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This report is being written in real time at Alastaro. Post-session results are available on the FHRA pages at www.fhra.fi (cars) and Dragrace.fi (bikes).

18:10

A very good day of racing here at Alastaro indeed! To add to that I have never seen so many people in the audience here before! From what I heard the organisers had make new parking lots out on the circuit to be able get people in to the track!

The final qualifying list will be published on the FHRA pages in just a while.

Have a good evening!

18:05

Pro Stock 5th qualifying round

Tommy Leindahl 7.61 238 Tommy lost traction a couple of times on his run

Jan Palmqvist 6.94 297 Jan didn't make the field.
Eero Knihtilä 7.82 212

Michael Malmgren 6.93 318

Adam Flamholc 12.56
Magnus Hansson 6.92 318

Jimmy Ålund 8.82 Leaves line but shuts off before half track.
Richard Sundblom a lot of activity around the car when Richard didn't come back from burnout. He gets rolled back

Top Methanol Funny Car 5th qualifying round

Ulf Leanders shut off before half track. Might have been planned.

Danny Bellio 5.95 395. That will be Danny's first 5 second run. Congratulation!

Top Methanol Dragster 5th qualifying round

Four Top Methanol Dragsters came out for this last qualifying session but were turned back because of the curfew.

17:45

Top Fuel 4th qualifying round

Torstein Risdal shut off after 60 foot and rolled slowly up towards the finish line. On the way up he hit the wall on his left side and went out on the grass after the end of the wall. We now get report that Torstein is OK!

Tommi Haapanen Left before the tree was activated. Too bad since it looked like a very solid run!
Håkan Fällström 14.23

Janne Ahonen 5.52 325
Mikael Kågered 5.05 432 dropped cylinders towards the end and a lot of smoke. Hes now in the field! curently #4

A small clean up at the finish line in Kågereds lane.

Urs Erbacher 4.84 489 It might be that the sun has a lower angle now but Urs had really big exhaust flames.
Jöran Peråker blazed the tires right from the start.

Andy Carter 6.67 237 Lost traction after 60 foot, pedalled, lost traction and clicked off.
Jari Halinen was shut off after burnout. Track crew spotted a leak of some kind.

17:20

Pro Modified 5th round of qualifying

Tomi Pöntinen 6.68 317. Drifted towards the wall, lifted and got on it again. Now 15

Jari Parén 9.35 223 was on and off.
Teri Kalliokoski 10.24 a bang was heard at mid track and rolled to finish.

Kristian Nyström 6.51 315 now 15

Seppo Saapola 10.41 Wild run from start. Seppo finally had to lift
Marko Lantto 6.46 352

Michael Nord 6.41 351
Bruno Bader 6.35 352

Patrik Wikström 6.89 317
Robert Joosten 11.34 155 Up in smoke after 60 foot

Mats Eriksson 6.23 365 clean runs from both cars. Currently #3
Mikael Gullqvist 6.26 362 currently #7

Roger Johansson 6.32 357
Freddy Fagerström Lost traction from start line drifted hard to centre line and even Freddy had to lift!

Mikael Lindahl 6.22 354 now #2
Andy Robinson No Show this time

Marc Meihuzen 6.19 363 His now 2. As usual the non-dramatic runs are often the quickest!
Urban Johansson was shut off by his crew after burnout. It seemed like something on the injector came lose.

16:10

Top Methanol Funny Car 4th round of qualifying

Leif Andreasson 6,02 308
Dan Larsen 6.80 258 Dan Larsen went out to the right of the track after finish line, throwing up a lot of dirt in the air. When the dust cleared Dan was OK and the car almost unhurt!

Ulf Leanders 5.73 399
Danny Bellio 6.15 388

Arvid Grødem No Show Word is he torched the block and head onleft side last run.
Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.09 379. left line with the front wheels hanging 25 centimeters up. Got out of the grooves and pedalled once.

Top Methanol Dragster 4th round of qualifying

Arto Höylä 6.10 325
Dave Wilson 5.89 413. The car hooked all the way and it picked up speed remarkably at top end! #5

Paul Ingar Udtian 5.59 406. New PB. A very happy Islanders team!
Dennis Habermann 6.48 346

Krister Johansson 5.63 406 now #5
Rob Turner 5.61 391 still #4

Peter Schöfer 5.56 411
Timo Habermann No Show

Pro Stock Bike 5th round of qualifying

Miia-Maria Vepsäläinen 22.13. Miia-Maria does her first runs on her Pro Stock bike hera at Alastaro

Fredrik Fredlund 7.42 287 (again!)

Ulf ögge 7.32 293
Martin Bishop 7.50 285

Super Twin 5th round of qualifying

Harri Piensalmi 11.27 129
Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.90 317 now #4

Svein Olav Olstad 7.04 321
Charley Karling Huge white flame/flash out of left side of engine right from start! Charley brought the bike to a safe stop.

