Tierp, June 17, 2013 - Fresh from his Main Event runner-up position, MPM-driver David Vegter proved again at Tierp Arena's Sweden Internationals he is among the top contenders in the highly competitive Pro Modified category. In qualifying Vegter set a new personal best (6.052 seconds) to advance to the quarter finals in another great 6.08 seconds. Tyre shake made an early end to the strong performance of the Dutch driver and his '67 Camaro. After two races Vegter is the number two in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, an excellent result for the MPM-driver.
After his highly successful first race at Santa Pod, where David Vegter advanced to the final in new personal bests, the high profile Tierp Arena drag racing facility, 100 km north of Stockholm, was the second stop for the teams in the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. Pro Modified is very popular in Scandinavia and with 25 extremely strong combinations on the entry list, qualifying promised to be race on its own.
Friday's first round of qualifying was far from what Vegter Pro Mod Racing expected to see. "After the burn out there was some fluid on the track. The officials thought it was oil, so I had to shut off the engine and was not allowed to start", said Vegter. But after looking at the track, it was methanol and so it should not have been a problem to start. But the first run was over and the MPM-driver had to do it in run number two. In that run the Camaro hit tyre shake after a few meters, but Vegter kept his foot down with a 6.23 seconds as a result. With that time Vegter was the number seven qualifier after day one.
In the third run, Saturday morning, Vegter was hit by tyre shake once again, but the fourth and last run was what Vegter Pro Mod Racing was looking for. In an arrow straight run a 6.052 seconds lit up on the scoreboard, another personal best after the last one, the 6.093 seconds from Santa Pod's Main Event. That put the MPM-driver into the number six qualifying position!
In the first round of eliminations Vegter had to race Jan Gunnarsson and with 6.08 seconds, Vegter was faster then his former personal best again and left de Swede behind to take the win. Mattias Wulcan was the MPM-driver's next opponent in the quarter final. In qualifying Wulcan already broke the 6-secondsbarrier and because his 6.00 seconds from the first round was better then Vegter's time, the Swede had lane choice and the Dutchman had to accept the lesser left hand lane. And exactly that happened where the team was already afraid of. At the same spot where other combinations got problems, Vegter hit tyre shake, went sideways and had to lift the throttle. So Wulcan could take the win light and Vegter's Sweden Internationals were over.
With his quarter final points Vegter is still runner-up in the championship behind leader and reigning champion Michael Gullqvist. A excellent performance for the MPM-driver in what is his second 'full time' Pro Mod season only. Vegter is now one of the top contenders in the European series an no longer an outsider to win races or a championship.
Vegter Pro Mod Racing doesn't have to wait that long for the next race. The third round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship will be from July 5 until 7 at Alastaro Finland. Last year the MPM-combination didn't attend the Finnish round of the FIA European Championship, so everything will be new to Vegter and his team. Alastaro can be a difficult track, sometimes very fast, but other years slippery and difficult to deal with. Vegter Pro Mod Racing will have to wait and see, but one thing is for sure, the team will do everything they can to leave Finland with at least that runner-up position in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship.
- Author
- Remco Scheelings
- Photographer
- Remco Scheelings
David Vegter Dragracing FIA European Championship Main event MPM Racing MPM Sports Pro mod Tierp Arena
