FIA European Drag Racing Championship returns to action at Tierp Arena

Only one week to go and the FIA European Drag Racing Championship kicks off the second part of the season with the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena, Sweden. After rain brought an early end to the eliminations of the opening round at Santa Pod Raceway, round two at Tierp Arena was a great success with great weather conditions on raceday and happy winners in all four classes. For round three the championship returns to Tierp. Duncan Micallef (Top Fuel), Tony Bryntesson (Top Methanol), David Vegter (Pro Modified) and Jimmy Ålund (Pro Stock) are the leaders in their respective categories, but with several pursuers close behind, the competition will be tough again.

The Summit Racing Equipment Internationals are also the third round of the FIM Europe European Drag Bike Championship, one of the most prestigious rounds of the Summit Racing EDRS Series and the shoot-out for the Summit Racing Super Series in Pro ET and Super Pro ET! So, four action packed days of high level drag racing and with almost 275 entrants, it’s a race meeting not to be missed.

No time to relax
With three races in the span of four weeks, the drivers and teams of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship will have no time to relax in the second half of the season. The title race resumes with the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals on August 8th – 11th , at Tierp Arena, the state-of-the-art drag racing facility north of Stockholm. After a one weekend break, it’s time for the NitrOlympX at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRing on August 23th – 25th , followed two weeks later by the grand finale, The European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway on September 5th – 8th .

Top Fuel, Duncan Micallef or Susanne Callin
In Top Fuel the fight for the race win at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals and the 2024 FIA European Championship as well will be between Duncan Micallef and Susanne Callin. Micallef, the 2017 FIA European Top Fuel champion from Malta, advanced to the final at Santa Pod before rain brought an early end to the race and he was the runner-up at Tierp Arena in June. As a result, the DM Motorsport/Rune Fjeld Motorsport driver is leading the championship standing with a 35 point advantage over RF Motorsport/Slick Tricks Racing driver Callin, who finished both races in the semi-finals.

Jndia Erbacher was in the final at Santa Pod, but the Swiss driver will not be back in the championship until the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim. Antti Horto claimed the win at the SpeedEvents Internationals at Tierp in June and the 2022 FIA European Top Fuel champion from Finland is the number three in the championship. As it looks right now, the first Tierp race was the only event for the Eagle Top Fuel Racing/RF Motorsport driver this season.

A late entry for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals is Linn Fløysvik, a familiar name of course in Top Methanol, but this time the Norwegian driver will be in Top Fuel! It’s great to see the reigning FIA European Top Methanol champion back in action after her announcement early this year that she had to skip the 2024 season. Fløysvik will drive the Nitro Viking’s dragster to start and hopefully also finish her licensing procedure.

Fløysvik is not the first female driver from Norway to obtain her Top Fuel licence in that car, as in 2017 Maja Udtian took that opportunity at Gardermoen and Tierp as well.

Top Methanol, A-Fuel against TMFC
Tony Bryntesson is the leader in the Top Methanol category of the FIA European Championship, the only class where funny cars and dragsters compete against each other. Although Bryntesson had traction problems several times this season, the Swede was quick at the right moment in the eliminations at Santa Pod and Tierp Arena as well, handing him a final round position in England and a win at Tierp. The driver from A-Fuel Team Sweden impressed with a stunning 5.23 second pass in the final at Tierp and has a 46 point advantage in the championship over Sandro Bellio.

The 2019 and 2022 FIA European Top Methanol champion has a far from trouble free season so far, but showed his pace in qualifying at Tierp. Bellio and the family run team from Belgium want to bounce back at the start of part two of the season to be back on top of the title race as soon as possible.

Jonny Lagg, the number three in the championship, suffered all sorts of traction problems early in the season. But when the eliminations at Tierp in June started, the problems were solved and the veteran driver from Sweden recorded a great 5.31 second ET in the semi-finals and a 5.36 second ET in the final, only to be defeated by A-Fuel Team Sweden team mate Bryntesson.

Silvio Strauch suffered severe engine damage at Santa Pod and after skipping the first Tierp race, the German Engine Ghost Racing Team will also be sadly missed at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals. Ari Pietilä made a comeback in June and will be back for more in his funny car at round three of the title race.

Unlike we are used to, it was very quiet around ‘the beast from Finland’ so far this season. But at Tierp Johnny Oksa will be back! The 2016 TMFC champion finished the 2023 season on a high with wins at Hockenheim and Santa Pod, and be sure Oksa wants to be back on top immediately. It will be a great battle between the funny cars from Finland and Belgium and the a-fuelers from Sweden.

Pro Modified, close again
With almost the same 18 entrants we saw at the SpeedEvents Internationals in June at Tierp, (only Jesper Stenberg is missing so far) Pro Modified is once again the largest and with drivers from six countries the most international class of the FIA European Championship.