Günter Sohn 8.31 179 Günter drifted left and had to shut off leaning over to avoid the wall
Tommy Möller 10.69 shut off early from a run that looked good.

Per Bengtsson shut off after burnout
Lorenz Stäuble 6.80 349 on a straight run

Top Fuel Bike 5th round of qualifying

Peter Andersson-Ström 7.24 267 early shut off at 350 meters.

Ian King 6.62 333
Mikko Rajaniemi 8.00 190

Asko Määttä 9.43 209

15:00

Pro Stock Bike 4 qualifying round

Miia-Maria Vepsäläien Left before tree was activated

Chris Hope No Show
Richard Gipp 7.71 270

Ulf ögge 7.42 293 New low qualifier.

Martin Bishop 7.58 286
Fredrik Fredlund 7.48 286

Super Twin 4 qualifying round

Charley Karling 13.30 105. Sounded strong out from line but Charley (or the bike?) clicked of after 60 foot.

Harri Piensalmi 11.27 129. First run for him and he just bumped out Charley.

Tommy Möller 7.52 286
Per Bengtsson 6.77 327

Svein Olav Rolfstad 13.47 96 Dropped one cylinder at half track
Günter Sohn 6.93 279

Lorenz Stäuble 7.08 319 Wild ride!
Hans Olav Olstad 8.51 172

Top Fuel Bike 4 qualifying round

Peter Andersson-Ström Did his burn out and the bike stopped. Peter shook his head in disappointment.

Mikko Rajaniemis stopped when he get off the clutch

Otto Knebl 8.57 257
Kai Selkämaa No Show

Rickard Gustavsson 6.97 287. Looked quicker actually!
Ian King No Show

Pro Mod 4th round of qualifying

Seppo Saapola 9.37 215 Lost traction right off the line

Mikael Gullqvist 6.76 323 slight tire shake at 60 feet
Kristian Nyström 7.52 213

Timo Äikää Got pushed back after burn out
Jari Parén 8.29

Andy Robinson 6.25 354
Tomi Pöntinen 20.74 Engine lost all power when he let of the clutch

Freddy Fagerström 6.53 356
Mats Eriksson 6.33 360

Marko Lantto 6.41 355
Michael Nord engine didnt sound healthy as soon as he got into stage. Waited to get it run clean, but rolled slowly to first exit.

Bruno Bader 6.40 353
Patrik Wikström 6.42 357. Patrik waved his tail rather hard from 150 to 300 meter, but it stabilized.

Robert Joosten 6.34 357
Mikael Lindahl 6.26 360

Urban Johansson 6.19 371 Now #1
Marc Meihuizen 6.24 361

Teri Kalliokoski 12,05 113
Roger Johansson 6.31 357 Improves! #6

Pro Stock 4th round of qualifying

Jonas Dantanus 12,05 Small puffs of smoke before he let off throttle.

Small pieces of metal are reported from track so we are on hold for a couple of minutes.

Tommy Leindahl got shut off for a leakage.

Magnus Hansson Drifting to the center line and shut off before 60 foot
Jan Palmqvist 7.02 317

Eero Knihtilä 6.96 323
Kenneth Söderström 6.94 319

Michael Malmgren 6.89 323
Adam Flamholc 6.89 323 now #6

Richard Sundblom 6.80 327 New European record Top Speed from last round backed up here
Jimmy Ålund 6.84 325

13:30

Top Fuel 3rd qualifying session

Tommi Haapanen got his stuff together on the brand new car and went 5.46 293. Something happened at three quarter track and small pieces flew. But I guess the team is still pleased with being in the ladder. Now #5

Oil from half track to finish line so we are on hold for approximately 30 minutes.

Well, it turned out to be almost 1.5 hours before we could continue. A lot of small small pieces of metal turned out to be the problem.

Jöran Persåker 5.52 300 and are now #7
Janne Ahonen 5.93 265

Håkan Fällström was in the line up but didn't show up through the arch to the track.
Andy Carter 11.02 116 Lit the tires from the line followed by a puff and Andy rolled from 50 meters.

Stig Nergaard improves to 5.89 259. Lost traction at about halftrack. Now #9
Lex Joon 4.89 491 now #2. A small clean up in Nergaards line in the shutdown area.

Michael Kågered 9.59 117. Left good but something came off engine early (burst panel?) and then came the belt. Micke is now outside the ladder!
Torstein Risdal 6.16 234 blazed the tires at 150 meters

Jari Hallinen 8.80 142 went up in smoke early.
Urs Erbacher 5.86 254 shut off at 300 meters without any obvious reason to us.

11:15

Top Methanol Funny Car 3rd qualifying session continued

Dan Larssen 6.31 275
Leif Andreasson started to bounce at 100 meters and didn't stop. Leif crossed the centreline slightly and ran over the reflectors for the timing system.

