The lights turn green again at Santa Pod for an action packed start of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship

It’s the end of May and that means the engines can finally be fired up again and the thousands of horsepower unleashed for the start of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. The most prestigious drag racing championship in Europe kicks off with the traditional opener, The Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway! Jndia Erbacher (Top Fuel), Jonny Lagg (Top Methanol), Jere Rantaniemi (Pro Modified) and Jimmy Ålund (Pro Stock) are the reigning champions, and the good news is that they will all defend their hard fought titles. What to expect in England, who are the favourites and who might surprise? It will once again be a tough fight with a title race that could go down to the wire, like last year when several titles were won and lost in the last run of the season.

The FIA European Drag Racing Championship will be fought over four rounds this season. The 2025 title race kicks off with the traditional The Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. After a long break, the championship resumes early August with the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena in Sweden, followed by back-to-back races, the NitrOlympX at the HockenheimRing and the grand finale, The European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway.

Top Fuel
Jndia Erbacher was the surprise winner of the 2024 FIA European Top Fuel Championship. The Swiss racer started the last race of the season in third position, but claimed the title in the last run of the season by winning the European Finals. After a long winter of radio silence it is great to see that Erbacher is back and will defend her hard fought title.

Susanne Callin finished the 2024 championship in third position, only 13 points behind Erbacher. One more elimination round win and the title would have gone to Sweden. Callin will do everything she can to don’t let that happen again. In the RF Motorsport car Callin will of course fly the flag for Slick Tricks Racing, but now with a new design and slightly different colours. Callin made some test runs at The Festival of Power, but was not lucky at all as she suffered some engine issues.

Another title favourite is Liam Jones. It is great to see the British fan favourite back in action after a 5-year break and to have a driver from the UK back in the championship. Jones will fly the black and white colours of Bro Joe Brain-Boosting Coffee in a RF Motorsport car. The funny fact is that it is the same car his partner Maja Udtian fielded in the 2019 FIA European Championship. Jones made some test runs during the Festival of Power to get familiar with the car.

Dennis Nilsson is the fourth Top Fuel driver on the entry list. It is great to see the Swedish Autoart car, the only canopy Top Fueler in Europe, at Santa Pod. At the moment it is not certain how many of the FIA European Championship races Nilsson will take part in, but Nilsson is a force to be reckoned with.

There are more Top Fuel cars race ready in Europe, like the one Tommi Haapanen raced at the European Finals last season and the Norwegian Nitro Vikings team that fielded Linn Fløysvik several times last season, but it is uncertain at the moment when and where they will enter the tour.

Top Methanol
Jonny Lagg claimed the 2024 FIA European Top Methanol Championship, but the Swede had to wait until the last run of the season to be sure. After several years of domination by funny cars, with titles for Sandro Bellio and Linn Fløysvik, it will finally be a dragster again with the number 1 on the wing. Lagg will defend his title and the A-Fuel Team Sweden driver will once again be supported by NGK.

Lagg’s A-Fuel Team Sweden team mate Tony Bryntesson finished the 2024 championship in second position. Bryntesson recorded several great ETs, but was not consistent enough to claim his first title. This season Bryntesson is back for more and will again be supported by Bilsport.

Former champion Sandro Bellio is the only funny car driver on The Main Event entry list. The Belgian driver finished the 2024 season in third position. The family run Danny’s Racing Team Monte Carlo was hit by several technical issues early in the season, but also proved to be really quick at other events. Bellio will definitely go for the number one spot again.

Silvio Strauch will also go for a full season in the championship after he finished in fourth position last year. The driver from Germany suffered a terrible tyre shake at the European Finals and wants to bounce back this season. The Engine Ghost Racing Team will have a surprise when they come to Santa Pod.

After a one year break it is great to see Tina Høst Nedregård back in action. The ‘Norwegian Swede’ will field the Jedborn Motorsport A-Fuel Dragster, tuned by her partner Daniel Jedborn. Høst Nedregård stunned with a great 5.26-second ET at Tierp Arena in 2023 in what was her first, and so far only, FIA EC race. The Main Event will be the first time that Høst Nedregård will race at Santa Pod.

It seems like there is a revival going on for the Top Methanol class, with some more cars and young drivers entering the championship tour later this year. Bryntesson and Lagg founded A-Fuel Junior Team Sweden and this talent team will field two more A-Fuel dragsters for 21-year old Tindra Christensen and 26-year old Isak Lagg. The two former Super Pro ET drivers might do two FIA races this season, to be well prepared for a full tour in 2026. Other drivers who will enter the tour later this season are Jürgen Nagel from Germany and Ari Pietilä from Finland. With their funny cars in the field, it makes the ratio between dragsters and funny cars a bit more equal.

Pro Modified
As in Top Fuel, in Pro Modified the number three in the ranking before the European Finals claimed the 2024 FIA European title. Jere Rantaniemi, from Finland, surprised and took advantage of the problems some other favourites encountered. Finally a turbo powered Pro Mod defeated the blower cars and Rantaniemi is determined to make it two in a row.

