Turtle Wax Internationals
Tierp Arena, 21st-24th August 2014

Saturday

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20:10

We have uploaded today's gallery, which is half Kirstie's parachute and other top end shots and half Patrik's start line shots. You can check out the gallery via the Event Index. There are 115 pictures in all; if you do not see all 115 updated thumbnails when you load the gallery page then click on your Browser's Refresh button.

18:55

Still raining, so with only an hour and five minutes of permit left and more than an hour to dry the track we have been called for the day.

Stay tuned and we will post today's pictures later on.

18:45

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 4 (left lane first)

Danny Bellio shut off, Johnny Oksa shut off;

Danny and Johnny pulling forward to stage and then shut off for sprinkles of rain.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Johan Lindberg 5.4493/424.86
  2. Leif Andréasson 5.6171/415.07
  3. Ari Pietilä 5.8676/393.30
  4. Johnny Ocksa 6.0049/397.64
  5. Danny Bellio 6.7012/311.78

18:40

FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 4 (left lane first)

Marcus Wålm 6.9469/338.35 bye; Chris Polidano 5.3578/444.81, Manty Bugeja 5.5944/355.03

Nicely-controlled burnout for Marcus. Gentle 1.2914 to sixty feet, 4.6715/280.81 at the eighth and the car was fishtailing again at mid track. Our two Maltese heroes paired up again. Great match-up! 0.0669 RT for Chris, 0.9775 to sixty to Manty's quicker 0.9650. Huge speed for Chris at the eighth 3.5963/370.12 (229.98 mph) to Manty's 3.6200/341.12, smoke from Manty's motor after about 1000 feet and looked to shut it off early. Chris' 444.81 (276.39 mph) backs up yesterday's 448.13 (278.46 mph) for a new European speed record, well done Kalanc Racing!

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Chris Polidano 5.3448/439.02
  2. Stefan Gunnarsson 5.4785/368.60
  3. Manty Bugeja 5.4816/423.86
  4. Jonny Lagg 5.5401/416.02
  5. Marcus Wålm 6.9469/338.35

18:30

Nordic Pro Stock Bike Championship qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Fredrik Fredlund 7.2072/300.50 bye; Roy Olsen shut off (bye); Elvira Karlsson no time DQ (bye), Thomas Lysebraate Olsen did not start; Elsa Karlsson 9.6653/150.67, Kenneth Holmberg no time; Kalle Lyrén 7.1202/300.55, Kenneth Vik 10.8764/101.39

Great run for Fredde for #2. Roy started his motor but shut it off before the burnout. Thomas' motor didn't start and he was pushed away. 0.0762 RT for Elvira, 1.0742 to sixty, 2.9850/185.12 at 330 feet but then crossed lanes before the eighth. Elsa sounded to have problems selecting gear and shut it off before 330 feet. Kenneth got a few feet then his motor zinged and he shut it off, stopped just before the finish line. 1.1026 to sixty for Kalle, 4.5289/249.65 at the eighth and into #1. 1.1530 to sixty for Kenneth but shut off shortly after.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Kalle Lyrén 7.1202/300.55
  2. Kenneth Vik 7.1836/289.39
  3. Fredrik Fredlund 7.2072/300.50
  4. Elvira Karlsson 7.3381/269.87
  5. Kenneth Holmberg 7.4803/288.62
  6. Elsa Karlsson 7.9415/204.00
  7. Thomas Lysebraate Olsen 17.1471/66.60

18:20

Nordic Supertwin Championship qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Hans Olav Olstad 6.6337/314.69 bye; Stig Olof Svensson 9.8513/219.60 bye; Greger Johansson 9.9928/143.01, Ismo Mäenpää 7.2067/320.09;

Ulf Ledström 8.4494/254.48, Anders Hörnström no time DQ; Vidar Ravsborg 8.3404/190.27, Harri Piensalmi 6.6339/294.28; Matti Vähäsaari 9.9484/130.94, Petri Mattsson 7.6086/232.56; Vesa Lipponen 8.3876/233.46, Alla-Lena Asplund 7.5361/268.71; Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.7738/272.59, Per Bengtsson 6.6653/324.71

Superb run for Hans Olav, two columns of nitro flame clear in the cloudy conditions. 1.2123 to sixty, 4.3516/299.33 at the eighth, on the gas all the way. Gentle launch for Stig Olv and then opened the throttle more as he went along. 1.2222 to sixty for Greger, 1.1889 for Ismo. Smoke and then a flash of flame from Geger's motor. Ismo to the eighth in 4.758/256.17 and up to third. Track check, mop clean-up and sled in Greger's lane during which it started to rain.

