Sjödin Motorsport / ÅBM Racing

Haha, what a crazy bad year…

Ok, long post warning! Now after the season is over for real, I got some well needed vacation, found some spirit again and I’m back at work again I felt it was time to sum up the last event for the year in Pro Modified with Jörgen Bergs Chevrolet Corvette 79 at Tierp Arena! That turned out to be just one more bad weekend at a race track this year….

Me, Sofi, Jörgen and Benkt went to Tierp Arena and the last race with Jörgens Pro Mod Vette for 2023 on Wednesday after 2 pretty soft and rainy days at Jörgens shop, plan was to service the Vette during Monday and Tuesday after the race at Gardermoen but due to bad weather the car was still like brand new when we left Norway…

Anyway, the trip from the Bat Cave was pretty simple and we arrived to Tierp Arena around 13:00 on Wednesday! And as soon as I went out from the truck we got some rain, that’s pretty amazing! Haha! And then after a lot of arguing with the wind trying to put up the tents in our pit space for hours then team Old 51 arrived and saved us by blocking the really powerful winds with their bus!…

So it took some time to get the pit space ready and the heavy winds stopped pretty much when we were done with it and it was time to unload the Vette, just before the rain started instead!!

After that Benkt, Jörgen and Krille started to do some small adjustments on the Vette in the drivers area that I wanted to do after the Norway weekend, this car was not built for me so it takes some time to adjust all small stuff to make me satisfied with it! When building a car you usually makes the adjustments with the driver in the car, I did put myself in a car that was finished already!

When they did their thing I did clean out the trailer like I always want to do, I want the inside of the trailer to be clean when the weekend starts! A clean trailer make Andreas happy! Sofi did what she usually do on non-race days, working late on a Wednesday evening to catch up what she will be missing on Friday when the qualifying starts!

After that we got some great dinner made by Sofi with grocery’s from our awesome longtime partner ICA Gärdet!

And then it was time for Huldas (the Vettes name) beauty sleep! No racing for us on Thursday because that’s the day for the sportsman classes only! So, our plan was just relax, finishing up some details on the Vette and get her inspected for the qualifying that started on Friday!

Thursday was a rainy day at Tierp Area!….. I went to bed pretty late around 01:00 on Wednesday night and it was raining at that time, the forecast for Thursday did not look good either…. And it was still raining when I woke up on Thursday morning…. And it did continue like that pretty much all day, on and off, little to much and it was cold on top of that. In the afternoon the qualifying got cancelled due to the rain!… It was a really bad day for all the sportsman racers!… And I felt sorry for my fellow buddies in Top Doorslammer that was sitting there all day waiting for nothing to happen…

For us that wasn’t scheduled to race anything on Thursday it was a good day, Jörgen and Krille did service the Vette and checked the rod bearings during the morning.
Me and Benkt did diagnose and fixed some air shift issues that we got the weekend before in Norway buy change out the Co2 air regulator that for some reason didn’t give enough air anymore.

And when I did have time for it I did service our Cinderella incineration toilet, there is always something to do!

We got the Vette inspected and approved, we did eat good all day and we got all we could prepared for the qualifying that started on Friday.

Friday started out with a cold and cloudy morning at Tierp Arena! When I got the running order for the first qualifying round it looked to be around 12:30-13:00 I assumed. We got some breakfast and were just waiting to warm up the motor. It was still cold and cloudy, but also about 4 hours until it was time for Q1 for us. I looked at the weather forecast and I did hope that it was wrong, because it did not look good at all!…

And then one more bad weekend started, Q1 got delayed! We did have a couple of classes before us and something happened out on the track, was not sure what it was but after a while I heard that a bike (Top Fuel or Super Twin) crashed really bad around or after the finish line….. From what I heard the driver was conscious and talking when they took him to the hospital, and I didn’t hear anything more after. This incident took a lot of time and everything got delayed. But we were ready to go when it was time again!

So we all was sitting and waiting and Katrin started to prepare some lunch during the time so we could eat directly when we get back from Q1, but first rain, so we were on hold for rain now instead…

Then finally, it was time to roll down to the line up!

Then then it was time again for a delay, more rain, and also even more rain delay in the line up…

But then we got a round that was enough to get some decent data to start work from! Finally!

But of course, it wasn’t a good round! After the adjustments in the drivers area I found out that it was even harder to see the tree when I’m in the right lane… So I did have a lot problems to see the pre stage and stage lamp and getting in to stage so I needed to listen to Micke when he went up on 2-step so I could do the same…. So, the reaction time wasn’t that great… Haha! But I held the pedal to the floor until 3 seconds out when I started to shake some and I was off the throttle!..

Think the round got delayed at least 3 hours, and it was finally time for some late lunch almost around dinner time! The Vette got serviced and we was ready again!

It looked like we would go out again pretty much directly after that against Gullan, but then we got some drizzle!…

Then again after a couple of hours delay it was time for Q2! But… We once again got some rain in the line up, that’s two times in one day…! Sitting there in the line up we could actually see a rainbow in the sky, not sure if that is how I want it to be on a race track.

