FIA European Drag Racing Championship returns to action at Tierp Arena
It was a long break after the opening round of the championship at Santa Pod Raceway, but now it’s 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. Liam Jones (Top Fuel), Jonny Lagg (Top Methanol), Marck Harteveld (Pro Modified) and Jimmy Ålund/Robin Norén (Pro Stock) are the leaders in their respective categories, but with one race done and still three to go, the championship fight in all four classes is still fully open.
The Summit Racing Equipment Internationals are also the second 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! Four action packed days of high level drag racing and with over 300 entrants, it’s a race meeting not to be missed.
FIA European Drag Racing Championship
As rain brought an early end to the eliminations in England, the points standings are still very close together. In Top Fuel and Top Methanol the semifinals were completed before the rain came in, and in Pro Stock and Pro Modified racing had to be stopped after the quarter finals. With large fields in almost all categories and many competitors who missed the first round, but will start their 2025 title fight at Tierp Arena, the competition will be tough in Sweden.
After the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals on August 7th – 10th , there is a 3-week break before the FIA European Drag Racing Championship continues with back-to-back the NitrOlympX at the Rico Anthes Quartermile of the HockenheimRing on August 29th – 31th and the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway on September 4th – 7th .
Top Fuel
In Top Fuel the fight for the race win at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals will be between Liam Jones and Susanne Callin. Jones, in the black and white Bro Joe Brain-Boosting Coffee RF Motorsport car, advanced to the final in his home country before rain brought an early end to the race.
Callin was defeated in the semifinals at Santa Pod by reigning FIA European champion Jndia Erbacher, but the RF Motorsport/Slick Tricks Racing driver was the number one qualifier in England. Jones is leading the championship, with Erbacher second, Dennis Nilsson third and Callin fourth. Callin is only 19 points behind her RF Motorsport teammate Jones, so a race win at Tierp can change everything.
Top Methanol, record field
It’s a long time ago that the Top Methanol class had an entry list with nine cars, no fewer than five dragsters and four funny cars.
Jonny Lagg, the reigning FIA European champion, and Tina Høst Nedregård advanced to the final at Santa Pod. For the ‘Norwegian Swede’ it was her first final and she is in second position in the championship, only four points short of Lagg.
Sandro Bellio is the first funny car in the ranking. De driver from Belgium and multiple FIA European champion was the number one qualifier in England and will be out for revenge after being defeated by Lagg in the semifinals with a close margin.
Lagg’s A-Fuel Team Sweden team mate Tony Bryntesson is fourth in the points standing with Silvio Strauch fifth. The German Engine Ghost Racing Team surprised in England with a new car, made some big steps during the weekend and will try to improve again. A late entry but more than welcome is Isak Lagg, son of Jonny Lagg. After many victories in Super Pro ET, Lagg debuted his new A-Fuel dragster at Mantorp Park and will now make his FIA Top Methanol European Championship debut as the first representative of A-Fuel Junior Team Sweden. Lagg will later be joined by 21-year old teammate Tindra Christensen.
There will be three more funny cars entering the 2025 title race at Tierp Arena. It’s great to see Magnus Larsson back after the driver from Sweden made his championship debut in 2022, but skipped the last two seasons. Jürgen Nagel, the veteran funny car driver from Germany, will start his 2025 campaign in Sweden as well.
It’s great to see a new name in the Top Methanol Funny Car ranks. Although Staflund is a familiar name in drag racing, this time it is Hampus Staflund who will make his FIA European Championship debut in a great looking car. Staflund has a lot of experience in the Sportsman classes with his funny car, but will now enter the big show.
Pro Modified
With 22 entrants Pro Modified is once again the largest and with drivers from eight countries the most international class of the FIA European Championship at Tierp Arena. The frontrunners from the first round in England will meet tough competition from a large number of quick drivers from Sweden.
Dutchman Marck Harteveld is the surprise leader of the championship. The Voodoo Hemi Racing driver was the number one qualifier at Santa Pod and advanced to the semifinals before rain brough an early end to the eliminations. Before the start of the season Harteveld, who had a sabbatical in 2024, announced that he would not run the full FIA tour, but back home after a successful Main Event, the team immediately decided to add Tierp to their calendar and defend the number one position.
Only two points short of the leader and also from the Netherlands is David Vegter. Last year’s runner-up in the championship impressed again with recording low ETs in both elimination rounds during The Main Event. The Vegter Pro Mod Racing team proved their great form last weekend during a round of the Motorsport UK Pro Mod Championship by recording a string of 5.79-second runs. Vegter might be the man to beat at Tierp.
