it up. It kept trying to stop and eventually Svein-Olaf shut it down. Hans-Olan through to the final.

Ronny Aasen 7.587/317.44 def. Greger Johanssen 7.434/287.05

Ronny pulled a .084 to .265 holeshot and he needed it since the rear tyre went up in smoke for about a hundred feet, losing him precious time. Ronny kept his nerve, feathered the throttle, and stayed in front.

13:50 Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 2

Roel Koedam 6.451/322.92 def. Joey Bon 7.052/260.03

Joey left first, .352 to .499, but Roel didn't take long to get past him with another strong and very straight pass.

Peter Andersson Ström 6.508/323.73 def. Mikael Andersson 8.201/266.27

Mikael on a Funny Bike didn't have much of a chance in this one, Peter rode through shake and left him behind.

13:40

Junior Dragster eliminations, round 4 winners: Erik Johansson (9.10) 9.195/115.15, Christoffer Jadersten (8.97) 9.064/117.64, Martin Kretz (11.30) 11.586/91.76

13:40

Super Comp eliminations, round 3 winners: Aulis Hameenkorpi 11.465/130.75 bye, Pekka Kiviniemi 8.905/221.77, Mikael Nilsson 17.709/67.35, Sami Saapola 8.999/230.34

13:35

Competition Eliminator eliminations, round 3 winners: Jackie Hansen (8.18) 7.663/284.03, Lars-Åke Karlsson (7.91) 7.517/264.11, Micke Callin (8.45) 7.806/263.73, Bruno Bader (8.18) 7.710/267.23

13:30 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 2

Christer Jacobs 6.673/335.14 def. Urban Johansson 6.791/330.48

Urban Johansson's left front wheel didn't come down until about two hundred feet, Christer appeared to have a little shake off the line but drove through it and took the win.

Thomas Nataas 6.610/316.95 def. Peter Kunc 7.030/304.25

Thomas Nataas' car threw something across the track at half-track but it obviously wasn't anything imporant! There was a lot of smoke from Peter's Camaro at the finish line, no clean-up though so hopefully nothing serious.

Håkan Nilsson 6.464/350.81 def. Henri Joosten 6.750/335.57

The last time these two racers met, at the Main Event, Håkan redlit. No mistakes this time, though, Håkan waited whilst Henri got a huge advantage at the start, .035 to .146, and then drove right round him with low ET of the weekend. Henri ran a new personal best but then went off the end of the track, although we understand that he didn't go too far into the kitty litter and that the car is OK.

Roger Johansson 6.559/340.88 def. Fredde Fagerström 6.698/340.85

An excellent paired burnout from Roger and Fredde, the pre-race version of a burndown - who is going to get off the throttle first. Roger was away first and never looked back.

12:55 Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 1

Roger Pettersson 7.382/292.35 def. Kenneth Strömberg 7.784/272.39

Roger was ahead by half track but Kenneth pulled an astounding 0.008 reaction time to make Roger work for it at the start.

Anders Larsson 7.610/277.84 def. Helle Haagen Hansen no time recorded

Anders Larsson ran another 7.6-second pass on his return to racing after a short break. Helle was an alternate for Øivind von Essen; he broke a few feet out from the line.

Vesa Rautio 7.464/287.76 def. Richard Gipp 7.725/273.25

A long burndown before this race, Richard wasn't going in first for anything, but Vesa got away first and quickly pulled further away.

Chris Hope 8.182/269.16 def. Anders Abrahamsson 10.760/156.25

Chris' bike appeared to stutter at about two hundred feet, but he got back on the throttle. Anders' bike broke before half track.

12:45 Pro Stock eliminations round 1

Eero Knihtilä 7.072/314.98 def. Rune Berg 7.096/312.88

We had a great burndown before this race, when they finally staged Rune got the jump on the lights but Eero reeled him in.

