Some take into account the quantity 13 to be unfortunate.
…But for Swedish drag racer and Group Summit driver Jimmy Ålund, it’s something however.
That’s as a result of he simply notched his thirteenth FIA European Drag Racing Championship within the Professional Inventory Class—and he did so in dominant trend, successful each 2024 Professional Inventory occasion as much as the European Finals on the U.Ok.’s Santa Pod Raceway.
In actual fact, by the point he staged up for the primary spherical of qualifying at that final occasion, he had already secured the 2024 Professional Inventory Factors Championship. Although some tire shake throughout eliminations ended his win streak, hoisting the Championship Trophy on the finish of the occasion capped a tremendous race season.
We sat down with Jimmy to speak all concerning the 2024 FIA European drag racing season, and to search out out what he’s as much as subsequent. Right here’s what he informed us.
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Did You Do Something Totally different to Put together for the 2024 Season?
“This season, we needed to go all-in. We don’t suppose the automobile seems good with the Quantity 5 on it [laughing], it belongs with Quantity One within the window.
“I race a Professional Mod automobile as nicely, and I informed the proprietor of that automobile that I needed to pay attention one hundred pc on Professional Inventory this yr—and put Summit Racing on a automobile with a Quantity One on it.
“With full focus, I used to be actually trying ahead to the season.”
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Did You Make Any Important Adjustments As soon as the Season Started?
“We hit it proper off the bat. From the primary spherical, we knew we had one thing to construct on.
“When you will have a race automobile that already will get down the race monitor, you possibly can think about tuning and making an attempt to make it higher. That helps rather a lot.
“So we made a superb run in [event] one, and saved constructing on that. That allows you to focus in your driving as nicely, as a substitute of getting to fret about what’s going to occur while you let the clutch out.”
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What was the Largest Problem You had Going Into 2024?
“The most important problem was to maintain the main focus. While you get to a different monitor—in a unique nation—to determine easy methods to get down the monitor, and be quick sufficient to be Quantity One which session.
“That’s a problem, each time we go someplace. We journey rather a lot, and it takes a while to get there, with ferries and every part.
“However it’s all the time very rewarding. The entire staff works onerous to try this.”
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What’s the Largest Shock You had Throughout the 2024 Season?
“The nice shock was that we had an enormous viewers once more. Saturdays and Sundays at every occasion had been very crowded. We may see that we had been again to the pre-Covid occasions.
“One other good shock was that we had extra automobiles within the class than we’ve had up to now few years.
“Extra automobiles made the lengthy journeys to compete in Professional Inventory. That’s rewarding for me.”
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How’d You Really feel Going Into the Ultimate Occasion with the Factors Lead?
“Properly, the Championship was a carried out deal as soon as we pulled within the gate. However we had been decided to make it a superb occasion, sadly we weren’t pretty much as good as we had been. We began out robust in Qualifying, we had been nonetheless the quickest automobile, however it didn’t behave like we needed it to.
“The race earlier than, in Germany, we needed to swap out an engine. And all of the tracks, all of them want a unique setup—completely different tune, completely different gearing—and with the circumstances on the monitor in England, it took some time to determine it out. However the circumstances modified with rain in a single day, and that was the primary time we shook the tires all season.
“The man we misplaced to, Lasse Britsmar, that staff has been working onerous all season too, and he lastly obtained his spherical win. And that’s what strikes the category ahead.
“On the finish of the day, all in all, we had an incredible season.”
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What’s Subsequent for You This 12 months?
“The plan is to ship considered one of my race automobiles over to Florida and compete at Bradenton Motorsports Park over the winter in a category they name Outlaw 632. So we’re going to run an older Professional Inventory automobile in that class as a result of it suits within the guidelines. I’m actually trying ahead to that.
“So we’re going to attempt to make one race on this facet of the calendar yr, and we’re doing it along with Summit Racing—representing Summit within the 632 class.
“That’s the primary lap we’ve obtained to undergo [laughing].”
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So, How do Issues Search for You within the 2025 FIA European Season?
“I feel we will do nicely. The motive force who completed Quantity Two within the championship, Robin Norén, he’s obtained a superb automobile and—what issues greater than that—he’s obtained a superb staff. They’ve been very constant and made good runs all yr.
“I feel we will keep up there. It’ll be powerful and we will’t count on pretty much as good of a yr as we had in 2024.
“However that’s what we’re all the time taking pictures for. [Laughing] Typically it occurs.”
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Any Closing Ideas on Your 2024 Championship 12 months & Past?
“It’s nice to have the staff I’ve obtained behind me—it’s the identical guys, yr after yr, and that helps rather a lot.
“They know what to do and work very nicely collectively. And naturally I’m glad for Summit Racing and my different sponsors, like VP Racing fuels and lubricants.
“We’ve nonetheless obtained to complete off the yr, however we’re excited to indicate what we’ve obtained within the bag for 2025.
“I’m trying ahead—I nonetheless love driving these Professional Inventory automobiles.”
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Congratulations to Jimmy Ålund and his staff for an unbelievable 2024 season, and better of luck in 2025.
For those who’d wish to be taught extra about Jimmy and the FIA European drag racing collection, click on right here.