On the restart 1.2598 to sixty for Ulf, 1.7262 for Anders but his motor was suffering, there was a bang and the bike headed right. We thought he was pulling it over but the bike sideswiped the guardrail and there were sparks as the chassis grounded. 5.3224/210.61 to sixty for Ulf, feathering the throttle as the bike was trying to drift left. Great run for Harri, new PB I believe. 1.1133 to sixty, 4.2737/285.87 at the eighth, straight as you like with no drama. 1.2013 to sixty for Vidar, smoke from his motor at the eighth 4.8510/226.04 and a bang in the second half. Matti's bike sounded laboured from launch, 1.3002 to sixty, off the gas before the eighth. 1.1475 to sixty for Pettri, 4.6228/245.34 at the eighth bu then his motor sounded as if it was running down and he shut it off. Big burnout for Anna-Lena, Vesa's bike sounded hesitant. Hesitant again at launch, 1.4051 to sixty and off the gas before the eighth. 1.3029 to sixty for Anna-Lena, 4.9529/259.24 at the eighth, feathered the throttle towards the stripe. Great match-up between Svein Olav and Per. 0.0904 RT for Per, 1.2008 to sixty to Svein Olav's 1.1173. Svein Olav had a meteoric eighth 4.1590/286.30 to Per's 4.4059/284.96 but then smoke and flame from the geaders and he shut it off.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Per Bengtsson 6.5847/341.34
  2. Hans Olav Olstad 6.6337/314.69
  3. Harri Piensalmi 6.6339/294.28
  4. Svein Olav Rolfstad 6.7738/272.59
  5. Ismo Mäenpää 7.2067/320.09
  6. Vesa Lipponen 7.5151/314.14
  7. Anna-Lena Asplund 7.5361/268.71
  8. Petri Mattsson 7.6086/232.56
  9. Trond Høiberget 7.7487/281.10
  10. Matti Vähäsaari 7.9777/265.23
  11. Ulf Ledström 8.4494/254.48
  12. Vidar Ravnsborg 8.3404/190.27
  13. Stig Olof Svensson 9.1533/243.79

13:00

FIA Top Fuel Dragster qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Chris Andrews 4.0954/465.12, Micke Kågered 9.4413/116.56; Stig Neergard 7.6670/98.04, Duncan Micallef 4.5428/300.67; Anita Mäkelä 4.5316/283.76, Antti Horto 4.0654/473.27

Urs Erbacher 7.3130/153.41, Thomas Nataas 10.3778/129.81

0.8855 to sixty for Chris and a well-executed pedal, the Lucas Oil dragster then stuck to the track and went. 0.9005 to sixty for Micke, shake passing the Tree and off it. Chris to 330 feet in 2.3079/293.80 and the eighth at 3.2832/422.20. Stig to the eighth in a rapid 0.8561, Duncan not hanging around either at 0.8825. Flash from Stig's motor, blower panel bang and and the safety cut-out put one chute out. Duncan to 330 feet in 2.3091/385.71 but his motor note was dragging down, shut it off before the eighth. Antti away first 0.1396 to 0.1636 and the better sixty 0.8702 to Anita's 0.8785. Anita going great guns at 330 feet 2.2257/304.57 to Antti's 2.2392/293.22 but then there was a ball of flame from Anita's left bank just before the eighth 3.2984/331.09, Antti to the eighth in 3.2337/410.02. Fluid in Anita's lane, clean-up from the 264 foot reflector past the quarter. Antti up to #2.

