Valtra takes top three places in season opener

05/27/2004

“We entered this event with a view to testing, and it proved we are in not too bad a position. We now have a clear idea of what areas we have to work on,” commented Markku Lappalainen, new team manager for Valtra Shell.
The open tractor pulling event in Lidköping is part of the Swedish championship. The Valtra Shell team entered the event to test its readiness for the European season, so each of the Valtra tractors had slightly different fuel pump and turbo specifications.
“We still have room for improvement. For example, we changed a turbo on Matti’s tractor in the middle of the competition. The weight distribution of the tractors was also changed slightly after last season, so we had to try different positions for the ballast between pulls,” said Mauno Ylivakeri, chief engineer for the team.

Only one full pull

There was only one successful full pull in Pro Stock, made by Johanna Herlevi on her first main attempt. Before her full pull, Johanna was able to make a test pull, as she was the first competitor in her category.
Pekka Herlevi’s first pull reached 97.20 metres. Michael Galsgaard from Denmark pulled 94.87 metres. Matti Herlevi could only achieve 29.03 metres with his faithful Valtra ‘Caesar’, while local competitor Bosse Munter of the Lidköping Tractor Pulling Club managed just 17.05 metres with ‘Carl Philip’.
In the second round, Matti improved his result to 96.40 metres and Bosse Munter to 76.69 metres. Michael Galsgaard did not make a second attempt with his John Deere tractor.
Altogether six categories competed in Lidköping on 21 May, from 600-kilo mini-pullers to 4500 kilo modified tractors. Around 4500 spectators were on hand at the Port of Lidköping to watch the exciting evening competition.

Results: 1) Johanna Herlevi/Doris, full pull, 2) Pekka Herlevi/Sigma Power 97.20, 3) Matti Herlevi/Caesar 96.40, 4) Michael Galsgaard/John Deere 94.87, 5) Bosse Munter/Carl Philip 76.69.

More information: http://pulling.valtra.com

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