David Vegter is the man to beat this season so far. The Vegter Pro Mod Racing driver from the Netherlands scored two number one qualifying positions, was the quickest driver in eliminations and consistent as well. Only one thing is missing so far for the leader in the championship, and that is a race win after he was defeated in the final at Tierp by Andreas Arthursson. If Vegter can repeat his speed and consistency, a victory will only be a matter of time.

Because Arthursson skipped the opening round in England, the Swede is not the number two, but the number three in the championship after two races with his turbo-engine powered Chevelle.

The second position is for Jere Rantaniemi. The flying Finn, running a turbo-engine set-up as well, scored 134 points so far and is 35 points short of Vegter.

Looking at the numbers he recorded before the start of the FIA season, Andres Arnover was one of the favourites for the 2024 FIA European Pro Mod title. As a result of a red light in the first round at Tierp, the Estonian driver missed many points and he is the number four in the championship. Although anything is still possible, Arnover will have to score valuable points now, something that should be possible with the turbo-powered ’67 Mustang GT500.

Stian Rusånes is the number five in the championship. The competitor from Norway wants to bounce back after his early exit at Tierp in June. Marcus Perman scored a semi-final finish at Tierp in June and the number seven in the championship will at least try to repeat that great performance. Peter Kunc took part in both FIA championship races so far and recorded some promising ETs, but first round exits cost the driver from Sweden many points with a ninth place in the championship standing as a result.

Michel Tooren made his first appearance with the new Pro Dutch Racing Camaro at Tierp in June. Without any test runs at all, the Dutch driver impressed with great runs with the state-of-the-art Pro Mod. If Tooren can carry on from where he left off, the Pro Dutch Racing driver can surprise. Mats Eriksson had a terrible weekend at Tierp in June with a ‘did not qualify’ and the driver from Sweden will definitely be out for revenge.

Probably not in the title fight but drivers who proved to be quick and who can destroy the dreams of title contenders are Fredrik Fagerström, Roger Johansson and Åke Persson, but also Olof Andersson, Jan Brännvall, Micke Johansson, Leif Karlsson, Patrik Wikström and Mike Reymond can surprise.

Pro Stock, how to beat Jimmy Ålund
Jimmy Ålund dominates Pro Stock once again. The 12-time European Pro Stock champion was quickest and fastest in both races, remained undefeated so far and was the winner of the SpeedEvents Internationals in June. With Summit as a partner on his blue Camaro, Ålund will be out for a race win at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals as well.

Robin Norén is the number two in the championship after two semi-final finishes. With his beautiful Pontiac GXP Norén will do everything he can to beat Ålund and go for a race win. Michael Malmgren is the number three in the championship. The reigning FIA European champion had an early exit in Engeland, but bounced back with a runner-up position at Tierp in June.

Simon Ekengren is the number four in the championship. Last year’s number three will be looking for a better result now to come closer to the leaders. The same is true for Richard Sundblom. The only competitor from Finland is only one point short of Ekengren.

It hasn’t been Stefan Ernryd’s season so far. After all sorts of problems in qualifying at Santa Pod, the Dodge driver bounced back in the first round of eliminations, but at Tierp the problems were back again and the runner-up in the 2023 FIA Championship was defeated in the first round. The Summit Racing Equipment Internationals should be the turning point of the season for Ernryd.

Lasse Britsmar is the number seven in the championship and will try to get his first elimination round win of the season. Christian Sagelv is the only driver who was not at Santa Pod, but proved to be quick at Tierp. The only competitor in Pro Stock with a Ford Mustang will also try to score his first elimination round win of the season.

Qualifying for the FIA classes during the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals will start on Friday August 9th and will continue on Saturday August 10th . Eliminations will start on Sunday morning August 11th .

FIM Europe
For the FIM Europe European Drag Bike Championship the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals are also the third round of their title race. With eight Top Fuel Motorcycles, no fewer than sixteen Super Twin Motorcycles, five Pro Stock Motorcycles and thirteen Super Street Bikes, qualifying and eliminations will be exciting as well. Rikard Gustafsson (Top Fuel Motorcycle), Marcus Christiansen (Super Twin Motorcycle), Jörg Lymant and Bertrand Maurice (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Mathias Bohlin (Super Street Bike) are the leaders in the championship after two races.

Summit Racing EDRS Series
The Summit Racing Equipment Internationals are traditionally the most important round of the Summit Racing EDRS Series. With almost all the classes represented, the 2024 edition is no exception to this.

Summit Racing Super Series
In Super Pro ET and Pro ET the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals are the shoot-out for the Summit Racing Super Series. Winners and runners-up of Summit Racing EDRS Series races were classified to take part in this shoot-out. The total prize money for each class is USD 10,000 and the winner of the shoot-out earns USD 4,000!

Qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals in the Summit Racing EDRS Series classes will start on Thursday 8th August, and will continue on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th August. On Saturday there will also be the first rounds of eliminations in the Summit Racing EDRS Series.

Text and photos Remco Scheelings