Blåkläder Finals 2014, Motopark.

[Niko L]

So this year the V8 Magazine Drag Racing Series consisted of five races only, instead of the regular six races. The Finals were held at Motopark Raceway on August 16th and 17th. We decided to start early in the afternoon so that we would be at Motopark before it gets dark and that way it would be much more fun to change the rear tires and unload the car from the trailer.

Friday:

A bit after 4 PM, we left to Motopark. We had put the car on the trailer already on Thursday so we should be at Motopark early. When we turned to the Highway, there was a huge traffic jam. After spending a bit of time there, we went back to a smaller road. After refueling the Van at Mäntsälä, we went back to the Highway as the traffic jam was over. At Heinola, we had to stop to buy some breakfast to the pits. When we came back from the shop, the Van didn't want to start. The starter was working hard, but the engine just didn't fire up. The Glow Plugs didn't activate, so we decided to check if the circuit breakers were broken, though the car should start easily without the glow plugs when the engine is hot. One of them was broken, but it didn't help with this problem. We tried to start again, but we couldn't fire it up anyway. Also the batteries were starting to get tired, so we didn't dare to try starting it again. After a couple of phonecalls, Arto Sulopuisto who had already arrived to the pits with his B/S Firebird, knew right away what was the problem. He said that there was an air bubble at the fuel injection pump and that we should just let it cool down for a while. We did just that and because the batteries were starting to get tired, we wanted to make sure they wouldn't die. So a gentleman at the parking lot lent us battery cables and the engine started running immediately when Mika tried to start. Finally, after a few spent hours at Heinola Citymarkert's parking lot, we could continue the journey.




Just before arriving to Motopark Raceway, someone was flashing his lights and indicated us to stop. We did that and he said "Watch out, there's a cow on the road!". And there definitely was. Luckily he warned us and the cow didn't end up being a Big Mac and we didn't have to start sheet metal work on the Chevy.

At about 10 PM we arrived to the pits, and it was really dark. We unloaded the car from the trailer and changed the rear tires. Looks like we were ready for Racing.

[Niko L]

Saturday:

It was a quite nice and warm day on Saturday. In the morning we cleaned up the car, as it was dirty after driving in the rain on Friday. Before the first Qualifying Round I decided to try taking an In Car video. With a lot of tape, I installed my camera to the roll bar. I didn't know if it would work or not, but worth trying anyway I guess.
Here's a poor-quality cell phone picture of that...






Anyway the first Qualifying Round was at 11:25 AM. I was driving running against Hannu Palasmaa's CC/S Chevelle there. I did a short burnout, because there wasn't that much surface on the tires anymore. My RT wasn't the best, but a green light anyway .130 and I think the car launched pretty good. When I came back to the pits and Mika gave me the time slip, the ET was only 12.491 with 168.75 KM/H Top speed. Also the 60FT tiem was only 1.681 so not the best run for me. Other fellows were also having similar problems, so the weather conditions must have been the reason.

Here is a very cool picture of that run: Zegetion.com

The second Qualifying Round was at 1:22 PM. This time I installed the In Car camera so that it records what I do behind the wheel. The car didn't want to fire up at all at the pits, and it did the same in Line Up too. Finally, I was able to get it running in the Line Up and I was able to run this round against Tarja Gynther's E/SA Camaro. Another short burnout for me. This time my RT was a lot better than last time, .041, but my 60 FT wasn't much better. Now it was 1.667 and the ET was 12.453 with 168.06 KM/H Top Speed. So not a good run either, a bit better than the first one, though.


When we were called to the Line Up for the third time, the car didn't fire up very easily either. Luckily I was able to get it running again and I was against Tarja Gynther's Camaro on this round, too. I also installed the In Car camera so that it would record through the windshield, but Mika was unable to start the recording at the Line Up. He had problems with the actual video camera, too, so there's no video material from this run. Anyway, there wasn't much to photograph about. A bit before our turn a couple of raindrops fell down and we had to wait for a while in the Line Up. Luckily the car didn't get wet. When I got on the track, My RT was .048, but the 60 FT was only 1.703 and my ET was 12.514 with 167.62 KM/H Top Speed. The worst run of the weekend for me so far.

