FIA European Finals
Santa Pod Raceway, 5th-8th September 2013
Saturday


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Latest update 17:05


Pro Stock racer Magnus Petersson suffered a broken gearbox on his first run and didn't record a time. He said "After changing the gearbox we ran a 6.77 and 6.71. It is hard to adjust, but we would like to run better than a 6.68 to improve our best."


Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren ran 6.71 and 6.72 yesterday and a 6.68 in this morning's session. He said "We are having a good weekend, the car is running better and better and that is with a slipping clutch. When we have fixed that it should have a lot more bite and we can improve in the last session, although we need to stay consistent. I hope to stay no.2 in qualifying. Overall it's been a good year."


Pro Stock racer Jimmy Ålund has a Jason Line hero card with him and said "He's my best buddy in America - he's The Man!" In Europe, Jimma is The Man being on the verge of winning his eighth championship and running near-record 6.53 times here. "The car is absolutely stunning and we knew when we got here we could run quick because the track prep guys do an excellent job. We made some changes to the tuneup for this race and the car responded well from the start." Jimmy said he plans for the car to stay in Europe over the winter for another campaign next year.


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Gareth Ellis ran a 7.52 in the second session and a 6.23 and 6.13 today. He said "We are finding our way with the tuneup and would like to run another five this weekend. On our run yesterday the blower lifted and we only found out quite late. It's running fine now and we are tuning it, I am hitting my shift points ok and we are planning a few changes to step up next year."


A/Fuel Dragster racer Jonny Lagg last raced at SPR in 1984 reaching the final of Pro Comp in a blown dragster against Steve Read. He said "The cars were running Donovan engines and going 6.8 then. It is great to be back, I licensed at Tierp in July and ran in the August event there and won over Paul Ingar Udtian. I have the best crew and am comfortable in the car. Krister Johansson, the previous owner, and Peter Lantz have been a help. The car pulls hard all the way down the track." Jonny, who ran back to back 5.5s today, had a special thankyou for Dave Wilson who worked for twelve hours line honing the block and fitting new main caps after the team found the no.4 main bearing had spun: "He saved our weekend". He also said there are plans for at least two A/Fuel cars in the team next year with Peter Lantz's son Robin driving one of them.


Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten ran 6.22 and 6.20 yesterday and 6.18 and 6.10 today. He said "We are practising at being a bracket car and are putting in the right tuneup to get down the track. We are now adjusting the clutch and the car feels good. If we want to go quicker, we have some tricks up our sleeve."


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Johan Lindberg had problems including a broken gearbox. Johan ran 7.42 and, after the team changed the gearbox, 5.83 yesterday. Today was a no time or speed after being 'bulbed' and a shut-off in the final session. For more photos of the TMFC qualifying go to the team's regularly updated site at www.lindbergbros.com.


Top Methanol Funny Car racer Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jonnie Lindberg's world record-holding car ran 5.56 and 5.57 yesteday and a pair of 5.60s today to go no.1 in qualifying and wipe out Leif Andréasson's points lead. Jonnie said "We need to be consistent to win the championship rather than setting records here. So we are trying to run without shake so I don't have to pedal. We wanted to get Johan's car down track to qualify no.1 and no.2."


Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Andy Frost was delighted to run new personal bests which also mean a new Street Car record. He said "We ran the same map as when we drove it on the street on Saturday. Big thanks to Shane Teckenberg for tuning the car remotely. Our objective here has been to launch in first geat successfully and to be consistent and we are now getting down the track." A 6.52 and 6.40 yesterday were followed by a 6.95 with smoke and shake this morning. "We are going for a 6.3s pass and trying to step up," he said.


Pro Mod racer Norbert Kuno said "We are struggling a little bit and trying to find the setup for a 6.10. We have adjusted the clutch to reduce the power to the track but are still making too much power at the end of first gear and need to get the adjustment right for whichever lane we are in." The adjustment worked fine as Norbert improved from a 6.7 to a 6.22 in the final session for no.8 position. Norbert's Lucas Oil team mate Norbert Schneider has been unable to attend due to engine breakage but we are assured the two Norberts will be back in 2014.


Super Pro ET racer Dave Russell won his first two rounds of eliminations. He said "We had to get the gearbox repaired last Saturday after missing Shakespeare County when it had broken. Thanks to Al O'Connor and Andy Frost for getting it sorted. The team had a bye when opponent Rod Harrison had to leave the track to see his mother in hospital and Dave said "We send our best wishes to the Harrison family."


Super Pro ET racer Martyn 'Sid' Jones (pictured left with crew chief Crunch) had car troubles with his rapid dragster in qualifying. "A crew member tripped over the car, it ran over another crew member who is still limping, it broke the reverser and there was an electrical fire caused by the seat belt shorting out the circuit". A 5.98 break-out in round one against a red-lighting Beat Reichsteiner was followed by a 6.07 defeat of championship leader Scott Hauser.


Super Pro ET racer Tom Atkinson suffered a problem with the torque converter on Thursday. Team member Kirstie said "The team rebuilt the engine after Shakey and found a broken piston ring, but that was not the only problem. The torque converter was poorly and it affected the transmission too so we borrowed Amanda Cox's converter and trans and fitted it yesterday. Thanks to Mark Flavell and his crew for their help and to Amanda for the loan of the parts." In round one the car recovered its performance - but broke out against Shari Oomen.


