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Top Fuel Bike racer Filippos Papafilippou from Greece was today one half of the quickest side by side race in FIM drag racing history. The ETs were 5.7867 for Fil and 5.9001 for Rikard Gustafsson. Fil, the reigning champion from 2018, riding the Gulf Oil Puma King Racing Top Fuel Bike said 'During that run the engine was running too rich and dropped a cylinder and I clicked it off at 5.34s which showed in the low speed. We are experimenting with weight distribution and tyre pressures on the bike. The team of Marius van der Zeiden, Ian King and Martin Brooking are working hard to get Fil down the track. Team members Mick and Nick are missed. Fil's wife Basak is at the track and caters for the team. Fil thanks Gulf Oil, Puma Engineering and King Racing with associate sponsors for their help. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.	Top Fuel Bike racer Jan Sturla Hegre tested in Gardermoen in May and is at his first 2019 race. He ran a 6.6s pass with wheelspin on Friday and short shifted. In the third session the wheel spun again and he said the track is tricky. For this year there is a new cylinder head with 'skulls' in it designed to prevent issues with valves. His personal best of 6.146/384kph was set at Tierp in 2017 with an outstanding 60ft time of 0.968 but the engine exploded on that pass. He said 'Now we have problems in revving the engine to high enough rpm and are looking to find a solution. The bike's owners are brothers Per Ake and Bengt Erik Uggerud, and their racing plans include a Kahava race, ther Gardermoen Drag Challenge, Tierp again and, if things work out, they will go to Santa Pod for the Euro Finals, shortly after Mosten Race Day. Jan thanks the Uggerud brothers and his sponsor Elby. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.
Top Fuel Bike racer Willem Been is back in the saddle after a break of 15 years. He bought a twin cylinder bike from Jaska Salakari with 103ci displacement, the same as the one Jaska set the record with last August. Going back, Willem raced Nitro V Twins for many years having started in 1991, became Pro Stock Bike champion in 1992, then building a Pro Fuel Bike and winning many sprints in his native Holland. In 1996 he built a Super Twin Top Fuel pushrod engine which made many good passes, and in 2000 he had a DOHC engine with Rob van Geffen which he used until 2004. Now he is back on a twin cylinder DOHC bike which he has chosen to run in Top Fuel Bike because it is supercharged. He made a pass on Friday but the crank broke and locked the rear wheel. On Saturday they ran with a 'new' engine and Willem is looking forward to making full passes. He thanks Jaska Salakari and his team for their help. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.	Super Twin racer Marcus Christiansen and father Claus have had a great start to their FIM-E championship defence by winning the season-opening Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. The team also won the Nordic Motorcycle Championship. Marcus is number one qualifier here, and the team are trying different setups to make small steps forward in performance. They are aiming for a new PB in the low 6.2s. One change is fitting a new exhaust to create more pressure at the rear of the bike. The other is the unique carbon fibre wheelie bar which they say works like a charm and ensures the bike is lighter than last season. As well as the FIM-E championship the team will attend Mosten Raceday in Denmark, their home track. Marcus thanks his local sponsors Willer Henrik and Mosten Raceday, who support Speedy Basement Performance, Claus's business. Pit note © Mike Kraaij.
Pro Modified racer Peter Kunc said 'We had clutch problems and adjusted it in small steps, but each session the car went through the clutch. We think we are closer to where we need to be this morning, and want to run a low six'. In session three he improved to a 6.206 which improved his position to 11, with a bump spot of 6.867. There are three rounds for each Pro class other than Top Fuel, who have two. Peter's main sponsor is Kjelland Transport.	Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson was outside the ladder after session three, with two more sessions to go. He said 'We have had clutch problems and are working on the settings'. His best pass so far at the event in the nitrous Mustang, is 7.138. As the day goes on the pressure will mount on him, Michel Tooren and Jimmy Ålund all of whom are not yet in the field.