Danny Bellio 6.01 387
Ulf Leanders too started to bounce when he shifted and was off throttle early 6.36 252

Top Methanol Dragster 3rd qualifying session

Dave Wilson lit the tires on the line and tried 3 or 4 times to backpedal without success. 8.71 292
Arto Höylä 6.48 336

Dennis Habermann 6.56 345
Krister Johansson 5.90 391

Rob Turner 5.72 376
Paul Ingar Udtian 6.14 403 shook slightly after 60 foot

Timo Habermann 5.54 408 Increased the gap to second qualifier Schöfer
Peter Schöfer 5.62 406

10:45

Miia-Maria Vepsälläinen

Ulf ögge 7,57 289
Tom Tinndahn Havent still showed up here in Alastaro!

Richard Gipp 7,86 272

Fredrik Fredlund 7,48 281
Martin Bishop Bounced off the line and a few feet before getting traction 8,01 289

Super Twin 3rd qualifying session

Svein Olav Rolfstad that had engine problems yesterday left the line and then shut off at halftrack. 8,38 180

Günter Sohn went off the throttle quite early. 12,52
Jukka Kuuru had a small flame out from engine from start line then followed by a bang a few meters out and a big flame came out on the left side of the bike. Small parts from engine flew around. He brought the bike to a safe stop and looks totally ok.

Hans Olav Olstad 6,82 300
Tommy Möller left the line really good and we thought it was the start of a really good run. He drifted closer to the wall and that might have been the reason for early shut off.

Per Bengtsson off early
Lorenz Stäuble 6,76 342

Harri Piensalmi Get off throttle at halftrack after a really good start of the run 9,47 160
Charley Karling No Show.

Top Fuel Bike 3rd qualifying session

Otto Knebl 8.34

Kai Selkämaa 8.62 275 Went on and of the throttle on his nitrobike several times
Mikko Rajamäki 10.95

Asko Määttä No Show
Peter Andersson-Ström No Show

Ian King 6.53 333
Rickard Gustavsson 6.74 366 What a top speed for a turbo bike!

Pro Modified 3rd qualifying session

Jari Parén Left the line soft and drifted to centreline and 10,10

Tomi Pöntinen drifted close to the wall, shut off and had his shuts out early. 9.26 142
Norbert Kuno was on the entry list but no sign of him yet this weekend!

Kristian Nyström Sorry for calling his car an Olds yesterday! It's a Thunderbird! Left hard on the wheeliebars, drifted to centreline and shut off early.
Urban Johansson went straight and clean 6,30 366

Seppo Saapola 19,67
Timo Äikää 9.29 Both cars lost power early and rolled to finish line.

Micke Nord 6.57 347
Marko Lantto 6.45 352

Roger Johansson was forced to shut off for a small leak after the burnout.
Robert Joosten 6.39 363

Marc Meihuizen does a long burnout bringing down applause from the audience. 6.23 363. Now #2
Bruno Bader 6.40 351

Patrik Wikström does an even longer burnout. 6.40 360
Mikael Gullqvist Huge tireshake of the line 10.99

Mats Eriksson went off early, perhaps he sew Freddy getting sideways in th other lane! 8.45
Fredrik Fagerström It turned into a burnout contest now. The crowd is going wild! Went almost sideways suddenly at half track. Went off and on again just followed by another sideway slide. 6.94 287.

Mikael Lindahl 6.24 352
Andy Robinsson shook tires slightly from line 6.99 273

Pro Stock 3rd qualifying session

When we start this round of qualification Kenneth, Micke Callin and Adam outside the ladder. Jonas is on the bump. 6.965. Very close to the quickest bump ever in Europe, 6.944!

Richard “Nixxon”Sundblom Straight clean 6.77 329 now #1

Adam Flamholc 6.91 323 Now in ladder #5
Jonas Dantanus 7.13 279

Michael Callin No Show
Michael Malmgren 6.87 325

Jan Palmqvist 6.93 329
Eero Knihtilä 6.87 325 now #5

Kenneth Söderström 6.92 318
Tommy Leindahl 7.01 319 Was slightly out of the black groove for a while.

Jimmy Ålund 6.79 325
Magnus Hansson 6.88 322

And we now quickest Pro Stock field ever in Europe!

Top Methanol Funny Car 3rd qualifying session

Jarmo Kuutniemi 5.88 392 (New PB)
Arvid Grødem was one of the many racers that set a new personal best during Friday. 6.12 382. Disappeared in a cloud of smoke at the finish line but turned of safely at the exit. We are checking the track...

9:15

Good morning from moottoriurheilukeskus Alastaro in Finland. It seems like we are going to have another very warm day. The first round of qualifying for the FIA and UEM categories are scheduled for 11, then follows one at 14 and the last chance for qualifying will be at 17. In between there are of course good racing going on from the Sportsman classes. As I wrote yesterday, I would love to be able to keep up the report for Sportsman, but I haven't got that skill in typing fast and keep up with what's going on at the same time!

One of Andy Carter's crew was out early walking the track with 'The Shark', the device they build a couple of years ago to measure traction. It was hard to tell from his face what the readings where, but I think the 4.76 yesterday straight from the trailer says it all!