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17:30

We spoke to multiple World Ski-Jump and NDRS Comp Eliminator champion Janne Ahonen at the end of the fourth qualifying session. Janne joined Team Eagle three years ago not having been in a drag racing car before, and won the NDRS Competition Eliminator Championship in 2004 and 2005. Janne said "Drag Racing is my hobby and ski-jumping is my profession. I joined Team Eagle for fun and had not done any motorsport previously. I am very grateful to them for giving me the opportunity. It is so nice to race with them and of course it is easy to start racing with a successful team. The car works very well and I just do the driving."

Janne had his Top Fuel license signed a few weeks ago after a successful test at Alastaro in a car owned by Rune Fjeld. Janne said "It was an unbelievable feeling. Hopefully it will be possible to race Top Fuel next season. I went up in smoke on the final licensing pass but lifted and ran a six second pass without damage. The launch felt perfect; there was a lot of power. We are working on sponsorship".

Janne is a fierce competitor and said "2005 was not such a good year for me in ski-jumping, I came second in the World Championship. The next ski-jumping championship event I am focusing on is the next World Championship in Sapporo, Japan. I have to train for eleven months in the year and April is my month off."

Team Eagle is a multi-disciplinary organisation, originally set up in 1988 and now involving more than 20 people. The team is based in Kotka, Finland, and their activities include drag racing and circuit racing including hosting of trackday events at Finland's main motorsport venues, Alastaro and Motopark. Team Manager is Harri Horto and drivers are Janne Ahonen, Antti Horto and Risto Poutiainen. The website at www.eagleracing.fi has a great deal of information about the team and Janne's achievements in ski-jumping and drag racing in English and Finnish.

14:30

Your pit reporter concentrated on Comp Eliminator for his latest set of pit notes.

Per Erik Lindgren runs an E/A '32 Chevy Bantam which he bought in 2004 from US Comp Eliminator racer Doug Engels. Per Erik crashed the car at his home track of Piteå in 2004 on the car's seventh run at 250kph and barrel-rolled it through the traps at high speed. The extensive damage, to front and rear and roll-cage was repaired and in 2005 Michael Callin came on borad as crew chief. Per Erik said "I am really grateful to Michael as he has helped me mentally after the crash as well as being a big help with the car". Michael helped in particular with the electronic fuel injection setup, complete with Carbon By Design hat. Per Erik's best time so far is 7.69 on an 8.12 index. He said "I want to go in the low 7.5s , but the air is not quite the best this weekend for that. We will see if we can help the launch by adjusting the four link". Notwithstanding, Per Erik is leading the NDRS Comp Eliminator Championship at this point. Per Erik has been racing since 1988, first in the SA class and then in Comp for some years. "I love the class", he says, "The index equals out the different cars but you have to keep your foot on the throttle. It means there are tricks you need to know both in the pits and on the track." Thanks go to main sponsor Hansen Racing and other crew members Janne Forstin and Ingemar Lövgren.

Adam Flamholc of Glueharbor Racing is no.1 qualifier after three sessions of Comp Eliminator qualifying with a massive -0.871 to his G/A index in his Amalie Oil-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo. He said "We actually had a problem as we lost the transbrake and had a poor 60 ft time. This is Adam's third season racing and his last in Comp Eliminator as he will be moving up to Pro Stock next year having bought Jimmy Ålund's rolling chassis, Jimmy acquiring a car from the US. Adam said "The motor will be built by my engineering business based in Malmö, MMR. We have built spare motors for my car and the team car of Jan Andersson, although the motor I am using is a 267cu in one built by US racer Kevin Houghtaling, who runs a Super Modified doorslammer in US Comp Eliminator." Kevin is actually present at Mantorp Park this weekend and is enjoying the experience. "It's my first European Race and I'm impressed how much like NHRA competition the sportsman racing is here," he said. Adam is updating his website live from Mantorp Park, see here for the link.

Peter Sattler of Hannau Germany runs an F/D Comp Eliminator dragster with the unusual combination of unblown Cosworth two litre motor with air-activated injection and air-shifter 5 speed Liberty gearbox. The best runs this weekend are a 9.76 following the throttle linkage breaking on a 9.8 pass; personal best is 9.13/228kph. This is Peter's last year in the driver's seat as son Robin, who is sixteen, has been licensed in Super Comp and in May and will be racing in Top Sportsman at the Gardermoen meeting in a week's time. Support for the team is on a reciprocal basis with Tibor Molnar who runs a histroic circuit racing championship in Europe.

