Vegter Pro Mod Racing ready to rumble
A lot of work has been done the last few months at Vegter Pro Mod Racing. And as the first testruns made clear, the team did a great job. Good reasons for David Vegter and his team to look forward to next week’s Bank Holiday weekend when the lights turn green for the Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, the first round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship.
Last year David Vegter was runner-up at the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim, semi-finalist at the European Finals at Santa Pod and seventh in the highly rated FIA European Pro Modified Championship. When Vegter Pro Mod Racing took the ’67 Camaro apart at the end of last season, it was loud and clear the car suffered severe damage after all tyre shakes. Many parts had to be replaced and the ’67 Camaro went to Andy Robinson Race Cars for some major repairs. Autoschade Harteveld was responsible for a fresh new paintjob and when the engine came back from Post & Dros Racing Engines & Parts, the team could start to rebuild their Pro Mod. No changes to the engine this season, but instead of the traditional clutch, Vegter Pro Mod Racing will run a converter this season. Big advantage of a converter is, less maintenance between rounds, more consistency in performance, better reaction times and it makes the car easier to adjust to the track conditions. In the States Pro Mods with converters already broke many records. So it’s a matter of consistency and speed.
A converter also needs a different setup of the car, so to find this, to see of all adjustments to the car paid off and to be well prepared for the start of the FIA European Championship, early May, Vegter Pro Mod Racing travelled to Malmö Raceway, in the south of Sweden, to test the new combination. Jim Salemi, the American chassis builder accompanied the team during these first test runs. Vegter started with a 4.19 seconds over the 1/8 mile, the next one was a 4.14 to end the day with a 4.09 seconds and 290 kmh. Results the team was really happy about and a boost for their confidence with only a few weeks to go to the Main Event.
But there was more work to do for Vegter Pro Mod Racing this winter. And also this challenge was completed successfully. After many years, at the end of last season, main sponsor MPM Oil decided to stop their involvement in drag racing and go for other marketing opportunities. Vegter Pro Mod Racing had to look for other partners and found these in WVB Holland and Sonic Equipment, the well-known specialist in professional hand tools and trolley systems, quality automotive repair tools and related products. Post & Dros Racing Engines & Parts and HKR Techniek stayed with the team. Oil and lubricants will come from MPM again and although less eye catching, that name will also be on the Camaro again. And although still black and blue, the car looks completely different now.
Brothers Martijn and Arjan Jansen, and Gijs Visser are still part of the crew. Willem van Balen is new to the team. Egbert Dros and Ronald Tissen will be with the team when extra help is needed. So Vegter Pro Mod Racing is ready for the first round of the FIA European Championship. Qualifying for the Main Event will be Saturday and Sunday May 23 and 24, eliminations will start Bank Holiday Monday May 25.
Calendar FIA European Drag Racing Championship 2015:
May 22 – 25, Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway
June 4 – 7, Sweden Internationals, Tierp Arena
July 2 – 5, FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro,
August 7 – 9, NitrOlympX, Hockenheim
August 20 – 23, Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena
September 3 – 6, European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway
Text and photo’s: PR
