- FIA/UEM Series
- Pro Modified
Pro Modified has finally been embraced
as a fully paid up member of the FIA
European Drag Racing Championship,
and the first event didn't disappoint
with 23 cars vying for a 16 car field
and action aplenty. Unfortunately,
a couple of the qualifying sessions
were held at dusk when the track
conditions were heading towards
the marginal meaning the bump
spot wasn't ultra-quick and
there were a couple of major
shocks on the DNQ list. And if
23 cars made it to Santa Pod,
how many are likely to appear
at Mantorp in Sweden at the
end of July for what is traditionally the biggest Pro Mod event of the season?
Having spent a season getting to grips with his Tim McAmis '63 Corvette, Urban Johansson suddenly dropped a bombshell on the Pro Mod Field at the Main Event. Ubbe and the Gotland VBS team have only had fleeting success in the very very tough Scandinavian doorslammer ranks before, but they had obviously found something dramatic over the winter and produced the only six twenty (6.296/221) of qualifying. To prove it wasn't a fluke, Johansson then laid waste to the field with a 6.330, 6.309, 6.247 (new Euro record) and a final round 6.255/225.96 to take the very first FIA Pro Modified trophy over Micke Gullquist, both racers receiving guidance from a visiting Kirk Kuhns over the event.
Main Event runner-up Micke Gullquist has been thinking outside of the box with regard to fuel systems for a couple of seasons, but for 2006 has gone extreme with a unique Chevy Hemi with monster heads developed in conjunction with Kirk Kuhns. How did the shakedown go? Well a 6.456 wasn't exactly spectacular but secured third spot in the field.
However, come raceday and a string of 6.3s and a 6.286/223.91 put Gullquist in the final round, where a 6.332/220.44 wasn't quite enough to pull up Johansson's career weekend short. We will be keeping a close eye on the progress of this project over the course of the season.