Event Updates

2010 FHRA Nitro Nationals
Sunday

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21:00

We have now posted today's pictures, which you can view via the Event Index. There are 115 pictures in all; if you do not see all 115 thumbnails when you open the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button.

18:50

Full final results

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Timo Lehtimaki 4.151/449.53 def. Risto Poutiainen 4.156/450.51
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Timo Habermann 5.534/409.38 def. Dennis Habermann 5.577/407.42 DQ
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Arvid Grødem 5.936/344.37 def. Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.015/384.60
FIA Pro Modified: Micke Gullqvist 6.030/390.72 def. Johan Lindberg 6.114/374.55
FIA Pro Stock: Michael Malmgren 6.865/313.44 def. Jan Palmqvist 6.959/316.38

UEM Top Fuel Bike: Petri Paljakka 6.668/347.25 bye, Jaska Salakari shut off
UEM Supertwin: Hans Olav Olstad 6.833/321.94 def. Ismo Mäenpää 7.064/325.63
UEM Pro Stock Bike: Ulf Ögge 7.200/298.21 def. Kenneth Vik 7.205/300.43

Comp Eliminator: Martin Lundkvist (8.10) 8.393/150.29 bye, Jani Lindvall broke
Outlaw: Hannu Kalliomaki 7.622/272.66 def. Sampsa Palos 7.590/243.38
Super Comp: Joonas Pesonen 8.953/248.14 def. Meri-Tuuli Sassi 8.893/265.56 breakout
Super Pro ET: Hannu Tekoniemi (9.28) 9.290/224.14 def. Juha Raikkonen (8.65) 8.690/250.54
Stock/Super Stock: Hannu Palasmaa (11.25) 10.622/198.11 def. Jarmo Markkanen (11.25) 10.908/193.37
Junior Dragster: Jenna Kakkonen (13.90) 13.922/72.85 def. Turo Vitie (8.02) 8.070/130.69 red light

Funny Bike: Pasi Alakkunas 8.256/191.53 bye, Riku Silver no show
Outlaw Bike: Juha Ollikainen 8.030/297.59 def. Sami Kallio 8.788/293.79
Pro Street Bike: Vesa Ruhanen 8.225/280.26 def. Ville Salonen 8.465/275.67
Pro Harley Drags: Timo Makkinen 9.313/229.76 def. Torsti Kettula 9.889/228.78
Super Gas Bike: Kristo Korpela 9.578/210.80 def. Manu Alarto 9.617/228.81
Junior Drag Bike: Minttu Gratschew (14.20) 14.425/72.35 def. Otto Paaso (12.30) 12.570/86.99

Christer has loaded a couple more pit notes which you can check out via the Event Index page. Stay tuned as we are working on today's pictures and we hope to have those for you a little more quickly than last night.

18:40

Demo passes

Timo Lahti (Pro Stock) 18.761/68.60 - hit bad shake off the line, hard left, shut off
Stavros Svrachnos (Pro Stock Bike) no time - motor cut out at the hit
Kalle Lyrén 7.289/293.31 - new Personal Best, well done Kalle!
Timo Savolainen (Pro Stock Bike) 11.049/130.66 - got close to the centre line, shut off
Marco Maurischat (Pro Modified) no time - rolled the beams

18:30

FIA Top Fuel Dragster final

Timo Lehtimaki 4.151/449.53 def. Risto Poutiainen 4.156/450.51

So here we are in Finland with two Finnish racers in the final, one of whom is in a spare car put together after a crash destroyed his new dragster on Friday. Whatever happens this race is going into the FHRA history books. And rightly so, what a tremendous match! Probably the closest ever race over 1000 feet in Europe. A bit of a burndown then one thousandth in the RTs, 0.085 to 0.086 in Timo's favour, Risto had the better sixty foot time but only just, 0.875 to 0.878, not much between them at the eighth either, 3.285/393.16 for Timo to Risto's 3.292/395.74 and a mere 0.0066 or 82.59 centimetres between them at the thousand. Great race, well done guys!

18:18

FIA Top Methanol Dragster final

Timo Habermann 5.534/409.38 def. Dennis Habermann 5.577/407.42 DQ

Again the Battle of the Brothers. Timo's car carrying temporary body panels where he lost a couple on his last pass. Dennis redlit by -0.066 handing it to Timo. 0.913 to sixty for Timo, 2.428 to 330 feet, 3.635/330.91 at the eighth. Pity about the red light as that would have been very close.

