As expected there were several improvements on the second day of qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena. As a result, in Top Fuel Colin Millar surprised Susanne Callin and took over the number one qualifying position, while in Top Methanol Tony Bryntesson stormed to a great 5.33 seconds to finish day two as the new leader. In Pro Modified and Pro Stock the Friday leaders, Jere Rantaniemi and Jimmy Ålund remained in the number one position. These four drivers will lead their respective categories into Sunday’s eliminations of round two of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship.
It was a long and sunny day of qualifying at Tierp Arena for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals, round two of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. The temperatures were higher than on the Friday and although the teams had some more data to find the right setup, many drivers were struggling with the sometimes difficult track conditions. But still there were several major improvements.
In Top Fuel Colin Millar recorded 5.49 seconds to take over the number one qualifying position from Susanne Callin. The Slick Tricks Racing driver and reigning FIA European champion improved her ET as well, but it was not enough to remain the number one qualifier. For Millar it is his first number one qualifying position in Top Fuel.
In Top Methanol Tony Bryntesson stormed to 5.33 seconds on his last run of the day to take over het number one qualifying position from reigning FIA European champion Sandro Bellio.
The driver from Belgium was not able to improve his Friday qualifying ET, and the same was true for Timo Habermann, who finished qualifying in third position.
Silvio Strauch will start the eliminations from fourth position, with Tina Høst Nedregård fifth.
In Pro Modified Friday leader Jere Rantaniemi stormed to a great 5,79 seconds. It is no surprise that the reigning FIA European champion remained in the number one position.
Michel Tooren remained second, while Andres Arnover improved to 5.860 seconds to take over the number three spot from Stian Rusånes (5.862 seconds). Friday’s numbers five and six, Michael Gullqvist and Benny Strand, will start the eliminations from that same positions.
Fredrik Fagerström jumped into the number seven spot, with Jens Lönngren eight and David Vegter only ninth. Qualifying was a big disappointment for championship contenders Bruno Bader and Marck Harteveld (number two in last year’s FIA European Championship) as they finished qualifying in 17th and 20th position and will not be in the 16-car elimination ladder.
In Pro Stock the top three remained unchanged with Jimmy Ålund (6.61 seconds) in the number one position, Robin Norén (6.63 seconds) second and Richard Sundblom (6.68 seconds) third.
Simon Ekengren recorded a great 6.71 seconds and finished qualifying in fourth position, with Santa Pod winner Stefan Ernryd fifth.
Eliminations for the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena will start Sunday morning.
Text and photos: Remco Scheelings
For all qualifying results: https://www.dragracing.eu/results.asp
For photos of the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals see the gallery on:
https://dragracingeurope.org/summit-racing-internats-6-9-aug