Pro Modified racer Rolf Simonsson was on the bump spot after session three. He said 'We had some small issues, but are running a converter combination and are getting down the track'. In session one he was shut off, session two seemed to have engine issues and a lot of smoke on the 6.867 run which was shut off early, and in the third he headed right and he shut off after handling issues.	Pro Modified racer Micke Gullqvist said that there were a couple of mechanical failures in sesson one, a part broke in the fuel system causing the motor to lean out and backfire which caused damage on a 6.567 run; also the transmission broke. So after missing the second session, he came out repaired this morning and went 6.003 to go fourth. Is another Gullan recovery from adversity in the works?
Pro Modified racer Jan Brännvall suffered blower drive issues yesterday which prevented the car from running. Crew chief Anders Magnusson said just before session three, 'The blower drive tension was wrong after new pulleys had been fitted, we tried to improvise to tighten it up, but had to wait for new parts which have only just been delivered'. He managed to make the call for the session, but had an oil leak on firing the car up and was shut down.	Pro Modified racer David Vegter is providing the most consistent performance in the class with 5.949, 5.958 and 5.924 in varying conditions. He said 'We had some wheel spin at the start and had to calm it down, now we want to step up'.
Pro Modified racer Jan Ericsson ran 5.953, then had no time when the clutch dragged the car through the beams, and 5.955 in session three. He said 'Our visit to Santa Pod Raceway, where we ran a best of 5.84 at the Main Event, gave us a setup that we hope can provide us with great performance for the rest of the season'.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Björn Mårtensson suffered a spectacule boomer in session two yesterday. He said 'It was a head gasket that failed. We did however change the block, as we concluded after two successive head gasket failures, that the top deck was not straight. The car will be in the lanes for session three and we will then see. We were side by side with Maja until the gasket failure'. In session three the car spun the tyres and Björn was off the throttle before 300ft. Björn is shown with crew member Anders Norén.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered is being visited by frequent visitor to Europe John 'Bodie' Smith (pictured right, with crew chief Göran Emil Edman and crewman Rob Ingles) who is providing advice. He said 'Micke invited me over at the Main Event, the team are good people and they have been with Micke for many years, so another pair of eyes is a good thing. The conditions are on the hot side but the track doesn't heat up as much as asphalt tracks do, although it can get greasy. I am looking mainly at the bellhousing, most European teams apart from Anita and Stig are using five disc clutches and we want to get them to work right before updating'. In session two Micke had to shut off with a fuel system issue, but session three produced a 4.326 on a softish launch of 0.9418, providing a baseline. Micke has a large corporate hospitality area featuring sponsors DEFA Security and Powersystems, providing electronic equipment for boats, and S:t Eriks, Sweden’s leading producer of concrete products.	Pro Mod racer Stian Rusånes's '41 Willys Coupe is owned by Erik Hammer (hence the team name Hammer Motorsport), and crew chief is Jan Gunnarsson of Badillac fame. These two are pictured and Jan said 'Yesterday the fuel filter was not giving the right flow; I was thinking about it for half the night. The engine is straight from the Badillac and the only thing changed was the fuel filter. We put a new System One filter on and it now runs fine'. Having run a best of 6.49 with smoke from the leaning-out engine, the team will return later today. Erik says the rolling chassis was previously owned by Canadian racer Dan Mercier.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Maja Udtian was delighted to run her first three second pass in session two, a 3.9812/442kph, and then improve on that with a 3.9602/491kph in session three. She said 'The car felt wonderful, it drifted a little in Q2 and I got off the throttle early. The team are doing a fantastic job, they are young and quite new together, and thanks to Jamie Willis, Luke Shakeshaft, Rob Elsom, Tom Pawski and Ruaridh Hart who will be joining me for the FIA tour. Thanks also to my family and Thor Larsen, and even my grandparents, who aren't into drag racing, are here for the first time after they saw me on the live video feed'.