1990 - 1994

Contributors names in brackets after the entries where applicable. All other material researched by myself - Chris. Click on pictures to see a larger view. Text links will open in a new window, close it when you're done.

1990

The BDRA moved their meetings to Avon Park near Stratford from Santa Pod. They merged with the NDRA to form the British National Drag Race Association. The running of Avon Park was taken over by Blacktop Promotions, a group made up of Dave Wilkinson (Chairman of the BDRA), Clive Deakins, a property developer, and Stuart Vallance and Alan Barton (from the Lonsdale Group and owners of the VW Passat Funny Car). The consortium had tried to purchase Santa Pod but failed. Santa Pod changed hands and meetings were now organised by the Santa Pod Racers Club

The April edition of Fire Up magazine carried the news that Santa Pod was now the first IHRA sanctioned dragstrip in Europe, and only the second IHRA sanctioned dragstrip outside the USA. Amongst other classes this meant that Pro Stock would once again be a recognised class in the UK, along with Pro Mod, and Alcohol Funny Car.

April 14th-16th SPR. The Thunderball. U.S. top fuel pilot Darrel Gwynn hit the wall about mid-track. He sustained major life threatening injuries and although he eventually pulled through he was left paralyzed and lost his left arm. He never drove again but went on to manage the U.S. Team Mopar with driver Mike Dunn. Liv Berstad ran the best time of the meeting with a 5.46/202.

April 21st/22nd Avon Park. Inaugural Drag race Meeting. Geoff Hauser totalled his Pro Mod Sierra after the car got airborne and penetrated the crash barrier. Although the car was damaged beyond repair Geoff walked away unscathed, a testament to his own chassis building skills. The question of safety at the track was raised and eventually the promoters agreed to continue racing over the 1/8th mile distance. Five Nitro Cars were in attendance, Norm Wilding, Pete Barnett, Clive Mechaell, Darrioux Waters and Charlie Draper. Drapers car was far from finished and never made it out of the pits, Waters was doing shakedown runs in his Fuel Altered. Wilding, Barnett and Mechaell all pleased the crowd with long controlled burnouts and strong launches. A 4.03 eighth mile E.T. was the best of the bunch from Wilding. Brian Johnson debuted his new 'Imperial Wizard' Nitro Yamaha but teething troubles kept him in the pits. For all class results click here. (Jerry Cookson)

May 5th-7th SPR Springnationals. Phil Brachtvogel ran the first six second pass on a bike in the UK, 6.97/193.(Mark Coles). Jim Wheelan ran low E.T. of the meet in his Top Fuel Ford Probe Funny Car at 6.021/206.

May 26th-28th Avon Park. BDRA Whitsun Nationals.

June 2nd/3rd Avon Park. NDRA Clubmans Drag race.

June 16th/17th Avon Park.Ultimate Street Bike Event.

June 16th/17th York Raceway Street Racer Championship. Dave Pearce took his Ford Pop to an 11.27/123 win over the turbocharged Morris Minor of Bill Sherratt who ran an out of shape 12.93/100. In Super Gas Ian Merryweathers Cobra won with a 9.92 over the 10.92 of Bernie Hepworths Mustang. Mod E.T. was won by Rob Emmetts Dragster after Martin Potter (in his first race) broke out of his 10.85 dial in. Street E.T. went to Clive Gregory who defeated Paul Shortlands. Super E.T. saw Paul Carter defeat Steve Neimantas, 13.66 to a break out 12.38. In Bike E.T. Barrie Moore set a new personal best on his Kawasaki Ninja with a 9.59/136. He beat Pip Higham 2/3 in a match race for the title, Higham won the first round with a 9.23/149 on his 'Suzuperbike'. Bike E.T. 2 went to Dave Smith with a best of 10.69/131 and Bike E.T. 3 went to Geoff Senior.

June 16th/17th Hockenheim, Germany. The meeting was eventually rained off but not before Wayne Saunders ran a 7.91 in the qualifying rounds of the Pro Stock Bike Euro Series. this made him the UKs and Europes first sub-eight second Pro Stock Bike racer. The UKs Paul Willis took #2 qualifying spot with a new personal best of 8.04.

June 23rd/24th European Records Weeekend. Avon Park. Phil Brachtvogel ran the first 200mph bike pass in the UK, 201.75mph. Wayne Saunders broke into the seven second bracket for Pro Stock Bike running 7.96. (Mark Coles) Monica Oberg made her Avon Park debut in her new Top Fueler backed by Bosch. A checkout pass of 7.48 was followed by a 5.671/259.50 and a 5.659/225 for a new UK Top Fuel record. Norm Wilding was due to match race Monica in his newly imported Frank Hawley Top Fueler, but the car only arrived in the country the day before the meeting leaving the crew no time to get it ready. Wilding managed a lane-crossing 12.73 on his only pass of the weekend. Steve Read was trying out the hot seat in the nitro JWR Opel Senator Funny Car. Clive Mechaell found himself in the Funny Car final in his Fuel Altered against the Ford Sierra of Charlie Draper. Clive won with a 6.788/204.62 for a new European Fuel Altered record while Draper recorded a 7.204/205.76, a shade down on his weekends best of 6.531/227.62. An eleven car field of rails and Funny Cars made up the Pro Comp class but only the top four qualifiers were enterd into the eliminator. #1 was Steve Read in the Readspeed rail with a 6.58 followed by Deszo Krivans FC at 7.47. Peter Kruse was #3 in his Oldsmobile Firenza with a 7.55 while the PlanX dragster of Norm Wheeldon was #4 at 7.60. In the first semi Wheeldon shut off early leaving Read to take a 6.53/201 win. In the second semi Kruse beat Krivan 6.90/177 to 6.96/204. The final saw Read run straight as an arrow to a 6.63/209 while Kruse drifted wide and crossed the line in 10.61. There were four entries in Top Fuel Bike. In the first semi #1 qualifier Phil Baimbridge beat Rod Pallant with a below par 8.334. Phil Brachtvogel ran 7.013/194.47 to beat Mark Pembles 8.152/181.73. Baimbridge reported in broken for the final so Pemble came back for another shot at Brachtvogel. Despite a holeshot 7.54/190 Pemble lost to Brachtvogel who powered past him to stop the clocks at 7.004/201.75. For all class results click here. For photos click here.

June 30th/July 1st Drachten, Holland. The UKs Len Paget won the Pro Stock Bike Euro Series with a 9.07 run to beat Hollands Raymond Post with a 9.18.

July 7th/8th SPR. The Cannonball. Micke Kagered took the Cannonball title in his Alcohol Ford Tempo. His two qualifying runs of 6.47 and 6.29 put him in second place behind Norweigan Rune Fjeld in the Pepsi/Mobil 1 Pontiac. Fjelds qualifiers were 5.57 and 5.58. In the final Fjeld lost traction to let Micke take the win with a 6.28/222. Jim Wheelan ran his first five second E.T. in his nitro Ford Probe Funny Car, a 5.983/206. He failed to make the second qualifier after an exploding fire extinguisher hit him in the back while he tried to help Harlan Thompson out of his burning car. Both drivers were taken to hospital but returned to the track later the same day. Thompson tried to borrow Whelans car to continue running in the event but this was ruled out. Also injured during this meeting was Charlie Draper who suffered serious leg injuries when the transmission of his Funny Car exploded. These injuries put Draper out of action for nearly three years. Phil Brachtvogel failed to make the Top Fuel Bike field after an out of shape launch on his one and only qualifying run. On the second day he ran a new personal, and class, best on a demo pass of 6.90 seconds. Also having some success in Top Fuel Bike was Brian Johnson who took his first trip into the sevens with a new personal best of 7.80/188. He was being aided by Chris McGhee who was helping him develop the fuel system on the bike. In Pro Mod top qualifier was Dave Mingay in the 'Hellraiser II' Monza with an 8.08/171 followed by Trevor Hirsts Rover at 8.11/171. Mingay took his first ever trip into the sevens in Round One with a 7.91/174 only to loose out to the Chevy of Tim Cook with a 7.75.(The speed for Cooks run was described as being a 'suspect' 192mph). Cook met Hirst in the final and took the win with a 7.76/169 to an 8.13/173. In Round Three of the Real Steel/Street Machine Rover V8 Championship Gary Wilson took the Street win after Steve Brown missed a gear and in the Pro class Steve Green took the win from Kevin Jenkins.

