Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson made it to the pairing lanes for two test passes today. The car has a 903 cu in engine from US doorslammer legend Pat Musi, who has been advising Roger for some time.

Competition Eliminator racer John Bradshaw had a bye in the first round of eliminations and had installed a new engine following a failure on Friday. The problem lifted the head and cracked the block following several runs with high water pressure. John said "We will launch and use the first couple of gears - I don't want to lower the index."

During the afternoon your pit reporter ventured to the top end; the Top Methanol Funny Cars can slow rapidly even from a six second pass and some go off at the first exit.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson said after a 5.60/411kph run, "We needed to get back where we were. We were getting a bit aggressive and screwed up. There is a new shifter on the car and I was not used to the staging procedure with it and we had to change it." Leif owns the XL Motorhome business which is being advertised heavily at the event

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem slowed from his previous 5.72 run after bad shake meaning he lifted after 300ft. He said "At least I didn't break anything." He ended up as no.3 in the ladder with a first-round match-up against Jonas Staflund tomorrow.

Top Methanol Dragster Chris Polidano said "It's quite a hard weekend for us as this is the first event with an all Maltese crew without a main tuner at the track. Jerry Darien has been helping and we talk to him on the phone after each pass. Although we have gone a bit slower today with 5.71 and 5.81, we will try to go 5.4 tomorrow." Chris is qualified 7th with 5.58 and faces Dennis Habermann in the first round.

Top Methanol Dragster Krister Johansson said "We shook the tyres hard and will have to change the settings to compensate." Krister started with a 5.44 but today's runs were 5.66 and 5.75 leaving him in 4th place with a first round matchup against Timo Habermann.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer was delighted with a 5.39, driving through big tyre shake but getting his best time in the last three years. He is qualified no.3 and has a first round match against Dave Wilson.

Top Methanol Dragster racer Manty Bugeja is qualified no.1 with 5.33. On his final pass he suffered tyre shake and had to lift to 5.77. Manty has a bye in round one.

Pro Stock racer Harry Sturhan suffered wheelspin on his final pass to run a 7.86, his best of 7.02 being closer to where he wants to be in timing but not qualified for eliminations in this event.

Pro Stock racer Bo Pettersson said "The car is starting to move well and I am happier driving it now." The car ran a best of 7.91, some way off its best of 7.1. The car was built by Jerry Bickel and has a Reher Morrison engine.

Pro Stock racer Magnus Petersson ran a 6.95 but just failed to qualify. He said "This is a great car and I am looking forward to running it harder at future events after I have got used to driving it."

Pro Stock racer Christian Sagelv was delighted to qualify with a 6.91 PB. "I have qualified and this is the first time a Ford has qualified for Pro Stock in many years. Thanks to Gulf oil and Hansen for making this all possible. I raced Jimmy here in June and at Alastaro in July and he beat me both times. I have him tomorrow and hopefully it will be third time lucky."

Pro Stock racer Mats Jacobsson was disappointed not to qualify. He said after a final 6.97 attempt "I should go quicker but have a clutch problem. It is too good a track for our settings which are too soft. The engine is running well but I can't get the power through the clutch."

Pro Stock racer Sampsa Palos ran a 6.78 in the final session, close to his best for the weekend, a 6.77. He said "We have had some electrical problems and had to change the coil and ignition, but it's something we haven't found yet. It affects the rev limiter in 4th gear which is coming in at 9500rpm rather than 10300 when it should." Sampsa has a first round match against Richard Sundblom.

Pro Stock racer Thomas Lindström was ecstatic after getting pole position with a 6.66. He said "We have had problems with a faulty carburretor valve which caused it to flood in the first session and then a good 6.75 in the second session. I also overreved the engine but fortunately there was no damage. It is my first race in six weeks and it's good to get back into the routine."

Pro Stock racer Richard Sundblom was pleased to be fourth with a spare engine. "We used our old spare engine from the late Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins and our usual engine is supposed to be stronger, but it broke in the last race, didn't expect a lot and we are really pleased."

Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund must be wondering if he can keep his championship crown with Thomas Lindström leading by 39 points before the start of this event. He admitted "I'm not surprised by Thomas's success - he is doing a great job." Jimmy's last run was a 6.698 compared to his best of 6.696 and he said "I have got the car running well now." It should be an interesting battle in eliminations.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen ran a 4.33. His crewmen Gary Page and Laurie Bamford said "We will take what we are given, we are in the field and we can tune the car up for tomorrow. We always want to run quicker, we've plenty to work with and it hasn't hurt itself." Jari is 7th and faces Risto Poutiainen in the first round, with only a tenth between their qualifying ETs.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä ran a 4.15 in the final session and commented the clutch didn't work quite as she was expected coming in quite suddenly. She also reported a small problem with the reverser after the burnout. Tomorrow she will meet Patrik Pers in the first round.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen has been the quickest and most consistent running 4.15, 4.04, 4.08 and 4.10. He said "Yesterday and today have been good. I have a great team."

Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson was happy to be running at the track. He said "It felt loose at the launch and lazy and then I realised it was a driver's mistake and I had started in second. The team have done a very good job to get the car ready for the event."

Pro Modified racer Jan Brännvall was also pleased to have got down the track even though he didn't qualify. He said "We had two full passes and need one or two more to solve the tuning problems and get the car running ok. We need to take fuel out, get the start better and solve some Lenco problems. Now we go home to Lapland and will look to run our BAE X1 engine." Jan and team thank sponsor MotorFist Snowmobile Gear and Apparel.

Pro Modified racer Mattias Wulcan was helped by Jon Salemi of Resolution Racing Services but despite running a 6.57, didn't make the field for eliminations. He said "I ran a 5.93 here two months ago and ran several 4.01s and won the Power Street Finals at Malmö. But I am dialling in a Leanders clutch to go quicker and former Pro Stock racer Pelle Eriksson is helping me set it up."

Pro Modified racer Johan Lindberg said "This is a great field and we changed the rear shocks to new ones to make it a little quicker. We will try to figure it out. It is very competitive. Johan is 14th with 6.17 and his final run was his quickest.

Pro Modified racer Tero Laukkanen was in 20th on what is essentially a testing weekend. He said "The clutch is slipping too much but we are pleased to run our best of 6.68." Tero's car was constructed by Tami Brander.

Pro Modified racer Bert-ove Olofsson is eighth with a 6.0946 which he ran in the last session. He said "We need to go quicker". He meets Mark Meihuizen in the first round tomorrow.

Pro Modified racer Patrik Wikström is first alternate after running 6.37. He held up an aluminium stud which he said "Came loose and caused pressure to drop causing me to lose earlier runs. On this last run I spun the tyres.

Pro Modified racer Tami Brander arrived at 8:00 on Friday morning after attending a show in Finland. He said "This is my best meeting so far although the injector scoop was blown off which we fixed last night." Tami ran a 6.13 in the last session to qualify 11th. He faces Ola Dahlblom in round one tomorrow.

Pro Modified racers Bruno Bader (closest to camera), Ola Dahlblom and Urban Johansson all have '63 Vettes and are qualified 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

Pro Modified racer Ola Dahlblom said "Everything is working well with the crew working very hard on the car. As I run Top Doorslammer I get a lot of track time on eighth mile tracks. We are in Pro Mod here and of course I want to win." Ola is qualified no.6 with a 6.07 and ran 6.10 in the final session.