Jan Murén 6.988/317.18 def. Jöran Persåker 7.232/308.12

We've been waiting for Jan's first six-second pass this season and he didn't let us down with a superb pass. Jöran got the jump at the lights but his qualifying form deserted him just at the wrong moment.

Jimmy Ålund 7.042/314.94 def. Magnus Hansson 7.180/310.77

Jimmy doesn't look at all like a rookie, an excellent run. Magnus got a small holeshot but Jimmy was soon past him.

Michael Malmgren 7.156/309.24 def. Tommy Leindahl 7.185/308.83

Tommy Leindahl isn't looking like a rookie either, he was side-by-side with Michael all the way down the track, but the power of the AC Delco Camaro was just enough at the end.

12:30 Top Methanol Funny Car eliminations round 1

Urs Erbacher 5.795/399.59 def. Martin Lindqvist 6.768/253.42

Urs reset his own track record and again came within a whisker of the magic 400 kmh at Mantorp, is there any stopping the Swiss strongman? Martin threw a blower belt just after half track.

Ulf Leanders 6.848/229.05 def. Niclas Andersson shut off on line

As Niclas pulled forward the Sandflex-sponsored FC was leaving a trail, which turned out to be a small fuel leak. Ulf put in a strong-looking half pass.

Fredde Fagerström 6.029/377.81 def. Leif Andréasson 6.600/226.21

The newly Eurodragster-stickered Fredde pulled his customary 150-foot burnout to the cheers of the huge crowd, although Leif was there too, rolling to half track after his own burnout. Then the shock occurred as Leif hit appalling tyre shake and went way out of shape, heading for the other lane. Leif wrenched the car straight and it appeared to squat down and shake again, finally a parachute shook out. Fredde in the other lane got well clear of all the drama, running another new personal best on a solid, straight pass.

Jörgen Johnsson 5.957/362.37 def. Dan Larsen 5.901/364.11

Jörgen pulled a 0.056 to 0.196 holeshot over Dan, and it was big enough to take the win although Dan was rapidly reeling him in. We think a new PB for Jörgen.

12:15 Supertwin eliminations round 1

Hans-Olav Olstad 8.895/231.26 def. Ton Pels no time recorded

A shock in the first race of the session. Ton's bike appeared to jump at about a hundred feet and then slowed, Ton looked down and his body language read "What?". We guess a belt or the chain broke. Hans-Olav took his chance to advance.

Svein Olav Rolfstad 7.156/294.04 def. Rob van Geffen broke after burnout

Rob pulled an eighty-foot burnout but then got off the bike after it rolled to a stop, and he and his crew pushed it over to the guardrail. We wondered whether the unusually long burnout was deliberate, or whether the throttle stuck. A strong pass from Svein Olav sees him into the next round.

Greger Johansson 8.714/196.01 def. Per Bengtsson broke after burnout

Another shock as Per Bengtsson also goes out in round one of eliminations. There was a trail of fluid on the track as Per was pushed back. Greger appeared to smoke the tyre off the line and then had a cylinder out for most of his pass, but he is through and that's what matters.

Ronny Aasen 6.940/290.97 def. Carsten Andersson 7.324/295.61

A great race from Ronny and Carsten, Ronny continuing his six-second form. Carsten was off the throttle just a touch early.

12:00 Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 1

This session took place with the trackside temperature at 24.3 C and steady, 50% humidity and falling, and air pressure of 1002 Mb.

Dave Wilson 5.503/419.79 def. Jari Halinen 6.441/262.45

Dave got away first and didn't look back, a new track record and the first half of a European speed record of 419.79 which in miles per hour is 260.90, Europe's first 260 mph Top Methanol pass. Whilst we were watching Dave disappear into the distance Jari Halinen had a huge explosion at half-track, the problem appeared to be with the blower. The track crew were picking up shards of metal and cleaning oil at the top end.

