Welcome to Sweden's Mantorp Park for the 2008 Veidec Festival and round three of the FIA European Top Fuel Championship.

Welcome to Mantorp Park for the first day of the Veidec Festival 2008! Yesterday we left England on the hottest day of the year and arrived in Sweden to be greeted by glorious sunshine. The car arrived at the track on Wednesday and as always the Lucas Oil pit is looking fantastic. We woke early this morning to another lovely day, hardly a cloud in the sky and at 8:30 it is already very warm. The first qualifying session is scheduled for around 10:30.

A big hello to everyone who is tuned into the the coverage from the UK, Europe and the USA., sorry you can't be here with us, we hope you enjoy the coverage.

It's started to get very hot here at Mantorp, however a breeze has picked up since this morning which is just keeping the edge off of the temperature. The first session of Top Fuel kicked off at 10:45. The racing in Top Fuel this weekend will only be over 1000ft. As a rough guide anything under 4.4 seconds is a good run, to match last years number one qualifying time a pass in the 3.9 range would be required. Timo Lehtimaki was first up, a big bang and fire at the 1/8th mile. oil was found in the lane and we had a 20 minute break wait whilst the track was cleared. Monica Oberg, Tommi Haapanen and Jari Halinen all ran well before it was time for the Lucas Oil / Landmeco dragster to hit the track. We were paired against defending champion Urs Erbacher. The car left the line hard, a great 60ft time, but then went into shake, Andy pedalled then the tires went into smoke at the 1/8th mile. Andy stuck with it and crossed the line 4.59 @ 370kmph. Urs ran well in the left lane, a 4.48 @ 343kmph. Micke Kagered and Lex Joon followed, Micke running a 4.55 and but Joon was up in smoke at the hit.

Andy said “The shake took me by surprise and it wasn't the best driving job, the pedal was too long. However we are in the show and have a strong baseline to build on.”

The qualifying positions after the first session are:

Tommi Haapanen 4.14
Monica Oberg 4.48
Urs Erbacher 4.48
Jari Halinen 4.51
Micke Kagered 4.55
Andy Carter 4.59
Risto Poutiainen 4.67
Timo Lehtimaki 4.73

Lex Joon 6.20
Stig Neergard 7.48
Joran Persaker - Shut Down
Hakan Fallstrom – No Show
Torstein Risdal – No Show

Pete and Sue Binden from sponsors Pioneer Print are with us this weekend, we hope you have great time guys!

It's really hot here now at Mantorp, the scorching track conditions are affecting tuning decisions for all classes. The session kicked off at 3pm. Hakan Fallstrom was first out – a big bang and flash of flame at 300feet, shut off to a 5.60. Joon smoked the tires from the 1/8th mile and could only run a 4.82 which keeps him outside the field. In the other lane Neergard had problems, running a 6.66. Carter in the Lucas Oil / Landmeco Top Fuel dragster was up next, paired against Micke Kagered. Kagered was shut off after the burnout leaving Carter to solo. The car went up in smoke almost instantly at the hit, no chance to pedal or get back on the throttle – Carter rolling to a 9.04. Halinen ran a 4.62 to Erbachers pedalling 4.42. Haapanen ran a 4.32 to Oberg's consistent 4.50. Persaker was shut down before his run but came back at the end of the session. No burnout and starter Ian Marshall brought him to the line – it clearly didn't affect him a very nice 4.30 at 429kmph to move into number two spot.

So, at the end of the first day of qualifying the Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster sits in seventh place, far from where we wanted to be but tomorrow is another day – and a day is a very long time in drag racing!

The Top Fuel qualifying positions after the second session are:

Qualified
Tommi Haapanen 4.14
Joran Persaker - 4.30
Urs Erbacher 4.42
Monica Oberg 4.48
Jari Halinen 4.51
Micke Kagered 4.55
Andy Carter 4.59
Risto Poutiainen 4.67

Non Qualified
Timo Lehtimaki 4.73
Hakan Fallstrom 5.60
Stig Neergard 6.06
Lex Joon 6.20
Torstein Risdal – No Show

It's a lovely summers evening at Mantorp now. The crew are currently changing a crankshaft, no damage, a scheduled change that we do every 14 passes. Andy said “I'll go to bed tonight knowing we are in the show, it's not the best position but tomorrow is another day.”

It's another great day here at Mantorp, not a cloud in the sky! The crew changed a crankshaft last night but were still finished for the evening by 8pm. Everyone is well rested and looking forward to today. With such a tight field and 5 teams set to go home tonight it is going to be a very exciting day.

The third qualifying session is scheduled slightly later today, we expect to be running around 12noon. Tune in later for another update.

Good morning everyone, I would like to say a personal hello to all my friends, family, sponsors and all my fans (both of you) that are tuning in, thanks for your support. Not the best of days yesterday for the Lucas Oil team but we are in the show and today is a new day, I'm fired up and ready to get the car down to the 1,000 feet under full power, I would personally like to run a 3 something which I'm sure would give us number 1 position.

Wow! What a nail-biter that was! Good runs from Lehtimaki, Neergaard and Poutiainen at the start of the session put us outside of the 8 car field. As Andy pulled a long smokey burnout we were sitting in the number 10 spot. Simply not good enough, the pressure was on! A hard launch, the car started to shake but Andy hung on, full power all the way to a 4.05 and the number one qualifying spot!

