There are still two overseas races to go in 2024’s FIA/FIM European Drag Racing Championships – at Tierp in Sweden and Hockenheim in Germany – yet already the drumbeat is sounding for the arrival at Santa Pod of the continent’s rapidest two- and four-wheeled drag racers to settle the season’s rivalries for good in the biggest shoot-out of them all, the European Finals.
Typically, 16 or 17 countries are represented among the 250-plus entrants, ranging from Finland in the north to Malta in the south, and sometimes beyond. Topping the bill are the ‘nitro beasts’, 300mph Top Fuel Dragsters and Fuel Funny Cars, seen at their most spectacular in Friday evening’s twilight qualifying session along with a field of afterburner-popping Jet Cars, with a crackling fireworks display added for good measure.
At the opposite end of the programme, Junior Dragster and Junior Dragbike competitors – kids as young as eight – share the bill with their very grown-up counterparts. In between is the full range of FIA and UK national championship classes, including a Pro Mod race combining both FIA and Motorsport UK title contests.
One fixture already confirmed on the entry list is the return exhibition bout between British and American Fuel Altereds, the unwieldy, nitro-burning machines which so transfixed Santa Pod’s recent Dragstalgia historic race meeting. Randy Bradford flies in from the States to pit his Fiat Topolino-bodied entry once more against the Austin Bantam Havoc of Britain’s Nick Davies.
On two wheels, it’s a similar story, with four adult classes alongside the Junior Dragbikers competing for FIM European crowns and headed by nitro-burning, 250mph Top Fuel Bikes and ground-thumping nitro Super Twins. Together with their Pro Stock Bike cousins, there are the phenomenal Super Streeters, road-going in appearance but capable of 6-second passes at 230mph achieved on street-legal tyres without the benefit of wheelie bars.
Off-track, Santa Pod always delivers an array of entertainments for all the family, including stunt riding and driving shows and Monster Trucks in the Live Action Arena, with live music among the host of other attractions.
More news will follow as the entry list gathers momentum.
The FIA/FIM European Finals 2024 take place from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th September at Santa Pod Raceway, near Wellingborough NN29 7XA. Full event information is available at https://santapod.co.uk/european-finals.php and tickets may be booked online there or by telephoning 01234 782828 – advance booking only, no tickets available on the gate.
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