After this run we decided to do something for the engine to make it fire up more easily. Thanks to Harri Hassinen, we thought it might be a good idea to install a portable fan on top of the radiator so that it blows cold air into the engine block. That definitely worked, because when we were called to the Line Up for the fourth time, the Chevelle fired up immediately when I hit the Start button. However, in the Line Up it started raining and we were called back to the pits. As soon as I got the Chevy fired up to drive back, the officials told that we'll quit Qualifying for Saturday and continue on Sunday. Well, I drove back to the pits with the lights on...

Later on I heard that there would be no fourth Qualifying Round for us on Sunday. That was a shame as it would have been a lot of fun to be able to drive one more run and probably that would have helped in dial in choice as well. Anyway we went to the Sauna and made some food etc. Thanks to Team Hassinen who let us use their grill!

[Niko L]

Qualifying Results:

1. Arto Sulopuisto with his B/S Pontiac Firebird. He had some transmission problems during the Qualifying, but looked like he got the problems solved and he ran 10.332 that is -0.87 under NHRA Index.



2. Jarmo Markkanen with his A/S 2002 Pontiac Firebird. Jarmo ran 10.222 that is -0.73 under NHRA Index.



3. Ari Martikainen with his A/SA '71 Dodge Challenger. He had been on the track last time in 2004 and now the Challenger ran really nicely. Ari's best ET was 10.600 that is -0.40 under NHRA Index.



4. Sami Toppari who won the last race at Kalajoki with his Factory Race Car SS/C AMC AMX. He did great wheelstands, as usual and ran 9.724 that is -0.33 under NHRA Index.



5. Hannu Palasmaa with his CC/S '71 Chevelle. He was testing some new setups with the chassis and they worked and now he had less traction problems. Hannu ran 10.288 that is -0.32 under NHRA Index.



6. Tarja Gynther with her E/SA '68 Camaro. She ran her best of 11.454 that is -0.25 under NHRA Index.



7. Niko Lindström with K/SA '74 Chevelle. I ran my best of 12.453 that is -0.20 under NHRA Index.



8. Yrjö Wallius with his SS/J Rambler American. He ran his best of 10.618 that is -0.18 under NHRA Index.



9. Jere Lilja with E/SA Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty. He ran 11.638 that is -0.06 under NHRA Index.



10. Harri Hassinen with his SS/BM Chevy Camaro. He had some problems in the Qualifying, as he could take part in Round Two only. He came to the Line Up for the 4th round, too, but because of rain that round wasn't driven. On the 2nd round he had technical problems, so he got the last Qualifying Spot for 31 second ET.

[Niko L]

Sunday:

Sunday was another good looking day. Of course it was time to go and see how the Elimination Ladder looks like. The pairs were as follows:

1. Arto Sulopuisto VS 6. Tarja Gynther
3. Ari Martikainen VS 8. Yrjö Wallius
4. Sami Toppari VS 9. Jere Lilja
2. Jarmo Markkanen VS 7. Niko Lindström
5. Hannu Palasmaa VS 10. Harri Hassinen

So I was running against Jarmo Markkanen again, just lake at Kalajoki. I knew it would be a tough race, and I decided to put 12.47 as a dial in. That's pretty close what the car had ran on Saturday, and I guessed that the weather conditions might be pretty close.

We were called to the Line Up. When the drivers were ready, sitting in the cars, the officials told us that Outlaw and Super Pro Street Cars would drive before us. After those groups had driven their first Elimination Rounds, it was our time to get in the action.

On the first pair, Arto Sulopuisto against Tarja Gynther, Sulopuisto took a much better RT (.099 against Tarja's .342) and Sulopuisto won the race by running 10.592 with 10.30 dial in. Gynther ran 11.573 on 11.45 dial in. The second pair was between Ari Martikainen and Yrjö Wallius. The reactions were nearly identical (.097 for Martikainen and .100 for Wallius). Martikainen crossed the finishing line first, but he broke out a little (10.526 on 10.57 dial in), so Wallius took the win by running 10.327 on 10.28 dial in. The third pair was between Sami Toppari and Jere Lilja. Jere left almost two seconds before Sami, but Sami took the win as Lilja red lighted by -.067. Toppari left with .146 light and he ran 9.692 on 9.72 dial in. Lilja ran 11.622 with 11.60 dial in, so it would have been a nice, tight race without the red light. Then it was Jarmo Markkanen against me. I did another short burnout and let Jarmo go first in Stage. I tried to take a good RT, but when I lifted the brakes, I saw a red light flashing on my lane. Luckily I saw my red light, so I could run full throttle all the way. My RT was -.017 and I ran a lot under my dial in (12.395 on 12.47 dial in). So the best run for me, at least if looking at the ET. Jarmo got an easy win here. He took a .068 RT and ran 10.317 on 10.26 dial in. The last pair was an exciting race against Hannu Palasmaa and Harri Hassinen. Hannu's dial in was 10.29 and Hassinen's 8.75. Hannu left first with .015 RT. When Hassinen's light went green, his Camaro did a huge wheelstand, but Harri ran full throttle to the finishing line trying to catch Palasmaa's Chevelle. .361 RT for Hassinen and Palasmaa took the win by running 10.320 on 10.29 dial in. Hassinen ran 8.863 with his 8.75 dial in.