For the second consecutive year David Vegter finished the championship in second position. The Dutch driver and his Camaro were the quickest combination in almost all races, but had some early exits at the wrong moments, while the scratch result didn’t work in his favour either. Vegter will definitely go for that number 1 this season.

Talking about favourites, many fans and insiders will immediately mention Andres Arnover. The Estonian driver finished the 2024 championship in third position and recorded several impressive ETs with his turbo powered ’67 Mustang GT500. But maybe even more impressive was the 5.695 seconds at 254.67mph Arnover recorded during the Festival of Power at Santa Pod a few weeks ago. It was the first 5.6-second Pro Modified run in Europe and with some consistency, Arnover might be the man to beat for the title.

Michel Tooren was last year’s number four in the championship. The Pro Dutch Racing team started the season in June with their new Camaro ZL1 and immediately impressed. With the data from last year and some updates, the highly professional team are ready for the next step. Tooren is absolutely a man to watch.

Bruno Bader finished last year’s championship in sixth position. The Swiss Pro Mod veteran and his Gotham City Corvette are always a force to be reckoned with. In eliminations Bader is hard to beat. Mats Eriksson will also start his season at Santa Pod and the very experienced Swede is among the favourites as well.

After a long break, Kim Kristiansen made a comeback halfway through the 2024 season. The Dane is now back for a full season with his great looking Pontiac. Kristiansen can surprise with his quick combination. After a one year break Marck Harteveld is also back in the Pro Modified class. It’s great to see the beautiful green Voodoo Hemi Superbird back on track. Representatives from Germany on The Main Event entry list are Norbert Kuno with the well-known Dodge Avenger and Michael Winter with the great looking ‘The Red Beast’ Chevy ’37 Coupe. And what is Santa Pod without Marcus Hilt, the veteran Pro Mod driver from Switzerland.

Last but not least there are no fewer than five drivers from the UK on the entry list. Andy Robinson is quick and consistent enough to win races, but also Wayne Nicholson, Jon Webster, David Smith and John Tebenham can surprise. It’s great to see Kevin Slyfield back in action after a break. At the Festival of Power he proved that he is still very quick. With at least 16 cars on the entry list, qualifying will already be very interesting, as everybody wants to be in the top half of the field.

Stian Rusånes, last year’s number five in the championship, will enter the series later this season. The Norwegian Hammer Motorsport team bought a Corvette from Sweden and want to make some more test runs before meeting the tough European competition. And there are more quick drivers and teams that will join the FIA Championship when the series is in Sweden. Roger Johansson, Fredrik Fagerström, former European recordholder Andreas Arthursson, Åke Persson, Olof Andersson and Micke Johansson are only a few of them. And last but not least it will be interesting to see the debut of Lars Sjӧholm in the ex-Michael Gullqvist Camaro. The reigning Top Doorslammer champion has the plan to do two rounds of the FIA Championship this season, in preparation for a full tour in 2026.

Pro Stock
With seven Pro Stockers, the factory hot rods have an almost full 8-car field again. The top six of last year’s FIA European Championship will start the title fight at Santa Pod. Reigning champion Jimmy Ålund will once again be the man to beat. The Swede claimed his 13th FIA European Pro Stock title in a dominant way last season. No doubt about the fact that the Summit Racing Camaro will be quick and fast again.

Robin Norén finished the 2024 season on a high with a win at the European Finals. Norén will do everything he can to defeat Ålund and claim that number 1. With his great reaction times, Norén is always good in eliminations.

After claiming the title in 2023, Michael Malmgren finished the 2024 season in third position. The probably most experienced Pro Stock driver in Europe will be out for revenge.

The same is true for Stefan Ernryd. The Dodge driver had a difficult 2024 season and knows he can do better. The blue and white Dodge will again fly the colours of VP Racing Fuels.

Last season Lasse Britsmar proved that he and his team were improving every race. At the European Finals the Swede advanced to the final and claimed the number five position in the championship. The next step for Britsmar might be a top three position.

After a great 2023 season, in which he finished the title race in third position, Simon Ekengren had a difficult year in 2024 with several early exits and a number six position in the championship. The Dodge Dart driver and his team will definitely want to prove that they can do much better.

A big and pleasant surprise on the entry list is Henry Riehl. Apart from the fact that he is the only driver not coming from Sweden, it is also because of his car. The German racer will enter a Mercedes CLK in the Pro Stock category. It’s a long time ago we saw Harald Sturhan with a Mercedes in the Pro Stock category, but the now NAPA supported car is back with Riehl behind the wheel. The Main Event will be the first race for Riehl in the Pro Stock category.

Qualifying for the FIA classes will start on the Saturday, May 24 and will continue on Sunday 25th of May. Eliminations will take place on bank holiday Monday, May 26.

Text: Remco Scheelings
Photos: Remco Scheelings and pr