Then it was time for the waiting game again but after a couple of rain delays we finally got our second qualifying round at 20:00 in the evening.

It was even better than Q1, but I needed to add more power!.. I saw that just before they called us so we did not have enough time to change transmission I the car…. But if I would have known that it would be a 2-3 hour delay I would have made it in the line up, but you never know what is going to happen….

But I was happy that I’m getting closer to find a tuning window even that I’m still way low on power!… I have realized that It’s a HUGE difference between a roots and a screw blower when it comes how much fuel you can give it or how much timing you can take out!… But I’m learning!
And I really miss my screw blower that would help me find the window quicker!

So, it’s been a long day of waiting again out on a race track, but one really good thing is that the camshaft is still ok! After Q2 at this race it has made 6 launches without any issues compared to the one that only made 2 before it broke…. Still the manufacturer tells me that the stuff he sold me (the cam that broke) is all ok!… Well, I assume this will be something to continue arguing about during the coming winter!

After that we did service the Vette and had some Taco Friday with grocery’s from ICA Gärdet!

Then we switched to a new transmission to get some more wheel speed, and we did also put together one more trans so we can add even more ratio after the first pass because I’m pretty sure that we need it when it comes to a for me “low power roots blower engine” like this is compared to what I’m used to when it got a screw blower on top!

Ok, now its 09:00 and Saturday morning and a new day, we got some breakfast at a chilly and cloudy Tierp Arena, the Vette was ready to warm up when its time and I assumed that we would be called in about 2 hours!

And then it was time again for a bad weekend to continue, it started with a clean up after an oil down and then some light rain delay!… Weather forecast for the day did not look too good, looks like the weather will continue to be against us even this day… But we are ready to make a pass when it’s time, but it felt like we might eat lunch before the round due to the weather.

Then it was time just like that in a real hurry, and I did not understand why because I knew that we got Pro Stock Car and Top Alcohol before us and I never heard them make any passes!…

Then I heard that a Pro Stock driver made the organizer to change the schedule because he could not drive his car after the Bike Classes…? How stupid is that? How can a single driver make the organizer make a change like that? And why can Pro Mod make passes after the bikes if Pro Stock cannot?
I say that it is wrong by the organizer to do a change like that because of a whiny driver… We got a running order, stay with that running order!

Then after 1 or maybe 2 more hours of waiting in some drizzle on and off in the line up again we finally made our Q3 round against Roger Johansson around 14:30 in the afternoon!

Car got happy with more aggressive first gear and ended up with a good 60ft of 0,9793! But a good 60ft is nothing if the car goes into shake after it!… It’s hard to sort out all parts down the track with so few rounds in the car and its tricky conditions to test a car that never made a real pass when it’s cloudy, cold and rains on and off… I’m getting closer, but I’m also starting to get really frustrated about this now!….

Ok, time for Q4 in a while! This is the last chance to make a pass to get into the ladder, I was pretty sure that the changes I made to the car won’t be enough but it’s the last test round for the year for us so let’s just try. But it’s still cloudy and even colder now!… Let’s see what happens…

And again, rain delay… At this moment I felt that this must be the worst year ever since I started racing 20 years ago when it comes to bad luck and bad weather!….

We are sitting in the pit waiting for something to happen the rain to stop, one more delay due to rain and one more due to an oil down and after that rain delay again. And then they call us out 1 hour or maybe 2 later and when we roll out from our tent it feels like you can cut trough the moist outside and the whole car fogs up!… It did not feel right to roll down to the starting line in these conditions that’s for sure…. But if the organizer tells us that it’s time, I assume it is and the track will be good enough for us to make passes on it.

We were third pair out in this session against Patrik Wikström, but it turned out to be a solo round because he did have some problems with the engine…

But before that when we rolled down to the tunnel under the tower they told us not to go there and take another way in to the arena instead because there was a window in the tower just above the tunnel that have started to fall out in pieces on the ground and it’s not safe to be under it, probably a little rock from a tire in a burn out from the pair that just made a pass! It was just too much, first the weather and now something like this that I never heard about earlier….

When I went up to the starting line to look at the mess it of course also started to rain again…. And when I looked out on the track I could see a half track clean up after an oil down at the same time!….

What a strange racing weekend, and like I said earlier the worst ever since I started racing!…

And then, finally the weekend was over for us!…. I think we made the pass or whatever it was around 19:30 after sitting in the line up for I don’t know 1 or maybe 2 hours….
You could feel the moisture in the air and the car was almost wet from it, when I put the helmet on and closed my visor it fogged up directly… It did not feel good but I was happy to have a solo round so I wont mess up someone else car if something happens…

Then for first time ever I got wheel speed in the Corvette!… Straight up in the sky, and that made me just happy and relieved because I was afraid I would lose traction further out on the track and hurt Jörgens car, now at least the body on the car is ok!

