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Volume XI, Issue 8 August 12, 2009What a difference a year makes. Jan Gunnarsson and the immense 59 Coupe de VilleCaddy were the bottom of the pile at their debut at the 2008 Veidec Festival. This yearit was PBs galore as a 6.219 gained Gunnarsson seventh on the eliminations ladder. Afirst round win at FIA level was gained over alternate Roger Johansson with a6.222/222.46, and a second came at the expense of Micke Gullquist with a pictureperfect 6.129/228.50 (to Gullquist’s 6.174/228.19); the sight of a Cadillac flying to theeighth mile with the front wheels up was a joy to behold. Not content with these scalps,Gunnarsson then accounted for Patrik Wikstrom with a 6.202 to book a spot againstEriksson in the un-run final. A ’59 Cadillac vs a ’56 Crown Victoria, isn’t that what ProModified racing should be all about?ADVERTISEMENTFIA TOP METHANOL DRAGSTERBritish veteran Dave Wilson was on strong form and frustrated by the weather havingmade the final in FIA Top Methanol Dragster. The Silverline Tools car picked up the lowqualifying points with a 5.312/433.42 km/h (269.31 mph), defeating Esko Raisvuo inthe opening round of eliminations and then reset his own European ET record with a5.301/446.92 km/h (277.70 mph - although this was too fast to be backed up within thenecessary 1% margin it confirmed Wilson’s earlier qualifying speed as a new Europeanspeed record), in defeating Swede Krister Johansson in the semifinals. Wilson would have had a chance to make a strong move in the points chase infinal round against current championship leader Timo Habermann from Germany. WE caught up with Wilson for a few words after the race, “right now thecar is running great !! We have been through a learning year (16 runs in 2008) and 6 test runs at Easter this year before making the changes to thechassis which has stepped our whole performance up a gear. Now we can get down the track instead of blazing the tyres everywhere, that makes themotor work harder and that has lead to some engine damage that we are now beginning to get on top of. Our aim is to cut down on engine damage andkeep the motor happy, cause when its happy I'm happy,the crews happy and above all Silverline tools and Playstation are happy and without there supportand encouragement we wouldn't be here. Thanks have also got to go to Bill Reichert for his excellent tune up and answering my really basic questionsabout a-fuel.”FIA/UEM European Championships Round Three, Veidec Festival, Mantorp Park, Sweden - Page 5 of 15 -DragRacingOnline.com