Ida Zetterström runs 0 to 516 kilometers per hour in 3.77 seconds. That makes her the European record holder in drag racing. Last season, she also won the EC in the Top Fuel class, which is the highest series in the sport.
– To win the EC title and to win it the way we did it. That season is the biggest thing I’ve done, she says News24.
For those who don’t know what drag racing is, it involves driving fast, incredibly fast. From a standing start, two vehicles drive towards each other for a quarter of an English mile, approximately 200 meters, and it is important to be the first to cross the finish line.
There are no handicap systems, no girls’ and boys’ classes – you just have to be very fast.
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Ida Zetterström drives drag racing in the Top Fuel class. Photo: Pressbild Ida Zetterström moves to the USA
After last year’s great season, Ida Zetterström is ready to be the best in the world, and where does one get there? Well, in drag racing’s homeland, the USA. At the end of January, she packs her bags and moves to Brownsburg in Indianapolis. There she will compete for JCM Racing in the NHRA, the highest class in Top Fuel.
In Sweden, not many people know how big the sport is in the USA. Drag racing attracts more viewers than Formula 1, at the races there can be up to 100,000 people and the TV broadcasts from the races are seen by several million viewers.
In her first year in the USA, Ida Zetterström will run a shorter season, with only about six to ten races out of 22.
– This season my biggest focus is getting to know my new team and working closely with them. I have a brand new car and will get to know it so we become one, and test many of the new tracks, she says and continues:
– But I am a competitive person, and of course go to every competition with the idea that I want to win of course. But this year is a learning year. Because I want to be there and fight for wins and championship titles as quickly as possible.
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Ida Zetterström holds the European record in drag racing. Photo: Press image “I have all the tools”
In 2025, the 29-year-old from Åland plans to drive a full season in the American NHRA.
When will you be the best in the world?
– Drag racing is a sport where you learn all the time. I know I have good people around me, I have good stuff and my teammate and mentor (Tony Schumacher eds note) has eight world titles. So I have all the tools for this to be really good, says Ida Zetterström and continues:
– I want to be someone who has won a world championship, and who has done it several times over.
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