I actually felt in the burn out that there was NO track because it felt like making a burn out on grass!… The change from the round before when we were way low in wheel speed was to move a little weight in the car and a little shock change! That ended up with that I spun the tires directly on the line and that little would not cause to spin the tires if the track would have been ok.

After I spun the tires I got rain drops on my windshield when rolling down the track at the 1/8 mile…
I told them in the shut down area but still they let 2 pairs go out!….

No runs to talk about because a slick car has nothing to do on a wet race track! Then it was time for a delay again because Åke the Baker made a couple of 360:s out on the track, I could hear him do it and you could hear that there was no traction, which tells me that the track was wet and not there and I would like to say that the fourth qualifying pass should have been cancelled before they told us to roll down from the pits, the track was nothing like it should be when letting out high powered cars like this!… The organizer should have known better if you ask me! When I talked with Sofi after the round she told me that it did not feel right standing behind the car and the track felt slippery here and there… Later that evening I also heard that some crew members did not allow their driver to make a pass, that’s NOT how it should be!…

And what’s even worse is that now 7 weeks later I haven’t heard anyone that complained about the organizers bad decisions.

But just like always we did have a good time together and Bärgar Berra from Assistancekåren did visit us and gave us a Action Berra mascot for the Vette!

Then it was dinner and BBQ time!

Sunday and race day! Well, no it was just one more rainy day at the track!..

It started to rain Saturday evening and the weather forecast said that it will rain all night and all Sunday morning! It felt like the forecast had been a little too accurate for a couple of weeks!…

We ended up at spot 19 in the qualifying list and due to one car before us was loaded already we were second reserve and I did hear rumors that some other teams had already decided to not be a part of the eliminations. But I decided already Saturday evening that I’m not going to sit and wait again in the line up for the third day in a row, so we started loading up everything that wasn’t wet already after breakfast on Sunday morning!

Something that I think is pretty funny is that Pro Mod was the first class out for the day scheduled at 09:20 (before the pre race ceremony) which tells me that Pro Mod is not a part of the race or what!? Anyway, it was still raining when the clock was 10:10 and they did cancel all the sportsman classes pretty early due to the weather…

I felt it was going to be a fantastic day for the ones sitting here in the rain waiting for the eliminations to start… And of course fun for us also because I wanted to wait for the tents to get a little less wet before putting them in the trailer…

We got some lunch and then it finally stopped raining, we started to load up the rest of the pit area and were ready to hit the road and go home!

When we were about to leave around 15:00, they held an extra drivers meeting to see if any racers would like them to continue to work on the track and make it ready to start the eliminations, good for the ones that are there to get points in the series but I think it’s kind of stupid because they won’t be able to finish the race completely because they are not allowed to make noise long enough in the evening… But that is how I feel about it, and I was on my way home anyway!

Something that is bad is that I heard from many at this event that it was poorly arranged and way time-consuming when it comes to all oil clean-ups, I do not know anything about this because I was in the pit area myself waiting and not in the grandstands watching! I have heard this from a lot of people after the race also so something must been really wrong? They said it was worse than ever before. I did hear a lot about oil downs so maybe something is correct? But oil downs is caused by the racers so I think that the correct place to start complaining is on the racers to have their cars on order and also that it should be harder rules when it comes to engine diapers and fees when it comes to oil downs?!..

I don’t know about the bad work when it comes to the oil down clean ups but think that the crew did an amazing job all weekend trying to get the track dry because it was raining on and off more than ever before! Great job guys and girls!

Me and Krille left Tierp Arena and maybe 15-20 minutes later the sun came out, the first real sun since Wednesday or so!… So typical and frustrating!…

Then when we arrived in Täby at the ÅBM shop we got clear blue sky, sun and 22 degrees Celsius!… Kind of hard not getting angry after 4 days at the race track in rain, cloudy sky and no sun and on top of that it was cold with heavy winds!…

Directly after we arrived at the ÅBM shop we got some food and then we started to prepare for the weekend after at Dala-Järna and the exhibition race with the Chevelle after letting it sit in the shop for almost a year!

And best of all from the Tierp race that weekend was a great idea by Krille, five of us got a team tattoo late on Saturday evening as a memory from the worst weekend in a long time! Haha =)

 

I want to say thanks to all involved during this unsuccessful test year in Pro Modified, Jörgen first of all that trusted me and gave me the opportunity to drive his brand new Pro Modified car! Dad (Ake), Sofi, Max, Krille, John The Sneaky Snake, Marcus, Dennis, Benkt, Katrin, Ludde, Moa and Mike Canter for a lot of input when it comes to the fuel system!

 

Then I want to say a special thanks to my partners that supported this test year, our own shop of course Åkes Bil & Motor, Peter and Patrik at Rörmekano, Tobbe at T.Grundström Plåtslageri, Christer at Alwerco Svets & Smide, Kaare at ICA Gärdet, Micke at Clearwrap East Coast, Nicke at Nicclast and Leif at Catch With Care!

 

Lets see what 2024 will bring us, we got no plans yet.