The winter have been cold, long and Swedish. But the sun is starting to glow over the treetops again. And when that happends we know that it isnt long before the 2013 FIA European Dragracing Championship begins.

During the winter we have built a new cool Mopar kitchen for the trailer, that we can roll out and be able to feed the Pro 1 team during upcoming season.

We went home to Gotland and took out the trailer and truck that have been there during the winter. Then stopped by Ernryd cars in Stockholm and loaded the Dodge into the trailer. Watch the video in another post. The team is now eager to begin to work with the car and the trailer. We have bought some new parts for the chassie, and the engine is updated and ready by Allen Johnsson and his father Roy. They make awesome horsepowers in theese Hemis, and that is what we like and our competitors hate. One day maybe they all understand that you never should underestimate the power in a Hemipowered Dodge.

Look at the calender for our race dates, and please go in and like us on Facebook. There is more pictures and uppdates there cause its easier to uppdate during racedays. If you want to see the Dodge dont hesitate to contact us and we will wecome you into our shop that is in Sätra, Stockholm.  New cool Tshirts and other stuff will be sold during all FIA races this year. Dont miss to buy a Tshirt from the European dragracing Prostock Champions. Team R/T

Watch out for the Dodge. and do like the rest… Follow the leader!!!

FIA
European Prostock Champions 2012!!

This is the
first year we do a full season in Prostock, and what a season. The championship
have 6 races, but hockenheim were canceled due to a bad track, so with only 5
races left we did 2 win, and 2 times runner up, trackreckords in Alastaro and
Tierp, European speed record at the Main event, low ET at all events, and nr
one qualifier 4 times. We are the first in Europe to ever win the championship
with a Dodge, and we are proud to put Mopar on the pole.

To win a championship
you need  sponsors, knowledge,  hard working crew and ofcourse a Hemipowered
Dodge.  We got it all.

I will
start with the most important, The sponsors. Stefan Ernryd from Ernryd cars,
Stockholm, is our main sponsor, without him, nothing of this would have been
possible. This is the second year he is with us and he becomes more and more a
valuable member of the team for each race.
We cant thank you enough, but ill hope the big trophee will make you
sleep better at night. You are simply the best!!!

The rest of
sponsors are ofcourse not to be forgotten. Wrapzone, that made an awesome work
and made our trailer the best looking in Europe, if you doubt check the
pictures on our website www.teamrt.se. DK Lyft & Transport made us able to
travel around in Europe with a smile on our faces. Verkstadspartner was there
when we needed to look good. Snap ON and Peter Hult gave us the key to win
races with the best tool a prostocker needs. Jungarve Bygg  is the only name you need to know if you ever
needs any help with your building projects at home. IAL Skadejour is the best
got damn guys in town when coming to cleaning pipes. De palma have the coolest
outfit you ever need to wear, Huddinge snickeri is the specialists in fine carpenting.
R/T Bil&Maskin in Sätra, Stockholm, takes care of your car with tires,
service, cambelts, ac services and more.

Knowledge…Learning by doing is what we are
trying to do. Not always an easy way, but the only way if you wants to  be a good racecar tuner, We have a long way
to go before we know it all, and probably no one ever will. This season we have
tuned The Dodge ourselves, with some brainstorming with Tommy Leindahl, Henrik
Modigh and our Mentor and Mopar guru Jari Konola. Thanks for everything boys.

The Crew…well, as a driver I can just say one
thing…There is not possible to get a better team then we got…maybe the morning
eggs could be a little less overcooked but that’s all. Tony who takes care of
the rear end of the car and adjusts the wheeliebars. Roffe, co owner and
crewshief, he tunes the transmission and clutch. Thomas, co owner, makes the
Hemi stick together, drives the car, and he loves it. Andy, the masterchef, he
does us all happy with his gastronomical knowledge. Igge, truckdriver, t-shirt
sales manager and a long helping hand when needed. Tommy Ledberg, our own tv
producer, movie maker, and photograph.
And ofcourse a special thanks to our loveones, Nina, Sofia and Veronica,
you make our lifes worth living when not winning championhips. We know that it
is long days in the garage sometimes, we know that we are far away when we go
racing, and we know that it isn’t always easy to live with us…but from the
bottom of our hearts, we love you, and we always will.

Now the
season is over…and we made it….we are number one. We have managed to do what
few people in this world have accieved….to fight the best, and win.

