Andres Arnover makes a statement for the 2025 season
When the 2025 FIA European Pro Modified Championship kicks off in a few weeks with The Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, Andres Arnover is a serious force to be reckoned with. The Estonian driver finished the 2024 title race in the number three position, but made a statement at the Festival of Power with the first 5.6-second Pro Modified run in Europe and several 5.7-second ETs.
Andres Arnover was one of the frontrunners in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship last season. The Fast Ford Racing Team driver recorded several great ETs and was the winner at the NitrOlympX in Hockenheim. But due to a lack of consistency, the Estonian driver finished the FIA European Pro Modified Championship in third position.
After the winter break, the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway was the first race of the new season for Arnover and his team. And it will be a busy season again, as Arnover will run The Doorslammers the week before The Main Event, the full FIA European Pro Modified Championship and the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship as well. The Fast Ford Racing Team will leave their racing operation in England until the second round of the FIA European Championship at Tierp Arena in August.
The Festival of Power was the first round of the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship and although the points were important, it was for all a first test before the start of the new FIA season. On their way from Estonia to England the team visited Andreas Arthursson and PPF for a dyno test and the final adjustments. And it paid off. After an aborded first run in Friday morning qualifying, Arnover stormed to a stunning 5.695 seconds at 254.67 mph on what was his first full pass of the season! Arnover made history as it was the first 5.6-second Pro Modified run in Europe. “The conditions were great, the cool air, the track temperature, but still we didn’t expect this. I’m really surprised, but of course also happy. We will now concentrate on looking for consistency in running low 5.7 seconds on every run. You don’t win a championship with one 5.6-second pass, but with strings of 5.7-second runs,” said the Estonian driver back in the pits.
Arnover didn’t find that consistency in Saturday qualifying, but he did in eliminations with 5.82 seconds at 254.7 mph in the quarter finals, 5.76 seconds at 253.3 mph in the semi-finals and 5.73 seconds at 254.6 mph in the final to claim the win over Andy Robinson in the opening round of the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship. The first win of the season and if Arnover and his team can repeat these numbers, he is a more than serious challenger for reigning FIA European Pro Mod champion Jere Rantaniemi and 2024 runner-up David Vegter. The Fast Ford Racing Team and the ’67 Turbo Ford Mustang will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Text and photos: Remco Scheelings