Junior Dragster racer Joe Holland-Villa (pictured left with brother Sam who qualified no.1), after reaching his first final at Hockenheim, suffered engine woes yesterday when a leakdown test showed 55% leak on the exhaust cylinder. The team thanks Bruce Kopasz, Pete Bellenie and Pete Kellett for their help and Brian Payne for supplying parts. Once fixed, the car's ETs improved by almost a second.


Super Street Bike racer Thomas Granica had a melted air pipe caused by contact with the exhaust header. He said "After that there was no boost or manifold pressure. We thought it was a tuning issue and made changes but on further checking we discovered the problem. We replaced the pipe, thanks to Steve Mead for supplying one, and hope to get back to running 7.5s. Peter Granica (pictured right) had a less troubled first session and was ninth with 7.93.


Super Street Bike racer Mogens Lund from Denmark had been at Mosten Race Day last weekend and so could not test here. He said "We went for a different combination to get down the track in the first session and in the second we gave it a shot and it paid off with 7.52 PB, it was like we had found the missing links for the setup. It was also the first Danish bike to run less than 5s in the eighth. It's been a good season winning Super Street Bike championships in EDRS and Denmark. I have a chance in the FIM Europe series too but am taking it one round at a time."


Pro Stock Bike racer Gert-Jan Laseur had a lot of work after Hockenheim when a spark plug broke and pieces found their way into the cylinder. "We needed to replace the cylinder and valves and we have also fitted double injectors and a new exhaust. A 7.40 was not so bad but the engine was very rich so we took fuel out. On the second pass it was getting close to the wall, I took my foot off and came close to falling off. The power was no better so we replaced the exhaust with the old one. We ran 7.2s at Hockenheim and will go back to that setup if there is no improvement." Get-Jan is pictured with team members (from left) Sander, Frederico and Patrick.


Super Street Bike racer Dave Holland was displeased at 7.54 and 7.62. He joked "I'm yesterday's news and a has-been" and deputed crewman Dave Hall to sit on the bike for our photo. "We haven't found the tune-up yet but will be better by the end of qualifying. There are loads of variables. The change of air caught many out and the settings are having to change. At least I'm happy my boys are doing well in Junior Dragster."


Pro Stock Bike racer Jerry Collier is back on a bike for the first time in two years. He said "It feels like a baptism by fire but great fun. Thanks to Richard Gipp for supplying and preparing the bike, I just have to let the clutch out and shift gear." Jerry is also helped by crewmen Phil Cordelle and Nigel Sadler preparing the four valve 1640cc engine. "The first run the bike went to the right and crossed the track. The 60ft was 1.14 but we had to take some clutch out to go straight. On the second pass the front end washed but I corrected and kept on the throttle." The run, a 7.82/165 qualified Jerry in no.9.


Top Fuel Bike racer Filippos Papafilippou is racing here for the first time since 2001 and has brought two bikes for good measure. He said "In Q1 I had a steering damper problem, but we're not sure what it was. In Q2 there was a lot of tyre spin in first and second but I kept on the throttle and had a good speed of 196mph. We have adjusted the clutch for this morning and we are chasing an electrical problem." Fil said his second bike will be based in Northern Europe and run in Top Fuel Bike and Funny Bike competition. He will be teaming up with Rickard Gustafsson and be based in Sweden. "With Rickard's experience and knowledge we hope to go quicker." Fil improved with a great 6.792 in the third session.


Super Twin Bike racer Job Heezen has had the same directional problems off the start line that have afflicted the bike's previous owners. He said "We thought we had tackled the problem, when we took power out it was better but on full power it goes everywhere but straight. Yesterday it was worse. We changed the balance and moved the rear wheel but we can't figure out why, and the frame design is the same as Samu, Christian and Martijn."


Pro Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com blogger Kalle Lyrén suffered a lack of power running 7.22 and 7.21 yesterday. He said "We stripped the engine and found the head was damaged so put in the spare engine which is two valve 1755cc almost the same and hope to run quicker. It has a new crank so we will take it easy in Q3 and possibly Q4 and then step it up." In Q3 the bike shut off after the burnout.


Top Fuel Dragster racer and 2013 FIA Champion Thomas Nataas said "It's great to have won my first Top Fuel championship after coming close a couple of times before. The key race for us was Tierp in August, winning that was important. We had struggled a little bit early in the season but soon ran great when we needed to. Tierp was a great performance and I believe we can repeat it here as it is going well. We weren't expecting a 4.01 as we tuned the car for around 4.09. It's a great team, very knowledgeable yet relaxed and happy at the same time."


Fuel Funny Car racer Kevin Kent is pleased with his first full season in the class. He said "It's been nice to do full passes and it would be great to get a win. Hockenheim was difficult for us mechanically but the crew have worked together superbly. We will run one session today and eliminations tomorrow." Kevin looks forward to 2014 and today's run was a storming 5.386 for a Fuel FC series record if he backs it up. A minor excursion into the field resulted in no damage to car or driver.



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