July 27th/28th Avon Park.BDRA Summer Nationals. Gary Page, driving the 'Kopex Entertainer' Bereta Top Alcohol Funny Car, ran a qualifying time of 6.994/181.57, the cars first trip into the sixes. He made it to the final where he met the 'Mac Attack' dragster of Rob Turner. Page took the win and set both ends of the division record for the event at 6.793/187.91 to Turners losing 8.288. Turner had earlier run a best of 6.784/173.33. Brian Johnson got his 'Imperial Wizard' Top Fuel Bike closer to the sixes with a new personal best of 7.18 at over 190mph. Mark Pemble won the Top Fuel Bike final with a 7.16/190 over Phil Brachtvogel who recorded a new UK record terminal speed of 202mph.

August 4th/5th Avon Park. Auto Prix '90. In the Top Fuel vs F1 match race Steve Read took the 'Miller High Life' fueler to a clutch destroying 6.261/239.40 win over the Williams F1 Grand Prix car of Tony Gordon who clocked a 14.639/88.82. Gordon described the race as the most memorable experience of his life. Also putting in demo passes was Gary Page in the Kopex sponsored 'Entertainer' Funny Car, who clocked a 6.975/190.18, and Norm Wilding in the JWR Opel Senator Funny Car, who ran a 6.248/228.17. Nick Stephensons Super Gas Camaro set low E.T. figures for the class with a 9.777/138.25. This fund raising event raised over £2000 for the NSPCC and Motivate.

August 4th/5th York Raceway. PDRC/IHRA North Star Nationals. This meeting was due to hold a round of the ACU/UK Drag Bike Series but strong cross winds put an end to eliminations before they started. Super Street Bike ran over the 1/8th as did the PDRC/IHRA Bike classes. Pro Rover saw a final win for Steve Green in his Cortina with his first sub-ten second run, a 9.95/136 to Kev Jenkins 10.19/129. For all class results click here.

August 18th-19th Hockenheim, Germany. The format for the Top Fuel classes was to have been two four car eliminators, one for Dragsters and one for Funny Cars, with the winners of each meeting for the final. However three cars failed to show. The UKs Norm Wilding made number three qualifying spot in his FC with a 6.27/208. In eliminations he beat Harlan Thompson with a 6.39 but lost in the next round where his 6.32/207 failed to beat Rune Fjelds 6.01/181. In the Pro Comp Challenge Steve Read qualified at number two with a 6.56, just behind Anita Makela. In the first round of eliminations he beat Peter Kruse with a 6.47/213 to a 6.50/215. Also flying the British flag was the mini-fueler of Robin Read and Russ Carpenter who took part in a series of match races with the Pro Stock cars of Michael Malmgren and Thomas Einarsson. Pro Stock bike saw the only Brit in the field, Jack Valentine, lead qualifying while in Top Fuel Bike Mark Pemble just got ahead of Phil Brachtvogel with a winning 7.24/198 to a quicker 7.21/194. After a day of crashes, oil downs and timing equipment malfunctions the police arrived to enforce the track curfew with no finals being run.

August 25th-27th Avon Park.BDRA Meeting.

August 25th-27th SPR. The Summer Nationals. Norm Wilding made a return to the Pod in the John Woofe Racing nitro Opel Senator Funny Car. His best run of the weekend was a 6.70/158 which took out the 1/8th mile timing lights. In The final of Pro Comp Finlands Anita Makela ran 6.17/220 in her dragster to beat Swedens Bjorn Ardin, also running 6.17 at a faster 226mph, in his Funny Car. Two new cars made their debuts, John Dowse in his ex-Monica Oberg Top Alcohol Dragster and Jim McGee in 'Nitemare', his black Vauxhall Cavalier Super Gasser. Phil Brachtvogel was continuing his run of stunning performances in Top Fuel bike. He ran  a new best of 203mph early in the event and won the first round against Rod Pallant with another best E.T. of  6.853/196.91 to Pallants 7.976/181.38. He won the final over Phil Baimbridge with a 6.911/199.26 to a 7.692/177.59.In Pro Stock Bike Wayne Saunders was on form with a series of low eight second runs culminating in a new ACU/UK record of 8.032/166.29. He went on to win the final when Coll Rule red lighted his chances away to leave Saunders to win with an 8.110/162.75.

September 15th/16th Avon Park.BDRA British Finals.In Top Fuel Bike Brian Johnson eclipsed his personal best of 7.18/197 and took the 'Imperial Wizard' Puma Yamaha to his best ever, and a new European best of 6.67/212. This was the best performance ever outside the USA and only American Elmer Trett had ever run quicker or faster. Johnson related that the bike was in exactly the same state of tune as it had been all year, the only difference being the addition of a shock absorber in the blower drive. In Pro Mod mechanical troubles dogged  many of the competitors. Tim Cook, Trevor Hirst and Andy Robinson were all out of action. In the first round of eliminations Dave Mingay suffered a huge nitrous burp from his Chevy monza, the resulting fire melted the carbs. Number one qualifier Dave Warne (7.83/175) defeated Phil Englefield in the semis to make it to the final where he was unopposed, Graham Barrs having suffered terminal engine damage in his defeat of Tim Hines in the other semi.

September 15th/16th York Raceway. PDRC Meeting. In Round Six of the UK Super Gas Championship Richie Lea qualified at number 1 with a 9.91 but was knocked out in eliminations by Zane Llewelyn. Llewelyn was beaten by Ian Merryweather in the first semi final while the other semi saw Brian peach beat a red-lighting Keith dawson. the final was close as Merryweather ran 10.10 to beat Peaches 10.11.

September 21st-23rd SPR World Finals. Steve Read unsuccessfully tried to qualify for the Top Fuel eliminator driving Stu Vallances car. This made Steve the only British driver to compete at Top Fuel and Top Alcohol Dragster as well as Top Fuel and Alcohol Funny Car. Liv Berstad ran 5.19, 5.15 then, in the final against Tony Bryntesson, 5.13/252.60 to set a new European record. (Mark Coles) Brian Johnson showed that the previous weekends 6.67 was no fluke by running a 6.78/202.51 to take #1 spot in qualifying. In Pro Comp Swedens Krister Johansson qualified at number 1 with a 6.22/217.64. Number two was the Trans Am FC of Bjorn Ardin. Barry Sheavills was at number eleven spot after a severe bout of tyre shake damaged his block, heads and cracked the chassis, putting him out of competition. Rico Anthes put in a wild out of shape run in his Mercedes FC which resulted in all the other competitors refusing to run against him! In Round One he faced up to Johansson and ran a safe, straight 6.34222, not enough to catch Johanssons 6.19/219. In the semis Johansson ran a new personal best of 6.17/220 to defeat Rob Turner. In the other semi Micke Kagered defeated a red-lighting Leif Helander. The final went to Kagered with a 6.18/220. This left the overall title winners place tied between Kagered and Bjorn Ardin. An amicable decision was reached giving Ardin the title due to his qualifying times and win points from earlier rounds. This was to be Ardins last year in competition before he retired. In Super gas Brian Peach qualified at number one with a 9.917/134 while Brian Patemen was at number two, also with 9.917 but with a fractionally slower speed. The final win went to Gordon Appleton with a 9.95/119 to Jeff Mannis 10.00/138.

