TIAINEN RACING

NDRS Drag Finals 2001
Alastaro, Finland
August 31st-September 2nd 2001
Last updated September 8th 2001

After the Danish Nats we realized that we were in a position to be in the top 10 in Super Gas in the Nordic Drag Racing Series. This was something we didn't even dream about before the season. The first 10 also get start No. 1 to 10 next year.
The trip from Oslo, Norway to Alastaro in Finland involves first a drive through Sweden to Stockholm and then a 10 hour boat-trip from Stockholm to Åbo in Finland. The track in Alastaro is a permanent Drag-Strip in a larger Motorsports "Park", and is absolutely the best track we have been to. The traction was great and we recorded our best 60 foot times ever. All under 1.30 and the best one 1.25.
Qualifying was scheduled for two days, so we got a lot of runs. We started with a 9.921 . Then some 10.0s and a 9.80. (Low ET of the meet for Super Gas!) We have to admit that the throttlestop guys runs more consistent ETs. 1st qualifier Pelle Norén for example ran a 9.902, then a 9.889 and a 9.902 again.
But in the last round, we ran a 9.904 and that made us 2nd qualifier. With enough runs we will always be there in the end!
Qualification SUPER GAS
  Driver Country   Car   Engine CID Comment ET
1 Pelle  Norén SE Chevrolet Nova 65 Chevrolet 468   9,902
2 Morten  Tiainen NO Pontiac Firebird 85 Chevrolet 461   9,904
3 Antti Kivinummi FI Ford Anglia 48 Chevrolet 461   9,906
4 Mats Lindkvist SE Volvo 142   Chevrolet 468   9,906
5 Vesa  Raiski FI Ford 5W Coupé 34 Chevrolet 600   9,908
6 Jari Hongisto FI Ford Capri 70   454 Blower 9,914
7 Matti Suuntala FI Pontiac Trans Am 89 Chevrolet 409   9,914
8 Heikki Niemi FI Toyota Carina 73 Mopar 451   9,914
9 Mariann Holm FI Pontiac Firebird 90 Chevrolet 409   9,915
10 Åke  Hedberg SE Volvo 245   Chevrolet 482   9,918
11 Tea Turpeinen FI Plymouth  Duster 70 Mopar 447   9,921
12 Jan Danielson FI Chevrolet Beretta 89 Chevrolet 427   9,922
13 Håkan   Mattsson SE Pontiac Firebird 85 Chevrolet 535   9,929
14 Jari Rytkonen FI Chevrolet Camaro 69 Chevrolet 409   9,937
15 Pasi Korhonen FI Chevrolet Camaro 70 Chevrolet 454   9,938
16 Per Olof Eriksson FI Pontiac Grand Prix 92 Chevrolet 516   9,942
17 Harri Forsten FI Ford Roadster 27 Chevrolet 511   10,058
18 Jari Laukkanen FI Chevrolet Chevy II 64 Chevrolet 461   10,088
19 Lasse Niskavara FI Chevrolet Camaro 71 Chevrolet 454   10,138
NO= Norway
SE= Sweden
FI= Finland
After two perfect days of qualification everybody looked forward to an exciting end to the season. However an incident that happened in the Street car classes late saturday afternoon would change that. A car made the Mother of all wheelies, landed on the oil-pan and left all it's oil down the left lane. And at the time, everyone expected the FHRA officials to take care of that before eliminations on sunday so no one worried to much about that.
Sunday dawned with nice weather as expected. First out in Super Gas was 1st qualifier Pelle Norén in a Solo Run. He ran the left lane, and seemed a little bit loose. Second pair was "Skap-Åke" Hedberg and Tea Turpeinen. Tea got some problem with her Duster so Åke also got a solo-run in the left lane. Åke had big traction problems and could barely manage a 12 sec. run! Next pair out were the two leaders in NDRS Super Gas series Vesa Raiski and "Ålands-Pelle" Eriksson. Vesa had already secured his third consecutive win in the NDRS Super Gas Series and could only cruise through the field to celebrate his hat-trick. Ålands-Pelle had the left lane, and again there was no traction and he had to back off after getting sideways. Over in the right lane Vesa Raiski made a normal run, but just after passing the Finish-line in over 200km/h (125 MPH) something broke in the front end and his '35 Ford started to roll, first sideways, then end over end! When it finally laid to rest it became very silent at the track.
After a while the speaker said something in Finnish, which we don't understand a word of. Fortunately, our opponent for the first round Lasse Niskavara was kind enough to translate into english for us so we understood what was going on. Thank You Lasse! It seemed that Vesa Raiski was shaken but OK, but his car was a complete wreck. Also his crash had nothing to do with the condition of the track, but a mechanical failure in his car. But the three runs that had been run in the left lane showed that it was not safe, so they took a pause to prepare the track.
After that some motorcycle riders volunteered to test the track. (Those guys doesn't understand the concept of fear.) But the track was still the same. The only option for the organizers now was to cancel the race, a sad ending to the season.
They kept the right lane open though for those who wanted to run to give the audience something for their money. This gave us an opportunity to do a full speed pass. Without torturing the engine, (kept it under 7600 RPM) the result was an 8.95. Out first 8-second pass and an indication that we could run in Super Comp if we want to. However, we prefere Super Gas with its variety of "real" cars so a change of class is not likely.
So the conclusion of all this was that we secured 8th place and was best Norwegian team in the Nordic Drag Racing Series in Super Gas, and gained the right to race as SG 8 next year.
Eliminations SUPER GAS
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