Thank you all for this season, and watch out
for PRO 1 next year in Protock, Mopar will rule the world forever

See you all
in 2013

/ Team R/T

The points for the championship is :

1. PRO 3 Thomas Lindström Sweden 429
2. PRO 1 Jimmy Alund Sweden        398
3. PRO 6 Michael Callin Sweden 270
4. PRO 4 Michael Malmgren Sweden 189
5. PRO 919 Mats Jacobsson Sweden   156
6. PRO 10 Ulf Wagnhester Sweden     156
7. PRO 5 Sampsa Palos Finland            124
8. PRO 5 Richard Sundblom Finland   91
9. PRO 4047 Christian Sagelv Sweden 78
10. PRO 1059 Conrad Stanley England  70
11. PRO 8 Jan Palmqvist Sweden           68
12. PRO 5418 Harald Sturhan                 59
13. PRO 1283 Bo Pettersson Sweden     36
14. PRO 7 Jonas Dantanus Sweden        33
15. PRO 4919 Magnus Pettersson Se     12

The Finals, Santa Pod raceway 2012

Here we
are, at the end of the season. Standing on holy ground, The Santa Pod Raceway,
and are ready to defend our pointlead in the championship. This is the 6^th
FIA European Dragracing Championship event 2012 and for once this year, the
weather gods are with us. Sunny weather with blue sky and not a cloud in
sight…lets get ready to rocknroll.

We arrived a little early on Wednesday, but
its nice to have the extra time to get in place and make sure everything is 100
% raceready.  The hard thing is to solve
problems before they are known, and to know where to look and what to do takes
time to learn. Routine is everything if you want to make a racecar go fast, but
as I always say, learning by doing is the only way. And it starts to pay off.
The team really did a great job this weekend, everyone worked really hard and
we are proud to have them all onboard.

Friday, 1^st
qualification day. Two rounds for Prostock. Perfect weather for the spectators,
a little hot for engine power. The track was good, but the bumps in the end
made the car one year older after each race. Our first run was modest 6,90s,
took us to nr 2 spot, and gave us the information we needed to tune the car.
Next round was to became the fastest ever side by side run in European Prostock
history. Jimmy vs Thomas ended up with 6,6869s for both of them….Identical ET,
so the pole was given Jimmy cause he had the higher mph. A good run and noone
where sad at the end of the track. This is Prostock racing on the edge.

Saturday,
and its time to show why we are pointleaders in the championship.  Q3 took us to the pole with a clean, straight
6,66s run,  This was also the low ET at
the event and because of that we only needs to win the first round in elimination
to be Prostock Champions 2012. Q4 didn’t change anything in the qualification
list, 6,74s. to much clutch in the car resulted in shaking tyres.

Raceday,Sunday,
This is the D day for us…if we win the
first run against Conrad Stanley we are champions. Unfortenly Conrad damaged
his engine in q4 so bad, that even though they were up all night, all cred to
the Stanley team, they didn’t make it to the first run, so we got a bye run. We
once again showed why we are worthy champions… 6,68s, the fastest run during
the elimination day gave us the points needed to be the FIA European Prostock
Champion 2012. But the raceday wasn’t over yet so back to the pits and get the
car ready for semi finals. 6,72s in the semis, and we are now in the final
against Jimmy Ålund. Last time in Tierp we took the win against him, so we know
that he is not unbeatable. Thomas 0,07s in reaction against Jimmas 0,05s and
Thomas 6,71s vs Jimmas 6,69s made us runner up at the Finals, Santa pod raceway
2012, but the loss was much easier to handle when knowing we are pro 1 next
year. But a race is a race, and I really don’t like loosing. Next year we will
only win…..

The season is over for this year. And it is
with mixed feelings we leave santa pod in the truck on our way home to Sweden,
2000km trip. One part  just cant wait to
come home, push the racecar far into the garage, go home, Kiss our loveones, and
spend time with the family and enjoy life ….. and one part will miss all the
racers and friends on the track, the smell of fuel, trackbite, nitro and
prostockburgers, To feel the happiness when winning a race or gaining a record,
feel the anger when loosing a race with a thousand of an second. The up and
downs in prostock is what makes you keep on fighting, cause nothing is a better
feeling then, after hit the bottom, raise up and show the world that anything
is possible.  We have truly been
following our dream this year……  To win
the championship…..

Thank you
all Mopar fans out there, we just love you.

Thank you
all sponsors for the support needed to win the championhip.

Thank you
to the best crew/team in the world.

Thank you
all mentors, photograps, track crew, firefighters and other staff.

Thank you
to speedgroup, organizers, FIA, Eurodragster, Magazines, Bilsport and more.

And Thank
You to all others that is not mentioned but not forgotten.

Tierp…We love this track.