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Liam Jones had to wait on the line for two minutes whilst competitor in Q2 Dennis Nilsson had a problem with his reverser, and was forced to drive down the track rather than exit the stranded car. He said 'I thought he would leave the car on track but it was a marshalling decision which went against us running promptly. The engine temperature had gone up, but I was more worried that the car would run out of fuel and suffer a top end explosion. It worked out ok in the end and I was delighted to go 3.89 and into first place, but it must have been running on fumes. We are hoping for lower track temperatures and think we can run mid 3.8s if that happens'. In the event, the temperatures rose before Q3 and Liam's dragster went up in smoke before 60ft.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Tethys (his legal name, after a moon of Saturn and Greek goddess) said in the two times he has competed at Tierp, he has had three destroyed engines. Yesterday's kaboom was early on after a valve had broken. Pictures by Stefan Boman posted to social media show that a tenth of a second before the explosion, all was well. Tethys confirmed no cylinders had dropped. The team worked until after 3am on the rebuild, but in the warm up found the blower was too hot and decided to change that, so his participation in session three was always in doubt. He has one more chance to make the field.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Timo Lehtimäki's crew chief Ulf Hultholm said 'We are semi pleased with the performance. Last year we had the car running like a bracket top fueler, this is our first race this year and the blower belt broke, and took the injector and some cable work so we have had to replace things on top of the blower. We ran a 4.261 in Q1 and are trying for better times today, a three would be great'. The car will have a new wrap fitted by the Finland race, in the meantime a temporary paint job in the increasingly-popular black and white has been applied. This morning's pass was an early shut-off 5.623.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Patrik Pers, pictured with crewman Mark 'Animal' Bodimeade, was unable to make a pass yesterday due to an issue with his nitro which the team were pleased to say had been rectified by Q3. 'We were 100% ready', he added. The team now has ex-Erbacher crew chief Robin Grice as tuner. Patrik was optimistic and said 'The car is running well, we had planned a half pass yesterday but will give it a full pass today'. He ran a 4.274/416 which placed him sixth, a solid performance with two sessions lost. The team will compete at both Tierp rounds and at the Euro Finals and have a strong store of parts, four complete engines, 12 sets of heads and three spare blowers. Patrik designed the car's unique paint scheme.	Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä ran 4.131/347, 3.911/483 and 5.304/206 in the first three sessions. This morning she said 'My secret is a good crew who work hard, there is no short cut to work. Ben Patterson from Australia is helping is and will be with us for the rest of the season and my crew chief Sami Lehtimäki's really focused. We didn't hurt parts yesterday and the numbers matched our game plan, we are now tuning a bit more.
Top Fuel Dragster racer Silvio Strauch impressed by running a 5.60/409 in his first competitive event with the Bavarian Thunder car, and this morning the team seemed calm even after needing to change the gearbox after warming the engine. The qualifying run was a great 5.478/418 with wheels-up launch.	Competition Eliminator racer Keld Jakobsen has a BMW E92 built in 2017 by All In Race Cars/PPF, running a turbo methanol BMW S50 engine of 3000cc, with a Leanders clutch and Liberty gearbox. He qualified 17th with a 6.935 on CT/A 7.13 index and went out in round one to Roger Forsström.
Competition Eliminator racer Klaus Romahn from Germany drives a '69 Chevrolet Camaro built by Eurodragster.com sponsors Webster Race Engineering. He has long time countryman and Comp Eliminator racer Jens Zimmerman on the team. Klaus qualified 18th with a 7.598 on a 7.68 BN/A index and went out in round one against Lasse Britsmar.	Competition Eliminator racer Roger Forsström drives a Volvo C70 built in 2012-14 by team. The E85 fuelled Volvo turbo engine 2100cc has a stock block and ported heads, and aftermarket internals. Power goes through a Eastwest clutch and Liberty 5 spd gearbox. He qualified sixth with a 7.1269 on his D/TA index of 7.80 and defeated Keld Jakobsen and Matti Rajamaki in the first two rounds, running consistent 7.14 times.