Karsten Andersen of Eurodragster.com sponsor Landmeco made a last-minute adjustment to the motor of the Andersen Racing dragster, it was at the front of the motor so not clutch stuff. Shake for Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs, smoke for Thomas, 1.0101 and 1.2828 sixties respectively. Urs off the gas about 150 feet out, a couple of pedals for Thomas, the dragster turned right and he shut it off.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Thomas Nataas 4.0212/493.60
  2. Antti Horto 4.0654/473.27
  3. Urs Erbacher 4.0744/441.90
  4. Anita Mäkelä 4.0745/380.01
  5. Duncan Micallef 4.0924/406.63
  6. Chris Andrews 4.0954/465.12
  7. Stig Neergaard 4.2263/433.39
  8. Micke Kågered 7.1300/133.86

12:25

FIA Pro Modified qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Marko Lantto shut off, Åke Persson shut off; Åke Persson 6.7930/315.97 bye; Roland Bolleter 16.6423/71.09, Tero Laukkanen 7.0977/268.39; Urban Johansson 6.2837/362.90, Niclas Andersson no time; Freddy Fagerström 6.2134/363.88, Micke Gullqvist 5.9887/389.89; Norbert Kuno 6.1041/376.83, Micke Johansson 7.1752/318.83; Anders Nilsson 6.7356/358.57, Tami Brander 6.1708/371.64; David Vegter 6.5344/376.04, Johan Westberg 6.6300/329.67; Roger Johansson 6.0292/385.16, Marc Meihuizen 5.9970/392.73; Mats Eriksson 10.6654/102.31, Robert Joosten 6.0380/383.52; Bruno Bader 6.0309/373.96, Mattias Wulcan 6.0348/383.52

Marko shut off at 330 feet after his burnout, jumped out with some dispatch but race officials quickly decided to shut Åke off as there was a trail of fluid behind Markko's car and it would have been a bit fo a risk to let Åke take his bye. On the restart Åke took his bye, 1.0323 to sixty but heading left all the while, looked to cross the centre line about 400 feet out but pulled it back, 4.3636/264.32 at the eighth. We'll await word from race officials about the centre line, in the meantime we'll put Åke's run in the standings. 1.0550 to sixty for Roland and then bad shake and shut off. 1.0065 with tyres squealing for Tero, lost some time to blackstriping I think, 4.4452/250.46 at the eighth and shut off before the stripe. 1.0120 to sixty for Urban, 1.0608 for Niclas who then hit bad shake and shut off. 4.1281/287.69 to the eighth for Urban, then his chute displaced the quarter mile reflector stopping Niclas' clock before he had even reached the eighth. Fantastic run for Micke for #1 spot! Meteoric 0.9643 to sixty with the Camaro heading left, 1.0133 for Freddy, Micke pulled the Camaro back, it was determined to go any way but straight but Micke had a hold of it, stormer at the eighth 3.9330/301.00 to Freddy's 4.0544/294.76. Micke overstaged, Norbert waited for him to return. Great run for Norbert! 1.0011 to sixty, meanwhile Micke J was shaking to a 1.3258 and the car pulled a left. Pedalled and watched Norbert for a while and then got back on it. Norbert long gone with a 4.0114/299.67 eighth, Micke there in 4.9098/283.02. Long-duration linelock burnout for Tami went down well with the spectators. 1.0228 to sixty for Anders with violent shake and the Cuda turned hard right, a pedal and back on it. 1.0211 to sixty for Tami, great guns at the eighth 4.0347/294.60 to Anders' 4.4796/274.39. 1.0951 to sixty for Daid with tyres shaking, a pedal and then the car started to drift left towards the guardrail. 1.1379 to sixty for Johan, straight and no shake, Johan had the better eighth 4.2825/275.23 to David's catching 4.3886/283.02. Huge cloud of smoke from Johan's motor on the stripe, track checked and all OK. Fantastoc runs for Roger and Marc! Roger with the better sixty 0.9914 to Marc's 1.0294, Roger 0.0001 quicker at the eighth 3.9745/306.12 to 3.9746/309.99, Marc into the fives and second and Roger up to fourth. 1.0132 to sixty for Mats but then terrible shake, the Crown Victoria turned right and Mats shut it off. 0.9823 to sixty for Robert, rapid 3.9569/303.20 at the eighth and up to sixth. Classic match-up to end the session, Bruno away first 0.1139 to Mattias' 0.1455 and the better sixty 1.0081 to Mattias' 1.0099. Straight runs with no sign of shake for either, side-by-side threes at the eighth 3.9361/303.37 for Bruno to Mattias' 3.9727/305.08.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Micke Gullqvist 5.9887/389.89
  2. Marc Meihuizen 5.9970/392.73
  3. Bruno Bader 6.0027/378.15
  4. Roger Johansson 6.0292/385.16
  5. Mattias Wulcan 6.0348/383.52
  6. Robert Joosten 6.0380/383.52
  7. Mats Eriksson 6.0401/388.21
  8. Benny Strand 6.0740/338.13
  9. Niclas Andersson 6.0802/378.15
  10. Norbert Kuno 6.1041/376.83
  11. Tero Laukkanen 6.1301/399.11
  12. Tami Brander 6.1507/375.00
  13. Freddy Fägerström 6.2134/363.88
  14. Anders Nilsson 6.2329/367.01
  15. Urban Johansson 6.2837/362.90
  16. Johan Westberg 6.4286/352.48
  17. David Vegter 6.5344/376.04
  18. Åke Persson 6.7930/315.97
  19. Roland Bolleter 6.8485/318.02
  20. Micke Johansson 7.1752/318.83
  21. Jöran Persåker 7.4060/273.69

