England, september 8-10


Micke Kågered left and track view from Santa Pod photo by Remco Scheelings

ELIMINATIONS TOP FUEL DRAGSTER sunday september 10th

Final: Nice side by side final, where Erbacher as it seemed had a slight lead when Nilsson´s blower belt came off and put him behind. The 4.79 ET set twice by Urs this weekend is also a new european record. Congratulations to team Erbacher for winning the event and to the new european champion Håkan Nilsson.

Semi Finals: Bye run for Urs Erbacher as Haapanen damaged the car too badly in the quarter finals to come to start again. The new european champion Håkan Nilsson continued to show his teams potential, although seemingly dropping cylinders the car ran 5.01 seconds. Although it was a tight race the win for Nilsson was clear. It will be a battle between the two gigants of this event- Nilsson and Erbacher in the final.

Quarter Finals: Tommi Haapanen got to take Smax Smith´s place in the eliminations as team Mc Donals/Smax Smith could not get hand on all parts needed to repair the car after damaging it during the qualifications. The race between Möller and Haapanen was spectacular to sy the least, Haapanen´s engine on fire while Möller´s blower belt came off. First over the finish line was Haapanen with 7.17 sec and he moves on to the semi final. One hour later after cleaning up after Haapanen´s damage, the  championship title was at stake in the quarter final between Nilsson and Nathås. It must have been nerve wrecking for the drivers as they stayed in the car during the entire clean up. And it was team Håkan Nilsson, who by continuing to run consistent and quick took the win and the championship title, leaving Nathås in a 2nd or 3rd spot, depending on how Lex Joon´s continued day goes. Joon, who was the european champion in 2005, was up against Micke Kågered. Micke was slightly behind when at 300 meters the engine just shut off   

QUALIFICATION RESULTS Top Fuel Dragster E.T. sec/speed mph	Friday		Saturday
	Session #1	Session #2	Session #3	Session #4
Mikael Kågered	9.40/88	6.36/144	9.61/89	5.041/275
Håkan Nilsson	15.07/56	9.92/71	4.80/290	4.83/296
Urs Erbacher	4.96/288	did not run	did not run	4.74/318
Tommy Möller	5.08/261	22.30/66	4.99/264	did not run
Håkan Fällström	17.40/55	6.73/131	did not run	did not run
Thomas Nathås	10.02/79	10.78/77	8.22/93	5.047/228
Alex Joon	6.60/119	7.40/108	5.46/181	4.81/271
Stig Nergaard	broke	13.58/47	did not run	5.68/199
Tommi Haapanen	did not run	9.65/81	6.86/126	5.72/210
Smax Smith	4.97/296	did not run	5.50/195	did not run

Comments Qualifications saturday: A different story performancewise today in top fuel dragster, as we expected. The last session changed things around quite a bit and when Micke waited in line for his turn to run, he had just been put outside the ladder as both Nergaard and Nathås passed his time. However things turned out as we hoped for and the car was setup to run a 5.0 sec and it did. That puts Micke inside the elimination ladder in a 6th position and leaves Tommi Haapanen and Håkan Fällström outside of it. Great performance by Erbacher, Nilsson and Joon. Erbacher´s 4.74, not backed up yet, but as Håkan Nilsson backed up his 4.80 that is what we gather currently the new european ET record (can change tomorrow..) We have placed the elimination ladder above. Some teams seemingly are running out of parts, but we hope to see all top 8 teams with the things in good order at the starting line tomorrow. IF any of the cars fail to it to start in the quarter finals, the alternates may get a chance to step in.  

Comments Qualifications friday: Many teams tried to run real quick today and overpowering was the general trend to say the least. Even the crews that normally get the hang of the track real quick failed to do so today. The two exemptions, Erbacher and Smith managed the track real well this morning and chose not to run the last session.
For team Kågered it was tire shakes also that contributed to the modest elapsed times.

The "bump spot", (meaning the 8th qualification spot and the last to go into the elminination ladder) was 5.19 at Mantorp after completed qualifications. After one day we are only down to 9.92 as 8th quickest, but no doubt saturday will bring some great quick side by side runs in top fuel dragster.


 

FIA - EXPORAMA DRAG CHALLENGE
Gardermoen Raceway, Norway, august 4-6


At the starting area before a run

ELIMINATIONS TOP FUEL DRAGSTER sunday august 6th
 

alternate #9 qualifier: Tommy Möller (S)

COMMENTS ELIMINATIONS: A kicked rod for Micke in the quarter final and he was out of competition. Nilssontaken out in the semifinal by Erbacher, who had a really bad qualification but apparantly sorted everything out in time for the eliminations. Joon, who also struggled through the qualifications was the winner in all senses as Gardermoen, performed great all through the eliminations and finally won the event in a final, where Thomas Nathås car lost traction. Håkan Nilsson performed well up to the semifinal, where his car too lost traction and he was taken out by winner Lex Joon.

