Manty Bugeja was yesterday crowned European Top Methanol Dragster champion after sealing the prestigious FIA title by beating fellow Maltese pilot Chris Polidano in the final of the sixth and last event from the 2012 series at the Santa Pod Raceway in England.
The Mr Whippy team only had to make the start line in Northamptonshire for the four-day series to make sure of the championship, having opened an unassailable lead at the top of the standings following consistent runs in the previous five races which were held in the UK, Sweden, Finland and Germany.
With up to 300 teams and 16 race classes on the card, many of the 40,000 crowd in Santa Pod, including a sizeable group of Maltese motor racing enthusiasts, may have thought that the Top Methanol Dragster issue was a foregone conclusion.
However, Bugeja’s Mr Whippy and Kalanc Racing Team, of Polidano, had other ideas in mind as they provided a real spectacle while blasting their way to the final through the qualifying stages which had started on Thursday.
Bugeja showed his intentions right from the start with a leading time in qualifying of 5.3257sec, speeding up to 266.74 mph for the quarter mile.
Polidano kept up with the pace though and improved his times throughout the qualifying sessions, placing himself second behind Bugeja with a 5.3842.
The Maltese teams were the only ones in the 5.3sec bracket at Santa Pod.
The final saw Bugeja winning the honours with a 5.36sec run compared to his rival’s 5.54sec to wrap up the European title in great style. Thanks to the points collected yesterday, Polidano finished the season a valid runner-up.
“This is a dream come true,” was Bugeja’s first comments yesterday.
“The team worked brilliantly throughout the season, and although the weather was not always on our side we kept our hopes high that we could really make it.
“It’s a great honour for us to take this prestigious FIA title to our country. Our thanks go to all Maltese supporters who travelled to Santa Pod and all those who gave us their backing in the championship.”
This was the first year that Joe Carabott’s Mr Whippy had participated in all rounds of the championship, emerging with flying colours despite the challenge of more established teams and pilots including multi-time champion Dave Wilson (Britain) and 2010 winner Timo Habermann, of Germany.
In 2011, they also made a showing in the FIA championship but only in selected race weekends as Mr Whippy were more intent on getting acquainted with the competition and their dragster’s engine capacity.
Bugeja and Polidano, along with their respective crews, will be returning home tomorrow afternoon.
Indeed, this has been a memorable season for Maltese motor sport as Polidano also established a speed record in June.
The new FIA benchmark set in June – 437.98kph (272.14 mph) – was achieved at the Tierp Arena, Sweden.
Kalanc Racing Team also took part in all Top Methanol championship races this season.
Among the first to congratulate Mr Whippy and Kalanc Racing Team for their successful participations in the FIA championship this year were the Malta Motor Sport Federation and Malta Drag Racing Association.