18:15

FIA Pro Modified final

Micke Gullqvist 6.030/390.72 def. Johan Lindberg 6.114/374.55

Micke had the upper hand all the way through this one. 0.079 reaction to Johan's 0.094, 0.996 to sixty feet to Johan's 1.011. Both cars went straight down the middle of their lanes with no obvious signs of shake. 3.989/304.03 at half track for Micke to Johan's 4.005/295.77 and the stripe for Gullan by 0.0997.

18:10

FIA Pro Stock final

Michael Malmgren 6.865/313.44 def. Jan Palmqvist 6.959/316.38

Jan away first 0.079 to 0.102, Michael had the better sixty foot 1.037 to 1.056. Jan hit shake and the Snowball car moved to the right, that lost him some time whilst Michael went straight down his lane. 4.426/257.86 to the eighth for Michael and 4.470/258.78 or Jan.

18:07

UEM Top Fuel Bike final

Petri Paljakka 6.668/347.25 bye, Jaska Salakari shut off

A bang from Jaska's bike during the burnout and he shut off. Petri took the bye and what a superb run, 1.156 to sixty feet and 4.406/279.02 at the eighth, as we said earlier in this report the team are obviously turning it up bit by bit as Petri gets comfortable on the bike and he blew his PBs into next month. Well done Petri!

18:05

UEM Supertwin final

Hans Olav Olstad 6.833/321.94 def. Ismo Mäenpää 7.064/325.63

Ismo away first 0.181 to 0.206 but Hans Olav was making that up by sixty feet, 1.300 for Ismo to 1.161 for Hans Olav. Hans Olav had his front wheel up most of the way and header flames were clearly visible. 4.472/269.22 to the eighth for Hans Olav and 4.677/267.43 for Ismo.

18:00

UEM Pro Stock Bike final

Ulf Ögge 7.200/298.21 def. Kenneth Vik 7.205/300.43

0.052 to 0.064 RT advantage for Ulf off the line, 1.116 sixty to Kenneth's 1.1143...and there go the other incrementals off the screen so we'll have to imagine those.

17:55

Sportsman final results

A quick clean-up on the track and we'll be into Pro finals.

17:00

Top Methanol Funny Car match race

Arvid Grødem 6.046/352.23 def. Jarmo Kuutniemi 9.958/195.46

We are now on a break to turn round finalists and we will start the finals at 17:30.

16:55

Funny Bike eliminations round 3 winners:

Riku Silver 9.089/264.79, Pasi Alakunnas 7.577/294.39 bye

Junior Drag Bike eliminations round 3 winners:

Minttu Gratschew (13.90) 14.312/73.79, Otto Paaso (12.30) 12.724/86.53 bye

Junior Dragster eliminations round 4 winners:

Jenna Kakkonen (13.90) 13.915/74.04 bye, Turo Vitie (8.02) 8.096/130.81

16:45

Pro Street Bike eliminations round 2 winners:

Vesa Ruhanen 8.190/281.40, Ville Salonen 8.633/273.80

Pro Harley Drags eliminations round 3 winners:

Timo Makinen 10.000/171.10 bye, Torsti Kettula 9.473/228.70

16:35

Super Pro ET eliminations round 4 winners:

Hannu Tekoniemi (9.28) 9.438/228.70, Juha Raikkonen (8.63) 8.729/239.40

Outlaw Bike eliminations round 2 winners:

Sami Kallio 8.088/295.23 bye, Juha Ollikainen 8.314/287.26

Super Gas Bike eliminations round 3 winners:

Manu Alarto 9.690/227.55, Kristo Korpela 9.594/237.79 bye

16:30

Super Comp eliminations round 3 winners:

Joonas Pesonen 8.961/246.78, Meri-Tuuli Sassi 8.930/260.97 bye

Outlaw eliminations round 3 winners:

Sampsa Paolos 7.706/233.68, Hannu Kalliomaki 7.551/274.16

Stock/Super Stock eliminations round 3 winners:

Hannu Palasmaa (10.65) 10.678/196.82, Jarmo Markkanen (10.93) 10.891/192.65

16:20

Christer has posted a couple more pit notes which you can check out via the Event Index page.