September 29th/30th Avon Park.Clubmans Drag races & Four Pot Challenge. Ollie Burn made his return to Drag Racing after ten years with the 'Over The Hill Team' of Mick Moore and Vic Hammond. They debuted their rebuilt fuel Altered 'Cockney Rebel', Vics former race car that had been out of action for five years. On their first observed run Vic had to cut the motor before the green light to allow an unannounced aircraft to land at the top of the strip.

October 6th/7th Avon Park. Clubmans Drag Races.

October 13th/14th Avon Park.BDRA Winternationals. Norman Wilding ran the first funny car five at Avon. He recorded a 5.982/245.06 in the John Woofe Racing Opel Senator Funny Car.In Pro Stock Bike Paul Willis ran a backed up 7.91 for a new European record. He also became the first British Pro Stocker to go over 170mph with a 170.5mph on his NCK/Wingnut Racing Suzuki.

November 3rd/4th SPR. Fireworks Fire & Fuel Meet.

November 3rd/4th Avon Park.BDRA Fireworks Spectacular.

European Drag Race Series Final points Standings

UK Drag Bike Championship Final Points Standings

PDRC/IHRA Final Points championship Standings.

1991

£500,000 was invested in Avon Park, including new track surface and other major improvements.

The two major organising bodies of Drag Racing in the UK, the National Drag Racing Association (formerly the National Drag Racing Club) and the British Drag Racing Association, announced after a meeting in Northampton that they would merge ending the twenty years of division since the NDRC split from the BDR&HRA. The new name was the British National Drag Racing Association.

The Top Sportsman class was introduced to the UK. It was open to doorslammers and altereds running quicker than 8.9 seconds on a 'heads up' racing basis. This was to allow previously outlawed cars such as blown alcohol burning doorslammers and altereds to race alongside the Pro Mods. Another new class for the UK was also introduced this year. Super Street Bike was an off-shoot from the Ultimate Street Bike competiton for USB competitors running quicker than 9.90 seconds.

January 3rd-6th N.E.C. Birmingham. The 1st Autosports International Show. National Dragways hosted a drag racing stand at the show celebrating 25 years of drag racing at Santa Pod Raceway. On display were Al Segrinis Coca Cola Top Fueler, Jim Wheelans Ford Probe Funny Car, the 'Silver Showtime' Pontiac Funny Car, Keith Suemes nine second Beetle, Steve Healds Super Gas Peugot and Chris Hampsons JCB sponsored Funny Bike. Part of the display included an engine strip down and rebuild performed by Jim Wheelans crew under the leadership of Bill Sherratt. The stand won the 'Best Stand Of The Show' award.

March The Avon Park International Racing Association is created to help the development of the venue and to act as a support organisation for the raceway. It was announced that the APIRA would organise all future meetings at Avon Park.

March  16th/17th SPR.  Season Opener. IHRA Divisional Points Series.

March 29th-April 1st SPR. Easter Thunderball. IHRA European/National/Divisional Points Series. Jonathan Lovett was out testing his newly imported ex-dick LaHaie Top Fueler. He had also imported the UKs first McGee 4-cam top fuel V8 although it was not in the car at this event. He put in some shakedown runs which gave 60ft times of around the one second mark. Liv Berstad was also present with her Top Fueler and ran a 5.67 three quarter pass. Clive Mecheall took his Fuel Altered 'California Kid' to a best of 6.99/201, taking out the top end mirrors in the process. The final of the first round of the IHRA European Pro Comp Drivers Championship, which was due to be Peter Lantz against Steve Read, was rained off. In Pro mod the win went to Dave Warne with an 8.91/159 against a wild run from Tim Cook which saw him disqualified after he crossed the outside line. Warne had defeated Mick Cheleys Model T to reach the final, 8.08/175 to 8.67/155, while Cook had beaten Andy Robinsons Sierra 8.10/159 to an out of shape 10.95/113. In Super Pro ET Robin Read took his blown Daimler V8 rail to a best of 7.54/181 in a best of three match race with Martyn Jones ex-IHRA Top Sportsman injected dragster import. Both cars were running a small percentage of nitro. In Super Street Bike Steve Sykes rean 8.82, nearly half a second quicker than his previous personal best and a tenth of a second quicker than the previous class best. For all class results click here.

April 20th/21st Avon Park. Championship Meeting.

May 4th-6th SPR. May Bank Holiday. IHRA Divisional Points Series.

May 11th/12th York Dragway. Open Nationals. IHRA Divisional/National Points Series.

May 18th/19th North Weald. IHRA Divisional Points Series.

May 25th-27th  SPR. The Main Event. IHRA Divisional/National Points Series. This meeting hosted the first round of the long awaited European Top Fuel Championships and eight cars turned up. The Vallance/Lovett Racing Team debuted their 4-cam McGee V8 in their Top-Fueller with a best of 5.43/256 during qualifing. They qualified at numer four but when out in the first round against Conny Andersson when the slicks lost traction off the line. A later demo pass clocked out at 5.35/274.51. They went on to set a new track record at Avon Park with a 5.62 E.T. Tony Bryntesson took #1 qualifying spot with a 5.375/272.35 in his Pioneer sponsored fueler and ran a 5.221/274 winner in the final against Monica Oberg. Norm Wilding took his JWR sponsored Chevy Beretta Fuel Funny Car to a brace of wins over Harlan Thompson and Clive Mechaell, culminating in a 5.922/243.01.

June 8th/9th York Raceway. IHRA Divisional/National Points Series Including the 13th running of the annual Street Racer Championship. After qualifying three hours of high winds and heavy rain threatened to end the meeting. The IHRA Bracket programme was cancelled and the Street Racer Championship was held over the eighth mile on the wet track. Bill Sherratt took the final win in the ex-Nick Mann turboed Morris Minor with a 9.66 to a wild run from Brian Peach which saw him spin his Mustang and end up facing the startline.

June 22nd/23rd Avon Park. IHRA Divisional/National Points Series. The meeting was cancelled when the relevant track permits were not granted in time.

July 6th/7th SPR Cannonball & IHRA Division Points Series. A record entry of 15 Funny Cars and great weather. Harlan Thompson beat John Spuffard in the final having borrowed Rune Fjelds Transam for the race after his own car was damaged by fire on an earlier run. In doing so he equaled the quickest time for a funny car in the UK at 5.57/245.80. This was not backed up for a record however.  (Mark Coles) Nine of the fifteen entrants were running nitro cars. The format was changed to two qualifying runs for each car with the four quickest going into an elimnation run off. The first round saw only eight cars make it over the finish line under full power. The UKs newest FC driver, Diane Baldwin, didn't evn get to the start line after lifting the blower and damaging several internal parts while warming the motor in the pits. The first car out on the track was the Showtime Pontiac with John Spuffard at the wheel. John laid down a strong 6.07/226, a new personal best. His next qualifier bettered this with a 6.04/231. Harlan Thompson was the quickest in qualifying with a best of 5.91/195, the low E.T. of the meeting. Thompsons fellow countryman Cory Lee was making his first competitive outing in Knut Soderquists Dodge Daytona. At half track the motor let go in a big way, putting him out for the rest of the event. The four top qualifiers for the elimination were Thompson, Spuffard, Norm Wilding and the alcohol entry of Urs Erbacher. Spuffard defeated Urbacher who lost a blower pulley on the burnout. Thompson beat Wilding but destroyed his motor in the process. He then, controversially, proceeded to convince Rune Fjeld to lend him his car for the final. Thompson had tried to borrow Jim Wheelans car at the previous years Cannonball after his own burnt to the ground but this was ruled out. Thompson won with a 5.57/245 to Spuffards 6.05/219. This meeting also hosted Round Two of the Anglo Swedish Super Gas Series and for the first time Swedish Super Gassers were in action on a British drag strip. Tony Rose debuted his new car, a pink and white '37 Ford Coupe powered by a 461 Chevrolet motor. He qualified at #3 in the Super Gas field and made it to the semi finals where he was knocked out by Kurt Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe met Ian Merryweather in the final and looked like he had the win in the bag when he got off the gas at the top end allowing Merryweather to power across the line first, 9.95/113 to 10.13/123. In Pro Mod twelve cars were entered for the eight elimination places. Dave Warne took the number one spot with a 7.63/183. He made his way to the final by beating Dave Pollen and then getting a bye in the semis when Andy Robinson failed to make the call. On the other side of the ladder Tim Cook had dispatched Dave Mingay and Al Packman for his final place. In the final Warne lost traction at mid-track and came close to crossing the centre line but thanks to a holeshot he held onto his lead and won with a 7.56/180 to Cooks 7.54/182.