Also in the session Joon moved into the field with a 4.11, Urbacher struggled with a 4.76. Urbacher is currently outside of the field.

However, despite how happy we are the job is far from done. The crew are currently servicing the car ready for the final qualifying session.

The Top Fuel qualifying positions after the third session are:

Qualified
Andy Carter 4.05
Lex Joon 4.11
Tommi Haapanen 4.14
Joran Persaker 4.30
Micke Kagered 4.32
Timo Lehtimaki 4.34
Risto Poutiainen 4.35
Stig Neergard 4.38

Non Qualified
Urs Erbacher 4.42
Monica Oberg 4.48
Jari Halinen 4.51
Hakan Fallstrom 5.10
Torstein Risdal 5.45

The sun is still beating down on a very hot Mantorp Park, the track is getting really hot now, which may throw up some tuning challenges. This was always going to be an exciting session and it certainly didn't disappoint. Jari Halinen and Urs Erbacher both moved into the field with 4.26 and 4.27 second passes respectively. Those passes pushed Neergard out but he pulled himself right back in with a good 4.26. No betterment for Lex, Kagered ran a 4.27 to make it into the field.

The Lucas Oil dragster was in the final pair alongside Persaker. Number one spot looked safe but everyone was eager to make it all the way down the tricky left hand lane under full power. Two great side by side passes 4.12 for Carter to Persaker's 4.18.

The Lucas Oil / Landmeco Team are delighted with number one qualifying spot, it's now five number one qualifying spots at the last five FIA events for the team, we certainly cannot remember that happening ever before! However, what happens on race day is what counts. Tomorrow we face Micke Kagered in the first round, the mission starts here!

The Top Fuel qualifying positions after the final session are:

Qualified
Andy Carter 4.05
Lex Joon 4.11
Tommi Haapanen 4.14
Joran Persaker 4.18
Stig Neergard 4.26
Jari Halinen 4.26
Urs Erbacher 4.27
Micke Kagered 4.27

Did Not Qualify
Timo Lehtimaki 4.34
Risto Poutiainen 4.35
Monica Oberg 4.46
Hakan Fallstrom 5.10
Torstein Risdal 5.45

One race that will certainly be worth watching Tomorrow is Lex Joon against Urs Erbacher in round one!

It's race day here at Mantorp and the pits are full of nitro fumes! All of the teams are currently warming their engines ready for the first round. Andy will be on the start line for the presentation of number one qualifiers at 9:15, then its Pro Mod followed by the first round of Top Fuel.

The first round is always the worst, going out in the first round always feels so bad... the tension gets even worse when you are the last pair to run. We watched Persaker beat Neergard in a very close race, Erbacher take out points leader Joon and Halinen beat Haapanen on a holeshot before it was time for the Lucas Oil / Landmeco dragster to take to the track. The left lane had seen every winner in the first 3 pairs, but the team chose the right hand lane. A great reaction from Andy, 0.1348 and by 60ft he was ahead. Micke hit shake and got out of the throttle. Carter was on a charge, foot to the floor all the way through to a new 1000ft record 4.04! Andy said, “Its just one piece in the puzzle, the next round is just as important.

We face Joran Persaker in the next round which will be in about 2 hours time.

Carter up first against Persaker, Andy got the jump on the lights but it was close to 60ft. Andy started to pull away at half track and then Joran got off the throttle. The tires on the Lucas Oil / Landmeco dragster started to haze but Andy stuck with it and crossed the line first in 4.13 seconds at 441kmph.

Urs faced Jari Halinen who is tuned by Andy's former crew chief Eddie Corr. Urs pulled ahead from mid track after Halinen smoked the tires, it looked as though Urs' engine was going away but he stayed with it to beat Halinens 4.47 with a 4.26.

So another piece of the puzzle slots into place, we have made it to final and will be facing the defending champion Urs Erbacher.

There was oil after the Top Methanol final so we had to wait in the staging lanes for around 30 minutes. Andy was strapped in getting very hot indeed. The tension amongst the Andersen Racing / Carter Motorsport crew was building minute upon minute.

Urs left the line first, but went up in smoke before 60 feet. Smoke obscured Andy's lane and we couldn't see what was happening, was he in trouble too? The smoke cleared just in time to see Andy charging across the line, 4.27 seconds and the win light flashed! Victory for the Lucas Oil / Landmeco team!

The team are absolutely delighted, number one qualifier, low ET, a new European record for 990ft drag racing and the event win... it really couldn't have got any better than that! The team leave Mantorp with the points lead in the FIA European championship!

So one piece in the puzzle is complete, the quest for the championship continues. We can't wait to get to Germany and see what we can do there!

Thank you for tuning in this weekend, we hope you have enjoyed the coverage. We would also like to say a big thank you our associate sponsors: Landmeco, NGK Spark Plugs, Binamic, Pioneer Print, Crane Cams, K&N Filters, Yuasa Batteries, BMRS, Sigma Signs, Rainbow Conference Sets, 3T Creative, Norfolkline Ferriers, RCS Cables, Teng Tools, CAAR, Autotel, Jerrys, USA Autodele and AACI.