One Saturday in June two of LB's intrepid, and bored, photojournalists decided to liven up their weekends by visiting Santa Pod, Europe's premier drag racing venue. Based a few miles north of Bedford it was easily within reach and the lure of hugely powerful machines, both 2 and 4 wheeled, being flung up an old runway was always gonna be hard to resist. (see more)
Tobi-One-Kenobi, otherwise known as Toby, mutton chops, or to his enemies as Fiona, arrived at my place at 10 and after watching a particularly vicious rain storm clean the car we decided it might be wise to drive up rather than risk our camera gear in the seemingly frequent rain storms of mid June. We arrived at the ticket booth to be relieved of our hard-earned and then told (note the sequence) that there may not be any racing today as the machines don't run if the track is wet and the rainstorms had been very regular that morning. The tickets can be reused at a future event, but if one car does one run before the rain stops proceedings, that would be our hard luck it seemed.
So in we went with little idea of what to expect.
After mooring the car in a particularly wet and muddy field we set off for the strip to see what was going on. Santa Pod is an old airfield and is in the middle of no-where really. The venue consists of a twin lane straight (the old runway) with grandstand seating overlooking the start line. There is also a covered viewing area behind the start line for those craving a fix of tyre smoke. And that's about it really. For this event (the MSA British Championship for Pro-Modified, Sportsman Classes, Nostalgia Altereds and Drag Bikes. I don't really know what these classes mean tbh but it sounded like a right varied bunch of vehicles were going to be blasting past the famous Xmas Tree starting lights.
As we scoped out the photographic possibilities of the strip it was suggested by one of the organisers that we try getting a press pass, so off to the press cabin we went, preparing our best lines. Unfortunately even the might of Londonbikers.com, and Toby's bestest smile couldn't sway them from the "need to apply 2 weeks in advance" stance that the rules stated, so we were left to mix it with the great unwashed. So apologiesthat we couldn't get real close to the action, mebbe next time with any luck.
We then sauntered off to the paddock area to see what was shaking, and discovered that this level of drag racing is really just like the support events at the BSB races - full of enthusiasts doing it for the love not the money, and who are very happy to let people show an interest. I even got to sit on a 200mph drag bike which was a worrying experience I can tell you. So to all those we talked to we extend our thanks, and apologies for not getting the gallery up as quick as promised. Also, next time we'll take notes so we can caption the pics properly (ahem).
The bikes were top of our list for checking out and so we spent an hour in the company of several bike owners who were happy to explain their phenomenal machines to us and take them apart for photographs. The class that we seemed to have found was the 'still road legal' class hence the (barely) treaded tyres visible in the pics. While talking to these people we heard the sound of massive engines being started and took that as our cue to head back to the staging area where there were cars already forming up for the off. Now these machines were just as I'd hoped to see, and I know this is a bike site but hell we are all petrol-heads right? There were traditional dragsters with their improbably long noses and skinny front wheels, heavily modified 'normal' cars, the grotesquely deformed 'funny cars' and even straight from the street road cars all lining up to take advantage of the break in the weather.
Then the action started and we hurried to the viewing area behind the start line to catch some shots of the cars roaring up the straight. Now the sequence of operations consists of two vehicles line up in their lanes, and then spin up their wheels to lay down some rubber on the start line and to warm up the tyres that are only partially inflated (the heat generated by the massive acceleration from standstill expands the air to 'running' pressures within a second or less after the gun has gone off). They are then reversed back to the line where they await the timing lights on the Xmas Tree to count them down for launch. And that is I reckon, the correct term.
Then it's up the straight (1/4 mile?) as fast as their oversized and mostly Nitrous-fed engines can power them. Stopping is achieved by parachute, brakes or perhaps simply wind resistance (aerodynamics isn't as high on their lists of design features as say enormous tyres, comedy engine intakes or random gauges that stick out of the bonnet).
Unfortunately the rain didn't stay away for long, and just as the bikes lined up to take their turn on the strip the heavens opened again. This time for at least 2 hours during which time we fed and cowered under shelter. Eventually the rain stopped and the drying out began but by then I think the afternoon was slipping away and so we left with our ears still ringing and memory cards only half full.
So enjoy the gallery folks, and I hope we will be back for more action in September to bring you more of this high octane action.
Andrew&7
Upcoming events at Santa Pod include :
American Muscle Car weekend 27th-29th July
Run what ya Brung public track day 18th August
FIA European Finals inc UEM Drag Bikes 6th-9th Sept
Extreme Performance Bike Weekend 15-16th Sept
MSA National Finals 29-30th Sept
All events can be checked out at the <a href="http://www.santapod.com">Santa Pod website </a> (see less)