July 20th/21st Avon Park. Pro Comp Classic & IHRA National Championships. During Pro Comp qualifying Paul Jackson, in the "Time Runner" TAD (with Dennis & Dave Stone on his crew), ran a new personal best of 7.08 and went on to beat Switzerlands Urs Vogel while running his first six, a 6.97/194. He lost the second round to Barry Sheavills. Vogel had been #1 qualifier with a 6.52/187./ He later put in a solo demo pass of 6.25/224, the best E.T. and terminal speed of the meeting and the fastest an alcohol car had ever run at Avon Park. In a bid to improve on his #3 qualifying spot Swiss TAFC driver Urs Erbacher stood the car on the wheelie bars 200ft out from the launch pad. The car nearly ended up on top of the armco but Erbacher got off the power and brought it down with no damage. Erbacher went on to win the Pro Comp Classic title with a 6.40/208 win over a 6.91/191 from Barry Sheavills. In Round 2 of Pro Mod Tim Cook delivered the first 200mph doorslammer run in Europe with a 7.68/202 win over a 7.88/176 from Andy Robinson. Cook went on to win the final in his "Shoebox" Chevy with a 7.68/185 win but failing to back up the 202 for an official record. Dave Mingay was runner up with a 7.99/173, his first ever seven. Clive Michael put in some demo runs in his '34 Ford Coupe Funny Car and Mickey Moore debuted his alcohol Altered. For all class results and the Pro Comp qualifying and elimination ladder click here.

August 3rd/4th York Dragway. IHRA North Star Nationals. IHRA National/Divisional Points Series. Martin Hill debuted his new Jet Funny Car, a fully NHRA/IHRA legal, state-of -the-art machine with a Westinghouse J34 engine and an '89 mustang body. It was imported from original owner Bruce Abbott from Denver Colorado. Abbott had run the car under the name "Fire Force" to a best of 6.853/237.85. Hill initially renamed the car "Northern Lights". In Super Gas Tony Rose qualified at number one with a 9.90 while Brian peach made number two with 9.93. Phil Drewitt defeated Rose in round two and went on to meet Peach in the final. Peach had cooling problems resulting in a loss of fluid and had punctured a slick but was alowed to run on street tyres for the final. Drewitt was obviously the favourite for the win but he got out of shape on the run and crossed the outside boundary line handing the win to Peachs 11.15/119. For all class results click here.

August 24th/25th SPR. IHRA Summer Nationals. IHRA national/Divisional Points Series. John Spuffard was again at the wheel of the Showtime Pontiac for a best of three match race with Harlan Thompson. Spuffard took two of the three wins with a best time of 6.16/232. Thompson ran a best of 6.22/203. Steve Read qualified at #1 in Pro Comp with a 6.126, the low E.T. of the meeting. Read made it to the final but lost to Juha Lappanen. For all class results click here.

September 7th/8th Avon Park. BNDRA Finals. Brian Johnson set a new world record for a Top Fuel Bike. He ran a 6.61 backed up with a 6.67.

September 14th/15th York Dragway. PDRC Grand Finals. IHRA National Championship Finals.

September 14th/15th Avon Park. FIM, ACU/UK Drag Bike & Euro Harley Finals. Reported to be the largest ever colection of dragbikes seen on a British drag strip. The highlights in qualifying were in the Pro Stock class with Wayne Saunders running a 7.90/175 for #1 postion, the terminal speed put him on course for a new European record, and Len Paget finally getting his "White Lightning" Suzuki into the sevens with a 7.99169. In the European Fuel/Funny Bike elimination first round Chris Hall ran a new personal best of 8.17/168 despite losing to Brian Johnson at 7.73/187. Johnson ran a 6.78/194 in round two with opponent Roger Forsythe watching having snapped a blower drive shaft on his burnout. The other semi saw Switzerlands Peter Bossert take his Suzuki to a 7.20/190, the quickest ever run in Europe for a Funny Bike, but still lose to the quicker reactions of Chris Hampson. The final saw Hampson Funny Bike take the win after Brian Johnsons throttle valve stuck open and he had no option but to shut off the motor before getting to the start line. Hampson soloed to a 7.26/184. In the quarter finals of Pro Stock Bike Wayne Saunders ran 7.96/174 to back up his earlier 175mph for a new European record. In the final Saunders set a new British and European E.T. record of 7.87/172 and beat Veli Malins 8.10/167. For all class results click here.

September 21st/22nd SPR. The Doorslammers International.

September 27th-29th SPR. The World Finals.

October 26th/27th Avon Park. Annual Fireworks Party.

November 2nd/3rd SPR. Fireworks Spectacular/IHRA Divisional Final.

For a list of all the IHRA Europe Championship winners click here

1992

With European Drag Racing gaining popularity, and more and more racers travelling to different countries to compete at European series rounds, the European Track Owners Consortium was formed with intention of co-ordinating rules and regulations throughout the participating countries.

February Australia. ANDRA Nationals. The UKs Steve Read drove Adrian Pozzebons Bob Meyer built Top Alcohol dragster. He won the title and re-set the National E.T. record at 6.02.

April 4th/5th Avon Park. BNDRA Championship Drag Races. First Round. The first day was a Test & Tune. Steve Read was testing his Pro Comp rail. He only managed to put in one full pass and that was a 6.13/227. Super Gas winner was Trevor Graves, and Arthur Bonner took the Competition Car win. 10.90 Super Street Car was won by Eric Humphrey. 10.90 Bike winner was Darren Allison and Richard Milsom was the 9.90 Bike winner. Super Street Bike final was between the brothers Turner. It was Dave that triumphed over Roger. Pro Stock bike was won by Coll Rule and Ian Thomas took the Competition Bike class. For all class winners click here. (Clive Rooms)

April 17th-20th SPR. The Thunderball. Three Fuel Funny Cars made an appearance over the weekend. Harlan Thompson ran a best of 6.66 in the Budweiser backed Dodge Daytona while the Showtime Pontiac saw Tony Pearson putting in three practice launches before regular driver John Spuffard took the controls on the Monday to run a 6.42/176 before the clutch gave up in a big way. In Top Alcohol seventeen cars ran for a place in a 16 car eliminator. Micke Kagered qualified at #1 with a 6.129/224.50 in his Funny Car. At #2 was the dragster of the UKs Steve Read with a 6.149/222.70. Read had two very expensive carbon fibre rear wings fold up on him during his qualifying runs. In the second round Kagered set a new European E.T. record of 6.067/236. He made it through to the final to meet Juha Leppanen and despite running a quicker time lost to a lightning reaction time of 0.430 from Leppanen whose 6.155/223.53 was a new personal best. Alan Packman took #1 qualifying spot in his Ford Scorpio in Pro Mod. His 7.36/191 putting him ahead of Dave Warne at 7.56, Tim Cook at 7.69 and Dave Mingay at 7.74. The final saw Tim Cooks Chevy reaching for the sky as he shifted gear forcing Tim to shut off early, in the other lane Al Packman was storming ahead until a chute shook out at the eighth mile mark, when Cook didn't come past he got back on the gas and dragged the chute to a 7.935/140 winner. For all class results click here.