Junior Drag Bike eliminations round 2 winners:

Jesse Leino (13.30) 13.695/78.82 bye, Minttu Gratschew (13.90) 14.125/72.35, Otto Paaso (12.30) 12.455/85.59

Junior Dragster eliminations round 3 winners:

Jenna Kakkonen (13.85) 13.925/72.63, Cilla Koskinen (8.26) 8.269/128.56, Turo Vitie (8.02) 8.077/131.31

Comp Eliminator eliminations round 2 winners:

Martin Lundkvist 7.666/216.66 (8.10) bye, Jani Lindvall (9.06) 23.888/108.02 bye

16:10

Funny Bike eliminations round 2 winners:

Riku Silver 8.489/267.87, Risto Outavaara 13.205/158.95, Pasi Alakunnas 7.627/282.89

Pro Street Bike eliminations round 1 winners:

Vehsa Ruhanen 8.326/277.31 bye, Jani Kumplainen 8.520/265.37, Kimmo Koslonen 8.673/265.66, Ville Salonen 8.995/269.52

Pro Harley Drags eliminations round 2 winners:

Timo Makinen 9.661/202.43, Torsti Kettula 9.524/230.01, Marko Leppanen 9.845/233.46

16:05

Super Gas Bike eliminations round 2 winners:

Manu Alarto 9.762/218.72 bye, Jarkko Tihinen 9.722/214.42, Kristo Korpela 9.574/232.56

15:50

Super Pro ET eliminations round 3 winners:

Hannu Tekoniemi (9.28) 9.290/218.49, Timo Heiskanen (8.92) 8.933/229.61, Juha Raikkonen (8.63) 8.657/251.94 bye

Perfect 0.000 RT for Juha Raikkonen on his bye, well done Juha! Two PLs this weekend, both Super Pro ET, and both bye runs.

Super Comp eliminations round 2 winners:

Joonas Pesonen 8.889/248.73 bye, Tuomas Kivisto 8.902/242.00, Meri-Tuuli Sassi 8.900/261.58

Perfect run for Meri-Tuuli Saasi, well done Meri-Tuuli!

Stock/Super Stock eliminations round 2 winners:

Arto Sulopuisto (10.39) 10.509/186.43, Hannu Palasmaa (10.65) 10.659/197.60, Jarmo Markkanen (10.93) 10.940/193.04 bye, Anna-Kisa Manninen (10.03) 10.120/202.88

15:35

Outlaw Bike eliminations round 1 winners:

Sami Kallio 8.103/298.33, Juha Ollikainen 8.202/290.08 bye (Rami Yliniemi no show), Mika Saroma 8.611/270.73

Outlaw eliminations round 2 winners:

Sampsa Palos 7.723/233.12, Jari Sokura 7.932/241.96 bye (Ville Haga no show), Hannu Kalliomaki 8.215/241.32, Tero Karanen 7.718/267.72

Comp Eliminator eliminations round 1 winners:

Martin Lundkvist (8.10) 8.849/158.85, Jani Lindvall (9.19) 8.559/253.57

15:20

FIA Pro Modified semi-finals

Johan Lindberg 6.158/373.59 def. Urban Johansson 6.214/353.78

Johan got a big jump at the start 0.110 to 0.217 and the better sixty foot time 1.015 to 1.029. The cars looked side by side as they approached the eighth and Urban was making up some of the difference at that point, Johan clocked 4.036/293.85 to the eighth and Urban 4.040/292.43. Urban's 'Vette was moving around and then took a hard left and hit the 934 foot reflector. From here it looked like Johan drove through a shower of debris but probably just the angle I'm at. Either way he took the stripe by 0.1639.

Micke Gullqvist 6.044/389.56 def. Adam Flamholc 8.382/182.23

Adam got a visible jump on Micke 0.066 to 0.202, Micke hd the better sixty foot time 0.999 to 1.020. Adam's Camaro was moving around and then made a hard move left at about 400 feet and he shut off. 3.995/302.63 to the eighth for Micke and 4.626/202.51 for Adam, Micke there first by 2.022.

15:00

FIA Top Methanol Dragster semi-finals

Dennis Habermann 5.745/402.89 bye, Derek Flynn shut off

Derek shut off after his burnout, Dennis took the bye. 0.941 to sixty feet and 2.496 to 330 feet, the dragster made a move to the right but Dennis stayed with it, 3.774/314.52 at the eighth and into the final.

Timo Habermann 6.066/245.20 def. Peter Schöfer 8.086/17.42

0.065 to 0.067 RTs in Peter's favour, Timo had a better sixty foot time 0.908 to 0.919. Peter was off the throttle by 300 feet, maybe the blower belt broke. 3.595/334.66 to the eighth for Timo then there was a huge bang, a body panel came off the car and a chute deployed - I am guessing the blower burst panel but whatever it was it was a big bang. The safety crews chased Timo down, he is quite OK. We're on hold to clean the track.