11:20

FIA Pro Stock qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Jan Ericsson 7.1461/285.87 bye; Sampsa Palos 8.1473/195.79, Jan Palmqvist 7.1165/313.69; Tommy Leindahl no time DQ, Bengt Ljungdahl 8.5055/186.85; Christian Sagelv 6.7983/328.67, Simon Gustafsson 6.7548/328.87; Thomas Lindström 6.5989/339.20, Michael Malmgren 6.6974/331.09; Jimmy Ålund 6.5321/342.86, Magnus Pettersson 6.6349/333.33;

Great and rapid job by the track crew. Wheels-up and shake at launch for Jan but still 1.0395 to sixty, passenger side door briefly came open about 100 feet out but closed itself, I can't see Jan leaning over to close it at that point. 4.5703/257.51 at the eighth, looked to shut it off a touch early. 0.9979 to sixty for Sampsa and 1.1591 with shake for Jan, drove through it. Sampsa got to the eighth in 4.5503/207.69 but had shut it off by then. Jan's car moved to the right before the eighth 4.6493/255.32, if it didn't sound outlandish I'd say he was driving round the recent clean-up, pulled it back to the centre of the lane in the second half. Both move up a place. Tommy looked to be bulbed by the Autostart. 1.0360 to sixty for Bengt, shut off at the eighth 4.7488/199.93. Great match-up between Christian and Simon. Christian to sixty in 1.0158 to Simon's 1.0262, both sounded to drive through shake, Simon had the quicker eighth 4.3494/262.90 to 4.3767/261.00. Improvement for Christian but stayed in place. Another superb match between Thomas and Michael. Thomas with the better sixty 0.9899 but Michael was right there at 0.9921, more of an advantage at the eighth 4.2538/268.79 to 4.3094/264.45. Thomas into the 6.5s and starting to breathe down Jimmy's neck, how would Jimmy respond next pair? How about a new European ET record? 0.9846 to sixty to Magnus' 0.9988, storming eighth 4.2066/271.49 to Magnus' 4.2710/267.72. Well done Jimmy!

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Jimmy Ålund 6.5321/342.86
  2. Thomas Lindström 6.5989/339.20
  3. Magnus Pettersson 6.6349/333.33
  4. Michael Malmgren 6.6806/331.90
  5. Simon Gustafsson 6.7453/330.28
  6. Christian Sagelv 6.7983/328.67
  7. Tommy Leindahl 7.0744/314.14
  8. Jan Palmqvist 7.1165/313.69
  9. Jan Ericsson 7.1461/285.87
  10. Sampsa Palos 8.1473/195.79
  11. Bengt Ljungdahl 8.5055/186.85

10:50

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Johan Lindberg 5.4493/424.86 bye; Johnny Oksa 6.0049/397.64, Danny Bellio 7.4876/336.66; Leif Andréasson 16.8315/56.51, Ari Pietilä 11.0051/69.12.

