Sweden Internationals
Saturday


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Latest update: 20:00


Top Fuel Dragster racers Patrik Pers (pictured left) amd Timo Lehtimaki wait to be fired up in qualifying this morning.


Pro Mod racer Mats Erikson is supporting the distribution of Docol products by placing a stand near his race car trailer. Product manager Anna Stiwne explained that their product Docol R8 has been approved by the SFI as equivalent to chrome moly 3140 and is a low alloy material that is easier to weld, has good bendability and no oxide layers. The increased flexibility gives it less risk of cracking.


Pro Mod racerJohan "Lillis" Samuelsson made his first full pass since a crash last year although he lifted during the run. He said "I am pleased to get information for my setup although I did not qualify." A 6.91 was outside the 6.70 bump spot placing him in 18th.


Pro Mod racer Norbert Schneider has run quicker on each pass. He said "My goal is to run safely but not to run a six at this stage. I have learned a lot at this race and we have good data. The launch was smooth because the clutch is set soft and we are leaving at lower rpms." Norbert's best time was in that last pass, a 7.28/323kph.


Pro Mod racer Niclas Andsersson had bad tyre shake in all his runs but a softer setup helped him run a 6.30 to be no.12 qualifier. He said "We are working with the car still and have a lot of new engine and clutch parts and a new rear wing so it will take more runs to get the car to run right. Tomorrow is another day though."


Pro Mod racer Stefan Carlsson finished with a 7.19 to go 20th. He said "We backed off the engine and softened the clutch to reduce tyre shake. It felt better but I drifted right and had to back off."


Pro Mod racer Jari Prén had bad tyre shake in his final pass but an earlier 6.70 was just enough to qualify him for eliminations tomorrow. He said "We have also had a problem with head studs."


Pro Mod racer Jan Gunnarson had to soften the clutch to get down the track. He said "I am hopefully qualified otherwise somebody is going to get mad at me. My guys have a lot to do and I thank all of them. They are great guys, but we have struggled all weekend. Hopefully we have found the problem and can apply more clutch tomorrow." He is qualified 11th with a 6.26.


Pro Mod racer "Doctor" Norbert Kuno said "I shook bad and was off the throttle before half track. We have found it a tricky track, hard to drive on and we couldn't find a setup that suited the car. We will plan to run a 6.1 tomorrow, anything is possible."


Pro Mod racer David Vegter's weekend has improved and he finished in 6th position with a new PB of 6.05. He said "I even shifted early on that one, the car picked up really well in 2nd and 3rd and I think we can get the consistency back in eliminations."


Pro Mod racers David Vegter and Mattias Wulcan discuss a close side-by-side qualifying duel. Mattias said "We are happy to get back into the fives with a 5.97." He is qualified fourth.


Pro Mod racer Martin Lundkvist is the speed king but on this run didn't get the revs right and carded a 6.22/379. He is on a speed record of 407.24 if he can back it up but reset it at 399.11 anyway.


Pro Mod racer Freddy Fagerström has been writing an S into the track on every run this weekend but it hasn't hurt his performance too much, running a 6.21 this morning to qualify eighth.


Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten continued his improvement after finding a suspension issue (see below). A new PB in Europe of 6.11 was pleasing. He said "The car is responding to smalll changes and we are going to think about a plan for tomorrow.


Top Methanol Funny Car racers Johan and Jonnie Lindberg have identical livery with support from Chevrolet and other sponsors. Both bodies are Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Johan is qualified second with a 5.700 and Jonnie sixth with a 6.181. The team are posting daily updates at www.lindbergbros.com.


Johan Lindberg is pictured in his car. Car owner and CEO of Tierp Arena Lars-Erik Lindberg said "The cars were both shipped in March and we have got two great cars from Frank Manzo (Jonnie) and Brian Thiels (Johan)." Johan said "I had a great run against Leif Andreasson and we were close then the blower lifted and I slowed to a 5.78. My car launches very quick and Jonnie's has better top speed."


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Johnny Oksa has made a confident-looking debut in the OK Racing Team Dodge Charger raced by his late father Jarmo 'Japa' Kuutniemi. Johnny said "It was difficult to drive at first and after I ran a 6.0 I wanted to quit, I was so scared - I didn't understand how quick it was. But I have worked on the car for many years and that helped." Johnny is pictured with crew Harry Raikkonen (centre) and crew chief Paul Siren. "We only planned to license but it went so well we will be at Alastaro and here in August. Thanks to the Leanders brothers for all their help on the car."


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson was pleased with a 5.58 pass. He said "The engine is running nice. The others may be catching up but if they get too close we will put more in and we could see a 5.4s pass this year. I am tuning the car myself this year with crew chief Frank Göransson. Before the next run we will adjust the rear wing to take downforce out and see if it will hold as I would like a 420kph top speed." A transmission problem prevented Leif from a full pass in session 3, but his qualifying time is over a tenth quicker than anyone else in the class.


