Driving Stig Neergaard’s second car, Jöran Persåker managed to get into the field on the bump spot, no mean achievement given the 12 car field and a couple of the series regulars on the outside looking in. Persåker was less successful in his bid to crack the Pro Modified bump spot in his turbo Firebird, but, as Neergaard reportedly has his whole Top Fuel operation up for sale, we await developments from the camp over the next couple of months.

Swedish veteran Monica Öberg (above) last debuted a new car 20 years ago, and will hope that her brand new chassis from ME Racing Services proves to be as good as it looks. Operating on a budget that the use of the term ‘miniscule’ would be a ridiculously generous overstatement, Öberg did cast a glance over the oppositions’ 18 wheeler trucks full of spares and wondered what her and racing partner and crew chief Dan Söderberg were doing there, but first alternate after being bumped out in the final session was a reasonable FIA debut for the new ride.

Micke Kågered (above) is having a season to forget and the three qualifying sessions at Mantorp added another tale of debris that resulted in a shock non-qualifying 11th spot at his local race. The low point was this boomer that lit up the track in the second session that saw two rods leave the block, and a final attempt to make the field in the Bacho Tools Express came to a halt when a blower belt pulley came adrift shortly after launch.