Tierp Internationals
Tierp Arena, 4th-7th June 2015

Friday


Click on a picture for a large size image. The latest updates are at the top of the page. Click on your Browser's Refresh key to be sure of seeing the latest news.

Click here to go back to the event index


Latest update 18:45


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Ari Pietila has a new engine of 499cu in. He had two runs with shake and smoke and shut off early on both. With four cars present he has a place in eliminations.


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Johan Lindberg is racing in Europe for the first time this year after the team's success in the US. There is a new sponsor, Rovalin AB, who do foundation work and have been known to team owner Lars-Erik Lindberg for many years. He said 'We welcome our new sponsor who specialises in laying piling, making sea walls and underground construction'. Johan ran a best of 5.62/407kph and was quickest in both sessions today.


Pro Modified racer Jan Brännval races in TD at other events. His '68 Camaro has a Chris Alston chassis, KB stage 15 block, BAE heads, and Lenco three speed trans. His best is 6.88/330kph however he encountered massive shake on his one qualifying attempt and is on the bump spot.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Liam Jones, pictured with RFM team member Jack, 'just to prove to his Mum he is here'. Liam went a new PB of 4.06/432 in the first session to qualify fourth. Liam said 'The Electromotion system was activated at 900ft deploying the chutes and shutting off the fuel so it could have been quicker'. In session two Liam lost traction but still two more qualifying attempts tomorrow.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered suffered a broken rod on his first pass resulting in a fire after 1000ft. Crewman Rob Inglis said 'The damage to the block is repairable but we have changed the engine. We were very happy at Santa Pod and unlucky not to run a three as we lost a spark plug at the top end. We didn't break a lot of parts last year and our chassis which was new helped us set up the car to run better 60ft times. Over time, steel hardens and the car doesn't run as well if it is not as flexible as it should be'.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä (pictured with daughter Hanna) also had a fire in session one. She said 'it burnt a piston which caused an oil fire which took out some of the electrical wiring. The car is back together and we could have pushed to run in session two but we want to check it more before we run it'.


Pro Modified racer Freddy Fagerstrom had pictures on social media of turbos fitted to the truck which some said were Photoshopped. The truth is...Freddy has gone turbo! He said 'It has made so much power a joint and driveshaft broke'. A rebuild was taking place when we visited. The engine which was in good shape is from Martin Lundkvist's Pro Mod.


Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten was delighted to run a 6.54/285kph on his first time in the car. He said 'I'm impressed by the car, it was built for Dave Wood of AMS and Troy Critchley and I am fortunate to be given an opportunity to buy it. We want to do baby steps and go from A to B and to be respectful of its power. It has done everything I expected of it and more'. Robert uses Jim Oddy engines after changing heads and obtaining a spare. 'The only testing was by another driver with another engine with four launches and three passes to the eigth'.


Stock/Super Stock racer Nic Williams (pictured right, with crew member Lorne and brother Dan) of Eurodragster.com sponsor OCS Paint was happy running a new PB with the Camaro of 9.79 and 60ft time of 1.27. He said 'It was wheelying beautifully as well'. The only problem with UK participation in S/SS is that both cars are against one another in the first round unless their qualifying position changes in the sole remaining planned session.


Super Street Bike racer Rick Stubbins, pictured with son and crew Josh, is no.1 in qualifying after two sessions. He said 'The track is very smooth and I feel comfortable on it. We set it up to run a 7.2 or 7.3 so to go 7.29 was good, even though I didn't get into sixth gear and shut off before the finish line. We are going to put more in it'. The result was an improvement to a 7.16/314kph to consolidate his no.1 position and go over two tenths quicker than the rest of the field.


Super Street Bike racer Alex Hope (pictured left with brother Mark) is no.2 in qualifying with an improved 7.39/317 in the second session. He said 'In the first session it ran a tenth slower than I was expecting as it didn't 60ft as well as I wanted. Rather than racing like Pro Stock, I have to build the boost up on the start line and go on to the two step. Also I couldn't get the gearbox to go into sixth, it is a mechanical issue and Rick will help us look at it after the second session. The other problem is I keep finding myself in the Pro Stock pits...'


