After a bad start Jonny Lagg comes back to claim the 2024 FIA European Top Methanol Championship
For Jonny Lagg the 2024 season started as a nightmare with seven ‘up in smokes’ and no decent ET on the scoreboards. The first turning point was the semifinal at the SpeedEvents Internationals where the Swede suddenly stormed to a winning 5.31 seconds. With the problems solved, Lagg ran a string of 5.3-second runs to claim wins at the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals and Hockenheim, and the 2024 FIA European Top Methanol title as the final result.
Jonny Lagg won his first FIA European Top Methanol Championship in 2016. In recent years the Swede was always one of the frontrunners of the class he supports so much. Lagg did his very best to attract new competitors to the Top Methanol category, and he will be doing that in the new season again.
Back from a serious damage last year, the 2024 season started in the worst possible way for Lagg. At The Main Event all his attempts to make a run failed on the start line with terrible ‘up in smokes’. The team with so many years of experience in Top Methanol tried everything, but didn’t find the problem as all qualifying runs at the SpeedEvents Internationals went ‘up in smoke’ as well.
On the Saturday they finally found the problem with the clutch. In the first round of eliminations Lagg was back to form again with a great 5.31 seconds to defeat Sandro Bellio. In the final a 5.36 seconds was not enough to defeat A-Fuel Team Sweden teammate Tony Bryntesson, but suddenly Lagg was a force to be reckoned with again.
The Summit Racing Equipment Internationals was the final turning point of the season. With 5.32 seconds Lagg claimed the number two qualifying position, advanced to the final to defeat Johnny Oksa with 5.35 seconds, claimed the win and took over the number one position in the championship.
Hockenheim was almost a carbon copy of the Tierp race. With a string of 5.3 second runs Lagg was again the number two qualifier, advanced to the final to defeat his closest rival in the title race, teammate Bryntesson. With a 38 point advantage over Bryntesson, Lagg travelled to Santa Pod for the European Finals.
Suddenly it almost went wrong. With 5.56 seconds Lagg was the number four qualifier and was defeated in the semifinals by Bellio. Bryntesson advanced to the final and if he would take the win, he would also claim the 2024 title. But Bryntesson suffered mechanical problems, was not able to run the final, thus the title went to Lagg with a 16 point advantage over his A-Fuel Team Sweden teammate.
How does the now two-time champion look back at the 2024 season.
You won your first FIA European Championship in 2016, so this is your second one. How does it feel after such a long time and does it feel different compared to 2016?
A win is always a win, but we should have some more cars in our class. We are out there to have fun and go fast with our great team and meet great people. We had big problems in the beginning, with up in smoke and tyreshake. I was a combination of things, engine, wheelie bar etc.
What was your best race? And what the most important race for winning the title?
The best and also most important race was the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena in August. We claimed the win and were back in the title race.
Most proud of in 2024?
The old school tuning from Krister and Linkan. We had no Racepak and EM box at Tierp and Hockenheim, but we still won both races.
Toughest moment of the season?
That was definitely not coming down the track the first seven runs of the season.
Toughest competitor in 2024?
The toughest competitor was Tony Bryntesson.
People/companies you want to thank?
I would like to thank our fans, my sponsors, my great solid team, Bryntesson Motorsport for all their help with keeping the media informed and all their help with all freights.
Plans, goals and expectations for 2025?
The goal for 2025 is just to carry on from where we left off and add some new parts. Tony and I will visit the Finals at Pomona, to see some racing and get some parts.
Text and photos: Remco Scheelings
