Michael Gullqvist (right) and David Vegter both were in the winner circle 2013 at Santa Pod.

Defending Champion Michael Gullqvist from Sweden is one racer who will attend all five events and also do the Swedish Championship on top of it. The days before leaving for Santa Pod is extremenly hectic as the car has got a part new body and it required a lot of extra work and a new paint, on top of all other updates. I think you will be surprised when Micke first enter the track at Santa Pod as the car differ a lot in appearance from last year. Micke aims at no less than a repeated win of the Championship. He sure has the capacity and like a few of the other top teams Micke does all the tuning of the car himself. Surrounded by a skilled team to care for the service of the car, Micke can focus fully on getting that Camaro as fast as can be from point A to B.


Bruno Bader from Switzerland in the Gotham City Chevy Corvette is maybe the toughest competitor of all to beat at Santa Pod ground. Bader is consistent, fast and has Santa Pod as his favourite track (and he has run there a lot over the years).


Mattias Wulcan, Sweden Pontiac Firebird.

Mattias, crew chief Pelle and the rest of the crew of Wulcano Racing are serious contenders, not only for events wins but has capacity for a top ranking in the FIA Championship. 4th quickest in Europe so far with 5.91 sec. and we don´t think they are content to settle with less than a top position. Initially assisted by US tuner Jon Salemi, they have learnt fast and good and now manage their own tuning.

Eight of the teams entered are UK based. Drivers Steve Hall, Rick Garrett, Andy Wright, Wayne Nicholson. Roger Moore in the Dodge Viper  and Andy Frost in the Red Victor Vauxhall VX4/90. Most of them run the two FIA events at Santa Pod and follows the British Championship. Some might also be entered at Hockenheim in August for the NitrOlympX.


Roger Moore´s Dodge Viper

UK based is chassis builder Andy Robinson of Andy Robinson Race Cars will be in competition at Santa Pod, He tried the track out in April during the Festival of Power, with a 6,98 sec as best ET. We anticipate that will improve over the coming week. Robinson has performed in the low 6.0´s with his former car and we have no doubt he will make the stunning Chevrolet Camaro fly at Main Event.

Last UK driver not mentioned already is Chris Isaacs of Chris Isaacs Race Cars is the driver of Isaacs & Tramm Racing and they operate a stunning new Plymouth Duster built and designed by themselves. Some of you may also recognise Spencer Tramm as Pro Mod class coordinator during the FIA events, also at the races in Germany and Sweden. We gather Spencer will be too busy for that now but fun to see the team is ready for some on track action at Santa Pod. Isaacs attended the Festival of Power also and ran 7.17 sec.



Roger Johansson from Sweden comes to Santa Pod with his stunning nitrous injected 2013 Ford Mustang. Rogers PB 6.02 and Roger may well cross the 5 second barrier at Main Event.

Editor Lena Perés got in contact with a few of the Pro Mod teams just before the trip to UK where some are going to do the whole FIA tour and (5 events) and some just go for local races. Robert Joosten is one of the drivers who do the full tour;


Robert Joosten with Speedgroup co-ordinator Åsa Kinnemar

Robert Joosten tells the team  has been updating the engine and brought the car up to date with the latest FIA safety shut off system. He also went into the latest stage of the race trailer. After upgrading the suspension, roof and interior it was time to put a new paint and new hatches and, and just so we can spot him very clearly on the roads, there will be a nice picture on the rear of the trailer this year. from the Netherlands. A full season is planned in the FIA European Championship and some races in the MSA (British Championship) as well.
 
-    I´ve got the same old crew, and they are more than ready to race hard! says Robert. Roberts’s history in drag racing starts as a Super Gas and Super Comp Champ and 2006 he started to run in Pro Modified. 2008 he was Runner Up in the FIA Championship. In 2010 he bought his current race car, the following few seasons the team experienced some trouble with the car in combination with lots of bad luck. But the 2013 season turned out a different story and the team ended 4th in the FIA Championship and hit the first 5 sec. run. A personal best of 5.9 seconds to to be more exact. So now Robert and team is very keen to get out on the tracks again to show more of those fast times.
-    We expect to be a real pain in the ass for everyone in the other lane, says a smiling Robert.

