Nitro bike rookie Petri Paljakka was taking his first steps on board the bike that had carried Ian King to five European championships. With King and crew chief Mick Beaumont on hand to offer advise and suggestions, Paljakka qualified, having had only one previous outing at a cold and unprepped Alastaro, but lost in the first round to fellow Finn Selkamaa.

UEM Super Twin Bike

After a runner-up spot at Kunmadaras back in August (followed up by a win at the Euro Finals in September), Job Heezen showed his late 2009 form hadn’t gone away when he led qualifying with a 6.913 (which was a new track record at the time) until the final session when he got bumped down a spot on the eight-bike Super Twin ladder. The cautious approach adopted during qualifying, “we didn’t have many spare parts with us”, had also enabled the Zodiac/Garage Heezen team to get a predictable tune-up, something that was missing at this track last year, and put Job in good shape for eliminations. A 7.000 defeated Samu Kemppainen in the opening round, and a 6.904/207 over Ismo Mäenpää’s 7.13 set up the final round against Hans Olav Olstad. The turnaround between rounds wasn’t without its own drama as an engine mounting bolt had come loose and was fixed just before the final call. Unflustered, Heezen left first with a nice 0.05s RT and didn’t look back as another 7 flat at 204 mph secured an early points lead.