May 23rd-25th SPR. The Main Event. Round One of the European Top Fuel Challenge. Six TF cars were present to contest the first round of the European Top Fuel Association. The very hot temperatures didn't help the times. Peter Lantz was top qualifier at 5.67/232 followed by Pelle Lindelow 5.76/214, Oyvor Jacobsen with 6.19/210 was in third spot. In the eliminations, Monica Oberg laid down a 5.26/276 to wipe out the 5.60/226 which was a PB for Peter Lantz. Pelle Lindelow then defeated a tyre smoking Liv Berstad, 5.42/252 to a losing 5.80/258. In the last pairing, Viveca Averstedt lined up against Oyvor Jacobsen. About 120 feet out, Averstedt's clutch exploded big time in a huge flash. In the meantime, Jacobsen had taken the win in 5.78/252. In the semis, Oberg took it easy on a bye run, and then Lindelow ran 5.44/263 to see off Jacobsen's 6.93/127. In the final, Oberg stormed to a 5.34/277 win over Lindelow's 5.86/181. In the first round of Top Alcohol, Norm Wheeldon ran 7.34/173 to defeat the Over the Hill altered of Mickey Moore. Craig Lowes then cranked out a 6.93/191 for an upset win over Dave Wilson who lifted at half track to record 8.34/101. Barry Sheavills put down a 6.62/201 as opponent Doug Bond broke burning out. Steve Read then ran 6.41/213 to take an easy win over Paul Jackson. In the semis, Wheeldon's 6.67/202 was too much for the 7.34/183 of Lowes, and then Read took out Sheavills with a 6.36/214 to a losing 6.65/202. The final was a close race as Read's 6.59/207 was just too much for the 6.62/205 of Wheeldon. Clive Mechaell in the AA/FA put down 3 runs during the weekend. Firstly, 7.19/171 followed by 7.03/214 and then a 6.96/210. The Funny Cars of John Spuffard in Showtime and Harlan Thompson in the Budweiser car were match racing. In the first pairing, Spuffard took it as Thompson holed the block at three quarter track. Spuffard took the second race with a 5.86/237 as Thompson was shut off on the line with an oil leak. Thompson took the third race in 6.42/169 as Spuffard couldn't find reverse. In first round of Pro Modified, Dave Pollen beat Dave Mingay 7.74/177 to 8.36/144, Alan Packman soloed to an 8.92/186, Tim Cook also soloed to a 7.20/194, Andy Robinson defeated Colin Taylor 8.68/153 to a losing 9.02/173. In the semis, Pollen carded a 7.64/178 as Cook crossed the outside line thus disqualifying himself. Robinson soloed to an 8.13/166 as Packman couldn't make the call due to damage suffered in the previous round. It was a win for Pollen in the final as his 7.66/178 was too much for Robinson's 8.28/165. In Super Gas, there were 23 cars in the elimination, which meant in the first round there were solo passes for Gordon Appleton, Brian Huxley, Tony Rose, Jeff Bull, Martin Harris, Billy MacDermid, Tony Gransden, Al O'Connor. In the first round races, Paul Watson put out Trevor Graves, Ron Pudney beat Kurt Hinchcliffe, Phil Drewitt defeated Jim McGee, Brian Peach saw off Lindsey Jeavons, Pete White beat Allen Flavell, Paul Shillito defeated John Sultana and Dave Pearce took the win against Dell. In the second round, Appleton blew away Clifton, Peach took out Harris, Gransden overcame Shillito, Drewitt put out Bull, O'Connor defeated a breaking out Pearce, Watson put away Huxley, Pudney red lit against Rose and MacDermid took the win over White. In the third round, Appleton won against Peach, Rose holeshot Gransden and took the win, MacDermid saw off Watson and O'Connor ran 9.92 to the breakout 9.88 of Drewitt. In the semis, O'Connor took the win as MacDermid developed problems, and then Rose won as Appleton had propshaft problems. In the final, O'Connor drifted the wrong side of the outside line handing the win to Rose. The final of Pro Stock bike was between Len Paget and Paul Willis. Paget soloed to an 8.22/163 as Willis failed to show. Graham Dance took the Competition Bike eliminator beating Chris Hall in the final, 8.60/152 to a losing 9.13/141. Top Fuel/Funny Bike winner was Steve Woolatt who recorded a 6.99/196 to the losing 7.55/172 of Chris Hampson. Mark Watkins won 9.90 Bike beating Jamie Curnick in the final. 10.90 Bike was won by Geoff Rogerson who defeated Paul Carter. Super Street Bike winner was Ian Dales who put down a new strip record of 8.64.

June 14th SPR Dan Cockerill set a new European record for a Ford Pop, 8.83/149.

July 3rd-5th SPR. The Cannonball. Saturdays qualifying session was shortened to about an hour and a half of dry weather with only a handful of cars making runs. Emergency qualifying times were drawn to decide the line up. The promoters decided that with limited time available only the bracket classes, Super gas and the Cannonball would be run. Alan O'Connor and Gordon Appleton made it to the Super Gas final, both cars broke out, Appleton winning with a 9.84/129 to O'Connors 9.81/127. The Cannonball was reduced to a single qualifying run for all the cars followed by the quickest two running off for the final with the next quickest two running off for runner up places. Last years winner, Harlan Thompson had Cory Lee driving his second car while the runner up from '91, John Spuffard, was driving the 'Silver Showtime' Pontiac with Tom Hoover in the teams new '92 Trans Am. Thompson made the final with a 5.72, Spuff joining him with a 5.84/204.45. The two runners up were Rune Fjeld with 6.04/218.97 and Tom Hoover with 6.11/170.06. Fjeld took the win between these two with an early shut off 7.70/141.48 after Hoover shut off even earlier with a 11.24/69.52. The final saw Spuff take the win with a 5.96/224.04 after Thompson launched towards the tree, shut off and coasted to the finish line in 19 seconds.

July 20th/21st The Dragster Classic Meet. Avon Park. Steve Read ran 5.975/233.95 and 5.990/231.81 to become the first UK Top Alcohol driver, and the first in Europe, to break the six second barrier.

August 29th-31st SPR. Summer Nationals.

September 18th-20th World Finals, SPR. Seventh and final round of the European Top Fuel Challenge. German Rico Anthes ran quickest ever on a European track, 5.11/266.

November Australia. ANDRA Grand Final Meeting. The UKs Steve Read made it all the way to the Top Alcohol Final. The meeting was rained out before the final could be run.

Also this year was the first season in the NHRA series for UK Funny Car driver Norman Wilding. In the second qualifing round of the Keystone Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, in a run alongside John Force, he clocked the quickest time ever for a UK Top Fuel Funny Car driver with a 5.17/268, and he beat Force into the bargain.

1993

January 2nd. Willowbank Raceway. Australia. The UKs Steve Read won the Top Alcohol class.

Also over the preceeding winter Stuart Vallance shipped his McGhee powered Chevy Beretta Funny Car to Australia. There he was joined by UK driver Gary Page. At their first race in Adelaide they were unable to get the car to fire up. A week later at the Calder press day the blower belt came off during the first burnout and severed a fuel line. The car fireballed when the raw fuel ignited on the headers. Two days later on raceday the car lost reverse on the first burnout. The next run was aborted due to rain. The next day the car actually launched and recorded the best 60ft and 330ft times of the weekend before lighting up the tyres and launching the blower. As Gary hit the fuel shut off he dislocated his finger. Vallance and Page returned to the UK without a full timeslip.