And the team started off the Festival of Speed at Santa Pod in late April with a fine 6.068 sec/236.52 mph time. So beware of this Pro Mod-guy!   

Robert Joosten made good runs at Santa Pod in April and is now eager to follow up the 5 sec run he ended last season with.


Vegter.. and the 67 Chevrolet Camaro


The two Dutch drivers in Pro Modified, David Vegter and Marc Meihuizen must also be considered top contenders for a place in the final at Santa Pod. They share the same sponsor MPM Oil but other than than operate separate teams. David Vegter can run in the 6.0´s consistently. And consistent as we know is often a key to success and Vegter can go a long way in any competition.

Marc Meihuizen ran 5.90 flat in 2013. It took him years to get there, but since then team Meihuizen has established themselves at the top level and being 3rd quickest in Europe in a class which consisted of 46 drivers in FIA competition last season is remarkable. And that is also the Championship ranking Marc got in 2013 after Gullqvist and Wulcan. 

Meihuizen.. and the sharp looking 68 Pontiac Firebird
 


Norbert Kuno, Germany enters Main Event with the "Lucas Oil Dodge Avenger II". Last year he operated a two car team where Norbert Schneider drove the "Avenger I". Kuno is a skilled driver who can win runs and is currently "in the mid" of the field performancewise.


Mats Eriksson

In the Mats Eriksson Green Goblin team a few updates have been made to the rear end of the car. The rear-axle has been replaced by a new one. ME Racing-made, off course. -    The old one was worn-out and had a crack in it so it was about time for a new one, says crew Chief Lars Göran “LG” Eriksson.
Crew chief  Lars Göran LG Eriksson

This year the team includes a new and very prominent member who is going to follow the team all around Europe. 
-    We are very happy to have Adam Flamholc in the team this season, says LG. He is committed to go with us on all FIA races, which feels really good as he is one of the most skilled persons in Europe, when it comes to Drag Racing now. He has lots of knowledge from his racing in both Europe and USA. We struggled a lot last season with tire shakes and bad traction so we hope he can give us some new inputs to solve the problems.


Adam Flamholc (left) with Mats Eriksson

This season Adam Flamholc is accompanying  the Green Goblin Team on the FIA races. Between that he´s going to race his Top Doorslammer car in the Swedish TD series. And probably some races in his new Pro Mod car in the US. And that’s for sure, Adam is the man. The team is doing the whole FIA series as a first priority, and it will show what else there is time for, might be some of the Swedish Championship races as well, time will show. Malmoe is getting a visit in May to require some test rounds from the team. Then it’s time for Main Event.
-    We hope for a really good racing season and it’s going to be great to meet everyone again.



First time for Tero Laukkanen, Finland to enter the Santa Pod track in the Ford Mustang Turbo charged Pro Mod car. To improve his PB from 2013 he will need to run quicker than 6.21. Still on a learning curve but have impressed alreadyand will we hope have a prosperous development over the 2014 season.

Roland Bolleter from Switzerland (99 Chevrolet Corvette) and Jean Dulamon, the Frenchman and Mats Wicktor ,Sweden are also on the entry list. All three do part of the Championship, where Bolleter despite a long way to travel plans to attend the event in Sweden. 

A driver not entered at Main Event is Sweden´s Jöran Persaker. He plans to continue almost like last year, but with a new car. He crashed at Tierp last year with his green Chevy and for this season he will be entering the race tracks in a new race car, a Chevy S-10 Pickup 2005, Twin Turbo hemi has found its way to the Persakers Speed shop. -   We are a few more in the team this year, says Jöran, who are just going for Swedish races at Tierp Arena and Kjula Raceway this summer.

There are more rumors flying around, like new cars and new trailers and so, and that is something you will see if you have the opportunity to visit the European tracks this summer. Take the opportunity to walk around in the pits and say hello to all and everyone again after a long winter. Hope to see You soon!


See the entry list for Main Event under a separate headline in this Newsletter and follow the action during Main Event via Eurodragster.com!