Golden comeback Voodoo Hemi Racing at Santa Pod

After a sabbatical Marck Harteveld and his team Voodoo Hemi Racing are back on track and all competitors will know right now. During The Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, the opening round of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, Harteveld immediately claimed the number one qualifying position with 5.871 seconds! In the first round of eliminations Harteveld reset his personal best with the Voodoo Hemi Racing ’70 Plymouth Superbird to 5.859 seconds and advanced to the semifinals with a win in the quarter finals. With a great chance for Harteveld to claim a place in the final, the race had to be stopped due to rain. With the points gained at Santa Pod, Harteveld is the proud leader of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship.

After a year off, Marck Harteveld and his team Voodoo Hemi Racing are happy to be back at the drag strips this season. In preparation for the first round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, the team travelled to England for the Doorslammers at Santa Pod Raceway. This race was the perfect way to fine-tune the set-up of the Voodoo Hemi Racing ‘70 Plymouth Superbird and to let the team and their driver get back into their racing routine. It soon became clear that this hardly took any time, as on the first day of qualifying for the Doorslammers Harteveld recorded 5.89 seconds, just above his personal best of 5.862 seconds. However, the Superbird suffered from tyre shake during a few runs, but with a week to go until The Main Event, the team had some time to solve this problem.

The bank holiday weekend of May 24-26, The Main Event, was the official return of Harteveld and the Superbird to the FIA European Championship. Looking at the enthusiastic reactions, the fans were just as happy with the return of Voodoo Hemi as the team itself. With sixteen participants from eight different countries, a competitive field was ready to kick off the season. In the first round of qualifying, Harteveld immediately broke the 6-second barrier with 5.99 seconds and finished day one in third position. On Sunday, Harteveld improved to 5.871 seconds and climbed into the number one qualifying position. With 244.10 mph (392.84 km/h), Harteveld reset his personal speed record (was 243.68 mph). Because no one was able to break Harteveld’s ET in the last qualifying session, the Dutchman finished qualifying in the number one position, a new milestone for the experienced Voodoo Hemi Racing.

In the first round of eliminations Harteveld had to face Norbert Kuno. But the German racer failed to show up, handing the win to the Voodoo Hemi Racing driver. However, this did not stop Harteveld from going for it. With the Joeri Woudenberg tuned Superbird Harteveld recorded 5.859 seconds, a new personal best! With records in speed and time as well, the weekend was actually already a success. But of course Harteveld wanted more. In the quarter finals, the Voodoo Hemi driver had to face John Tebenham, and although it was close, the driver from the UK was also defeated with 5.89 to 5.97 seconds. Harteveld was now in the semifinals and his opponent would be the experienced Swede Mats Eriksson. Looking at the ETs from Harteveld and Eriksson, the Dutchman was the clear favourite to advance to the final. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. There had been the threat of rain for a while and before the Pro Modified class was called to the staging lanes, the first drops fell. After more than an hour of waiting and no prospects of a weather improvement, the race director was left no other choice than to cancel the race.

With the points from qualifying and eliminations, Harteveld is now the proud leader of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship. Initially, Harteveld and his team planned to skip the second race of the FIA European Championship at the Swedish Tierp Arena. That actually reduced the chances of winning the title to zero. However, given the results in England, the consistency and great ETs, and the unique starting position in the standings of the championship, Harteveld has now decided to add Tierp Arena to his calendar and thus run the full FIA European Championship. That suddenly gives Harteveld a fair chance to win the title.

“It was great to be back, to work together as a team again and to meet the fans. Everyone was enthusiastic. Before the start of the season we said that our goal was to go as fast and quick as possible, to win races and to have fun. The only thing we haven’t done this weekend was to win the race, but that wasn’t our fault. Everything was going so well and being the leader in the championship, we have such a good starting position, that we have to go for it. You have to defend that leading position and it is a unique opportunity for a top ranking in the final standings of the FIA European Championship,” said Harteveld about the decision to add Tierp and run the full FIA European Championship.

Voodoo Hemi Racing Calendar
August 7-10, Summit Racing Equipment Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden, FIA European Championship
August 29-31, NitrOlympX, HockenheimRing, Germany, FIA European Championship
September 4-7, European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, England, FIA European Championship

Partners of Voodoo Hemi Racing
Voodoo Hemi Racing is supported by Six-Pack Speedshop, Altac Coating, M-Trex IJmuiden, VSoftware BV, Q. Dijkshoorn Transport, L. Harteveld Transport, FB Installaties, Olsthoorn Bedrijfsvoertuigen, Batist Hobbykassen, P. Komen Autoherstelwerk, Mike Pronk Bouw en Sloopwerken, Tom Otten Elektrotechniek, Sunder Scooters, L&G Harteveld, Sunproof, District 010, Quirien v. Vliet, vd Akker Transport en Coated Race Bearings.

Text and photos: Remco Scheelings