Pro Stock Bike racer Kalle Lyrén, pictured with new daughter Indy, has had a few mechanical problems. 'We had to replace the engine with another 1755cc unit, they are very similar. The bike took off on a bump after the finish line in the right hand lane and the landing caused a wheel bearing to crack and the rear wheel to lock as well as smashing the transmission'. Kalle is running the five round EDRS Pro Championship this year.


Pro Stock Bike racer Elvira Karlsson is in a three bike team with sister Ellsa and Robert. Elvira said 'I raced nine times last year including the US and hope we can go to Las Vegas and Pomona after the end of the European season'. Gear problems and a shut off in the burnout box meant Elvira is qualified seventh.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Duncan Micallef was unable to appear in either session today. He said 'The engine broke on the last run at the Main Event and we wanted to build the car up before we came here. However there is not a lot of time between events and we were delayed in the UK by the weather and the truck breaking down and got here late Thursday rather than last Sunday as planned. Although we have had problems, everything on the car is now fixed and we are ok for tomorrow'.


The local paper published this spectacular sequence of Stock/Super Stock racer Björn Bondesson's flip within a couple of hours of the incident occuring.


Competition Eliminator racer PerErik Lindgren has a unique setup of Saab/GM Ecotec engine with Procharger. He ran a best of 8.48 yesterday. His crew includes former Pro Stock racer Micke Callin.


Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten has brought his brand new '71 'Cuda here shortly after arriving from the US. The car was built by Tim McAmis but never run until Robert tested it with his Jim Oddy engine. The striking design is by Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters and applied by Jeff Hoskins. In the first session, crewman Arjan van Bemmel explained 'We started the car ten times yesterday but one of our main power switches broke and so couldn't run. We have a replacement and will be out again later today'.


Pro Modified racer Marko Lantto has a '70 Cuda which he constructed himself and completed during Summer 2014. He said 'We are still testing and haven't done a full pass yet. We had bad shake this morning, it was just too little power to take up the clutch fully. I have the same engine as I had in my old Corvette and Lenco three speed'. Marko's plan is to race at the FIA rounds in Finland and Sweden.


Pro Modified racer Matts Logren is new to the class and has been racing since he was 16 years old. 'I competed in rallying for 15 years and then started drag racing in 2001, competing in Real Street, Pro Street and Top Doorslammer'. The team are working on an oil supply problem in the valve train. The car has an Arias Hemi by Miner Bros Racing and Matts pointed out the engine has an advantage of not needing the blower to be removed for servicing the heads. More information on the team is at www.logrenmotorsport.se.


Pro Modified racer Niclas Anderson is in his tenth year of driving the Old 51 Chevy and recorded one of his best times in the car in session one, a 5.985/380kph. He said 'It was a good run and the team gave me a good car. The speed was lower than expected so I think we can improve. I just had small shake in first gear but drove through it and got the shift light'. Niclas, whose best is 5.97, plans to race the Swedish PM championship which has two rounds at Tierp and one at Sundsvall. Although he has raced in Top Doorslammer in the past, he explained the inflow of screw blowers and turbos into the class means a legal PM car is no longer competitive.


Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher is racing a limited schedule this season but will be at Hockenheim and the Euro Finals. He said 'We have new billet blowers and a lot of new things on the fuel system. We were very happy with Tethys's handling of the car at the Main Event and he did a perfect job - but we didn't find the setup to get him down the track. We need to do more testing as we want to win'.


Urs's team is sponsored by Victory Motorcycles and there is a big display of the custom bikes by his pit. For more details go to www.victorymotorcycles.se or www.indianmotorcyclessweden.se.


Competition Eliminator racer Jeppe Bergdahl has a VW engine in the rear of his dragster. It displaces 2276cc, has no power adders and was built by Autocraft with clutch by KEP and Liberty gearbox. Best ET to date is 9.90 but there have been problems getting started at this event.


Competition Eliminator racer Fredrik Olehag ran a 8.49 on a 7.56 index in his A/Altered. The engine is a Drag Race Competition Engine from GM through a Powerglide.