Pro Modified racer Martin Lundqvist suffered a scrape with the wall. He said "It is repairable. There is nothing wrong with the performance. I was trying for a good pass and it felt good. I just didn't realise that I was so close to the wall." The damage does appear superficial and he is qualified no.4 with 6.02 and races David Vegter in the first round tomorrow.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher was upset when he was unable to start in the second session yesterday. He said "It was a stupid mistake by one of our new crew members who put the spark plug cable in the wrong place, a rookie problem. In the first session I was running in the first pair in the left hand lane and without other cars having run down, my time was slower. We then set the car up for the record but couldn't run it. So today we have set it up slightly softer to run between 4.14 and 4.18 and have new slicks on it. As Robin Grice has business commitments, Glenn Mikres has come over from the US to tune. This is my last race this year and we would love more sponsors to be able to do more in Europe." Urs is grateful to Midland Oil for its support.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Håkan Fallström had a torrid time in qualifying. Crew chief Peter Lantz said "We had some Apache ambushes like in a western. On the first run a blower belt came off for no reason other than it had been used up. On the second run the car left on seven clutch fingers and went up in smoke instantly. There was no damage but we changed engines anyway as the other one was leaking. All was fine until we were rocking the car and a carbon fibre brake fell off. Bad Apache. We are trying to find some spares and have asked over 80 teams." Håkan managed to find a spare only to suffer a kaboom on his pass. The team have plenty of spares though, and Bjorn Martensson (who ran a Topolino in Comp) is licensing in it. They still hope to compete at the Finals.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Patrik Pers is assisted by Crew Chief Mark 'Animal' Bodimeade and tuner Alan Jackson. Animal said "Congratulations to Tierp, I have never come across a surface so well prepped. It caught us out by surprise and on our first pass the shake was so violent that Patrik's nice shiny new helmet was scratched to hell. We turned the car round and there was no damage. On the second we had a lot more power on the launch and higher rpm. The result was shake not as bad, but still too much to complete the pass. So we serviced it, no damage but a softer clutch and more rpm at the hit. It is digging in like there's no tomorrow. We need to qualify to do Santa Pod." Patrik's run of 4.22 this morning put the car in no.7 spot.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä said "It is so good to do a full pass when one can count on the track. You can drive with a full heart and not worry about the track not taking the power. The car was lacking some power at the hit and not getting enough wheel speed on the launch but can tune round that and hope to run a 4.0 next time." This was confirmed when her subsequent pass produced a 4.099, good for third place.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Micke Larsson's engine blew supercharger burst panels at the eighth on both runs yesterday, causing minor body damage. "I had good speed at that point and still ran 6.75 on the second pass. We traced the problem to a loose magneto which gave wrong ignition. Fortunately there was no engine damage and thanks to Arvid Grødem's team for helping with the repair work and we provided them with a camshaft in return. We want to make a full pass as the track is good and go for a five, as we ran a 6.06 at Alastaro. I would like to do the whole tour next year if we have the budget."

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jonas Staflund said "I have told my son I will quit racing if I don't run quicker than a six this year and he can take the steering wheel. I went up in smoke at the hit on the first run and the blower belt went. In the second session on the pass the engine blew a head gasket and burned one head and a piston. I had a spare head and we worked until 2am doing the engine rebuild. I was thinking we hadn't done something like that for five years." Jonas, who didn't appear in this morning's session, is qualified 5th with a 6.25.

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Arvid Grødem said "We had camshaft lifter problems on the first run which resulted in bent pushrods, squared lifters and needing a new camshaft. We got shut down due to fuel leakage in the second session yesterday and with bent pushrods in the engine, it was fortunate that we did. It started ok in the pits but felt wrong on the burnout. We worked to 2am rebuilding the engine."

Arvid Grødem has a team with four Norwegians, two Danish clutch guys from Dan Larsen's team and two Swedes. When asked what language they worked in, Arvid said "SweDaneNorse, with a few Anglo Saxon words when it goes wrong!"