14:45

FIA Top Fuel Dragster semi-finals

Top Fuel Dragster is being contested over 1000 feet here at Alastaro this weekend.

Risto Poutiainen 4.202/449.53 def. Andy Carter 4.425/400.22

Andy deep-staged. 0.025 RT for Andy to Risto's 0.074, Risto had a much better sixty foot time 0.896 to 0.933, 3.333/392.09 to the eighth for Risto. Andy's tyres started to haze and then blaze at about 400 feet and he got to the eighth in 3.450/357.27, he stayed on the throttle but Risto got the stripe by 0.1748.

Timo Lehtimaki 4.271/449.25 def. Urs Erbacher 4.513/377.97

Urs moved first 0.092 to 0.141, then it was all about Timo. The better sixty foot time 0.887 to 0.910, 2.316 to 330 feet to 2.325, Urs' tyres started to smoke in exactly the same place as had Andy's in the last run. 3.390/380.15 to the eighth for Timo and 3.484/334.19 for Urs, Urs stayed with it with his tyres blazing but Timo was way out there and took it by 0.1931. Some clean-up now in Urs' lane.

14:35

UEM Supertwin semi-finals

Hans Olav Olstad 6.979/321.51 def. Jan Sturla Hegre 9.038/179.90

Jan Sturla away first 0.165 to 0.191, the better sixty foot time 1.162 to 1.195 but his bike was fishtailing violently and he got very close indeed to the guardrail and had to shut off. Straight run, 4.636 to the eighth for Hans Olav and into the final.

Ismo Maenpaa 6.997/327.25 def. Job Heezen 7.107/283.16

0.082 RT for Ismo to Job's 0.174, Joh bad a much better sixty foot time 1.165 to 1.282 and a better eighth 4.468/259.43 to 4.620/269.92 but then Job looked to shut off in the second half and Ismo overtook him to take the stripe by 0.2025.

14:30

UEM Pro Stock Bike semi-finals

Kenneth Vik 7.173/302.19 def. Anders Abrahamsson 7.191/302.69

Anders away first 0.063 to 0.065 and was quicker at the eighth 4.593 to 4.619 but Kenneth overhauled him in the last few metres. Anders has the compensation of backing up his earlier 303.71 for a new European speed record, well done Anders!

Ulf Ögge 7.155/299.56 def. Fredrik Fredlund no time

Fredrik's motor cut out off the line. 1.105 to sixty feet for Ulf and 4.563/247.63 at the eighth.

14:25

FIA Pro Stock semi-finals

Jan Palmqvist 6.883/327.62 def. Micke Callin 6.856/326.51 DQ

Neither Micke nor Jan staged on their burnout tracks, both to the left of each track. No incrementals as they vanished from the screen in about a second but Micke left a big cherry on the Tree and handed it to Jan.

Michael Malmgren 6.818/329.03 def. Richard Sundblom 6.924/327.76

Nixxon used up some of his luck on that one, when he went up on the revs the car moved forwards but not quite enough to light the cherry. 1.037 to sixty for Michael to Nixxon's 1.066, 4.405/259.80 at the eight for Michael to Nixxon's 4.447/257.44.

14:20

Pro Harley Drags eliminations round 1 winners:

Timo Makkinen 10.087/176.37 bye (Tapani Haapoaranta no show), Staffan Nordman 10.562/162.66, Torsti Kettula 9.528/229.90, Rami Maenpaa 10.668/227.88, Jani Lempinen 10.087/212.75, Marko Leppanen 9.748/232.48

Next up is our second Pro session.

13:50

Super Comp eliminations round 1 winners:

Joonas Pesonen 8.883/248.73, Timo Tamminen 8.867/253.48, Tuomas Kivisto 8.913/239.01, Kristina Hägglund 8.841/253.75, Meri-Tuuli Sassi 8.870/268.67

Super Gas Bike eliminations round 1 winners:

Manu Alarto 9.877/227.09, Jyrki Paaso 9.582/185.36, Jarkko Tihinen 9.555/212.43, Jarkko Niemi 9.772/218.39, Kristo Korpela 9.522/224.87

13:35

Christer has uploaded some more pit notes, which you can view via the Event Index page.

