Speedgroup Club Europe

“Michael Gullqvist and nobody else deserved the title, he was the fastest on every track this year. But the numbers two through six are almost equal. Bad luck just once and you are number six. We had our bad luck at Alastaro and in the semi-finals at Santa Pod. Joeri tried to line me up straight and when he stepped back I was in deep stage. Johan Lindberg was in the other lane and you know you have to run great numbers to beat him so I could not be too careful on the lights and pulled a red light. We didn’t have to abort runs this season and we were fast on all the tracks so I think we deserve that spot in the top five of the championship.”

Marc’s personal best is 6.05sec and it’s no secret he wants to dip into the fives. “We know we can do it. But everything has to be 100% at the same moment, car, driver and track. At the NDRS Nationals at Tierp it would have been possible. We ran that 6.06sec without any problems and there was so much more to come. But then we had that minor issue with the engine and transmission, very frustrating. We still want to run that five and 240mph and prove that it’s possible with six-year-old heads and a six-year-old blower. Think smart and try to improve what you have, that’s part of the fun. For me that’s also the highlight of this season. Of course that 6.05sec was great but having fun with this supercrew and racing without damaging parts is even better.”

And the low? “The semi-final at Hockenheim. That was frustrating. The moment I moved into stage the light turned green. We were focussed and wanted to be in the final but this made it impossible.”

Marc will be back in 2012. “We’ll run the same combination again, no changes. We want to have fun again, make our runs and be among the frontrunners once more. The more runs you make the better you understand the car so that will make us better again. We’ll see if we can get that five and what position we’ll finish in the points. I’d prefer tenth place in the championship and running 5.9’s and 6.0’s to running 6.2’s and ending up as champion.”

Talking with Racers - Marc Meihuizen Pro Modified “Having fun, that’s what it’s all about”, says Marc Meihuizen. After two difficult seasons, Marc Meihuizen was back on top form in 2011. The year brought a 6.05sec personal best, three semi-final finishes in the last three races, and fourth place in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, his best-ever finish. Performance-wise it was almost a dream season but the most important part for Marc was “having fun with the team and making runs without damaging parts.” “To keep the car in one piece, that was the game plan for 2011 and I think we did a good job,” he explains. “In 2009 we had severe engine damage at Hockenheim and that happened again in testing the day prior to the 2010 Main Event when we ran our 6.09-second new personal best. As both incidents had nothing to do with a set-up problem or mistakes by our team we had to regain our self-confidence when we came back at Hockenheim 2010. The high costs caused by these incidents are why we still can’t afford the spare engine we’ve always wanted. We run the team on a very tight budget but, as everything looks so clean and tidy, nobody believes it. For example, out trailer is already 23 years old and the heads and blower are six years old. We pay a lot of time and attention to maintenance and by checking all important parts we try to prevent damage. We only had one minor engine issue and one transmission problem at our second Tierp event, the NDRS Nationals, that was all for this season. Joeri, the crewchief, Michel, Nick and Edwin are so diligent and dedicated, they are great. We don’t do crazy things, we use our brains and try to do the best with the equipment we have,” says Marc back at home in IJmuiden where he runs his transport company, M-Trex. After racing a ’37 Chevrolet Business Coupe (personal best 6.18 seconds) Marc switched to a brand new Andy Robinson-built ’68 Pontiac Firebird in 2009. “We spent many hours in finding the right chassis set-up but now the car is 100% okay and so easy to drive. It only depends on how good or bad the track is for the amount of power we have to take out of the car. Tierp was a really great track and we ran 6.05 and 6.06 sec. The other tracks were less good but we were still able to run 6.2sec and 6.1sec,” Marc explains about his Pontiac. Marc was the number four qualifier at Tierp, Alastaro and the Euro Finals, quarter-finalist at Tierp and semi-finalist in the last three races of the season. That placed the Dutchman at number four in the FIA European Championship, his best-ever finish.	“Michael Gullqvist and nobody else deserved the title, he was the fastest on every track this year. But the numbers two through six are almost equal. Bad luck just once and you are number six. We had our bad luck at Alastaro and in the semi-finals at Santa Pod. Joeri tried to line me up straight and when he stepped back I was in deep stage. Johan Lindberg was in the other lane and you know you have to run great numbers to beat him so I could not be too careful on the lights and pulled a red light. We didn’t have to abort runs this season and we were fast on all the tracks so I think we deserve that spot in the top five of the championship.” Marc’s personal best is 6.05sec and it’s no secret he wants to dip into the fives. “We know we can do it. But everything has to be 100% at the same moment, car, driver and track. At the NDRS Nationals at Tierp it would have been possible. We ran that 6.06sec without any problems and there was so much more to come. But then we had that minor issue with the engine and transmission, very frustrating. We still want to run that five and 240mph and prove that it’s possible with six-year-old heads and a six-year-old blower. Think smart and try to improve what you have, that’s part of the fun. For me that’s also the highlight of this season. Of course that 6.05sec was great but having fun with this supercrew and racing without damaging parts is even better.” And the low? “The semi-final at Hockenheim. That was frustrating. The moment I moved into stage the light turned green. We were focussed and wanted to be in the final but this made it impossible.” Marc will be back in 2012. “We’ll run the same combination again, no changes. We want to have fun again, make our runs and be among the frontrunners once more. The more runs you make the better you understand the car so that will make us better again. We’ll see if we can get that five and what position we’ll finish in the points. I’d prefer tenth place in the championship and running 5.9’s and 6.0’s to running 6.2’s and ending up as champion.”
Marc Meihuizen in action during the NitrOlympx at HockenheimRing Germany 2011 Meihuizen´s impressive rig parked in the pits
Interview by Remco Scheelings Edited by Robin Jackson Photos by Remco Scheelings & Speedgroup This article is part of the Speedgroup Club Europe Newsletter #16/2011 www.speedgroup.eu Published by Speedgroup www.speedgroup.eu All material, text, images and logtypes are the property of Speedgroup AB. Used by permission from the photographers Any use of the above requires permission from Speedgroup. email: asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu © Speedgroup 2011