The truck is once again heading to our favorite track, Tierp Arena, Sweden. Arriving wednesday afternoon with our main sponor Stefan Ernryd behind the steering wheel. This will be an important race, cause if everything goes good, we can safe the championship lead, and if things going bad, we can ruin our chances of beeing 2012 prostock champion.

Friday was first qualification day, and after a rainy thursday we didnt really know if the track could hold the power in our Ernryd cars backed up Dodge Stratus. The first run where a dissapointment for the whole team….After a straight and good burnout, the engine where not running on 2 cylinders, and we where forced to shut down. In the pits we found the problem, a 50 euro problem, in a million euro car….One of the valves in the carburetor got stuck, and flooding was a fact. we changed and checked the whole fuelsystem carefully, and then started it up, with no prolems. One round down the drain….

Second qualification went better, but not good. The track was better then we thought, and the loss of the first round didnt give us any valuable data to use when tuning the car. 6,75 s took us to qualification nr 4….but we where not happy knowing we have much more to give. Friday night we changed gearing in the trans and in the rear axle, optimized the engine and checked everything so that we would be good to go on saturday.

Friday night where also a time for celebration…Thomas Lindström and Nina Norin got engaged, he proposed at the grandstand and the answer where a non doubtable YES… The masterchef Andy had a couple of bottles of the finest Champagne in the cooler, and the smile on Thomas face where enough to know that he is one lucky bastard. Enyoy life and take care of eachother, cause love that strong is almost impossible to find.

Saturday, and third qualification run….The track got better and better and we should have calculated with that, but even if we put in more clutch then tha day before, it got loose, and shutdown after third gear was the result. Getting back and looking at the computor made us confident that we could make good numbers…the question is how much should we tune the car…we are just outside the window…and small steps is the way…but with one round left before raceday we needed to do something major to claim the pole that Jimmy had with a good 6,68 run. We took a decision…and we took the right one…… Straight like an arrow we went down the track….leaving Ålund and callin behind us looking at the scoreboard…. 6.6660 s and 314 km/h made it!!!! The number of the beast…. Low et at the event, trackreckord again, and number one qualifier in Prostock car. The crowd on the stands just got wild, the team got wild, and the driver got wildest of them al…..We made it!!!!

Saturday we also had a big sponsor day, 63 invited sponsors came and got a full day of racing, 6,666s runs, food, drinking and a wonderfull time in our VIP tent. Ernryd cars,  IAL skadejour, Verkstadspartner, Bilia, Jungarve bygg, DK lyft & Transport, Kyl&Värmepumpsteknik, Snap on, Wrapzone and others. From all of us in Team R/T to all of you, a very big thanks for the help during 2012. Without you , nothing of this would not have been possible. You are one piece of the puzzle and you  deserve the credit for our 6,6660 s round, and our championship lead.

Sunday, Race day

Rain seemes to be the thing this season…and no difference on this race…Eventally it stopped raining and the track crew made a hell of a job getting the track ready for buisniess. About 14:00 the track where good to go, and in our first elimination we had Christian Sagelv in his Ford, Thomas fell asleep when the tree went green, and finally got the car launched, but then sagelv where 1,5 carlength ahead…chasing him down the track, and we took the win…..with one thousand of an second, aprox 8,8cm….made this to a really really close one….One more lesson learned…..dont sleep at the tree…..Lucky for us, we got a mopar engine that outrun them al on fifth gear 😉 6,75 s 314km/h was o good run, but on race day, it is important to be quick at the tree…cause its not the car that goes fastest that win…it is the first car who cross the finnishline that does.

Elimination 2, up against Nixxon, Finland vs sweden.  Nixxon made a cherry at the tree, and gave it all away to us…just like we did in Finland against Mats. We made a good 6,70s 314km/h run and now we are back on track…..

Final against Jimmy Ålund, second time this year we meet in the Final, and last time we won…So he is eager to even the odds, and eaven the pointslead. But one thing is for sure…he need to do his best to straight things out to his advantage… Sadly the rain came over us, and canceled further racing. The good thing is that we gained more points this race and advanced the pointslead to 45 points ahead of Jimmy, Callin is on third place. And they both want to take us out in the Final race, Santa pod, England. We will do our best to stand on our feet, and don let them to take any ground. We got a mopar, and we all know that it takes a mopar to catch a mopar.

Hockenheim…….

We came to Germany and Hockenheim with high expectations, the weather where supposed to be sunny, no rain in sight. Some rumors regarding the track started to circulate on our way to the track, that they had some kind of a race one week ago…and there was no traction…we just ignored it, as we always do with other peoples opinions regarding a track. As our mentor tells us.. Just stay coo l boys….and we did….