Super Pro ET eliminations round 2 winners:

Pasi Korhonen (9.55) 9.571/224.28, Hannu Tekoniemi (9.25) 9.302/231.85 bye (Jere Rantaniemi no show), Timo Heiskanen (8.96) 8.916/234.52 bye, Kari Laitinen (11.50) 11.596/189.21, Juha Raikkonen (8.68) 8.631/251.89

13:30

Junior Dragster eliminations round 2 winners:

Patrik Kivinummi (7.90) 7.899/130.93, Jenna Kakonen (13.85) 13.887/72.59, Joni Hansalahti (8.84) 8.904/119.92, Cilla Koskinen (8.08) 8.369/127.71, Iiro Laaksonen (7.90) 7.894/130.13, Turo Vitie (8.00) 8.055/131.04

Junior Drag Bike eliminations round 1 winners:

Jesse Leino (13.30) 13.368/78.95, Sanna Koskinen (9.95) 9.604/99.36, Minttu Gratschew (13.85) 14.032/74.25, Miro Gratschew (9.20) 9.416/104.83, Otto Paaso (12.40) 12.417/88.33

13:20

Funny Bike eliminations round 1 winners:

Rickard Gustafsson 7.456/325.99 bye, Riku Silver 25.146/79.33 bye (Jere Laakonsen no show), Risto Outavaara 8.978/269.62, Pasi Alakunnas 8.475/264.83, Juha Hillman 8.328/232.97

Stock/Super Stock eliminations round 1 winners:

Arto Sulopuisto (11.20) 10.435/207.92 bye, Tarja Gynther (11.10) 12.414/176.48, Tarmo Mikkola (10.00) 11.828/135.49 bye (Anders Holmberg no show), Hannu Palasmaa (10.69) 10.628/199.03, Jarmo Markkanen (10.93) 10.939/194.07, Per Fagerstrom (10.27) 10.261/206.82, Anna-Kaisa Manninen (10.02) 10.059/205.68

13:00

FIA Pro Modified eliminations round 2

Adam Flamholc 6.240/355.52 def. Marko Lantto 6.517/354.56 DQ

Marko handed this to Adam with a -0.127 red light. 1.000 to sixty feet for Adam, 4.067/288.52 at the eighth. Straight run for Adam whilst Marko's 'Vette moved about its lane some.

Urban Johansson 6.174/362.64 def. Timo Aikaa no time DQ

Timo left before the lights ran handing the win to Urban. 1.032 to sixty feet and 4.063/295.41 at the eighth. Timo's car moved about its lane but a good straight run from Urban.

Johan Lindberg 6.120/373.59 def. Roger Johansson 6.692/344.69

Johan away first 0.083 to 0.108, and the better sixty foot time 1.006 to 1.019. Roger's Mustang mad a move to the right and he had to pedal, 4.008 to the eighth for Johan to Roger's 4.408.

Micke Gullqvist 6.065/390.51 def.Micke Lindahl 9.519/165.41

0.090 to 0.132 advantage for Micke G off the line, 0.997 to sixty feet to Micke L's 1.080, Micke L hit shake and shut it off by about 150 feet. 4.016/301.68 to the eighth for Gullan.

12:45

Christer has posted a set of pit notes which you can view via the Event Index page, but you will need to reload the index page by clicking on Refresh or by hitting Ctrl and R before you can view them.

FIA Top Methanol Dragster eliminations round 1

Dennis Habermann 5.519/412.29 def. Dave Wilson 5.384/440.91

Big holeshot win for Dennis, 0.065 RT to Grumpy's 0.203. 0.935 to sixty feet for Dennis to Grumpy's 0.960, Grumpy had the better eighth 3.621/354.22 to Dennis' 3.623/332.12, smoke from one bank of headers on Grumpy's car but it didn't seem to slow him down as that was European speed record form but no chance to back it up now. 0.0032 in it at the stripe or 39.19 centimetres!

Derek Flynn 7.642/289.85 def. Fred Hanssen 5.784/312.89 DQ

A big Happy 4th July to Fred's tuner Will Hanna...would he get an Independence Day gift from Fred? Derek after a gift of his own as he was on a European speed record going to the line. Fred threw it away with a -0.024 red light which he can't have seen as he stayed with it and boy did the Islanders car go out of shape. The dragster was weaving left and right, we saw both sides of the car and how it didn't go over on the last violent right turn I don't know, great driving by Fred. Derek's tyres didn't light in the burnout and he paid for it as the Gold RV dragster's slicks went up in smoke a few feet out, but he is safely through to the next round.