Competition Eliminator racer Jens Gustavsson is running a Vega originally built in 1975 by Gunne Back of Frighten Chicken fame. He has B18 Volvo turbo power unit with a TCI Powerglide gearbox. With a 10.21 on 10.30 index for E/TA he is qualified 12th.


Competition Eliminator racer Sören Andreasson is qualified 15th with a 8.63 on an 8.53 DT/A index. The car has run as quick as 7.93/280kph with its Volvo B280 turbo four cylinder engine, L&T clutch and Jerico gearbox.


US tuner Mike Moran is making his first trip to Europe and is impressed by the track. He said 'I am with Peter Thörnäs but we have been having ignition issues. It's fun but I can't believe how little opportunity there is for testing away from events'. Peter Thörnäs later solved his ignition problems with thanks to Dick Koster of Eurodragster.com sponsor Post & Dros and ran 6.92/286 on a 7.08 A/TA index.


Competition Eliminator racer Per Bergström runs a 2006 Neils & Parks chassied RED with normally aspirated DRCE2 engine and Liberty five speed gearbox. Best times are 6.908/320kph. He is qualified sixteenth with a 7.94 on an A/D 7.51 index.


Competition Eliminator racer Stefan Persson in E/D runs a four cylinder Rodeck engine of three litres capacity and is qualified in 24th place with a 14.33 on a 9.2 index.


Competition Eliminator racer Adam Andersson is racing the ex-Danny Cockerill '57 Chevy Bel Air. Adam who is 24 has raced in Super Pro Street as well as CE and the car has an naturally aspirated Extreme Pro Stock engine of 818cu in. His time of 7.50 on a 7.56 A/A index has placed him 13th.


Super Gas racer Jan Hallman is qualified seventh with a 9.951/216kph. He has a SBC of 383ci with Hughes Performance TH350 trans running on E85. He is from Börlange and has raced since 2010.


Super Gas racer Patrik Wickman races this Volvo Amazon also with a SBC of 355ci. He races in Börlange as his local track and is qualified 12th with a 10.09/211kph.


Super Twin racer Anders Hörnström has a Weekend frame and PRP engine. He has been racing since 2011 and will be looking to improve on his best of 10.35/173kph.


Super Twin racer Stig Olof Svensson has . He said 'Most of my bike is home made. I have the only carburretor setup in the class and run 96% nitro. This is my first season in Super Twin Fuel and I previously raced in Super Twin Top Gas'. His best is 8.397/253.16. Support comes from Indian Motorcycle, represented on the bike by this superb freehand painting.


Super Twin racer Samu Kemppainen said 'I will be racing at the IHRA championship event in Edmonton on 17-19 July. Nate Gagnon has supplied a new bike for me to use and I am very excited about going'. In Europe, Samu will be racing in the EDRS Pro Series which is Scandinavian based.


Super Twin racer Trond Jostein Høberget's bike has had a lot of changes including a new engine from Svein Olaf Rolfstad and a home made custom clutch system. He said 'We entered Gardermoen but a lot of parts came late so this is our first real race of the season'.


Super Twin racer Vidar Ravnsborg said 'We are still running the ex-Ton Pels Godfather bike with same parts as last year. I ran my old bike at Gardermoen'. The bike has an Overkill engine and Ovens gearbox. His best time is 6.65/342kph.


Super Twin racer Hans Olav Olstad was the 2014 Nordic Pro points champion 'although three out of four races were rained off'. The bike has a supercharged engine and Hans Olav built a new primary cover over the winter. He said 'We have the same engine but now use Top Fuel Dragster pistons from Bill Miller Engineering, they are heavier and less prone to collapse'. The engine has twin overhead camshafts which have been re-nitrided for this season. 'We have been working on cam timing and increasing valve overlap so you will see a lot of fuel coming from the exhaust which we hope will stop valve guides burning'.


Super Street Bike racer Dag Wagenius has ridden in the class since 2007 and has a Hayes clutch and Precision turbo. His best to date is 7.58/307.


Super Comp Bike racer Kathrine Wagenius, Dag's daughter rides this Hayabusa with matching feline paintwork by Tore Ommedal. She is sixteen years old and the family comes from Trondheim, Norway.



Reports and pictures ©Eurodragster.com