 

QUALIFICATION RESULTS Top Fuel Dragster E.T. sec/speed km	Friday		Saturday
	Session #1	Session #2	Session #3	Session #4
Mikael Kågered	5.93/266	5.39/327	4.96/470	5.05/480
Håkan Nilsson	5.03/486	4.92/?	4.98/?	4.86/489
Urs Erbacher	7.81/157	did not run	broke	6.89/35
Tommy Möller	did not run	10.54/172	8.83/147	broke
Håkan Fällström	5.10/447	did not run	5.05/221	did not run
Thomas Nathås	did not run	5.01/479	4.94/496	?
Rene Hersland	did not run	10.13/17	6.86/198	did not run
Alex Joon	5.88/257	5.38/?	6.69/183	4.98/470
Siv Nystad	did not run	did not run	6.74/204	5.48/310

COMMENTS QUALIFICATIONS: Some teams have been in bif trouble during the qualifications, suffering from different kind of failures and damaged parts. Newcomer Siv Nystad, Norway,  made her first appearance on track (and last observation run) saturday driving one of Rune Fjeld´s cars. Siv qualified number 6 in her first ever competition in top fuel dragster, leaving Möller unexpectedly outside the ladder. Nilsson continues to perform well, Lex Joon "back on track" running 4.98 during the last session. Both Micke´s runs saturday looked good and the 4.96 sec. run put him in the third position in the elimination ladder. So it is Kågered vs Nystad, Nilsson vs Erbacher, Joon against Fällströn and Nathås vs Hersland. Anyone of the teams has the potential of outrunning anybody else and nothing, absolutely nothing can be taken for granted in this class this season.

FIA - VEIDEC Festival
Mantorp Park, Sweden, july 28-30th

ELIMINATIONS TOP FUEL DRAGSTER sunday july 30th

Alternates (qualifiers #9-13): Jöran Persåker, Monica Öberg, Andy Carter, Stig Nergaard

July 31th: Micke Kågered had a great weekend at Mantorp Park, Sweden up until the point where he ran a 4.91 in the quarter finals and was outrun by Håkan Nilsson. "A shame it had to be already in the quarter finals I met Håkan", said Micke. "That great side by side run would have made a perfect final". Håkan Nilsson qualified number 8 but got control of the traction problems just in time for the eliminations.
Team Kågered for the first time this year had a car that worked brilliantly. Qualified as number one with a 4.94 second run and improved it in the quarter finals by running a 4.91 run against Nilssons 4.86. The side by side race between the two of them were the quickest in top fuel in Europe this season. 

"With all great people backing me up at my home track I am of course disappointed we did not make it all the way to the final, but I can´t really say we could have done something in a different way to change the scenario", says Micke and continues "we now finally have a car that runs well and react to changes in the way we want, so now I really look forward to next weekends race in Norway!"

Micke made it into the elimination field in methanol funny car too, but was outrun by event winner Jörgen Johnsson in the quarter finals. Micke thought it was great fun to pilot the funny car again for the first time in three years. Niclas Andersson, who piloted the car for Micke last season, followed all Micke´s races with the funny car closely and said it felt kind of strange not to be in the car. Niclas pilots a ProMod car this season, but was also taken out in the quarter finals at Mantorp.

 

QUALIFICATION RESULTS Top Fuel Dragster E.T. sec/speed km (the numbers indicate position after qualifications finished)	Friday		Saturday
	Session #1	Session #2	Session #3	Session #4
1. Mikael Kågered	7.27/105	5.05/434	4.94/410	8.67/157 Halfpass
8. Håkan Nilsson	5.66/404	5.19/444	5.37/338	6.46/220
3. Urs Erbacher	5.06/446	did not run	5.03/469	5.38/?
2. Tommy Möller	5.00/423	did not run	5.02/467	6.84/204
12. Stig Nergaard	did not run	7.60/127	5.90/276	15.07/48
10. Monica Öberg	8.15/160	8.19/156	7.79/170	5.35/413
11. Andy Carter	9.10/148	6.02/13	5.75/271	7.13/185
4. Håkan Fällström	5.32/419	6.12/229	5.01/467	did not run
5. Thomas Nathås	did not run	5.31/17	5.09/476	5.08/477
6. Alex Joon	?/126	5.09/447	?	5.43/323
7. Tommi Haapanen	5.85/255	did not run	10.91/132	5.17/443
9. Jöran Persåker	did not run	did not run	9.90/116	5.24/421
13. Rene Hersland	did not run	?	6.32/235	6.52/367

