Santa Pod (England), May 29 2014 - To say MPM-driver David Vegter had an exciting opening round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, would be a typical English understatement. In his first qualifying attempt the chutes didn’t deploy and at a speed of 240 km/h the ’67 Camaro made a 180 degree spin and came to a halt against the wall. But only a few hours later Vegter was back at the starting line for the second run and went straight into the number seven qualifying position! “Of course this was not the way we wanted to start the season. But the crew did a fantastic job to fix the car in time for the second run. It’s a pity eliminations rained out, I know our car is much faster now and major upsets would have been possible”, said a very calm Vegter.

It was a busy off season for Vegter Pro Mod Racing. “The car suffered violent tyre shakes last season so we had to take it apart completely and rebuilt it from scratch, including some chassis repairs. To increase speed we bought new cylinder heads”, said David Vegter, looking back at a hectic period. A week before Round 1, the opening round of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, the MPM Camaro was fired up for the first time and was ready to race. But the English weather was not, as the first day of qualifying was washed away by persistent rain. Day two looked much better and three qualifying runs were scheduled for Pro Mod. With 21 entrants from seven different countries Pro Modified was the most competitive and most international class of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship in England. But the first qualifying run was far from what Vegter wanted to start the season with. After 6.64 seconds and at a speed of 360 km/h the MPM driver crossed the finish line when the chutes didn’t deploy. The back of the Camaro went sideways and at 240 km/h Vegter made a 180 degree spin and came to a halt against the wall. The Dutchman was lucky the car stayed on four wheel during the spin and did not rollover. “On one of the bumps the car went out of control completely and I was a passenger”, said a hardly shaken Vegter after his wild ride. But those we thought this was the end of the race weekend for Vegter Pro Mod Racing, was wrong. Back in the pits the crew started to fix the car. “There was some damage to the body work and the spoiler, but it was not that bad. The wheeliebar was bent and there was damage to the chutes, front wheel and front suspension. The only problem was, we didn’t have a spare strut, but Dutch racer Marck Harteveld had, and we could use that one”, said Vegter back in the pits. An so to everyone’s surprise, the ’67 MPM Camaro was back in the staging lanes for qualifying run number two. Like nothing had happened Vegter made his run and in 6.21 seconds went into the number six qualifying position. “I knew the crash was not my fault, so I wasn’t worried at all and didn’t think about it. This was a good run, but a bit wild too”, said Vegter after his full pass. The third run was no improvement and so Vegter ended qualifying in the number seven position. “We made an engine setup to use all the power we had, but didn’t change the setup of the car itself. I came too close to the centre line and had to lift”, said Vegter about his final run. At race day the rain was back and eliminations had to be cancelled. A big disappointment for Vegter. “In qualifying I already felt that the new cylinder heads make much more power. I think some major upsets would have been possible in eliminations. But that’s the way it is, you can’t beat the weather. I would like to say a big thank you to Santa Pod’s safety crew. They did a great job and were with me in a few seconds after the crash. They are real professionals. And of course my crew. They rebuilt the car in such a short time, I didn’t even have to miss one qualifying run. And last but no least MPM, Post & Dros, HKR Techniek and George Parson, without them this would not have been possible.” The Hockenheim NitrOlympX is the next round in the FIA European Championship for Vegter Pro Mod Racing as lack of time makes it impossible to go to Finland. A new spoiler and strut are already ordered, so the MPM Camaro will be as new in Germany.