Top Methanol Funny Car racer Danny Bellio ran a single pass yesterday as on his second attempt a throttle linkage came off. "on the first run the shift light came on and off so I was on and off the throttle several times. I need to go at full speed and the chutes need to come out on time." The car flipped at the end of the track after the chutes failed in June, and it was a huge effort to get the car repaired in time for the NitrOlympX in August. "Mats Eriksson did the chassis work and Dan Larsen spent hours on repairing the body and remounting the chute externally. Many thanks to Harteveld and Deukie.nl who sponsored the repair work."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer (pictured right, with brother and crew chief Wolfie) was happy with his time from Friday. Crewman Kirsten Krause said "The first run had tyre shake and had to be aborted, but in the second it went down the track well for a 5.41 to go second. The track is really smooth and hopefully we can go even quicker and we will lean on it. Every car can improve from yesterday, but it was our best 60ft time for a long while and we need to get more power in top gear by half track."

Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson was cajoling his team to make his next run a good one after his first yesterday was tractionless and second a 5.68, off his and the competition's best. "It may be my last," he said. Son David explained that if Dave has no chance of the TMD championship this year, he may quit ahead of the Euro Finals as he is appealing against the points awarded at Hockenheim. David continued "We are now back to our normal settings, but when you are used to a quarter turn of a screw and then turn it three times, you forget where you were in the first place. We are up against it and have lost the combination and may have only one more run to get it back." In this morning's session, Dave improved to a 5.49/423kph but only moved up one place to sixth.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Janne Ahonen's crew member Harry Räikkönen told us that the team is hosting sponsor Janne Niska, a Finnish crane company. He said "We are happy with the performance, we had a little damage but only to one cylinder head from a small issue with the fuel system, and nothing bad. We would like to run a three second pass having gone 4.15 and 4.04 for no.1 but will have to see. This has been a good starting season, the team is working well under crew chief Simo Patoharju and we have Donnie Bender and Jarmo Pulkkinen joining us again." In this morning's session, Janne ran a 4.08 and remained no.1 qualifier.

Pro Stock Bike racer Fredrik Fredlund was pleased to run the first half of a new ET record, a 7.055/304kph in yesterday's second session. He said "We are very pleased with that. We have finally got our Racepak working and analysing our data was one of the reasons why the second run was an improvement. If the track is there and I don't mess up I can back it up. But the weather is very humid today, it takes the oxygen out and you can't burn water. Fredrik is joined by Gary Stoffer who is also helping Kenneth Vik, who ran a 7.10 in the second session and Anders Larsson.

Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson was left with a thrash in the pits to get his new Mustang ready for competition. "The engine from Pat Musi only arrived on Wednesday evening and we have to do things to get it in the All-in Race Cars chassis. We want to test just a couple of times this weekend. Our original plan was to test in Gardermoen but had no engine. It is not good to be at a track with a car and no engine." Roger now plans to test at Malmö and also run at the EDRS Finals at the end of September, before resuming the tour next year.

Supertwin racer Vidar Ravnsborg has bought the bike run by Ton Pels and Job Heezen up to 2011 and is getting to know it this season. He said "I have been racing for 18 years in Supertwins and got to try the bike for the first time at Gardermoen. This is my first event running it seriously and a 7.4 is fine for that. The bike is more advanced than my old one but I am hoping to do the full UEM tour in 2013. Thanks to the Harley Davidson shop in Oslo who are my sponsor."

Super Comp bike racer Thorsten 'Skorpion' Appel is qualified 16th with 9.52. He said "I changed the tyre before the meeting after a demo burnout and spun the new tyre on the hit following a short burnout. The burnout for the second run was harder and my 1.4 60ft time would have been a 8.57 on a full pass. But it broke traction, the bike got close to the wall and the Sidewider exhaust scraped it a bit. I have raised the bike at the back by an inch to help traction, but I am learning. The bike is capable of 8.50."

Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad has a new bike prepared by Puma Engineering's Gerard Willemse (pictured right). He said "We first brought it out at Hockenheim where I was able to get a round win. It is hard to get used to the bike as it is heavier and longer than my old bike. So I have to forget all my old habits. We are refining the settings to get it drivable and will then work out speed. But the weight of 532kg means it is hard to pick up the front wheel." The bike has a parallel twin and Gerard said "I have built other Supertwin engines but this is the first whole Supertwin bike from Puma." Hans Olav said his old bike was sold to Ulf Nylen.