Fantastic run for Johan to open the session and to lay down the gauntlet to former #1 qualifier Leif Andréasson. 0.9387 to sixty, small moves left and right but nothing serious, no sign of shake, 3.5985/343.07 at the eighth. Johnny and Danny trading throttle blips before staging, they can't do dry hops so that was the next best thing. 1.0159 to sixty for Johnny then bad shake, a pedal and the car hooked up and went. 1.6264 to sixty for Danny, shake marks on the track but I don't think it was just that, it looked from here as if the motor was struggling. 4.0059/313.41 at the eighth for Johnny, slight improvement but stayed in place. Instant violent shake for Leif, 1.1606 to sixty and probably seeing about twelve different tracks to drive down. Off the gas. 1.0750 to sixty for Ari but then smoke and a bang at 330 feet 2.8714/199.78, both chutes out. Clean-up in Ari's lane.

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Johan Lindberg 5.4493/424.86
  2. Leif Andréasson 5.6171/415.07
  3. Ari Pietilä 5.8676/393.30
  4. Johnny Ocksa 6.0049/397.64
  5. Danny Bellio 6.7012/311.78

10:40

FIA Top Methanol Dragster qualifying session 3 (left lane first)

Marcus Wålm 7.1860/330.48 bye; Manty Bugeja 10.8430/73.99, Johnny Lagg 5.6361/400.89; Stefan Gunnarsson 9.2031/149.67, Chris Polidano 5.3448/439.02;

Krister Johansson again supervising Marcus' team although visibly trying to stay hands-off. Very gentle launch, sounded like a Top Fueller with the burnout clip on. 1.3384 to sixty and 4.8544/273.14 at the eighth, the car started to skate left and right at half track but Marcus stayed with it. Very brief double-stab burnout for Johnny. Manty left for dead at the line, 0.1163 for Johnny to Manty's 0.4132 but Manty had the much better sixty 0.9417 to Johnny's 1.0013. Manty's safety cut-off then triggered, didn't hear it with the racket from the A/Fuel car but I guess the blower relief panel blew, motor off and one chute out. Johnny's tyres blackstriped all the way to the eighth 3.7280/337.50. Clean run on all cylinders but no improvement. Big wheels-up launch for Stefan, front in the air for 100 feet heading for the centre line, 1.0640 to sixty and who knows which part of the car triggered that, probably the rear wheels! When the front end came down smoke and flame from the headers, I am guessing the rear unloaded. 0.9651 to sixty for Chris, 3.5816/362.42 at the eighth, straight pass and an improvement and the 439.02 (272.79 mph) is a new record backed up by yesterday's 448.13. Well done the Kalanc team!

Qualifying after this session:

  1. Chris Polidano 5.3448/439.02
  2. Stefan Gunnarsson 5.4785/368.60
  3. Manty Bugeja 5.4816/423.86
  4. Jonny Lagg 5.5401/416.02
  5. Marcus Wålm 7.1860/330.48

08:35

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the Turtle Wax Internationals brought to you in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car.

Today's and tomorrow's Smart TV Web TV broadcasts are available for €15. More details at www.smarttv.se. Please note that as we are not producing this webcast, comments about it on our Facebook pages will be removed and any E-Mails about it will be deleted unread.

Not the best start to the day as right now we have light rain here at Tierp Arena. The radar shows it clearing shortly and the track crew are already hard at work.

A big Hello to our Eurodragster.com colleagues Simon and Grace who are reporting on the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Hello also to all of the race officials, racers and fans at SCR. Have a fast, safe and enjoyable weekend guys. Good morning with added hugs to our dear friend Gittli Koller who is tuned in from Bavaria. Hope you are enjoying the coverage Gittli.

The running order kindly supplied to us by Race Director Tomas Pettersson and available via our Event Index had an 09:00 start with Q8 of Junior Dragster and the first Pro session at 10:00. Obviously things are going to be juggled due to the rain so stay tuned and we'll keep you informed.


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