Thule Nats 2002 Motopark, Finland
August 17th to 18th 2002
Last updated August 19th 2002
Our first Race at Motopark. A permanent dragstrip near Pieksämäki Finland, not so far from the Russian border! Like Alastaro a very nice facility.
This time we took a ferry from Stockholm (Sweden) to Helsinki, the capitol of Finland and drove north-west to the track.
We qualified on a decent 9.931, but this was only good enough for a 7th place. And in a 14 man sportsman stage that means meeting first qualifier in round one. 6/1000 faster and we had got a bye run instead!
Qualification SUPER
GAS
Qual
Name
No
Country
Car
Engine
E.T.
1
Matti
Suuntala
446
Finland
Pontiac
Trans Am
1989
Chevy
490
9.900
2
Pasi
Korhonen
447
Finland
Chevrolet
Camaro
1970
Chevy
454
9.903
3
Tero
Rojola
488
Finland
Plymouth
Barracuda
1965
Chevy
509
9.908
4
Heikki
Niemi
450
Finland
Toyota
Carina
1973
Mopar
451
9.916
5
Vesa
Raiski
1
Finland
Chevrolet
Nomad
1955
Chevy
600
9.922
6
Harri
Forsten
440
Finland
Ford
T-Roadster
1927
Chevy
565
9.926
7
Morten
Tiainen
8
Norway
Pontiac
Firebird
1985
Chevy
461
9.931
8
Tea
Turpeinen
468
Finland
Plymouth
Duster
1970
Mopar
447
9.947
9
Sami
Holm
451
Sweden
Chevrolet
Nova
1968
Chevy
409
9.950
10
Mariann
Holm
452
Finland
Pontiac
Yasca
Chevy
427
9.985
11
Juha
Nykänen
273
Finland
Plymouth
Barracuda
1968
Mopar
452
10.024
12
Lasse
Niskavaara
470
Finland
Chevrolet
Camaro
1970
Chevy
454
10.303
So we were up against Matti Suuntala. He is Finnish Champion and ran a perfect 9.900 to qualify first. And like most Finns has all the electronic boxes. We gave him a good fight, but lost on a 9.986 to a 9.925. In the next round he broke out with 4/1000.
Tero Rojola got his first Super Gas win (we thinks). But he is a very experienced racer with lots of wins in Super Street, and also the Nordic Super Street Champion in 2000. He beat SG1 Vesa Raiski with a 9.906 to get to the final so it was without doubt well deserved. Congratulations Tero!