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EDRC: Horto, Ericsson, Bellio and Ålund are 2022 champions

15.09.22

The 2022 FIA European Drag Racing Championship titles have been decided last weekend with the event at Santa Pod Raceway concluding the five-round season

Antti Horto, Sandro Bellio, Jan Ericsson and Jimmy Ålund were crowned in Top Fuel, Top Methanol, Pro Modified, Pro Stock respectively in what was the first FIA EDRC season since 2019.

Bellio and Ericsson secured their titles in style by claiming victories in the final round of the season. Horto and Ålund also advanced to the finals of their respective classes, but in Top Fuel it was Susanne Callin who came out on top, while in Pro Stock Michael Malmgren got the better of the 12-time category titlist, Ålund.

TOP FUEL
the championship was decided in the semi-finals as Horto only had to start the run to clinch the crown. The Finn made a half pass with an ET of 4.92s, ensuring the title in the fastest class of drag racing remains in Finland after Anita Mäkelä won it back in 2019.

In the other semi-final, Susanne Callin defeated Ida Zetterström. The rookie Top Fuel driver who was leading the championship at the halfway point, suffered from technical issues with her dragster going up in smoke at the start line for the third consecutive time this weekend.

In the final Callin stormed to a great 3.88s, reaching 309mph, to defeat Horto, who lost traction after the start and crossed the finish line in 4.14s. For Callin, it was her second consecutive victory as she also claimed the win at the Hockenheimring two weeks ago. In the final standing Callin finished second, with Zetterström rounding out the podium.


PRO MODIFIED

Reigning champion Jan Ericsson had to win his quarter-final run to claim his second consecutive title. In qualifying and eliminations, the Swede was in a class of his own. After a bye run in the first round, Ericsson defeated Bruno Bader to claim the title.

But even if he had not won, the title would have gone to Ericsson as all his pursuers were eliminated in the first and second rounds. Andres Arnover, Ericsson’s main opponent in the title race, ran into problems and was defeated by Andy Robinson, while David Vegter was beaten in the quarter-finals and Michel Tooren and Marck Harteveld in the first round.

In the semi-final, Ericsson defeated Kev Slyfield in 5.80s, his best run of the day. On the other side of the ladder Bobby Wallace, third in qualifying, defeated Jon Webster, Robinson and Freddy Fagerström to advance to the final. In the final, Ericsson once again proved his great form to claim the win in 5.81, his fourth 5.8s run of the day and sixth-best of the weekend. In the championship, Vegter finished in second, with Arnover third.
TOP METHANOL
As the difference in points was less than 20, the final between reigning champion Sandro Bellio and Jonny Lagg was to decide the championship. On their way to the final, Bellio defeated Silvio Strauch and had a bye run in the semi-finals, while Lagg was too quick for Linn Fløysvik and Daniel Jedborn. Came the main encounter of the day and Bellio was away first and stormed to a great 5.51s to defeat Lagg (5.67s) and claim both the race win and the 2022 FIA EDRC Top Methanol title.

PRO STOCK
The Pro Stock championship was decided in the semi-finals. Jimmy Ålund had to win his run to claim the title. The Swede recorded 6.63s to defeat Stefan Ernryd and won his 12th Pro Stock crown. In the final Ålund had to face Michael Malmgren, who was the fastest driver all weekend and was still in contention for the championship until the semi-final win of his compatriot. In an exciting final, Malmgren had the better reaction time and defeated the just-crowned champion with 6.615 over 6.618s.