Finnish Spring Nats 2004 Alastaro,
Finland May 22nd to 23rd 2004 Last updated May 24th 2004
After 8 hours on the road, 8 hours on a ferry including; a dinner, a few hours of sleep and a breakfast,
and 2 more hours on the road we arrived in Alastaro, Finland. When we unloaded the Firebird the left front tire had gone flat.
Off with the wheel and of to the nearest gas-station. Fortunately they had a tube of the right size and they changed it for us.
We got two rounds of qualification before it started to rain. We ran too fast in both.....
After the rain we got one more round and we safed in on a 9.981 which gave us 7th place and a first round against 2nd qualifier Suuntala tomorrow.
Qualification SUPER
GAS
Pl.
No.
Name
Hometown
Country
Nat
Car
Type
Year
Engine
CID
E.T
km/h
mph
1
481
Kari
Luukonen
Ylitornio
Finland
Fi
Chevrolet
Camaro
1970
Chev.BB
454
9,908
220
137
2
446
Matti
Suuntala
Koria
Finland
Fi
Pontiac
Trans
Am
1989
Chev.BB
490
9,916
232
145
3
7
Mikael
Karlsson
Motala
Sweden
Sw
Ford
Mustang
1967
Chev.BB
454
9,932
186
116
4
440
Harry
Forsten
Pori
Finland
Fi
Ford
Roadster
1927
Chev.BB
565
9,935
255
159
5
456
Antti
Kivinummi
Hameenkyro
Finland
Fi
Ford
Anglia
1948
Chev.BB
454
9,937
216
135
6
441
Mika
Litja
Tuusula
Finland
Fi
Ford
Fairlane
1964
351
9,947
221
138
7
9
Morten
Tiainen
Koppom
Sweden
No
Pontiac
Firebird
1985
Chev.BB
461
9,981
234
146
8
910
Michael
Ohlsson
Uddevalla
Sweden
Sw
Chevrolet
Nova
1969
Chev.SB
407
9,990
217
136
9
6
Lasse
Niskavaara
Jyväskylä
Finland
Fi
Chevrolet
Camaro
1971
Chev.BB
482
10,142
218
136
10
450
Heikki
Niemi
Harjavalta
Finland
Fi
Toyota
Carina
1973
Mopar
451
10,310
209
130
11
459
Juha
Nykänen
Helsinki
Finland
Fi
Plymouth
Barracuda
1968
Chev.BB
500
14,902
147
92
First qualifier Luukonen's '70 Camaro in front of the rest of the field.
We beat Suuntala with a 9.941 to a 10.070. Next opponent Antti Kivinummi. One of the most experienced Finnish drivers.
Because of an oil-down we had to wait nearly one hour in the line-up. So when we finally got to run, the engine bogged
down when Morten let go of the trans-brake button. Probably, the engine got too cold because of the long wait.
Morten then gave full throttle, shifted very late and drove a 9.68. Usually he shifts when the throttlestop kicks in.
That the engine bogged was bad enough, but even worse was that Kivinummi broke out! So we could have ideled down the track
to a win! Another lesson learned. And on top of this a solo-run in the semi-final was waiting for the winner of this run.
So Kivinummi got the solo and later beat Harry Forsten in the final.
We had to wait one hour in the line-up before meeting Kivinummi.
He has raced this Anglia for over 20 years, but this is the 2nd edition.
The 1st was totalled some years ago, but he built an exact copy!