Timo Habermann 5.378/419.09 def. Krister Johansson 5.590/386.03

Timo away first 0.043 to 0.093, storming 0.912 sixty foot time to Krister's 0.988. Krister's car looked to have a cylinder out towards the eighth. 3.519/341.44 to the eighth for Timo to Krister's 3.711/343.14 and then Krister was off it just before the stripe.

Peter Schöfer 5.467/419.46 def. Paul Ingar Udtian 5.664/411.12 DQ

Deep stage and -0.056 red light by Paul handed it to Peter. 0.922 to sixty feet for Peter, 3.594/366.68 at the eighth and into the semis against Timo.

12:25

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car final

Arvid Grødem 5.936/344.37 def. Jarmo Kuutniemi 6.015/384.60

Arvid away first 0.154 to 0.204, the better sixty foot time 0.957 to 0.992, 3.827 to the eighth for Arvid to Jappa's 3.955. Arvid's Mustang was moving left and right some but he stayed with it and took the stripe by 0.1298.

12:20

UEM Top Fuel Bike eliminations round 1

Jaska Salakari 6.828/315.69 def. Kai Selkamäa 8.714/315.69

Kai away first 0.183 to 0.223 and had the better sixty foot time 1.157 to 1.209. He was still ahead at 330 feet 3.067 to Jaska's 3.082 but then Kai's motor started to go away, 4.817 at the eighth to Jaska's 4.514, Kai shut off at the eighth and Jaska took it by 1.8468.

Petri Paljakka 7.212/293.91 def. Rene van den Berg 39.372/39.95

Rene got away first 0.224 to 0.276 but then from here it looked as if a drive belt broke and Rene played no further part in proceedings. 1.142 to sixty feet for Petri, a coupe of feathers of the throttle, 4.572/261.96 at the eighth and into the final against Jaska.

12:15

UEM Supertwin eliminations round 1

Hans Olav Olstad 6.749/327.76 def. Samu Kamppainen 7.569/243.67

Picture-perefct run for Hans Olav. 1.149 to sixty feet to Samu's 1.217, 4.420/271.69 at the eighth to Samu's 4.710/239.96 and first to the stripe by 0.7628.

Jan Sturla Hegre 7.066/292.78 bye, Trond Høiberget shut off

Trond shut off after the burnout. 1.153 to sixty feet for Jan Sturla, 4.564/259 at the eighth.

Ismo Mäenpää 7.198/324.46 def. Lorenz Stäuble 7.653/270.07

Ismo away first 0.131 to 0.146, but Lo had the better sixty foot 1.178 to 1.338, Lo's bike was moving about its lane and looked to lose a cylinder at the eighth 4.808/228.88 to Ismo's 4.781/269.12, Ismo took the stripe by 0.4707 to the delight of the track announcers to my left and the crowd.

Job Heezen 6.725/322.94 def. Roel Koedam 6.832/299.87

A tremendous drag race! Roel had a visible start line lead 0.106 to 0.154, the slightly better sixty foot time 1.150 to 1.156, Roel still had the lead at the eighth 4.398/270.78 to Job's 4.412/279.18 but Job was starting to reel Roel in and took it by 0.0597. Huge header flames from Roel's bike clearly visible in the strong sunlight.

12:00

UEM Pro Stock Bike eliminations round 1

Kenneth Vik 7.175/299.19 def. Gabriella Nikolovska 7.315/292.96

0.055 RT for Kenneth to Gabbi's 0.080, 1.141 to sixty for Gabbi to Kenneth's 1.142, there go the incrementals but new PBs for both Kenneth and Gabbi, well done guys!

Anders Abrahamsson 7.143/303.71 def. Gert-Jan Laseur 7.348/287.09

Anders away first 0.075 to 0.121, the incrementals vanish, Anders had a visible lead by the eighth and steps up big time, and he is on the first half of a speed record. Well done Anders!

Ulf Ögge 7.155/300.74 def. Harri Piensalmi 7.291/288.12

Ulf away first 0.111 to 0.199, way in front by the eighth 4.569 to 4.632, 0.2241 at the stripe.

Fredrik Fredlund 7.214/299.56 bye, Kalle Lyrén shut off

Kalle shut off after the burnout so Fredrik took the bye. 1.136 to sixty feet, 4/612/246.57 at the eighth. Who'd have thought that a 7.2 would be the slowest winning ET in a round?

11:45

FIA Top Fuel Dragster eliminations round 1

Top Fuel Dragster is running over 1000 feet here at Alastaro this weekend.