Krister Johansson 6.204/355.39 def. Rob Turner 7.578/170.93

The Turner Racing team changed lanes before this race, from race control we saw Rob slow dramatically at half track and Krister got there first - Krister's next round is a bye into the final. Rob's Crew Chief Steve Turner told us that the Netcall-sponsored dragster threw a small piece of the brand-new blower belt as the car left the start line, and then the belt shredded altogether at half track.

Peter Schöfer 5.553/384.11 bye

Peter preceded his run with a great burnout to one hundred feet. Consistency is the name of the game and Peter was within a thousandth of his qualifying form. Peter meets Dave Wilson in the next round, Dave has lane choice, the numbers one and two in the FIA Championship go head-to-head in the semi-final.

11:20 Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 1

Roel Koedam 6.480/317.79 def. Antonio Ferretti 7.411/303.41

Roel is really making it look easy this season. A very straight and hard pass, ahead within metres of the start line and giving Antonio no chance. Antonio was off the throttle before the finish line but he is getting quicker and quicker this season.

Joey Bon 7.134/255.69 def. Nils Ole Lund and Peter Westin both broke

The above probably looks a bit strange, but Nils' bike would not start and Peter Westin was standing by as an alternate. When the lights ran, Peter's bike broke within one metre and Joey was long gone. Joey backed off a little early but no obvious problem.

Mikael Andersson 8.005/269.03 def. Tommy Jonsson broke

Both of these racers in as alternates, for Sverre Dahl and Ian King. Tommy's bike broke off the line and Mikael went through.

Peter Andersson Ström 6.473/314.82 def. Finn Asserbo 8.515/222.48

Peter is going quicker and quicker with every pass and this looked very good although he had some tyre shake in the first few metres. Finn was left way behind and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke at the top end. Finn is A-OK but the engine probably isn't.

We were very pleased to see Ian King in race control, providing colour commentary, after his fireball yesterday. Ian is limping and both of his lower legs are heavily bandaged but he is in good spirits and is currently looking at whether to go to Norway or whether to regroup and go to Hockenheim.

11:05 Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 1

Kim Reymond 5.522/288.71 bye

The number one qualifier had a bye and ran a very solid half-pass, 382.74 at half track. The car was moving around a little but Kim had it all under control.

Susanne Callin 5.435/417.98 def. Micke Kågered 11.439/110.81

Both cars from the Carbon By Design stable, Crew Chief Alan Jackson was commuting back and forth between the cars as they prepared to stage. Susanne pedalled once as the car got a little out of shape, straightened it out and got back in it. Micke's rear left cylinder was throwing out unburnt fuel after the burnout and there appeared to be cylinders out on both sides before he got off the throttle, team member Gary Page told us shortly after the race that he thought that Micke's Bahco Tools-backed car had thrown a blower belt. There was an oil clean-up in Susanne's lane after the race.

Tommy Möller 4.965/470.45 def. Smax Smith 10.997/111.64

Tommy Möller and the Lorentzon and Möller team stepped right up to counter the threat from Smax. Strong burnouts from both cars, Smax's Crew Chief and team member Mark smiled knowingly to each other after Smax's burnout. Smax then threw it all away with a -0.250 red light. You could tell that Tommy's pass was a good one, clean and straight, and a new PB.

Andy Carter 5.115/461.72 def. Anita Mäkelä 5.134/337.05

Andy Carter's characteristic smoke-free burnout didn't appear to affect his pass. This was a classic side-by-side, Andy and Anita together all the way down the track. As you can see from Anita's terminal speed, she backed off right at the end, smoke coming from the car, and Andy was there first.

