David Vegter takes the lead in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship
With a runner-up finish at the SpeedEvents Internationals, David Vegter took the lead in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship. At the opening race of the season in England, Vegter claimed the first qualifying position. With the Vegter Pro Mod Racing ’67 Camaro, the Dutchman repeated this feat at round two in Sweden. In this race at Tierp Arena, Vegter advanced to the final by defeating his closest competitor in the title race. The runner-up position was enough to take the lead in the standings of this prestigious championship with a 35-point advantage over the number two.
During The Doorslammers, intended to be a preparation for the start of the FIA European Championship, David Vegter proved that the homework of the past few months had been done very well and that the setup of the Vegter Pro Mod Racing ’67 Camaro was absolutely okay. With elapsed times of 5.82, 5.77 and 5.76 seconds, Vegter was not far off his personal best, the 5.740 seconds he recorded last season.
A week later, the FIA European Drag Racing Championship kicked off with The Main Event at the same track, Santa Pod Raceway. In qualifying, Vegter once again impressed with two 5.81-second runs and one 5.80-second run, proving to be both quick and consistent as well. With his elapsed time of 5.80 seconds, the Vegter Pro Mod Racing driver claimed the first qualifying position in the 17-car field, with the number two qualifier 0.09 seconds behind.
In the first elimination round, Vegter improved again to 5.76 seconds, recording the quickest elapsed time of the weekend in the Pro Modified class. In the quarter-finals however, Vegter was eliminated when his opponent turned the stage light on and off three times. Vegter reacted to the flashing light and pulled a red light. Because rain brought an early end to the eliminations, the Dutchman didn’t lose too many points compared to his competitors in the title race.
Three weeks later, on June 14th to 16th, the SpeedEvents Internationals at Tierp Arena in Sweden was the second round of the FIA European Championship. With his first qualifying run, Vegter immediately returned to the top of the now 19-car field. With drivers from six countries, the Pro Modified class is the strongest and most international class of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. After some adjustments to the setup of the Camaro, Vegter improved to 5.83 seconds on his fourth run and claimed the first qualifying position for the second time in a row.
In the eliminations, Vegter once again proved that he had found the right combination of speed and consistency. In the first elimination round, the Dutchman’s 5.83 seconds was too quick for the Swede Jan Brännvall. In the quarter-finals he defeated local favourite Fredrik Fagerström with 5.88 seconds. Then, in the semi-finals, Vegter had to face his closest rival in the title fight, the Finn Jere Rantaniemi. The Vegter Pro Mod Racing Camaro improved once again to 5.81 seconds, not only too quick for Rantaniemi, but also the quickest Pro Modified run of the weekend, an honour that Vegter claimed for the second meeting in a row.
In the final, Vegter had to race the Swede Andreas Arthursson. After an almost identical reaction time for both drivers, the Dutchman took the lead and seemed to be on his way to the victory, when a part in the engine broke and caused the Camaro to lose speed. That was enough for Arthursson to come alongside and take the win with 5.85 to 6.04 seconds. After the finish line, Vegter had some scary moments. The engine failure caused the rear wheels to lock, but the Dutchman managed to keep the sliding Camaro under control and out of the wall, eventually coming to a stop sideways at the track.
Thanks to his runner-up position, Vegter is the new leader in the championship standings, 35 points ahead of Rantaniemi. A deserved lead after having taken the number one qualifying position twice and the quickest run of the weekend in both races.
The FIA European Drag Racing Championship is now in its summer break before the title fight returns to Tierp Arena for round three of the championship, the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals, on August 8th to 11th. This will be followed in the space of four weeks by the NitrOlympX at the HockenheimRing and the European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway.
Vegter Pro Mod Racing are supported by Red Line Synthetic Oil, Race Winning Brands Europe, Velocity Classics, Romias Robotics, HKR Techniek, tomkart, LV Performance Racewear & Parts and Post & Dros.
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Text and photos: Remco Scheelings