March 18th The FISA World Motorsports Council agree to the creation of a FISA Drag Racing Commission. The function of the group was 'to further develop Drag Racing as a top world sport' and to establish a set of standardised rules and regulations using those in use in the USA as guidelines.The commission would initially be made up of representatives from the USA, Finland, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Australia and Japan.

March The Alcohol Dragster and Alcohol Funny Car Committee of the NHRA announce new, tighter regulations governing the use of the latest 'screw type' superchargers which were being used in the UK for the first time. Superchargers such as the Whipple were restricted to running up to a maximum of 1.52 times engine rpm, or 52% overdrive. Other makes such as PSI were restricted to a maximum of 2.02 times engine rpm, or 102% overdrive.

March 27th/28th SPR. Season Opener. IHRA Divisional Points Meeting

April 3rd/4th Avon Park Raceway held their first ever Nostalgia Nationals event, 20 years after the first meeting at this track.

April 10th-12th SPR. Easter Thunderball. European Top Alcohol Series, Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Pro Mod/Super Gas Series. IHRA National Championship Points Meet. The Top Alcohol class had a record seven different countries competing. The final was between the funny cars of Micke Kagerad and Leif Helander. Micke took the win with a 6.16/222.02 over Leifs 6.22/226.05. both these times were quicker than any of the qualifing times of either Funny cars or Dragsters in the class. Dave Warne took the win in Pro Mod with a 7.55/190.30 to Alan Packmans 7.67/181.45. Honours in Super Gas went to Bill MacDermid with a 10.15/122.04 over Phil Drewitt.

April 17th/18th APR. ACU Drag Bike Championship.

May 3rd/4th Avon Park Volksfest. The Outrage II Beetle, with driver Paul Hughes, sets a new european record for a four cylinder car with an 8.34/161.83 (previous record 8.57/152.5) backed up with an 8.36. On his next pass, a qualifing run for the German Car Club Modified Championship, the flywheel broke in two while still running an 8.46. he was out of action for the rest of the meeting.

May 8th/9th York. UK Open Nationals. Pro Mod/Super Gas Series. Eurocar IHRA/PDRC?National Championship Meeting. For all class results click here.

May 15th-16th Avon Park. Goodguys UK Shootout #1. APIRA Points Meeting. Billed as 'The biggest single race in Europe'. The race was run as a single class handicapped event with everyone running to their own dial in. The field was down to 32 cars before rain stopped play. After eight hours of qualifying on the Saturday Steve Johnson and Martyn Jones, both running alcohol injected Super Pro rails, were top of the heap.Close behind them were Paul Hughes in the "Outrage II" VW Funny Car, Nick Stephensons alcohol injected 88 Corvette and Dan Cockerills Ford Pop. Alan Bates put in some demo runs in the JF Racing/BRK Calibra Funny Car and Robin Read ran a 7.001/185.89 in his Junior Fueler. Brian Thomas had converted his crowd favourite Jaguar Powered Altered "Paranoia" to run on nitro and put in a careful 9.42/143 demo. Ken McCormack and Doug Bond were present in their alcohol cars, Bond having problems with his rail while McCormack took the ex-Nitro Force Corvette, which he had re-named Alky Force, to a 9.73.The Pro Mods were dominated by Alan Packmans Ford Scorpio, running a best of 7.14/199. Due to meet him in the final was Dave Warne with his Trans Am who had run a best of 7.29. The final was stopped by the rain.

May 29th-31st SPR. The Main Event. High winds and rain slowed down the proceedings, with the whole of Sunday being lost to the weather. This meant one shot qualifying for the fuelers on Monday. Liv Berstad made #1 spot with a 5.405/265.80, 2nd was Rico Anthes at 5.444/256.84, 3rd was Pelle Lindelow at 6.261/154.45 and bringing up the rear was Vivica Averstadt with a 7.914/130.49. Rolf Iverson failed to qualify. Rico Anthes ran low E.T. of the meeting with a 5.262/263.58 to take the final win after Liv Berstad was unable to run with a faulty reverser linkage. She had run top speed of the meeting in the first round, with a 5.285/277.56, against Vivica who shut off before the green with clutch trouble. John Spuffard won the Funny Car class with a 6.17/199 against Alan Bates 6.96/157.87. During Saturdays qualifying Spuffards Showtime Pontiac burst an oil line leaving a trail down the track. As he shut off at 1200 feet there was very little oil left and, in Johns words, "I hit the chutes and the rods came out with them". The 6.05/245 run ended with a flash fire and a destroyed block but the car was back in action on the Monday. Harlan Thompson ran a 5.89/235.41 out of competition. A sheared fuel pump drive prevented him from making qualifying. In Top Alcohol #1 qualifier Rob Turner (6.429/212/32) came up against the Altered of Tony Betts who had made #4 spot (7.008/192.59). Unfortunately Betts lited the blower on the burnout leaving Turner to solo for the win. In Pro Mod saw Andy Robinson take the win in Colin Taylors Ford Thunderbird. In the final Andy cut a .512 light as opponent Dave Warne inexplicably sat on the line for over a second before giving chase. Despite losing power at the eighth Robinson got there first despite a hard charge from Warne. In the Super Gas final just a thousandth of a second seperated Al O'Connor and Mark Anderson, Als .431 reaction time clinching the win. For all class results click here.

June 13th York Raceway. The Ultimate Street Car Meet. For the first time the entries were split into two categories for 'Street' and 'Pro'. In the Street Final the 427 Vauxhall Firenza of Will Sherratt was up against the turbo V8 Morris Minor of his father 'Wild' Bill Sherratt. Will took the win with an 11.375/125 to Bills 11.338/125 making Will the youngest ever winner of the event at 18. In Pro Street Tony Baker defended his championship title by taking his 463ci Pop 'Torque Of The Devil' to a win over Steve Neimantas '34 Ford.

June 21st John Harrison died in Hillingdon Hospital at the age of 59. John was recovering from a heart attack when he suffered a second, and this time fatal, attack. John was one of UK Drag Racings pioneers and with long time partner Allan Herridge he had founded the Dragster Developments company. DD brought the influential pairings brand of innovation and engineering skill to the early days of British Drag Racing history.