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Micke Larsson, who was in the middle of packing his parachute when we passed, had a frustrating day on Friday when he was shut off for a fluid leak in the first session and then had a burst panel go in the second. He said "We have fixed the leak in the blower. We ran a five in testing and want to repeat." In this morning's session Micke ran a 5.85/395kph to go sixth.


Pro Stock racer Jan Ericsson of team Sundholm Welding is based in västerås and also runs his Pontiac Grand Am in Super Pro Street and Competition Eliminator. After two off-the throttle efforts with tyre shake yesterday, the team's hard work overnight paid off this morning with a 6.7944/326.88 to go seventh.


Stock/Super Stock racer Urban Arvidson from Vilhelmina runs this '68 Hemi 'Cuda. The car's best time so far is 9.48 and ran a 9.50 at this event but with an index of 9.30 he is 27th out of 28 qualifiers.


Pro Mod racer Håkan Persson was in Top Doorslammer for seven years and this is his first race in Pro Mod. Håkan's car is a Dodge Viper construcuted by Mats Eriksson and uses and engine from Adam Flamholc. He said "My best time on the eighth mile was 4.10 with my old engine. Our target is simply to get down the track and qualify."


Pro Mod racer David Vegter was runner up at the FIA Main Event. He said "The track has a great starting line and we need to step up the clutch for the launch. Our best time so far is 6.23 but I would like to run a 6.0. The air on Friday was not as good as the Main Event and should be better today - the trees around here help to increase oxygen in the air."


Pro Mod racer Stefan Gustavsson had a wild ride yesterday which you can see on the team's website at brillko.com. Stefan said "A fitting on the hose came loose and oil got under the tyres. I did three spins one way and two the other and was worried I would hit the wall. I stopped four inches away from it." The team had a huge cleanup job as oil got everywhere and as oil pressure was lost they had to change bearings. This morning's run was a 7.48 leaving him in 19th.


Pro Stock Bike racer Bo Thorselius has been racing this Kawasaki H2 bike since 1989. Built by Dave Klock in 1989, the bike had to be modified after one year because the wheelbase rules changed from 68" to 70". He said "I replaced the original H2 gearbox with a FBG/Robinson 5 speed. I only did one run yesterday and the engine blew up and burnt the gasket and the outside of the cylinder sleeve. I had to do some aly-oxy welding and it started fine." Bo thinks the bike can still run a 7.50 and this is possible as he is permitted under the UEM rules to run nitrous.


Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Holmberg runs Swecomposite, a company that supplies carbon fibre bodies and components to many Scandinavian car and bike racers. He said "This is my first season in the class and I have Anders Abrahamsson's old bike with new engine from Pro Service, a Swedish engine building company with US experience." I had five runs at the test and tune weekend and my best was 8.0. I am not used to running with wheelie bars as I raced in a Harley street class before." Kenneth plans to run all rounds of the UEM championship.


Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King's crewman Martin Brookman told us that Ian's bike is repainted in the classic Gulf colours. Ian was pleased with a 6.3s pass yesterday, shutting off after only four seconds, but today produced an outstanding 6.04/353kph in the morning session.


Pro Mod racer Johan Westberg thanks Jan Gunnarson for loan of a driveshaft. Other spare drivetrain parts had to be collected by Johan from his Stockholm base and the driveshaft loop welded by Andreas Åbm. He said "We bought the car in 2012 and tested last year but broke the rear. We have got a new setup with the clutch and the fuel system for 2013." The car, like Johan's previous Opel Calibra, was purchased from Greek racer Fast Fil Papafilippou


Pro Mod racer Stefan Carlsson bought his Camaro in 2007 and ran it in Top Doorslammer since then. He said "This is my first race in Pro Mod and my best over the quarter mile is 6.46 but that was with nitrous. For this year we have a new engine from Christian Nyström with a real nice DMPE supercharger. We do about six or seven races a year." Best run this event is a 7.19.


Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten has been unhappy with the car's performance over the last three years so decided to spend time over the winter testing in Valdosta, Georgia. He said "We made 18 runs between January and March and it was very useful and ran a PB by far. But it was a big surprise it handled so differently in the UK and yesterday. So we took a good look and found the sway bar had seized up as a result of some last minute welding. We put it right and we can now start to run well." On his next pass a 6.18 placed him no.6 in the field. Robert says hello to crew members Jan and Jaap who are unable to attend.


Pro Mod racer Håkan Persson's car has a black with red flecks paint job on the hood. The car ran a 6.96 to go 16th in this morning's session.


Tierp Arena has a great crowd today as Michael Gullqvist stages against Tero Laukkanen in Pro Mod qualifying. Michael's 5.93 consolidated his no.1 qualifying position.



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