Pål Hasselgren who is racing a '65 Nova in E/A, having problems and running off the pace with a rev limiter coming in at too low revs. He said "I've been racing since 2001 and started with a '65 Chevelle in Super Street. Each year, I've moved up a class and gone faster, in Super Gas, Super Comp and now Comp Eliminator. The Nova came along in 2003 from "Lillis" Samuelsson (see below) and was run with a 496cu in motor to a best of 8.46 that year". The current combination is a 358 cu in small block with 850cfm carbs. We have sold the car now though and are building an El Camino for Comp Eliminator for 2007. Pål is building the new car mainly himself, with just fabrication of the frame being outsourced.Thanks go to team members Jan-Egil Thon, Gøran Lassell and Jens E. Eriksen and sponsors Aarnes Amerikanske Bildeler and Quaker State.

I then met Johan "Lillis" Samuelson (Lillis being Swedish for 'short'), who is racing an AT/A Comp Eliminator Dodge Viper for the first time this year, having undergone shakedown runs in 2005. The car, which is totally self-constructed, including the chassis, has a 455 cu in Big Block Chevy with twin Holset turbochargers from a Scania truck. The motor is rated at 2,000 - 2,500 horsepower and has taken Lillis to a best of 7.32 NPB at this event. He said "On that run, the rear end cracked but that is not a problem, we will weld it back together and be out again tomorrow." Thanks go to the team Simon Orest, Håkan Johansson, Thomas Eckman and Robert Flinktberg. Sponsors are Åby Biltillbehor, Fogmaker and BTE Racing Equipment. Lillis's website is www.viper-racing.se/.

Christer Wilklund from nearby Linköping, has been racing his A/A '88 Oldsmobile Cutlass for four years, previously running a Mustang built by Don Hardy. The car was built by Jerry Haas and originally driven for just one meeting in 1988 by Larry Morgan. Under the hood is a Chevrolet Big Block motor of 508 cu in with Pontiac heads and Holley carbs. The trans is a Liberty five-speed, the same as that which most Pro Stock racers run and replaces Lenco four-speed. Christer enjoys many sponsors, including Tudor Racing Batteries, Linköping Transport, Belami, Pl&arin;t & Lack, Finnlink, Krönleins and Nordisk Glas.

In the Stock/Super Stock ranks one car that is guaranteed to give good wheelies is Ari Körkkö's SS/EA '69 Camaro. The car is sponsored by Max Burger (suppliers of burgers to the Eurodragster team) and is possibly unique in the racing world in having a bendy bus as its rig. The 427 cu in motor pushes out 738 bhp and the trans is TH400 and Ford 9 inch rear axle. The 1670lb car goes in the 9.8s zone and team help comes from Dala Spår, Gunnars Däck and Bengts Cykel & Motor.

We saw Jan 'JP' Phersson who as announced in Eurodragster, has a Simpson shop at the track and runs an online store at www.simpsonshop.se. JP has almost finished building his new Dodge Viper to run in SS/D with a specially developed Viper motor built by EED in Los Angeles. If all goes well, the car will be debuted at the FHRA finals. JP said "The car has had a huge amount of coverage in Hot Rod, Chrysler's Viper Mag and lots of other publications. The motor in particular has had 16 months of development by the firm that built Vipers to race the American Le Mans Series." JP pointed out that Simpson products cost less to buy from his shop than they do in the US due to some favourable deals.

11:30

Congratulations to Mikael Nilsson who won the Eurodragster.com/LA Racing Parts Perfect ET Award. His Super Comp Dragster was built in the US by Don Meziere who races in California and is best known as a designer and manufacturer of electric water pumps for racing applications. The car was raced by Meziere until the start of 2002 when Mikael bought it and came 2nd in the NDRS Championship in 2002 and 2003. In 2004 Mikael built a new Small Block Chevy 427cu in motor for the car and won the NDRS Super Comp Championship in 2005. Other parts are a Dominator carburettor, Powerglide trans by Hughes and Mark Williams rear end. Mikael wished to thank his sponsors Frakpoolen i Borå:s AB transportation and Logistics and crew member Jan Rask.