Andy Carter 4.243/431.71 def. Jari Halinen 7.051/145.80

Jari moved first 0.082 to 0.113, Andy had the much better sixty foot time 0.886 to 0.980, Jari's tyres started to smoke and he pedalled, 3.342/386.03 to the eighth for Andy and Jari had already shut off by then 4.641/169.50.

Risto Poutiainen 4.118/446.21 def. Micke Kågered 6.967/156.43

The briefest of burnouts for Micke. 0.087 to 0.135 RT advantage for Risto, and the better sixty foot time 0.867 to 0.944. Micke's dragster appeared to be spraying fluid from about 200 feet and he was shut off way before the eighth. 3.260/399.01 to the eighth for Risto to Micke's shut off 4.595/164.87. Risto was a fair way down the shutdown area before he pulled his chutes. Some clean-up in Micke's lane and in the shutdown area.

Timo Lehtimaki 4.152/458.06 def. Janne Ahonen 4.514/372.72

Finland sure to win this one. Janne away first 0.105 to 0.151, Timo had the much better sixty foot time 0.886 to 0.925 and was way ahead at the eighth 3.297/391.14 to 3.543/357.63. Looked from here as if Janne shut off just a touch early. Great run for Timo. The track crew checked Janne's lane bu all OK.

Urs Erbacher 4.542/370.81 def. Anita Mäkelä no time

Anita hit the throttle as Urs staged DQing herself but she realised what she had done as she was off the throttle within half a second and idled down the track. 0.909 to sixty feet for Urs, looked like cylinders were out at the eighth 3.524/349.01 but Urs stayed with it.

11:15

FIA Pro Stock eliminations round 1

Micke Callin 6.823/314.73 bye, Harald Sturhan no show

No sign of Harald so Micke took the bye. 0.041 RT, 1.029 to sixty feet and 4.396 at half track, nice pass!

Jan Palmqvist 6.896/306.60 bye, Jimmy Ålund no show

Jimmy out with a broken rod. Nice pass for Jan too: 1.052 to sixty feet, 4.437/257.99 to the eighth.

Michael Malmgren 6.767/329.63 def. Bo Pettersson 7.108/311.21

0.137 to 0.141 advantage for Bo but Michael started to get away very quickly as the Lahjega car just squatted down and went. 1.025 to sixty feet for Michael to Bo's 1.053, Bo's car drifted to the right and he was way behind by the eighth 4.364 to 4.585.

Richard Sundblom 6.879/306.60 def. Tommy Leindahl 6.882/324.68

Great race! 0.076 to 0.131 advantage for Nixxon, Tommy had the better sixty foot 1.024 to 1.044, Tommy's car drifted to the right a little, 4.429/259.52 at the eighth for Nixxon to Tommy's 4.436/255.63 and Nixxon took the stripe by 0.0583.

11:10

FIA Pro Modified eliminations round 1

Micke Lindahl 6.186/365.39 def. Mats Eriksson 6.421/354.74

Micke away first 0.081 to 0.081, Mats had the better sixty foot time 1.029 to 1.073, Mats drove through shake but by the eighth had lost enough time for Micke to get ahead, Micke at the eighth in 4.082 to Mats' 4.232 and it was over by then.

Adam Flamholc 7.987/187.66 bye, Tomi Pontinen shut off

Tomi shut off after his burnout with a fluid leak. Adam waited whilst Tomi's car was pushed back from 300 feet. 1.057 to sixty feet, 2.743 to 330 feet and then the car made a move to the right and Adam shut if off.

Marko Lantto 6.645/338.33 def. Jan Gunnarsson 7.077/349.32

0.083 to 0.184 RT advantage for Jan but then he hit shake off the line and had to pedal twice giving Marko the crucial advantage. The other incrementals were cleared before I had a chance to read them.

Timo Aikaa 6.927/322.01 def. Tami Brander 6.534/323.52

Timo in as an alternate for Andy Robinson. -0.100 red light for Tami threw it away. 1.077 to sixty for Timo, then hit shake and the car made a move to the right and Timo pedalled. 4.473/264.93 at the eighth.

Urban Johansson 6.218/360.21 def. Marco Maurischat 6.619/340.72

0.084 to 0.128 RT advantage for Urban, Marco had barely got on the two-step when the lights ran. Marco had the better sixty foot time at 1.008...and there go the incrementals so you'll have to guess the rest of them. Urban's car was moving about the lane some but he steadily pulled ahead of Marco.

Johan Lindberg 6.140/371.29 def. Jari Paren 6.801/319.17

0.098 to 0.234 RT advantage for Johan, straight as you like and no shake. Jari's 'Vette was a little slow off the line but it would have taken something to catch Johan who didn't put a foot wrong.