10:05 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified eliminations round 1

Christer Jacobs 6.508/344.57 def. Terje Hakonsen 6.956/319.68
Urban Johansson 6.986/326.99 def. Micke Lindahl 7.250/305.12 red light
Thomas Nataas 6.573/342.61 def. Seppo Saapola 6.925/324.62
Peter Kunc 12.671/156.13 def. Tomi Pöntinen shut off after burnout
Håkan Nilsson 6.769/331.74 def. Norbert Kuno 6.937/318.66
Henri Joosten 8.626/160.10 def. Mats Eriksson did not start
Roger Johansson 6.609/341.75 def. Bert-Ole Olofsson 6.869/329.64
Fredde Fagerström 6.631/337.81 def. Håkan Fallström did not start

Terje Hakonsen pulled a big holeshot on Christer Jacobs in their race but Christer overhauled him pretty quickly. Micke Lindahl's red light in his race against Urban Johansson was 0.057. Tomi Pöntinen's crew shut him off after his burnout, it wasn't immediately obvious what was wrong. Norbert Kuno ran a new personal best in his race against Håkan Nilsson. Henri Joosten and Fredde Fagerström both sportingly took their time and waited for their opponents who both ultimately had to give up trying to start.

09:15

Twinlab Super Gas eliminations, round 2 winners: Mats Lindkvist 9.929/229.13, Anders Brandström 9.977/208.97, Tim Adam 9.990/210.31, Håkan Mattsson 9.962/215.41, Bosse Hall 10.168/196.40, Pelle Eriksson 9.921/210.59, Robert Joosten 9.936/223.78

09:05

Super Gas Bike eliminations, round 2 winners: Thomas Davidsson 9.564/222.39, Rene Hansen 9.650/235.79, Anders Brink 9.673/231.28, Jessica Olsson 9.629/214.69, Gabbi Nikolovska 9.701/212.98, Ingvar Kallgren 9.682/206.54

Jessica Olsson took a spill from her bike at the top end but is perfectly OK.

08:50

Super Comp eliminations, round 2 winners: Aulis Hameenkorpi 9.036/207.87, Paul Ingar Udtian 8.916/209.81, Pekka Kiviniemi 9.644/223.18, Mikael Nilsson 9.103/198.40, Marko Tossavainen 8.889/240.13, Sami Saapola 9.084/216.99, Yngve Solberg 8.973/249.03

08:40

Competition Eliminator eliminations, round 2 winners: Erik Syverstad (7.90) 7.978/286.46 bye, Jackie Hansen (8.18) 7.704/283.62, Michael Nord (7.64) 7.480/292.88, Lars-Åke Karlsson (7.96) 7.664/236.00, Micke Callin (8.48) 7.947/238.83, Peter Eliasson (7.90) 7.674/245.75, Bruno Bader (8.18) 7.861/230.72 bye, Per-Johan Arvidsson (8.35) 7.929/273.10

08:20

Super Street eliminations, round 2 winners: Tobba Jansson 10.916/175.73, Janne Carlsson 11.014/197.87, Dave Cherrett 11.156/151.41, Lasse Koskinen 10.922/188.98, Jan Phersson 11.001/190.87

08:15

Street Bike eliminations, round 1 winners: Mats Wuolo 10.697/184.09 bye, Mattias Carlsson 10.472/197.21 bye, Joakim Segerberg 10.274/224.72 bye, Jan Anders Svensson 10.591/213.37, Tomas Ekblad 10.603/196.93, Anders Persson 11.039/163.17

08:10

Junior Dragster eliminations, round 3 winners: Albin Frank (10.05) 10.237/98.35, Erik Johansson (9.10) 9.227/106.93, Jan Morten Dalen (14.90) 14.949/66.67, Christoffer Jadersten (8.97) 9.099/116.41, Martin Kretz (11.30) 11.362/90.06

07:50

Well, here we go. It's race day at the Veidec Nitro Festival and we're very pleased to see you again. It's a bright morning, currently 20.7 C, 79% humidity and 1001 Mb air pressure on the start line.

A big Hej and Thank You to everyone who has written with kind comments about the coverage, it's much appreciated folks. Also a big Hello to Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman whom we know are tuned in from the USA.

We'll be starting very shortly with NDRS Sportsman classes, pre-race ceremonies are at 9:15 and the Pro cycle kicks off with NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified at 9:30. Stay tuned and we'll bring you all the news.