Competition Eliminator racer Fredrik Olehag is new to the class here and races as Team SCRAT a 23T Ford altered with a funny car chassis, DRCE2 engine of 500ci. He qualified 21st with a 8.175 on a A/A 7.45 index and went out in round one against Jeppe Bergdahl, the altered stopping on the track.	Competition Eliminator racer Robert Arthursson runs a unique Camaro built in 2009 by Vanishing Point Race Cars and powered by a methanol Turbo 2JZ engine of 3060cc with Liberty Extreme gearbox. He qualified fourth with a new PB 6.315 on a BT/A 7.05 index however was a no show against Mats Lundqvist in round one.
Competition Eliminator racer Andres Arnover from Estonia had a trip to the UK to run at the Doorslammers and the Main Event and running a best of 6.185. Having made repairs to the state of the art turbo Mustang, he qualified 13th with a 6.117 on a AT/A 6.67 index, however had Robin Sattler in round one. A near-PB of 6.08 was however run with a red light of 0.008s, thus gifting the win to the dragster.	Competition Eliminator racer Bjørn Johansen from Norway has a '96 Corvette ZR1 built in 2003 by Wally Stroupe and uses a naturally aspirated 744ci Donovan engine for power. He qualified 16th with a 7.196 on a A/A 7.45 index and lost to Janne Kretz in round one who ran better against his index, with a quicker reaction to boot.
Competition Eliminator racer Krister Adeen's sleek Volvo V60 was built in 2016 by ME Racing Service and he runs Volvo power and a turbocharger producing some incredible performances. His best time in qualifying was a 6.529 on a 7.13 C/TA index, which compares to a PB of 6.440, and in eliminations he had a bye run in round one, but lost to Jens Eklund in round two in a close race.	Competition Eliminator racer Gideon Liljegren, who was at Santa Pod for the Doorslammers and Main Event, runs a Pontiac Grand Prix built in 1991 with a NOS assisted 504ci BBC engine with Dart block. He qualified 19th with a 7.635 on a BN/A 7.68 index, but lost to Per Mikkelson in round one.
Competition Eliminator racer Robin Sattler ran a new record in his F/D class, a 8.849 compared with his 9.64 index. This placed him second behind Odd Erik Fossum's -0.850 run of 6.3297. Robin beat Andres Arnover and Per Mikkelson in the first two rounds.	Competition Eliminator racer Lars-Georg Johansson has a Chevrolet Camaro built 2006 by Mig Själv and NS Race Cars. The engine is a blown methanol billet SBC 326ci and the power goes through a East West clutch and Liberty four speed gearbox. He qualified 11th with a 7.032 on a BA/A 7.62 index, and defeated PerErok Lindgren in round one, and Janne Kretz in round two.
Competition Eliminator racer Lars-Ove Berglund has a ex-John Tebenham Ford Probe built in 1997 by Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser Race Cars and is powered by a 351cu in Ford engine with Powerglide gearbox. He qualified 23rd and last with a 10.287 on a E/A 8.74 index and was defeated in round one by Matti Rajamäki.	Competition Eliminator racer Per Mikkelsen from Denmark runs a '68 Camaro, self built in 2015 utilising a Mats Brag chassis, Tim McAmis body, GM 426ci NOS engine and TH400 trans. He qualified eighth with a 7.414 on a CN/A 8.02 index, and went to round two where he was defeated by Robin Sattler.
Competition Eliminator racer Jeppe Bergdahl has a highly unusual rear engined dragster built 2005 by Chad Daily; it has a VW 2276cc engine, Autocraft block, Super Flow heads, Liberty gearbox and the air actuated gearshift is clearly visible. He qualified 10th with a 9.706 on a 10.30 G/D index, and went one round before going out to Jens Eklund's 7.146.	Competition Eliminator racer Per-Erik Lindgren has been in the category for over 25 years, winning many championships, and has campaigned his roadster for over 10 years now. His power unit is a 2160cc GM/SAAB Ecotec engine with Procharger on methanol and ProFlite gearbox. This combination places him in CB/A but he struggled to run quicker than the index and went 9.793 on the 8.96 index to qualify 22nd. In round one he was easy pickings for Lars-Georg Johansson.