Mats Eriksson and Andy Robinson advanced to the semifinals at Santa Pod as well and as a result, they are the numbers three and four in the championship. Robinson will skip the race in Sweden. Michel Tooren is in fifth position, but only 24 points behind his leading countryman Harteveld.
Last year Tooren made his first appearance with the state-of-the-art Pro Dutch Racing Camaro at Tierp. Tooren immediately impressed with his new car and after a string of 5.8-second runs, the Dutchman will be looking for his first 5.7-second pass. Tooren will be full of confidence after winning the Pro Modified class last weekend in a Motorsport UK Championship race at Santa Pod.
Andres Arnover and Jere Rantaniemi are the numbers six and seven in the championship and they will be out for revenge after their quarter finals exit in England. Arnover, from Estonia, is extremely quick, but is still looking for more consistency. Rantaniemi, the reigning FIA European champion from Finland, had mechanical problems at Santa Pod.
Bruno Bader, from Switzerland, and Kim Kristiansen, from Denmark, started the 2025 title fight at Santa Pod as well, but they were both defeated in the first round of eliminations. To come back in the title fight they both need a good result in Sweden.
All other drivers on the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals entry list will have their first FIA race of the season at Tierp. But looking at the names, many of them can easily go for a race win. First of all there is Andreas Arthursson, the former European recordholder. But also from Sweden and extremely quick are Fredrik Fagerström, Roger Johansson, Åke Persson and Peter Kunc. An interesting name on the entry list is that of Michael Gullqvist. The multiple European champion sold his well-known Camaro, but will now be behind the wheel of Micke Johansson’s Dodge Daytona.
Lars Sjӧholm is the new owner of the ex-Gullqvist Camaro and will make his FIA European Championship debut at Tierp. To get familiar with the car, Sjӧholm entered several races in Scandinavia and was quick from the very first moment. It will be interesting to see what he can do in his first international race, before he will do the full FIA EC tour next season.
The large number of drivers from Sweden is completed by Olof Andersson, Jan Brännvall, Leif Karlsson, Jesper Stenberg and Benny Strand. Stian Rusånes is the only driver from Norway in Pro Mod at Tierp and last year’s number five in the championship. Rusånes skipped the first round in England as the Hammer Motorsport team bought a Corvette from Sweden and they wanted to get familiar with the car first, before entering the FIA European Championship. Walter Strobel completes the 22-car field as the only driver from Germany.
Pro Stock
It’s great to see that there are no fewer than ten Pro Stock cars on the entry list at Tierp Arena. Two drivers from Finland, Tommy Lundstrӧm and Richard Sundblom, and Christian Sagelv, from Sweden, will accompany the 7-car field that was on the start line at Santa Pod. Sagelv and Sundblom are familiar names in the Pro Stock class, but Lundstrӧm will make his FIA European Championship debut at Tierp.
Pro Stock had to stop their eliminations after the quarter finals at Santa Pod. Robin Norén was the surprise number one qualifier in England and he shares the number one position in the championship with Jimmy Ålund. Norén surprised again in a non-championship race at Tierp in June with new personals bests of 6.57 seconds. In combination with his great reaction times, Norén is a real threat for the 13-time European Pro Stock champion.
Stefan Ernryd and Lasse Britsmar also advanced to the semifinals in Engeland and as a result, the two Swedes are the numbers three and four in the championship, with a 5-point advantage for Dodge driver Ernryd. Michael Malmgren will try to bounce back after the former champion suffered mechanical problems at Santa Pod. Simon Ekengren is in sixth position with Henry Riehl seventh. The young driver from Germany made his Pro Stock debut at Santa Pod and tested at Tierp Arena in June to get more familiar with the one of a kind Mercedes Pro Stocker and the complex Pro Stock technology.
Qualifying for the FIA classes at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals will start on Friday August 8th and will continue on Saturday August 9th . Eliminations will start on Sunday morning August 10th .
FIM Europe
For the FIM Europe European Drag Bike Championship the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals are also the second round of their title race. With twelve Top Fuel Motorcycles, twelve Super Twin Motorcycles, nine Pro Stock Motorcycles and nineteen Super Street Bikes, there are full fields in all classes and that makes qualifying already very exciting. Rikard Gustafsson (Top Fuel Motorcycle), Marcus Christiansen (Super Twin Motorcycle), Bertrand Maurice (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Jake Mechaell (Super Street Bike) are the leaders in the championship after race one. In Super Street Bike there will be an invasion of no fewer than eight riders from the UK, a stunning number of extremely quick riders and bikes.
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 2025 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. 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 7th August, and will continue on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th August. On Saturday there will also be the first rounds of eliminations in the Summit Racing EDRS Series.
Text: Remco Scheelings
Photos: Remco Scheelings, Patrik Jacobsson