June  26th/27th Avon Park. FIM Drag Bike European Championship round. Stu Bradbury was drafted in as chief starter for the meet. There were breaks in the action for special features like the re-appearance of John Hobbs and his double Weslake 'Hobbit', putting in some gentle runs. The bike not being pushed hard as it was only finally back together at 3.00 that morning. No times and speeds unfortunately. In ACU Super Street Bike Dave Turner qualified at #1 with a record setting 8.19/180. In Round 1 Dave Turner (with a top end engine fire) defeated Pete Jones. A mammoth re-wiring job was needed before the semis where Turner beat Andy Smith. In the Final- Roger Turner (Dave's brother) won with an 8.68/168 over Dave Turner who nearly ended up in the field after the front brakes locked up at 175mph! FIM Pro Stock had 15 qualifiers. #1 qualifier was Veli Malin at 7.89. Round 1 Malin bye- 7.85 Len Paget 8.16/164 def Dave Beck's ex Wayne Saunders Suzuki. R2 Len Paget 8.18 def frenchman Dominique Fo 8.26. / Malin 7.89 def Ceri Visick. / Rob Van Ginnekan def Bo Thornselius broke. / Paul Willis def Coll Rule. Semi's- Malin 7.84 def Len Paget, consistency from the Fin 7.89, 7.85, 7.89, 7.84! Paul Willis (broke through to the final) 8.85 def Van Ginnekans comeback 8.13. Final- Malin 7.88/168 def Willis 8.18/165. #1 qualifier in Top Fuel Supertwins was Adam hewitt's imported Harley 'Southern Rock 2, 8.09 Round 1. Hewitt bye - 7.85/178 (his first seven). Werner Sohm, Austria 8.08/170 def Gerrard Willems. Round 2. Hewitt 7.91/176 def Dutchman Alex Verwilst's 8.62. Werner Sohm 8.18 def Ton Pels 8.41. Final, Sohm 7.83/174 def Hewitt deep staged (missed light) 8.4/160. In FIM Drag Bike Steve Wollatt headed the the eight bike qualifying with 7.09/195 Round 1 Wollatt 7.07 def Henk Van Geeve 7.69/186 Chris Hampson crossed the centreline to give the win to up in smoke Phil Bainbridge. Swiss Peter Bossart 7.31 def Jurgen Horcicka's Suzuki. Eric Teboul 7.36 won with a 3 second advantage over Herald Prokopp. Baimbridge versus Wollatt in the first semi,- Bainbridge smoked the tyre 8.95, but beat Wollatt's motor wounding 9.33/85. Semi 2- Peter Bossart holeshot 7.31/183 def Eric Teboul 7.51/192. In the final Bossart failed to show leaving Bainbridge to solo - 7.61/184. The meeting also saw a few cars in attendance for a round of the Rover V8 Championship. Contesting the race for a nice 4.2 Rover lump as first prize! The winners of Pro Rover and Street Rover eliminations met for the handicapped money run. Phil Herrick's MGB leaving ahead of Adrian Booth's Firenza, the Firenza getting past the MG with a 10.8/125, to win the new motor for the 94 season! (Darren West)

July 3rd/4th SPR. The Cannonball. John Spuffard won the Cannonball beating Micke Kagered in the final. Also at this meeting Tony Rose ran the quickest Pro Mod time seen in the UK so far with a 7.05/197.37. Alan Packman won the final with a 7.41 against Tonys quicker 7.06. American funny car driver Tom Hoover destroyed his engine on his first run. The crew worked very hard to get the car running again but it was too late to run in the competition. He did however come out on a couple of test runs, the first being a 5.65/237.87. He then went on to better this with a 5.60/258.85. At the same meeting, Paul Hughes, driving Brian Burrows Outrage II Beetle funny car, set a new european record for a four cylinder car with an 8.12/160.52 run. In Top Alcohol Barry Sheavills won the final with a 6.39/216.51 against Rob Turners 6.58.

July 17th SPRs Beetle Bash, 2.35pm! The Oldsmobile Cutlass Pro Mod car of Tony Rose became the first U.K. Doorslammer to run into the sixes with a 6.98/201 pass.

July 24th/25th Avon Park. Goodguys UK Super Pro Shootout #2. APIRA Points Meeting.

August 7th/8th York. UK North Star Nationals. IHRA/PDRC National Points Series.

August 28th-30th SPR.  Summer Nationals. European Top Alcohol Series, Nitro Funny Car Shootout, Pro Modified, Super Gas, ACU Dragbike Series, IHRA/SPRC National Points Meeting. National Dragster, the weekly Drag Racing publication in the USA, sponsored the Summer Nationals event. The deal was announced by Associate Editor Melvyn Record who used to work on the UK drag racing magazine Fire Up. Melvyn said "The Performance Unlimited Super Gas Championship represents the best organised drag racing programme in Britain". There was a total of 20 entrants in Super Gas, while Top Alcohol had 21. Alan O'Connor took the Super Gas title in a battle of the breakouts. Als 9.86 beating Shaun Saunders 9.82. In Top Alcohol Micke Kagerad took the win with a 6.07 against Krister Johanssons 6.10. In Pro Mod Dave Mingays 7.18 beat Alan Packmans 7.71. Clive Mechael was present with his Fuel Altered which he severely damaged when he hit the armco hard.

September 4th/5th York. Jet Nationals. Super Gas Series, VWDRC Points Round, IHRA/PDRC National Points Series.

September 11th/12th SPR. International Doorslammers Meeting.

September 17th-19th World Finals SPR. Strongly tipped to run Europes first 'four' at this meeting, German Top Fuel pilot Rico Anthes claimed a different European first instead. In the first round of eliminations against Peter Lantz, Rico performed the first 'blowover'. Lifting the front wheels all the way up and flipping the car completely. Rico was fine and walked away to applause from the crowd. (Thanks to Warren Parkinson for reminding me about this one, somehow I had forgotten it!). This incidents was not however a true 'blowover', click here to see why. Peter Lantz took the win in the final, his 5.39 beating Vivica Averstedts red-lighting 5.30 (Her best time to date). In Top Alcohol another 16 car field saw two Funny Cars battle it out in the final. Micke Kagerad took the win over Leif Helander with a 6.16/226 against a 6.16/227! In Super Gas the Performance Unlimited Championship title went all the way to the final race of the series.Tony Gransden took the win with a 9.93 against Billy MacDermids break out 9.87. Tony won the championship by just ten points.Tony Rose won in Pro Mod, a 6.96 beating Dave Warnes 7.29. Championship title went to Alan Packman. Harlan Thompson ran a new European best of 5.59/250 in the Funny Car semi finals but failed to back it up when he wheelied off the line in the final. Alan Bates pedalled his way to the win with a smoky out of shape 8.40 in the Chablik Brothers Vauxhall.

September 25th/26th Avon Park Raceway. ACU/National Bike Finals.

October 16th/17th Avon Park. APIRA Points Finals. Brian Burrows Outrage II Beetle, with driver Paul Hughes, officially became the worlds fastest Beetle. He ran a 7.70/151.90 to beat American Bobby Godfreys previous world best of 7.93 secs. He backed up the run on the second day with an engine-breaking 7.55/129.22.

November 6th/7th SPR. Fireworks Spectacular.

1994

February 21st The IHRA and the UK Drag Race Consortium signed a formal alliance. The agreement was signed by IHRA President Hayne Dominick, Steve Murty of the Pennine Drag Race Club and Bo Meftah of Santa Pod. Avon Park, Santa Pod and York Raceway were all represented and a nine-event UK National Drag Race Championship was scheduled to begin at Santa Pod in April.

April A new British Drag Racing publication was launched. European Dragster magazine was a bi-monthly published by Ron Clarks Big Block Productions and edited by Jeremy Cookson of the APIRA.

April 2nd-4th Easter Thunderball. SPR. Sammy Miller returned to the UK with his Vanishing Point Rocket Funny Car to try and better his world record 3.58 second pass, set at Santa Pod ten years earlier. Unfortunately the traditional Easter Holiday rain, snow and hail ensured that this would not happen. With the persistent high winds and rain showers only one round of Top Alcohol was completed while most other classes only managed one or two rounds of qualifying. In Top Alcohol Micke Kagered made #1 spot with a 6.437/221, #2 was Anita Makela at 6.494/196. Bob Feeler made #3 with a 6.803/197. The Supercharged Outlaws were putting in some pre-series demo runs. Frank Bennett ran the best times of the group and, on his way to a pass in the low eights, got his Topolino Altered so out of shape that the windscreen cracked in several places. Steve Green wrote off his JWR sponsored Mk I Cortina. An engine core plug had blown out and the escaping coolant quickly coated the left hand slick causing Steve to lose control. The car rolled over several times before coming to rest in the field at the top of the strip. Steve escaped without injury.

May 14th/15th Avon Park. Goodguys UK Shootout #4. Judgement Day.

May 14th/15th SPR. Euro Series Drag Bikes.

May 28th-30th SPR. The Main Event. The meeting was cancelled on raceday when the track surface began to lift. The UKs Adam Hewitt took the ex-Bill Furr Southern Rock/W&W Cycles nitro Harley to a 7.178/185 personal best.