Bo Ragnebro is qualified second in Super Comp after the first session and runs a '71 Dodge Demon built by Leif Gotland. Bo bought the car in 2002 and it runs a 564 cu in Mopar motor running on Methanol with fuel injection with the unlikely name 'Flying Toilet'that uses existing inlet manifolds for easy conversion and is specially designed to run on methanol (see here). The trans is a PG. In 2006, Bo is running a limited schedule as he works most weekends at Eskilstuna Zoo and is concentrating mainly on the Swedish Dragracing League series.

Matti Suuntala comes from Koria in Finland and is qualified fourth in Super Comp after the first session. Matti drives a Pontiac Trans Am with a big block 598 cu in GM motor. The car is new to him this year and has been bought from the US where it also ran in Super Comp. Matti has run at seven races so far this year and his best ET without the electronics on is 8.36 at 269kph. Matti who is a meat cutter at a food processing factory, has been racing for eight years and was FHRA Super GasChampion in 2005. Thanks go to sponsors Myleyhosken Autotavike, and for more details (in Finnish) see here.

Christer Haglund, in no. 5 position in Super Comp after the first round of qualifying, runs a dragster that is new to him but has a history as originally being a Top Methanol Dragster and being rebuilt as a Comp Eliminator car about 15 years ago. Christer was crew shief for his old friend Christina Hägglund and decided he wanted a go for himself. He races mainly in North Sweden, at tracks such as Piteå, Sunsvall and Skellefteå and leads the Northern Division of the SDL currently with three wins and one semi-final. Christer's motor is the same one that Christina H&aunl;gglund used to win the series a couple of years ago, a Big Block Chevy with Race Demon carb, Powerglide and throttle stop. Christer thanks crew members Ingvar and Katerina.

In Super Gas we spoke to Olav Skjervo who is qualified at no. 3 after the first session of Super Gas in his '67 Mustang. He said "We are leading the points in the NDRS Championship with just one more round to go, Malmo. So I'm getting confident about the Championship. We are looking to return to the UK next year as we had a good time at the Easter THunderball."

Another Super Gas racer who qualified well is Morten Tiainen from Norway who is running his Pontiac Firebird for the third straight year. "I bought the car from a West Coast Norwegian racer Sjur Otto Talle who ran it in Comp Eliminator and installed a 461 cu in Big Block Chevy with Dominator carb and Powerglide. We have run five races in 2006 which is fewer than usual, we usually run 8-10 races".Morten, a taxi driver by trade will plans to contest the FHRA Finals at the start of September. His thanks go to crew members Kjell Arne Karlsen and father Matti Tiainen.

Lars Åke Karlsson has damaged the motor of his BN/A Pontiac Strato Chief and is faced with installing a new pushrod in today's heat. He said "We ran a 7.53 but our best is a 7.35. We think the damage is repairable and will try to get back on track later."

We had a quick word with a couple of the British sportsman teams that have made their way here. Nev Mottershead is relieved to get to Mantorp after a number of late nights and hard work preparing his Toyota Supra. He is running Comp Eliminator in D/A class which has an 8.39 index, Nev's first run was an easy-going 8.86, to acclimatise to the track conditions. Unfortunately the former owner of Nev's engine, Torben Stenströ:m, has himself had to withdraw his 105E Anglia due to piston damage sustained but is based alongside Nev to give support.

Malcolm Francis of Eurodragster Home and News Sponsors Air Sea Logistics is racing in Super Comp and is accompanied for the trip by Colin and Stuart Morrice. Colin said "The main difference from Santa Pod is the hill and the short run-off area, which you only see after you get over the hill." The team took the ferry from Harwich to Esjberg, Denmark (about 19 hours) and then drove for another 10 hours before they reached Mantorp Park.

9:30

Good morning and welcome to the pit notes for Thursday, Sportsman qualifying day one at the Veidec Nitro Festival. Qualifying has been taking place since 08:30am and we're most of the way through the first cycle. Your reporter is stationed in the air-conditioned timing office of the circuit race control building by the sportsman pits and we will grab some words with the top qualifiers and others and report back to you.