Alastaro, July 8, 2013 - MPM-driver Marc Meihuizen was the glorious winner of the third round of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship at Alastaro. In Finland, Meihuizen and his Joeri Woudenberg tuned '68 Pontiac Firebird dominated eliminations in great style and took the first FIA EC-win of his career. For this special win, it was no problem for Meihuizen to get the special treat for Alastaro winners, the bath in the line-up barrel. "This feels so great. We won all rounds because we were faster and not because others had bad luck or problems. Fantastic", the MPM-driver looked back at his first ever FIA EC-win. Meihuizen moved up to second place in the championship standing after three races.

Looking at Marc Meihuizen's results in recent years, it was not the question if, but when the Dutch MPM-driver would win a FIA European Championship race. At Santa Pod and Tierp the J.W.R. Racing Pontiac was one the fastest combinations again, breaking the 6-seconds barrier for the first time and always in the top of the qualifying ladder, but both times the team was hit by bad luck in eliminations. At Alastaro, the third race of the season, everything fell into place and Meihuizen and his Joeri Woudenberg tuned '68 Pontiac Firebird were dominant in all aspects and took a glorious win. The MPM-team's first win is even more glorious when you look at the conditions the driver and crew had to deal with. The Alastaro track was very tricky again and so for the crew chief it was extremely difficult to find the right set-up for the car and for the driver it was very demanding to keep the car as straight as possible. "Qualifying was terrible. The track was so slippery. In the first round Mattias Wulcan and I crossed lanes, in the second round it looked like drifting and in the third round I had wheel spin for over 400 meters. In the fourth round I went up in smoke after 0.3 seconds", Meihuizen summarized qualifying. But still as the number four qualifier, the MPM-driver was the best Dutchman and had to face MPM- colleague David Vegter in the quarter finals of eliminations. "I had lane choice and took the right lane. We had to lift a few times after we lost traction both, but my car picked up more speed and I crossed the finish line first", said Meihuizen about his first round win. But crew chief Joeri Woudenberg had the information to find the right set-up for the next round. And Meihuizen needed that, because in the semi-finals the MPM-Pontiac had to face reigning European champion Michael Gullqvist. In a great 6.08 seconds Meihuizen defeated Gullqvist, to face another Swedish star in the final, Mats Eriksson. But the MPM-driver dominated again. With a better reaction Meihuizen was in front, to cross the finish line in a winning 6.03 seconds, a super time at that moment at that Alastaro track. Meihuizen and his J.W.R. Racing '68 Firebird had their first win! "We took out a lot of power and clutch before the semi-final and final, so we could leave the start line without wheel spin. The 6.03 seconds was the absolute maximum at that moment at the track. It was great to see how Joeri managed to do this and not giving me a 6.2 set-up, but go for the best, the win", said Meihuizen, emphasizing the extremely important role of the crew chief and team in this success. And it was a great and well deserved win as Meihuizen and his MPM-Pontiac won all their rounds with a better reaction time and elapsed time. "We did not win rounds because others had bad luck, a red light or problems, that makes it feel even better." But still the team had a scary moment before the start of the final. To fire up the engine some petrol has to be sprayed into the injector. But when firing up for the final, the cap of the petrol bottle fell into the injector. "I saw Joeri’s arm going into the injector, but he could not find the cap, and a few moments later he threw half of the bottle petrol into the injector. The engine fired up and we could run. That was a narrow escape." After going through the blower and engine, the plastic cap left the exhausts in thousands of small pieces. It's a tradition at Alastaro the winner is thrown into the line-up barrel of water, but that was no problem for the MPM-driver. "This is so great, to take the win and really deserve it. This new engine is so good and to win within three races is an indication how good this team and car are. If nothing special happens, Michael Gullqvist has to work very hard for his next title. From now on we will try to beat him in the championship too", said Meihuizen, already looking forward to the next races. After three races MPM-driver Meihuizen is now runner-up in the FIA European Pro Modified Championship and with three races to go and 96 points behind leader Gullqvist, everything is still possible. The next race for the FIA European Drag Racing Championship is from August 9 - 11, the NitrOlympX at the famous Hockenheim race track.