Interviews

I'm a 7 time Finnish Street B Class Drag Racing Champion (Turboed Street cars, below 4 litres) and few 2nd and 3rd positions between 1992 - 2004.

New Comp D/TA record is 7,529s, 290 kmh (180mph). It is currently the best time in Europe and the fastest time driven with a 4 or 6 cyl BMW engine and chassis.

Chassis is a Pro Stock style SFI 2,5E and body is BMW M3 E36. Transmission is Liberty Extreme 5 speed with a pneumatic shifter. Clutch is a 2 disc 8” RAM clutch. So, what comes to transmission, body and clutch, pretty much a basic Pro stock setup.

Goal is of course to drive faster. Target was 7.4sec but due to mechanical engine issues we were unable to achieve it. What comes to next season, we’ll try to get 7,3sec and win some Nordic and Finnish championship races. Our current package is quite competitive; we’ll do small tweaks here and there for next season.

It is true it looks easy, but if it would be easy everybody would be doing it.

It is really difficult to get everything right and do it consistently, every time. Nothing can go wrong.
What is also interesting and motivating is the development of the car since we do almost everything ourselves. It would be easier to buy a readymade car, but again, it would be too easy. My team has now 5 really knowledgeable guys and we are still learning something new every day.

Difference is huge and the biggest difference is that now everything is professional. Back in the day it was all about consistency and we weren’t the fastest.
That time 2-liter Turbo BMW M10 engine produced 400hp. In those days it was a lot, now it is fairly easy to make 1100hp from a S14 and is still quite durable. But, now we are almost professional engine builders and with the in house dyno, engine development is easy. As an example, during the last 3 years we have developed 6 different turbo setups.
In house dyno is essential for engine development, but it doesn’t guarantee that it works when fitted into the car. Dyno can’t replicate the vibrations etc…

Overall 2011 season was a disappointment since it started very well with 7,605 run on a bad track. Trip to Sweden felt almost like a tourist trip, result wasn’t that good but 290kmh (180mph) top speed was promising.

European Championship race was a big disappointment due to engine problems. Later it was traced to a broken crankshaft and engine block.

Engine was rebuilt and Finnish Championship races went well, times were consistent 7,6-7,7sec and we were able to take the Outlaw class win. (Biggest and fastest class in Finland).

Since this was only 2 weeks before the most important race of the season, we saved the engine for the finals and run the record then.
Unfortunately the rains came and we were able to run only 3 races. Times were 7,7. 7,6 and finally the 7,52s record run improving the European D/TA time by 0,18s. Unfortunately several good cars broke during the races and I was able to take an easy victory.

After the races we tried to improve the record but traction was lost on 2nd gear and we weren’t able to improve.

It would be interesting to try out how big BMW M engine would work. But, in my opinion it would be too easy. It is really challenging to work with an old 2,2l S14, get 1100hp from it and make it last. We have done so much work with it and we know it very well.

Next step is to reduce the displacement to 2l and run methanol. Head will be solid without water cooling channels. Also block will be solid made from billet aluminum, of course with a big turbo but without intercooler. Plan is to run 5bar boost pressures, power about 1300-1500hp.