Callin "excited and nervous".

28th February: Sweden's Susanne Callin is "very excited, and a little bit nervous" about her move to Top Fuel Dragster in 2002. As we revealed here last Friday, eighteen-year-old Susanne will be licencing in one of Knut Söderquist's Carbon By Design Top Fuellers in March and hopes to raise the sponsorship to compete at European events this year.

"I decided that I wanted to go Top Fuel after I crashed my Super Comp dragster before the European Finals last year", says Susanne. "I'd been thinking about it for a couple of months, but as I had a race car and was also driving the two-seater dragster the desire wasn't so great. I travelled around with Pelle Lindelöw and so I was already sort of in the Top Fuel business, and was quite satisfied with that. But after the crash I didn't have a race car any more, and the idea about going Top Fuel started to grow. When Pelle retired they needed someone to buy and drive the car, and this really started by mind going during the summer."

Having decided to go Top Fuel, the next step was to find a car. "During the winter we've been talking to Knut and Pelle, and we've decided to rent a car from Knut for my licence runs", says Susanne. "I've been racing together with Pelle and his Top Fuel team for over a year and have got a good insight into what goes into Top Fuel racing. That has helped me a lot. I've been in Pelle's car during warm ups, but no more, so some lessons will come soon."

"I'm very excited, and a little bit nervous", says Susanne about the coming weeks. "Not shaking nervous, but since it is a big step I'm making up to Top Fuel and I've never driven that fast before, I'm a little bit nervous to see what it is like. But mostly I'm excited, very excited. I've got an image of how it will be, but I'm also sure that no matter how good my imagination is, it is nothing compared to how it actually is. I will just have to wait and see!"

The Callins are a very close-knit family; within minutes of her crash last September, Susanne was on her mobile phone to her mother to reassure her that she was alright. In the light of this we wondered what Mum thinks about her daughter going over a hundred miles per hour faster. "My mum isn't too happy about it, not at all", says Susanne. "But the thing is that as far as she is concerned it wouldn't make any difference if I was sixty years old, so I might as well be eighteen. That's the general opinion that my family has about my racing."

What happens after Susanne gains her licence depends upon funding, but she still has her other ride. "The potential sponsorship deals aren't done yet", she says. "When they are, we will know how many races I will be running. Apart from that I will continue to drive Johan Hassler's two-seater dragster as I did last year."

You can find out more about Susanne on her web site at www.sc1165.com.