Throughout qualifying, Gullqvist had failed to get a grip on the track. Among observers, surprise turned to bemusement as each successive pass skittered, shook and swerved up the course. Eventually, Gullqvist’s best of a bunch of poor shots, 7.223sec, was sufficient to qualify him just 13th. Eighteen had entered the race; fifteen showed up; damage eliminated three more before eliminations began. When Sunday morning arrived, Gullqvist was the second-slowest qualifier left in competition.

Normal service appeared to resume in round one when Gullqvist’s 6.038sec/234.09mph/376.73km/h beat ‘Fast Freddy’ Fagerström – unlucky Freddy: his 6.306 was third-quickest of the round – but Gullqvist slowed in his next two matches, hitting 6.669 after Norbert Kuno had redlit and 6.506 to squeeze by Britain’s MSA points leader, Roger Moore, in the semi-final. With a 206mph terminal speed to Gullqvist’s slowing 173mph, Moore was closing fast at the stripe.


In the final, Gullqvist faced David Vegter. The rising Dutch star had set a career-best ET (6.114) to qualify second and, following solo advances over two broken, no-show opponents, had dealt out Gullqvist’s closest FIA points challenger, Bruno Bader, in the semi. Vegter gave Gullqvist a decent fight in the final, beating him from the start by .038 but slipping behind by the finish, 6.337 to Gullqvist’s winning 6.152.

Victory was plainly hard work for Gullqvist and his team. Sunday’s key to success was to detune the motor. The car had been overcooking the power during qualifying, hence the unaccustomed difficulties. For the record (or records, to be accurate), it was Gullqvist’s seventh race win since Pro Mod became an FIA class in 2006 – the next most prolific winner, Urban Johansson, has but three. Before this race, Gullqvist was the only Pro Mod racer to have secured two FIA season titles. Now he is a three-time champ. And of course he remains the only European racer to have won an NHRA national event. Strange, then, that this was his first Pro Mod victory on Santa Pod’s hallowed quarter-mile, though he had become a losing finalist there as long as 12 years ago, and on three more occasions since FIA recognition began.


Bruno Bader from Switzerland - runner up in the championship


Marcus Hilt also Switzerland had no luck at Santa Pod and broke after the qualifications.


UK based Roger Moore made it to the semi-final where he faced Micke Gullqvist


Crowd pleaser Freddy Fagerström

Winner and European Pro Mod champion 2012 - Micke Gullqvist (right) at the podium with runner-up David Vegter who set a new personal best at Santa Pod.

The event’s performance star was Bert-Ove Olofsson. ‘Bertan’ has been something of a revelation this year, particularly to British eyes. The veteran Swedish racer and racecar builder made his Santa Pod Pro Mod debut at The Main Event, when only breakage prevented him reaching the final. Here at the European Finals, with US tuning consultant Jim Salemi at his side, Bertan clocked three straight six-zeroes during qualifying, each of which would have qualified him on pole. His quickest, 6.027, was a new personal-best (notwithstanding the early-season 5.97 he had achieved in test mode). Breakage kept him out of the fourth qualifying session and returned for good in Sunday’s eliminations after he had elected to give it the beans in his odd-lot first-round bye (6.067) instead of taking it easy and saving parts. Back in the pits, visitors were shown a trayful of chewed-up metal that looked like the shattered silver fillings from a giant’s teeth (see Eurodragster.com’s Sunday pit notes).


Bert-Ove "Bertan" Olofsson finishes 3rd in the 2012 FIA Pro Modified championship rankings

If Olofsson can run more of these times next season and avoid breaking parts, he will be a threat at every race. He insists he will come back again to Santa Pod, which will make British enthusiasts happy.

Breakage also accounted for Marc Meihuizen, on a grand scale. Severe engine damage had put Meihuizen out of commission for nearly a year in late-2009 after he had taken delivery of a new, Andy Robinson-built Firebird. Progress since then had left the Dutch racer looking like a winner-in-waiting, only for more mechanical carnage to stop him in his tracks during qualifying at Santa Pod, possibly with repercussions stretching into next season.

Britain’s Graham Ellis managed to split his Superbird’s crankshaft into three pieces. Having just replaced the clutch in the turbo ‘Bird with an auto transmission, Ellis was learning to master the bumping-into-stage technique these setups seem to require. One respectable shot in qualifying (6.589/230.12/370.34) placed Ellis seventh, but a 6.367 solo pass in round one proved terminal. Ellis’s absent opponent, Andy Frost, had already ruled himself out with a wrecked valvetrain after his motor over-revved in search of a new, 6.4sec world record for the only street-legal Pro Mod in existence.

There was a moment to savour in Saturday morning’s third qualifying session: Marcus Hilt set new personal bests. Indeed, not only did he beat his old marks, he zapped them with some style. Hilt had crept into the 200mph zone as recently as last year but his 7.074sec ET best had been set back in the mists of time. On each occasion he came to the line, over the years, Hilt’s Corvette looked set to deliver the goods but, each time, it would never quite happen. So a special cheer went up when the ‘Vette whipped through the lights at 6.700/213.79/344.06. Sad to say, breakage occurred in the fourth session and kept the Swiss driver from eliminations. Nevertheless, Hilt had qualified in the top half of the field and a new standard has been set. The car looks and sounds the business and should now start acting it. Fans will be willing Hilt on to higher heights next year.

Link to full Results: click to open pdf-files
QUALIFICATIONS
ELIMINATIONS LADDER

courtesy of TSÍ time keepers and Santa Pod Raceway

Check the full points table under a separate headline in this edition.