2007 FIA European Finals
Sunday (eliminations)


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Latest update: 16:20

Ulf Leanders said "We have had a bunch of problems this weekend including breaking valves on the engine though fortunately no rods out. We are getting closer on the setup and are applying more power and clutch in the combination. If we have got it right, it will fly and our target is the 5.5s.".

Fast Freddy is jubilant at winning the TMFC championship but distraught that he is not in the final against Ulf. "We want to win all the races next year. We have been no. 1 qualifier three times this year but today we have had a tyre shake problem."

Many happy returns to Roger Goring whose birthday it is today. He said "It's been a fantastic weekend and the new PBs are just a bonus." On sunday afternoon he ran a 6.15 at better than 250mph to celebrate.

Luigi Ferretti is in the Top Fuel Bike final against Ian King, the victor taking the championship. Earlier he said "We had a lot of problems on Friday and Saturday and had to work hard to get a good setup on the bike. We are pleased to run a new PB of 6.5 but Ian King is a very strong competitor."

Gunther Söhn said "We have achieved our performance target with a 6.54. I spoke to my wife back at home and she is ok with it. The racing surface is perfect and we have made a lot of progress with the fuel system this weekend. I have discovered there is a big difference between riding a bike at 6.7 and 6.5, particularly when slowing it from over 200mph. The track crew are the best and nicest in Europe and you feel they really care."

Steve Turner (crew chief for Rob Turner) said "I've lost count of the number of times we've raced Dave Wilson in the final. The car has run really well this weekend and we have run three 5.4s, a time we have only run once before this event."

Micke Gullquist, 2007 Pro Mod Champion, said "It was sad Andy couldn't stage for the race. He had the car running well and it would have been a good race. Looking at the ladder you would have thought it was a hard day but sometimes you have the flow and that has helped us. I thought we would be in the teens but we suffered tyre shake on Friday and only had one good pass on Saturday." Thanks go to sponsors Nordic LAN and Lucas Oils.

Jimmy Alund said "We are ready for Eero in the final - I was born ready. Eero has run new European records which is pretty cool, but someone's got to be champion."

Patrik Wikström's prayers were answered with a win by six hundredths over Mats Eriksson in the second round of Pro Mod. He said before the race "There is so much different from my old setup with a new clutch, engine and starting procedure."

Nobert Kuno (pictured with wife Iris said before the second round of Pro Mod "We're delighted with a new PB of 6.25. At the start of the meeting we had some problems getting the car down the track. Our adjustments worked out well and I hope the left lane can hold our power in our race with Andy Robinson." The result was that Norbert lost with the dreaded tyre shake.

Driver of the Green Goblin Mats Eriksson faced up against Patrik Wikström in the second round. Here is the Green Goblin in the staging lanes.

Anders Jakobsson is pictured preparing for his race against Martin Bishop. Up until that point he was happy with the weekend, qualifying third with a 7.35 and equal third in the points with Anders Abrahamsson after qualifying. See below for what happened next.

Tommi Haapanen's crew reported no damage on their engine and were pleased to have got through against Joran Persåker. However the starter motor failed in the semi-final.

Glenn Mikres said "The driver won that race" after Urs put a holeshot on Micke Kågered in round one of Top Fuel and pedaled to a 4.94. "We want to get rid of the shake", he added. Two of Glenn's colleagues with 25 years fuel experience each will be helping Urs' team in their trip to the U.S. for the two final rounds of the NHRA Powerade series.

Motospeed principal Roger Lyren said that if Anders Abrahamsson didn't run a 7.2 at the Finals Anders would have to eat his hat. Anders is seen having a quick taste in spite of having run a 7.29 in round one of Pro Stock Bike. Martin Bishop (left) had just returned from defeating Anders Jakobsson on a hole shot.

Dave Wilson pictured shortly before clinching another FIA Top Methanol Dragster championship. "We have overcome our oil pressure problems and have had only to change two valves for the next round."

Peter Schofer ran another 5.6 in the first round. "I was surprised by Derek red-lighting and it cost me time. Next time I will do better." In the semi though Peter was to suffer the red-light defeat against Rob Turner.

Stig Neergard's team changed bearings after the first round and had an easy run through to the final when Tommi Haapanen's starter motor broke.

Danny Bellio says "We are looking forward to running our first five in the TMFC. We had to miss one qualifying pass yesterday as I had irritation in one eye. The car is performing better and better. At Hockenheim we made five passes and three were 6.0s. Next year we want to test at the Thunderball. For this meeting, we are ready for Freddy!"

Anders Abrahamsson said "It has been a good weekend and all has worked well running a best of 7.315 in qualifying. However qualifying is one thing and racing another. I have Len Paget in round one and he is a tough competitor."

Tom Tindahnn (pictured left with crew man Jan Nielsen), PSB points leader and no.1 qualifier said "It has been a good weekend. We took it a little easy on two of the qualifiying passes as we do not want to break anything. We will see what we can do in eliminations."

Janne Ahonen (Top Fuel Dragster), who is qualified ninth and on the outside of the racing field said "We had problems on all four qualifying runs. We had traction problems on the first three and clutch issues on the last one. But we have prepared for eliminations as alternate and will be fully ready to run if needed. We are also looking forward to next season".

Micke Gullqvist has a miniature version of his Chevy Pro Mod on the team complete with blower and headers and it came to the staging lanes to keep its bigger brother company.

A number of the Pro Mod cars have been displaying "We love Sabra" stickers. After extensive research we discovered that Sabra Appleton (pictured) had given the team a hard time for leaving her name out of the crew list on the car and they were only too happy to make amends.


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