Supertwin racer Per Bengtsson qualified second with 6.69/324kph. He said "The run was not too bad but I expect to go faster. I was on and off the throttle three times and it was a combination of the track and the rider. We hope to run better today and get the 60ft time down to below 1.1."

Supertwin racer Anna-Lena Apslund is selling her Supertwin Top Gas bike to go into the nitro ranks. "We have put a new engine and gearbox in it after the block split at Gardermoen and it has run well here, although I won't be in the ladder. My best time is 7.99 compared with a PB of 7.70. There is no Supertwin Top Gas competition in Sweden so the bike would suit someone in Norway or the Euro Top Gas Serie. This is a super track and I love it. The air is very good."

Supertwin racer Nate Gagnon said "This is the best track I have ever run at and I can really use the bike here. It is my best opportunity to lay down some numbers and is something special. We will turn it up as the track keeps coming round the more Top Fuel cars run on it. I think we can run a low 6.4 and would like to run a 6.3 here. But we want to win. The best final for me would be to run against Samu and to have a good, hard race." Nate is qualified no.1 with 6.63 after Saturday's first session.

Supertwin racer Samu Kemppainen said "Our 6.73 run yesterday was one of our best. We want to go quicker and I have some goals for this season. We wanted to win the Nordic Supertwin Championship and I did that at Gardermoen. Our other targets are to run a 6.5 and do well in the UEM championship and I feel we can achieve these too. We have stepped forward this year and it is great having Nate as a running mate."

Supertwin racer Vesa Lipponen said "We spun the tyre with too much clutch on the first run and went close to the wall, although there was not a big problem. On the second pass there was a fuel leak so we were shut off." The bike is a Bill Furr frame from 1997 with a new PRP engine and B&J two speed trans. He said "7.7 is the best time in testing and we are refining tuning and want to run in the sixes when it is sorted." Vesa is running in the Extreme Fuel Circus event at Alastaro on 1-2 September and he is dependent on getting new sponsors to run the UEM season in 2013.

Pro Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson is back after a five year break with a Vance & Hines engine acquired from Gary Stoffer. He said "It's a good engine, 1755cc and on my very first pass in five years I ran a 7.20 compared to my previous best of 7.59. I am just happy to be here and to go down the track. Being away for so long, I need to get it together and feel I'm just a passenger." Anders runs a rock blasting company ("It's really cool, I blow things up for a living") which will prevent him from racing outside Scandinavia in 2013.

Supertwin racer Trond Jostein Høiberget has a new clutch setup with bigger springs. He said "It's difficult to tune with the new springs. We also broke a sprag in the gearbox on the second run on power. We have replaced this and are ready to go quicker than our 8.02 from yesterday. The engine is fine but we spun the tyre on the first run and it was difficult going before the cars had laid down rubber in qualifying."

Supertwin racer Roman Sixta was also struggling having built new fuel lines for the race to run a 7.73 yesterday, good only for 12th place. He said "We had no time to try the new system and the engine is running much too rich, so we are borrowing a new fuel valve in order to make it run leaner. There is a lot of power and yesterday we were only using 40% throttle. Roman's PB on the Fast Cat-engined bike is 7.41.

Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad ran a 6.81/317kph on his first pass and then had problems in the second. "The fuel pump slided out from its mounting so we lost fuel pressure and the engine stopped. I had made my burnout and was about to make a pass so I am glad nothing was hurt." Svein Olaf and three others (team-mate Jan Sturla Hegre, Per Bengtsson and Rickard Gustavsson) are competing at the Manufacturers' World Cup at Valdosta, Georgia, USA on 10-11 November. He said "The container has to be loaded and ready by mid-September so it's difficult to compete at the Euro Finals as breaking anything would make it impossible to be ready on time."