When we had installed us in the prostock pit, we went up to look at the track, so we could start to tune the car. This was Wednesday night. It was no rubber on the track, no shiny, sticky surface that we just love racing on, only plain asphalt with loads of trackbite on it. As the beginners in prostock we are, and the trackpreparation boys we dont are, we just thougt that they would drag some slicks on the track, and that they had a plan regarding getting the track ready for a championship event. We went back Thursday morning, and no still no activity on the track. Now we are starting to be concerned…. Why are they painting checkerflags on the startingarea instead of dragging slicks on the track. The rumors and answer was simple…they didn’t have any slicks to use.

The problem with the track was that due to safety regulations to the FIA Formula one race, they needed to sandblaster the whole track, and then they cleaned it so througly that the binding in the asphalt disappeared. This seemed to destroy the whole surface, and the rubber couldn’t stick to the asphalt. This should have been noticed and taking care of a long time ago if they had a plan, we don’t think that they had.

There was no qualifications on Friday, canceled by the hockenheim staff. On Saturday it was planned to be 3 qualification rounds in FIA car classes, but most of the teams only went out once just to get a approved qualification round. We had some problems in the first 2 rounds mainly cause of the track condition, we have never driven our car on a surface like this, and both the driver and crew didn’t really know to handle the situation, and when we broke every golden rule in dragracing, to do the same procedure every time…but on this track that didn’t work…it ended up with a 9,90s and 275km/h (this was topspeed in prostock this weekend) in the third run, that took us to 3d place in the qualification. On the evening they canceled the elimination rounds for the Sunday, and the race for us where over.

Leaving Hockenheim as poinleader and gained 3 points against Jimmy is nice…but not to race for the points take the edge of that little happiness. This weekend sucked bigtime, For all racers and crew who spend a lot of time, effort and money to go to this poorly arranged championship event….it sucked bigtime for all our fans and the 50 000 people that where on the grandstands. The thing that we are most disappointed at is the lack of interest from the Hockenheim staff…No info what so ever during the whole weekend. This is truly the worst event we ever been at. We hope that they, and all the teams, and all the organisations that is involved in this maybe can learn something.

Been there done that.

European Dragracing Championship part 2:

After the Main event we where in points lead in the championship, but was it luck that made us winners…or was it that we only had an 4 field in the elimination ladder. One thing that is certain is that our confidence is better, the team learned a lot of things in England and it feels that the team are much closer together now than before. So why just not be happy and celebrate our first win ever, and that with the fastest prostock run in european dragracing history…of course we earned the win!!!!

We went to Tierp with different feelings, high expectations is one dangerous feeling that can destroy more than it gives…so we agreed to do as we always do…Another race, another opportunity to learn. We take one small step at each race, and we dont look forward or back… Do the thing that we are meant to do…Race, and having fun while doing it. The rocknroll way!!!!

We got 2 qualification runs on Friday, and that ended up in nr 2 spot and the numbers 6,72s 334km/h , with Jimmy on the top with 6,70s and 334 km/h. The rain took the saturday away from us, and nearly the elimination day to. But on the Sunday afternoon it cleared up and blue sky over Tierp Arena made it possible to eliminate all the F.I.A classes.

We got Dantanus in the first run, he was first out of the tree with 0,104s to ours 0,174s but our power in the engine got us to the semifinal. 6,94 and 322km/h for Dantanus and 6,73s, 333 km/h for Thomas.

In the semifinal we got a dejavu from last years Sweden Internationals, 2011 we got him in the semi and he took us out at the light and won…this time the Dodge will bite back!! Sampsa got the better reaction with 0,02s to mine 0,07s, but then we did al the numbers better and it ended up with another win for the mopar team. 6,69s 334 km/h gave us the low et points, lane choice in the final and track record. Sampsas numbers 6,75s 330km/h didnt make it.  We now facing the champ, Jimmy Ålund. And that is another dejavu…last year in Alastaro, Finland we met him in the final, and we made a redlight and he won…this time we will do better, this time we will focus, this time we will give the old man a fight.

The European dragracing championship final in prostock became the closest side by side race in European history. We took the better reaction time with 0,02s to Jimmas 0,04s…and that is what made us winners. Cause Jimmys run where a little faster than our…and i mean a little. We did 6,7041s and 334,37km/h and Jimmy had 6,7010s with 334,37km/h….Identical terminal speeds!!! and we won…not by much. 3000 of a second before over the finish line, about 28 cm ahead of jimma put us on the top again.  Two races and two wins for the Ernryd backed up Dodge stratus so far. We are in pointslead in the championship, we got the speedrecord at the main  event, and trackrecord at Tierp. The fastest Prostock car in Europe is going for gold in the championship!!!