Dirt
how he manages the whole operation. He’s self-
employed, builds custom Harley motorcycles and
classic cars, so drag racing is his hobby. I always
admired how he managed to reconcile all this
with the family and friends. And also, his ability
to keep all the team members who work as vol-
unteers and don’t get to be paid the big money. I
think it speaks for itself when a person is able to
keep a team together in all the stressful situations.
But I think I’m not on the wrong path to be as
successful as he is in the future.
Now that you’re running the full European
schedule for the first time, what are your goals
for the 2019 season?
I have two visions for the year. I would like
to improve my personal best one or two times,
which I think is a realistic goal. And I want to
finish in the top 3 of the European champion-
ship this season.
Another goal would be to race in the States this
or maybe next year for 2-3 races depending on
sponsorship. Right now, it looks rather promising
because I have a TV crew and they’re currently
filming a documentary about me and my way to
the U.S. That will help me
to find sponsors to make it
a reality.
Women make up 50
percent of the Top Fuel
field at the European sea-
son opener. How do you
feel about that?
Yes, that’s great! That’s
what I like about drag rac-
ing in particular: It doesn’t
matter if you’re male or
female when you wear
your helmet and overall,
we are all equal. I like the
fact that I’ve been given
the chance to compete in
a man’s world. And I hope
I can motivate other girls with my own story to
believe in their dreams and pursue them without
letting them stop by stereotypes or naysayers. So
these are the points I want to stand up for.
Anita Mäkelä is the reigning European Top
Fuel champion. What can you learn from her?
Of course I can learn from all drivers who
have been involved in the
sport for a longer time.
As soon as we are at the
track she’s my opponent,
so there’s no mercy. But
that’s the beauty of drag
racing: everyone is really
friendly towards each oth-
er. One helps each other
with parts, one wants to
race a fair race without any tricks.
I heard your dragster has a name. What’s
it called and why?
Actually, that’s quite funny. I used to ride horses
before drag racing became my main hobby. Dur-
ing this time, I learned a superstition that one
must never change the name of a horse, otherwise
it brings misfortune. My dragster was named
“Jasmine” by the daughter of the previous owner.
I liked the name and to do that superstition right,
I kept the name.
You have a new teammate, Tethys, this sea-
son. How does he fit into the picture?
Tethys drove Top Fuel for quite a while and
he’d rented my dad’s car before. He asked us
to drive the car and we committed on the first
race and the second one in Tierp and we’ll see
where we’ll go from there. It’s great for me to
have a team partner and besides that, every
additional car on the track helps us. Our crew
chiefs are working together on both cars and the
goal is to perform well as the Erbacher Racing
Team, no matter if it’s Tethys, Urs or me in the
driver’s seat.
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38 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 146
JNDIA ERBACHER