2018 FIA European Pro Mod Championship
Race #1, The Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, UK
"No rookie this year"
Norrköping, Sweden, May 30, 2018 - Last year was Jimmy Ålunds first season in the FIA Pro Mod championship. He racked up a number of impressive performances with the result of ending up as the #2 in the final standings.
"Sure, it was with some trepidation that I stepped into that car last year", says Ålund, "lots more horsepower and speed but it turned out real good. we're very happy with the #2 place in our first season together, but the goal for this year is of course all about winning the championship."
Like last year, Ålund will do double duty at some of the races. He will contest the full championship season in the Pro Mod car and also race his Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro at both rounds in Sweden and the round at Alastaro, Finland.
The FIA racing season starts at Santa Pod Raceway, a classic place for drag racing that put a brand new all-concrete track in place over the winter.
The Old 51-team left for Santa Pod a week before the first FIA event to get some testing done. Fittingly enough, Santa Pod Raceway ran an event that weekend, aptly named "The Doorslammers". The invite going out as an Outlaw event where anything goes as long as the safety regulations are adhered to. I.e. doorslammers capable of running far quicker than an FIA Pro Mod car.
"A fantastic event", Ålund again, "huge crowds, large fields and we were able to race and test all the upgrades for this season." That included not only new parts care of KB Racing and Hogan's Racing Manifolds but also taking on the brand new all-concrete racing surface. Well enough, Ålund and the team took the Old 51 through a very tough set of elimination rounds, all the way into the final that they won.
The Main Event. Qualifying ended up well, #1 after Q1 and #2 after four rounds. Three of them in the very low 5.9-second range with solid speeds. Tire shake in Q4 but no technical issues.
Ålund again, "that was of course very satisfying. We ran a whole tenth quicker than in last years qualifying here, and 7 mph faster."
Eliminations, The Old 51 took an easy bye run in the first round due to technical issues for the opponent. No cake walk in the quarter finals though, Ålund ran a stout 5.91 at 242.53 mph/390.31 km/h to move on. The 5.9-streak continues with a win in the semis that lead to a final where Ålund met up with last years Pro Mod champion, Micke Gullqvist. Ålund had a quicker 60-foot time and the cars were even up to half track where the engine expired.
"We ran into huge problems", Ålund says, "the crankshaft broke into three pieces and took out quite a bit more. The one positive thing is that the engine block is repairable and we expect to be back on track at the next event."
Ålund leaves Santa Pod in second place in the standings.
The next race is the Tierp Internationals, Tierp, Sweden, June 8-10. Ålund, "we're very much looking forward to the Tierp race and I want to point out that Summit Racing, Viking Industrimålning and Exclusive Cars are sponsoring both the Pro Mod car and my Pro Stock Camaro this year. I'm very grateful for the continuing support from such great companies."
/PiPPi
