2008 FIA Main Event
Monday (eliminations)


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Latest update: 13:30

Nitro FM producer Julian Parsons and presenter Nigel Fitzmaurice in their new studio located in the old Barn garage area. It's about of the most palatial environments on the premises as there is heating and air conditioning. They said "The air conditioning is good for drying out the damp. The biggest improvements are the fully computerised playout system and interview studio. On one screen, text messages are displayed and on the other there is a list of music tracks"

The view down the track is also one of the best. Nitro FM's studio has played host to Hall of Fame member Peter Crane, Keith Bartlett, Andy Carter, Hall of Fame organiser Stu Bradbury, Darren Prentice, Urs Erbacher, Wayne Dupuy and Paul Marston.

Top Fuel Bike no. 1 qualifier Eric Teboul was pleased with his first pass of 6.29. "We had to put in a clean valve but otherwise the clutch was all that needed looking at. The wind will be difficult at high speed but it's the same for all riders. It's a shame the weather yesterday has not allowed all the top teams to qualify." Eric is looking for a good ferry deal to enable him to do the Scandinavian rounds of the championship. "A group deal for the Hamburg to Helsinki or Ristock to Hanko routes would be really good."

Super Twin rider Ian Turburville was disappointed not to have qualified. "The bike was 100% with a new upgraded Overkill engine and timed fuel system to improve our times. On the first run we did a great burnout then were shut down on the line for a small fuel leak and couldn't re-start. On the second, again we had a nice burnout, but the fuel pump came loose and shut the engine down. It's a shame - we were expecting great things." Ian will be at the UK ACU rounds, the Truck Show and the Euro Finals.

Pro Stock bike racer Martin Bishop was fairly pleased with a 7.51. "We are trying a new setup which will take a few more runs for us to perfect. The clutch is what we need to work on as our sixty foot time was a terrible 1.23, although the rest of the run was fast. We have two 1640cc engines and enough components to build a third. Our first round is against Richard Gipp which should be a good race." Martin is planning to race the UEM series.

Quickest qualifier in Pro STock Bike is Tom Tinndahn from Denmark (pictured left with team-mate Jan Nilsson). "We're happy with our time, although we know there is a 7.1 in the bike. However, we don't know for sure whether we will be able to do all the UEM rounds." The team is sponsored by Farum Pava Center and MC Parts.

Owner and Crew Chief for the Mongoose Performance Exhausts/Pennzoil Funny Car Kenneth Lorentzon says the weekend has been promising. "The combination has been spot-on for the conditions and the car and engine performed well on our half pass on Saturday. A cyclinder went out after 0.3s but it still ran really strong. Now we just want to take it from A to B. We have the most experienced driver in Gary Page and will calm the car down to get it down the track next time." The team will attend Sundsvall, Gardermoen, Hockenheim possibly and the Finals. The team are from the Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster.

Super Twin Bike rider Tommy Möller is happy in his new profession. "I am happy we qualified no.5 with a 7.45. We licensed just prior to this race so it's still very new to me. The bike was formerly owned by Fredrik Solheim in Norway and has a Fastcat engine and Bentec transmission."

With Top Fuel no. 2 qualifier Stig Neergard this weekend is US Top Fuel racer Donnie Holbrook who met Stig a few years ago at Hockenheim and has been in contact ever since. Donnie's support will extend to attending as many rounds as he can. Stig said "I'm confident I can repeat the 4.89s pass today and plan to launch better." Donnie said "I'm pleased with what I've seen and Stig has the potential to run in the 4.6s. I've raced Top Fuel in IHRA for my whole career and have run with NHRA on their tours to other countries including Brazil, Japan and South Africa. So I am used to running cars in all types of conditions and tracks. I hold the ET record in Puerto Rico, Brazil and Japan, running in the fours in all of them from 1996-2000." One of the factors in Stig's performance improvement is input to the fuel system from Alan Johnson, who reportedly is of Danish extraction.

Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten was a shock non-qualifier in the ex-Jim Oddy Corvette C5. "We found a cracked rear axle at the test last weekend and took it to Andy Robinson who did a perfect job on it. We then got the car ready for Friday. We have a new Jim Oddy engine with Veney heads and didn't have a chance to start it before we left for England. Then we got caught in the ferry strike in France and missed the Thursday test. When we fired it up on Friday it sounded really good and we were looking forward to running a two-step for the first time as we wanted better sixty foot times. But the car blew the tyres off on both runs. All I want to do now is go home and sleep."

The Knut Soderquist-owned car driven this weekend by Håkan Fallstrom has the same crew that have served the team for many years, pictured here Scotch Rob (left) and Mark 'Animal' Bodimeade (right). They said "We are planning for a full pass this time, Håkan suffered tyre shake in the qualifying session. The other teams are strong, but we know from experience things could go either way for them considering the marginal conditions." Earlier Håkan Fallstrom said "I'm really pleased to be back and thrilled to be running the Funny Car in Scandinavia."

Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson said "The car was going to the left and we made adjustments to correct this. The sixty foot times of 1.00 were really encouraging. We are never confident about the race. There are fifteen other people any of whom could beat us, so we will take each round as it comes. So many cars can now run in the 6.3s, every round will be a real race.

Top Methanol Dragster driver Rob Turner ran a 5.60 in the first qualifier and then tyre shake resulted in a broken third member on the second pass. "We were trying too hard for the first pass and it shook, it was just too aggressive", he said. "Mechanically a valve seat came out in the first run but fortunately it stayed where it was and didn't cause damage. It will be a very competitive championship this year with Timo and Paul Ingar stepping up."

Pro Stock racer Jan Palmqvist was delighted with a new PB of 6.926/201.32. "We're satisfied and think we can run quicker. We had a quicker eighth mile time of 4.395 in testing which means we could do a low 6.8s." The team includes Magnus Eriksson (motor), Mat Lö:nnqvist (clutch) and son Stefan Palmqvist (computers) and sponsors are Grix eyewear, Statoil, NBM Hydraulic, Rod n' Race Speed Shop and Jan's company Snowball.

Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren (pictured with team) said "We are getting there. We were struggling with new carburettor and decided to go back to the old ones. There's a lot of power from the Bob Ingles engine. We were really happy with our visit to the States, but the competition will be really intense this year.

Pro Mod Crew Chief Magnus Lindahl said "We know the car can run quicker and will work on it. When a 5.96 came up on the boards we knew it wasn't correct as it is too big an improvement in one go and we realised the car had rolled the lights. But lots of the crowd believed it and we were happy to take the reception they gave us."



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