Roger Johansson 6.860/308.04 def. Bruno Bader no time

Bruno rolled through stage and the big cherry lit. 1.013 to sixty feet for Roger and then shake and the Mustang made a move to the right, it was close to the centre line but Roger pedalled and then got back on it.

Micke Gullqvist 5.911/395.52 def. Freddy Fagerstrom 6.374/357.19

What can we say - the quickest and fastest Pro Mod run in Europe! Micke away first 0.082 to 0.093, 0.986 to sixty feet to Freddy's 1.031, Freddy hit had shake and had to pedal as the truck went for the guardrail. 3.898/310.08 at half track for Micke to Freddy's 4.231/295.95. Micke's 395.52 (245.76 mph) is already backed up as a new speed record and the 5.911 is the first half of a new ET record, well done Gullan! One for the armchair experts: Gullan is calling the tuning shots on the car himself, the American guys on his team are mechanics.

10:45

Outlaw eliminations round 1 winners:

Sampsa Palos 7.690/232.60, Timo Makela 14.102/133.46 bye (Kalle Mannerkoski no show), Ville Haga 11.181/217.47 bye (Ari Nikko broke), Jari Sokura 7.855/268.57, Hannu Kalliomaki 7.872/232.52, Lauri Kuriks 8.127/264.98, Tero Karanen 11.70/176.98 bye (Marko Leivo no show), Timo Kaisla 7.711/257.58

Next up is round one of Pro Mod.

10:30

Super Pro ET eliminations round 1 winners:

0.000 RT for Janne Noren in his bye, well done Janne!

Pasi Korhonen (9.60) 9.602/225.32 bye, Viljar Maesepp (8.70) 8.894/251.94, Hannu Tekoniemi (9.20) 9.298/209.64, Jere Rantaniemi (9.20) 9.606/231.33, Timo Heiskanen (8.97) 8.974/232.56, Janne Noren (9.50) 9.515/219.32 bye (Mikael Skinnars no show), Kari Laitinen (11.92) 11.504/191.00 bye (Jyrki Laune no show), Joni Lappalainen (9.55) 9.625/209.54, Juha Raikkonen (8.65) 8.699/250.50 bye (Kieku Salo no show)

10:15

Junior Dragster eliminations round 1 winners:

Career best 0.007 RT for Jimi Orhanen.

Patrik Kivinummi (7.90) 7.921/131.58, Sauli Uusitalo (13.75) 13.763/73.86, Kimi Palenius (14.04) 14.042/75.49, Jenna Kakkonen (13.90) 13.847/74.36, Joni Hansahahti (8.88) 8.857/120.90, Jimi Orhanen (14.99) 14.960/68.09, Viivi Ollikainen (13.00) 13.054/76.84, Cilla Koskinen (8.15) 8.197/128.03, Iiro Laaksonen (7.90) 7.948/124.55, Ronja Koskinen (8.05) 8.193/129.17, Turo Vitie (8.00) 8.119/130.68, Mirka Hansalahti (14.61) 14.575/66.47

9:10

Sunnuntai! Sunnuntai! Sunnuntai!

Good morning and welcome from Alastaro for our coverage of the FHRA Nitro Nationals brought to you in association with American Car Imports.

The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam is on-line and will be posting a picture every sixty seconds until the track closes on Sunday.

It's another beautiful day here at Alastaro, not a cloud in the sky. It's already 23 C and it's going get real hot again, into the thirties, but a lot of the racers seemed to have a handle on the same conditions yesterday.

The traditional Raceday good morning to our US Correspondents Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman who are tuned in from Rye, NH. Good to hear you were hitting Refresh so often yesterday Ed. In fact we would like to send particular greetings to all of our readers in the USA and wish you all a Happy 4th July. Also celebrating a birthday today and thus entitled to much love and hugs is Kathy Taylor. Happy Birthday Kathy. A special Hello to Kari Natkin who is in the Dominican Republic due to work commitments but who wrote us a very nice E-Mail about our coverage. Finally good morning to Jeanette, Jon and Shelby Webster who are tuned in from the UK. Hope you enjoy today's coverage.

We are due to start at 10:00 with Junior Dragster, Super Pro ET and Outlaw, then we go into the first round of Pro Mod and our Pro classes with the exception of Top Methanol FC which only has its final to run.

Stay tuned and as soon as the racing starts we'll bring you the news.