So after this round we had to concentrate on watching the race as my runs from this season were driven.

Here are my runs:



And Hassinen's run:



On the second Elimination Round Arto Sulopuisto had a Solo run first. He took a .072 RT and lifted the throttle before crossing the finishing line. 12.109 ET for him. The second pair was a battle between two American Motors' cars: Yrjö Wallius in his SS/J Rambler American and Sami Toppari in his SS/C AMC AMX. Yrjö left first and he took a .088 RT. Unfortunately Sami red lighted by -.049. Wallius took the win running 10.395 on 10.30 dial in, Toppari ran 9.661 with 9.68 dial in. The third, and last pair on the second round was going to be a really tight race that would also mean a lot on the Finnish Championship points. Jarmo Markkanen took an incredible .005 RT against Hannu Palasmaa's .095 and Markkanen won the race by running 10.379 with 10.31 dial in against Hannu's 10.367 on 10.31 dial in. So it was a Holeshot win for Markkanen.

In the Semi Finals Arto Sulopuisto was racing against Yrjö Wallius on the first pair and then there would be a Solo Run for Jarmo Markkanen, who would win the Finnish Championship by completing this Solo. Anyway on the first pair Wallius left first, but he red lighted a little (-.025). Sulopuisto took a .038 RT and won the race running 10.264 with 10.32 dial in. Wallius ran 10.298 with 10.34 dial in. On the other side of the ladder Markkanen took a .058 RT on his solo run and he ran 10.319 with 10.31 dial in. A really good run and that brought him the Finnish Championship victory! Congrats!



The Final Round was a battle of two Pontiac Firebirds. Arto Sulopuisto in his B/S Firebird and Jarmo Markkanen in his A/S Firebird. Sulopuisto's dial in was 10.26 and Markkanen's 10.30. Anyway Jarmo took a better RT (.038 against Arto's .233) and he won this event by running 10.474 with 10.30 dial in against Sulopuisto's 10.285 with 10.26 dial in.



After the Finals were driven, there were still a couple of Test & Tune runs. Ari Martikainen took the opportunity with his A/SA Challenger and he ran 10.601 & 201.53 KM/H on that run.



Then we changed the rear tires on the Chevelle and I drove the car on the trailer.




After helping Hassinens with loading the Camaro inside the trailer, we left back home.



Pictures & Videos:

Here are my pictures from this event: Picture Gallery.

Videos:
My In Car Video
Wheelie Valiant Qualifying Run.
Top Street Mustang VS '73 Impala
Top Street Plymouth Vip runs 8.001
Top Street Plymouth Vip VS BMW
Real Street 1st Elimination Round
Real Street Final
Top Street Eliminations
Super Pro Street Barracuda runs 7.221

We'll be back in 2015! It is not sure who will be driving, as both of us would like to be the driver. But hopefully it's me!

Thank You for this season:
-Hannu Palasmaa
-Arto Sulopuisto/Lysimox
-Hassinens
-Jarmo Grönman
-Tero A
-Everyone who has wished good luck and / or congratulated during the season.
-The unknown gentleman with the starting cables at Heinola Citymarket
-All the ones I forgot

Lindström Racing Team 2014:

[Niko L]

Finnish Championship Drag Race Series Results 2014:

Stock & Super Stock

1. Jarmo Markkanen - 287 Points
2. Yrjö Wallius - 232 Points
3. Hannu Palasmaa - 216 Points
4. Arto Sulopuisto - 208 Points
5. Sami Toppari - 163 Points
6. Niko Lindström - 145 Points
7. Tarja Gynther - 106 Points
8. Jarmo Grönman - 93 Points
9. Jere Lilja - 66 Points
10. Bo Nylund - 26 Points

Congratulations for the Winners!