FIA - FHRA Nitro Nationals
Alastaro Raceway, Finland, june 30-july 2nd

ELIMINATIONS TOP FUEL DRAGSTER sunday july 2nd

Comments eliminations: Micke was taken out already in the quarter finals by Thomas Nathås. Micke had the hang passing half track, then got traction problems and had to pedal the car and fell behind. Håkan Fällström, who has been doing real well so far was protested against and finally disqualified for an excess downforce angle to his rear wing. Joon passed through to the semi-finals instead and was there outrun by Nathås, Joons blower belt came snapped and he fell behind. On the other side of the ladder Möller and Carter went out in the quarterfinals, while Nilsson and Erbacher made it to the semis. Close race where Erbacher broke the engine while running a "good for the circumstances" 5.34. In the final Håkan Nilssons car lost traction and he could not catch up to Nathås, who showed steady performance all the way through the eliminations. A worthy winner of the event at Alastaro. Nilsson had the low ET of the event with 5.13 seconds while Nathås had the highest speed with 467 km. Not bad!
Micke was of course disappointed to loose the quarter finals, but says that "beside that he feels confident that the problems with a broken engine for every run is sorted out and the car is responding perfectly to the way it is setup". He continues; "we overestimated the traction slightly in the quarter finals- it was perfect to half track the car lost traction, I had to pedal it and fell behind.." Team Kågered have checked and prepared the car almost race ready and now look forward to the next FIA European Championship event at Mantorp Park the last weekend in july. Mantorp is Micke´s home track and has been kind of a favourite for him the last couple of seasons.
 

QUALIFICATION RESULTS Top Fuel Dragster E.T. sec/speed km	Friday	Saturday
	Only one completed session	Session #2	Session #3	Session #4
Mikael Kågered	broke	17.55/?	5.59/340	9.22/?
Håkan Nilsson	5.73/287	9.45/117	5.96/251	5.73/266
Urs Erbacher	broke	6.91/186	5.43/400	did not run
Tommy Möller	broke	5.63/301	did not run	did not run
Tommi Haapanen	10.92/146	8.51/153	8.39/326	did not run
Andy Carter	8.70/158	8.46/152	5.40/434	did not run
Håkan Fällström	10.11/117	broke	6.30/326	5.20/441
Thomas Nathås	7.13/190	7.88/152	5.40/432	did not run
Alex Joon	9.46/135	9.79/129	6.30/326	8.10/?
Janne Ahonen	observation license run	--	7.01/187	did not run

Comments saturday: Scattered performance today and the general tendency was overpowering of the track. Team Kågered started yesterday bad with a broken engine. After an engine change and a real soft setup to prevent lost traction Micke did eventually run 5.59 during the 3rd session. The last session Micke did a launch and shut off early according to plan- crew chief Alan Jackson and co tuner Göran Emil Edman wanted some computer readings from the run and they were pleased with what they got. Micke is up against Thomas Nathås in the quarter finals.

Comments friday: The second session in top fuel dragster for the day was not completed before the deadline at 8 p.m. As not all cars had the chance to run the session was not counted.  Initial struggle for some teams, damaging parts and as always with the traction early in the qualifications. Best so far Tommy Möller and Håkan Nilsson, who are the only ones in the 5´s. The blower belt came off Mickes car during his only try today which resulted in an elapsed time that is nothing to write home about.. A full day of qualifications await saturday and we think we will see a lot of changes in the above list before the day is over.

FIA Main Event
Santa Pod Raceway, England, may 27-29th

ELIMINATIONS TOP FUEL DRAGSTER

Finals: Great final and good performance from both Fällström and Smith- Fällström winner of the first event included in the FIA European Championship. Next round is in Finland 4 weeks from now and team Kågered are in for a heavy work load to get the car back in race condition again. 

Semi finals: Fällström, that was to meet Micke in the semi final got a bye run as Micke´s car was just too damaged during the fire at the quarter finals to be repaired in time for the next run. Carter´s car could not be started and accordingly Smax Smith´s run turned out to ba a bye run too. Both Smith and Fällström cruised the track to save parts and time in preparations for the finals.

Quarter finals: Number one qualifier Tommy Möller ran into trouble at the starting line, when the pump broke shortly before the run and he had to shut off the car. That gave first alternate Urs Erbacher a chance to be in the game and Urs took Tommy´s place in the run towards Carter. Carter however made a too quick run although hurting the engine while doing it. Micke Kågered up next against Håkan Nilsson. Nilsson lost traction and smoked the tires while Micke´s car mad a real quick pass to begin with. However at 300 meters the engine on fire. The fires spread quickly towards the cocpit and luckily Micke got out of the car as quick as he could with just minor burns- the safety equipment did their job and the rescue crew certainly did theirs well. After checkup and some extra oxygen Micke could return to his crew in the pits. They were working hard to replace all panels, cockpit, wiring etc. that had been badly burnt. An engine change also needed and the job just could not be done in time for next run.      
 