May 28th-30th Avon Park. VW Dream Weekend. In a guest appearance featuring the Outlaw Anglias Andy Carter took his 500ci alcohol burning Pop to an 8.710/179 win over Dan Cockerill.

June 4th SPR. Saturday Night Special.

June 11th/12th Avon Park. Powerfest '94.

June 25th/26th Avon Park. FIM Drag Bike Series

July 2nd/3rd Harlan Thompson beat Micke Kagered in the Cannonball final. Sammy Miller was present with the latest Vanishing Point rocket Funny Car. He had problems with the fuel mix and failed to get a good run in. On two occasions he set fire to the rear of the Mustang body.

July 23rd/24th Avon Park. Goodguys UK Shootout #5. This event saw AP host the fourth round of the European Competition Car Championship which also had rounds in France, Austria and Germany. German Peter Schofer led the field with a 7.43/184 that put him into #1 qualifying spot. He went on to take the final win. Britains two entries, Barry Giles and Dan Cockerill, both went out in the first round. In Pro Mod Al Packman failed to show for the final leaving Tony rose to run a 7.08/168 making full use of his wheelie bars. For all class results click here.

July 30th SPR. Saturday Night Special.

August 20th/21st Nitro Olympics. Hockenheim. In Round 5 of the European Top Alcohol Series the UKs Rob Turner made it to the final to meet Anita Makela. He had already disposed of Swiss rookie Peter Beck who red lit, Bernd Seminatis Slingshot with a 6.60, and, in the semis, Jens Nybo with a 6.33. In the final however a tyre shaking 6.260 was no match for a 6.13 from Makela.

August 27th-29th SPR. Summer Nationals. Paul Giddings lost his life in a qualifying run accident in the Competition Bike class. The 29 year old from Guildford, Surrey was killed instantly when he lost control of his nitrous injected Suzuki. Seventeen cars were entered in Top Alcohol. Surprise #1 qualifier was Frenchman Bob Feeler in a dragster with a 484ci Arias engine (a motor favoured usually by tractor pullers and drag boat racers). His 6.141/224.97 was a new personal best and put him ahead of Urs Erbacher - 6.169/212.63, Anita Makela - 6.172/222.76 and  Barry Sheavills - 6.179/210.97. Micke Kagered had to replace a damaged engine block after qualifying and in Round One his blower failed sending a pulley down onto the track and back into Mickes foot causing a nasty injury. His opponent, Bernie Hepworth, had shut off at 3/4 track with clutch trouble, missing his chance of beating Micke. Alan Jackson ran a new personal best of 6.489/207.66 but lost to Peter Kruses new PB of 6.271/222.58. Feeler ran quicker still with a 6.118/225.75 to shut down Dave Wilsons 6.498/195.12 in Round Two. Kagered and crew worked hard to repair their car but ended up having to stage for points leaving Sheavills to go through unopposed. In the first semi final Feeler red lit letting Sheavills take the win with a 6.6.191/213.68. In the other Anita Makela was unopposed due to damage suffered by Kruse and ran 6.179/223.95 to take lane choice for the final away from Sheavills. The final, which took place in the dark after oil down delays, saw Sheavills pull a red light to wave goodbye to his chances of the event win while Anita ran 6.119/222.37 to clinch the 1994 Top Alcohol Championship. John Spuffard and Bob Jarrett debuted their new Showtime Trans Am Fuel Funny Car with a promising 5.8 second run on a three quarter pass. Andy Carter took his blown Keith Black powered Ford Pop to a 7.57/181 to win the Outlaw Anglia class. For all class results click here.

September 16th-18th SPR World Finals. Barry Sheavills ran Santa Pods first Top Alcohol five, a 5.975 in the final against Anita Makela. This made him only the third European to go into the fives.Also at this meeting Andy Carter ran the fastest time ever for a Ford Pop/Anglia, 7.57/181. Sammy Miller was on hand, debuting a new car. The new dragster featured a 5000lb J85 jet engine. He ran a best of 5.57/288 after the motor emitted a huge fireball during the warm up which sent track officials running for safety. He backed this up with a 5.71/285 to set a new track record for jets. In Top Fuel the ETFA title was still undecided. Rookie driver Tommi Haapanen from Finland made #1 qualifying spot with a personal best 5.288/267.45. #2 went to Tony Bryntesson with a 5.30/271.29. Risto Poutiainen took the win in the final with a 5.935/245.77 to a fireballing 6.018/189.66 from fellow Finn Haapanen. Peter Lantz took the 1994 ETFA title despite having gone out on a red light in the semis against Haapanen while running a 5.244/276.49. Low E.T. of the meeting went to Tony Bryntesson with a 5.222 in the first round.Three Fuel Funny Cars and a Fuel Altered were on hand. Harlan Thompson should have made a demo pass on Sunday morning in the Budwieser Dodge Daytona but the motor kicked a rod out on the burnout which lifted the blower and smashed the inner tinwork and windshield. John Spuffard took the Showtime Pontiac to a piston burning 5.86/180 when one of the shut off levers to the fuel pumps vibrated shut. Later in the day he showed the cars potential with a 5.63. Gary Page was in the seat of Knut Soderqvists Dodge Daytona. A planned half pass ended in drama when the car burst into flames and skated in its own oil ending up in the field. Page was unhurt but the car had extensive body damage. Clive Mechaell took his 'Hotrod From Hell' Fuel Altered to a weekend best of 7.69. Alan Packman put in some demo runs in his Pro Mod Ford Scorpio. He ran 6.93/203, 6.87/205 and 6.81/204. There was a six bike field in Top Fuel, Steve Woolatt qualifying at #1 with a personal best 6.82/201. Woolatt lost out in the final to Dutchman Roel Koedam, 6.989/189.33 to 7.21/194.83. For all class results click here.

September 24th SPR. Saturday Night Special.

October 1st/2nd Elvington. Sammy Miller took his new Jet Dragster to the famous RAF airfield to make an attempt at beating Richard Nobles 248mph British land speed record. He intended to use the 5000lb jet motor in conjunction with a 3500lb rocket motor attached to the chassis under the main burner. The attempt came to an abrupt halt when RAC MSA officials refused him permission to run citing the fireball incident at Santa Pod two weeks earlier as well as claiming that there had been no official application made for the run.

October 8th/9th Avon Park. Night Of Fire.  This meeting included the final round of the Torco Oils/RAC British Top Alcohol Drag racing Championships. The title was down to a two horse race between Barry Sheavills and Dave Wilson. Wilson destroyed his motor in qualifying so Sheavills took the championship title, and the event win, with a 6.146 over Rob Turner, the quickest run in the eliminations. Al Jackson went out in round one with a broken blower belt but cam out later to put his Chevy Beretta TAFC through its paces. Thr result was a 6.18/213 making him the UKs quickest TAFC driver. In Pro Mod a series of breakages in qualifying saw the first round reduced to a set of bye runs. Gordon Appleton made it through to the final after beating Dave Warne. There he met Glen Dumont who had made it through after Bert Englefield stalled on the line. The final saw Appleton take his first ever Pro Mod win win a 7.56 to Dumonts 8.13. Alan Packman ran 6.784/206.75 and 6.803 in his Oulaw Pro Mod to set a new World record in a match race with the Mainline Menace Altered of Smax Smith. Packman also ran in a match race with the Funny Car of Lex Joon, which saw Lex run a new personal best of 7.39/183. This meeting also saw the first appearance of the 'Wild Bunch' class. For all class results click here.

November 5th/6th SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. No racing took place. Rained all day.

November 13th SPR. Season Ender.

Also this season Andy Carter won the Outlaw Anglia Championship (winning 6 events out of 8 in championship). (Andy Carter)

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