FIA SWEDEN INTERNATIONALS - HIGHLIGHTS
Thu, 2011-06-16 17:00
U.S. citizen, Tommy Johnson Jr. made another high profile appearance in Europe winning the Top Fuel trophy at the inaugural Sweden Internationals held at the state-of-the-art new facility an hour north west of Stockholm. He qualified on top with a 4.019/298 then blitzed his way through the pack recording Europe’s first three and three hundred mph over the thousand foot distance, a 3.956/307. He said he was expecting to run the full quarter mile but was a little perplexed to find it was now a 1000 feet race track for Fuel.
Finland’s Risto Poutiainen was not far behind T.J. in Top Fuel when he qualified second with a 4.028/305, the first 300mph of the weekend. A slightly off-par 4.378/196 was not enough as Johnson Jr. took the money run. Poutiainen had earlier seen off Britain’s Andy Carter then fellow Finn Anita Mäkelä, 4.104/298 to a problematic 15.77/79 and a 4.081/304 to a losing 4.028/300 respectively.
Norway’s Fred Hanssen sat in third during final qualifying in Top Methanol Dragster, a 5.354/266 with England’s Dave Wilson on pole with a great 5.298/265. It was these two that faced off in the final with Hanssen taking the solo win with a 5.305/269.
Dave Wilson in his A/Fueller got to the final in TMD with an up in smoke lucky win over a red lighting Paul Ingar Udtian in one, then the defending Champion Timo Habermann with Wilson scoring a 5.343/267 to the losing 5.411/259. In the final Wilson shut off on the line with a bent fuel lever.
Photo of Dave Wilson.
Photo of Dave Wilson.
Jonas Staflund from Sweden sat on the Top Methanol Funny Car bubble during qualifying and faced the might of fellow countryman, Ulf Leanders in round one. Staflund’s 6.020/236 beat the shaking and close to the wall 6.241/243 from Leanders then beat Finland’s Jarmo Kuutniemi, 6.119/236 to a shaking 6.243/236. The final had Staflund solo to an easy 15.506/48 win.
Norway’s Arvid Grødem ran a 5.754/251 to qualify number two in TMFC then went through rounds against Denmark’s Dan Larsen in a borrowed car, 5.822/238 to a tyre smoking 8.529/108 then a 5.829/247 got the better of the red light from Sweden’s Leif Andreasson. A spun bearing put paid to Grødem’s final round showing.
In Pro Stock, rookie Thomas Lindström in the former Allen Johnson Dodge Stratus made quite an impact by gaining pole with a 6.735/206, but lost in round two to eventual winner, Finn, Sampsa Palos who took out Richard Sundblom in round one. The final had Palos face former multi champion Jimmy Ålund from Sweden and to everyone’s surprise beat him with a 6.790/205 to a close 6.793/206. Photo of Sampsa Palos.
Jimmy Ålund came from third in Pro Stock qualifying and inexorably drove his way past Jonas Dantanus in round one, 6.784/205 to a 6.827/202 then beat current Champion Michael Malmgren with a 6.772/205 to a 6.817/205 before losing to Palos in the final. Photo of Jimmy Alund.
Pro Modified had an impressive twenty-eight competitors vying for a place in the sixteen car field and was led by Sweden’s Adam Flamholc on a 6.010/240 clocking but he lost in round two going up in smoke as Switzerland’s Bruno Bader the event winner took over, seeing off Johan Lindberg in three and scoring an impressive win over NHRA event winner Micke Gullqvist, 6.104/231 to a loose 8.851/113 Photo of Bruno Bader.
Micke Gullqvist managed a 6.015/239 number two qualifier then scored a 5.989/239 to beat a fiery nitrous top end explosion from Roger Johansson’s Corvette, a 6.018/239 to see off Freddy Fagerström’s truck, then a 5.979/240.91 European best speed to beat Micke Lindahl’s 6.106/237 before being beaten in the final.
In the Top Fuel Bike category it was again a small but class field with Sweden’s Peter Svensson sitting on top of qualifying with a 6.022/211, everyone expecting the track to deliver him a five. Svensson had an unopposed route to take the final with his best figures in round two, a 6.006/220; his final round opponent would have been England’s Ian King.
Ian King sat just behind Svensson in Top Fuel Bike qualifying with a 6.360/215 and suffered the humility of going into the top end kitty litter trap during qualifying involving a lot of cleaning before race day. King took out Sweden’s Peter Andersson Ström in one then Norway’s Sverre Dahl in two before unfortunately not showing for the run-off due to lack of oil pressure and particles in the sump. Photo of Ian King.
There were twenty competitors in the hugely popular Super Twin Bike field and they were led by German Christian Jäger on a 6.503/216 but his day ended in round one courtesy of Norway’s Hans Olav Olsatd then he was ousted by Mark Ashelford who met eventual winner Sweden’s Per Bengtsson for the final, Bengtsson’s hugely loud machine carded a 6.696/212 and despite hazing the slick at 330 feet took the trophy.
Mark Ashelford brought his complete team over from Australia to take on the Super Twin Bike champions of Europe and has done well in his first UEM event as he beat Norway’s Jan Sturla Hegre 6.619/218 to 6.722/206 in round one, a 6.685/217 beat Olstad’s loss of power and in the final a 6.912/212 had Ashelford take runner up place to Bengtsson.
A fourteen bike field made up Pro Stock Bike and was led by Denmark’s Jesper Thiel on a 7.102/187 and it was Thiel that forged his way past every competitor with wins over England’s Dave Beck 7.090/186 to a 7.371/180. A 7.113/187 got Thiel the win over fellow Dane Rasmus Olesen’s 7.371/179 and a 7.145/184 clinched the trophy for Thiel beating Finland’s Fredrik Fredlund in the final.
Fredrik Fredlund saw off Norwegian Kenneth Vik in round one, a 7.049/190.21 managing to record a new European speed record to the losing 7.270/182. A 7.138/189 then beat Sweden’s Anders Abrahamsson’s 7.285/184 before losing to Thiel in the final, 7.145/184 win to the 7.160/187 lose. Photo of Fredrik Fredlund.
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