FIA Pro Modified

As already mentioned, Pro Modified at the Turtle Wax Internationals was one for the history books with the eventual winner Tero Laukkanen getting his turboed Mustang to charge into Euro speed record territory backing up a 251.91 mph best on a pair of 6.0s in the quarters and semi-finals during eliminations. However, the flying Finn saved the best until last, hooking hard away from the line and holding a significant wheelie until 300 feet (“I was starting to think about backing off the throttle but it kept on going straight so I kept with it”) before setting the front wheels down and recording a spectacular 5.956/256.33 to take Laukkanen’s first European trophy (on a holeshot), with a terminal somewhat over his new Euro record, the first Finnish win in FIA Pro Modified and the first five second pass by a turbo car in European competition. A pretty special haul.

Laukkanen’s opponent in the final was Micke Gullqvist who had qualified low with a 5.989. Gullan then blasted out a 5.870/246.72 in the opening round of eliminations and followed this up with an even better 5.845/246.72 to reset his own European ET record. A 5.939 accounted for Roger Johansson (we’ll come onto Johansson in a moment) in the final four before dozing at the line to leave too much ground to make up on the flying Laukkanen despite carding a 5.903/245.28. The runner-up finish coupled with the shock first round loss for runaway championship leader Mattias Wulcan (who we’d essentially handed the title to in our report from Hockenheim) has thrown the door open and Gullqvist, Johansson and Laukkanen have now made up considerable distance.

Roger Johansson and the MSS Motorsport team have long been the pace setters in the nitrous ranks and was the overwhelming favourite to run the first 5 for a giggle gas Pro Mod and after he and Benny Strand carded 6.0s (6.029 for Johansson and 6.074 for Strand) in qualifying the barrier was looking under serious threat. Johansson did the deed in the cool conditions that greeted the first round of eliminations with a 5.967 and temporarily set low ET of the event before dropping back into the 6.0s to progress through the quarters and finishing behind Gullqvist at the semi-final stage.