FIA European Drag Racing, Turtle Wax Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden

Words and photos Ivan Sansom & Rose Hughes

On entering the penultimate round of the 2014 European championship season it would be fair to say things hadn’t exactly gone to plan. Round 1 (at Santa Pod, England) back in May was a rainout with Rounds 2 (Alastaro, Finland) and 3 (Hockenheimring, Germany) shared the distinction of glorious weather but distinctly ‘iffy’ racing surfaces, so pulling into the Tierp Arena supertrack just over an hour north of Stockholm was something of a relief as the all concrete track was looking in fine fettle. With a new owner to impress, the facility needed to deliver and, although attendance was down on finals day (the weekend being plagued by poor weather forecasts although only part of one qualifying session for the Pro categories would be scratched), a slew of new Europe records entered the ledger and FIA Pro Modified delivered a stunning eliminator with barriers busted from start to finish.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster

Having qualified low at each of the three preceding rounds, it wasn’t too much of a surprise to find Thomas Nataas at the top of the heap after the three sessions for the class, although that the low qualifying number would be in the 4s rather than the 3s was something of a puzzle given the know-how of the Andersen Racing/Biltema/Landmeco team; “it took us some time to remember what we were supposed to be doing” said co-owner/co-crewchief Karsten Andersen, reflecting on the previous two events. Once they had dialed in the records started to fall and the rest of the field was swept away with a 4.061/305 to deal with Micke Kågered being an appetizer before moving the speed record with a 3.957/311.84 to take out Duncan Micallef at the semifinal stage and a 3.955/310.97 dominating Antti Horto in the final round. With nearest championship rivals Stig Neergaard and Anita Mäkelä falling at the first hurdle in Tierp, Nataas now has a commanding lead in the points and will be looking to seal the deal at Santa Pod, a venue where the Andersen team has not been afraid to flex their muscles in the past.

Although Horto and the Finnish Eagle Motorsports team are part time participants on the European tour with the rental of one of the more venerable rails from the Rune Fjeld stable (although substantially modified, this one saw service with Paul Romine when he ran the IHRA tour with Doug Herbert before coming over to Europe), when they do run they do make a habit of going rounds and taking a few familiar scalps. Sweden was no different, qualifying in second spot with a new PB at 4.065, with Stig Neergaard popping the chutes in bemusing circumstances before firing up handing Horto a freebie in the quarters. Semi-final time and opponent Urs Erbacher hit shake, pedaled and shed the blower belt with Horto long gone on a 4.083. In the final against Nataas Horto was keeping the Norwegian honest before lifting the wheels around the 800 foot mark and then coughing and spluttering and slowing to a 4.116.