QUALIFICATION RESULTS Top Fuel Dragster E.T. sec/speed mph (the numbers indicate position after qualifications finished)	Saturday		Sunday
	Session #1	Session #2	Session #3	Session #4
7. Mikael Kågered	5.26/221	cancelled due to rain	broke	did not run
2. Håkan Nilsson	4.86/306		8.66/91	6.99/122
9. Urs Erbacher	5.55/195		10.91/74	13.39/52
1. Tommy Möller	10.20/72		4.81/303	did not run
10. Rene Hersland	6.53/148		broke	5.87/175
8. Smax Smith	10.71/62		did not run	5.42/236
5. Andy Carter	6.36/135		5.18/286	did not run
6. Håkan Fällström	5.72/177		5.20/282	5.54/191
4. Thomas Nathås	11.59/71		4.99/267	did not run
3. Alex Joon	4.87/239		5.12/201	6.70/?

Comments session #3: Team Kågered did not make it in time for the 3rd session, but stayed in the 7th position through this session too. Erbacher and Hersland the two teams outside the elimination ladder. Micke´s seventh position means he is up against number two qualifier Håkan Nilsson. Möller meets Smith, Carter vs. Nathås and Joon is up against Fällström in the quarter finals.

Comments session #2: A engine explosion right off the startline for Micke and the weekend has not started in the way we had wished for, as lot of parts damaged that are non repairable. Micke currently number 7 in the field with one session remaining. Möller now leading the field after a great 4.81 sec run. Nathås in the 4´s as well, Joon and Nilsson who were quickest yesterday did not improve performance this session.

Comments session #1:  After having waited out the rain for all day at 7.30 p.m. it was finally time for the first qualification run in top fuel dragster. First out was Håkan Nilsson, who had been out on track yesterday to make license runs. Then he had problems with tire shakes, something that his crew had managed to cure for the session today. For the other cars it was the first time out on track and as you normally would see, it turned out to be a scattered field. Micke Kågered with nice burning nitro flames from both sides of the engine, not dropping any cylinders. However leaning out at 300 meters the engine was damaged and caught fire. Although it looked  dramatic both parachutes were out and the car came to a stop quickly for the fire crew to arrive with their fire extinguishers. Micke in the 3rd spot so far, passed by Nilsson and last years champion Lex Joon, who also had a quick run in the 4.80´s. Nathås and Smith both had problems with tire shakes. We are in for some heavy work tonight and an engine change as the block was damaged bad.
 

Easter Thunderball
Santa Pod Raceway, England, april 15-17th


Micke Kågered and John Spuffard paired together on saturday

QUALIFICATIONS NITRO FUNNY CARS + DRAGSTERS
Qualifications consist of one run each day saturday, sunday and monday-
The two cars with the lowest accumulated ET after three runs goes to a final monday afternoon.
The funny cars are given 0.35 sec. handicap towards the dragsters.
 

FINAL: Micke Kågered vs John Spuffard where Micke won running a 5.18 sec run.

Comments session #1 MONDAY: This run saw some result to what we have gradually been testing, the car smoother from the start now and not smoking tires like before. John Spuffard running impressingly well even after the major engine damage yesterday. Möller´s car shut off at the start what we gather due to leakage, Lex Joon who was in the lead after two sessions failed to get reverse gear in and  was unable to run. So into the finals goes one funny car and one dragster- John Spuffard towards Micke Kågered. Weather a bit "risky" with scattered rain clouds around the area. Our hopes are we will be able to run without interruption.

Comments session #1 SUNDAY: Scattered rain over Santa Pod today and the only run today was not until in the evening. Möller were lined up but something happened that meant the car could not be fired up. Damage to Spuffards engine, we do not know how much.. Team Kågered improved, not so much looking at the ET, but testing moving in the right direction. We have made major maintenance tonight taking everything apart on the engine for checkup. Still shaking tires this last run, like the majority of the teams but not as much as yesterday. Our hopes are we will have time to run two runs monday.  

Comments session #1 SATURDAY: The general problem seemedto be that of overpowering the track causing lost traction and less than full passes. Lex Joon was the one who had it going best of the bunch when the blower belt came off.
For team Kågered a bracket for the barrel valve broke after 100 meters other than that the 60-foot time was better than in along time. That was also the way it looked for most of the cars, great launches, then struggling some with the traction- nothing wrong with the track, it is "just" a matter of adjusting the cars to the current track condition and that is always a bit of a gamble for the first run.