Duxford. BHRA/BDRA/NSA/Allard Owners Club Drag meeting. The Second 'Big Go'. 500 members and guests attended the meeting which was organised in association with the Aston Martin Owners Club and Thames Estuary Motor Club. Ten minutes before the start the christmas tree lights developed a fault, short circuited and several feet of wire went up in smoke. Peter Bartlett was on hand to make repairs. A number of competitors were caught out by the scrutineers insistence on clearly marked ignition switches and crankcase breather catch tanks. Apparently paper cups from the refreshment wagon were popular as makeshift catch tanks! Timed runs set the scene for the day. Notable achievements included Mrs Ann Bennett giving the 3.8 Jaguars a run for their money in husband Johns (BHRA Chairman) Pontiac Chieftain, the dragster of Jeff Theobald running 14s having been completely rebuilt since its last outing in March, the first competition appearance of Nobby Hills Houndog II with a 12.32/113 from driver Les Hill and John Hulme taking his works Allard Dragon to an 11.00126. S. Marston broke a halfshaft in his 1500cc Riley while Stella Farrell had a dramatic clutch explosion in her 5.9litre 'Farralac' sports car. Stellas departure from the Top Dragster class along with the non appearance of D. Prices 'Daffyd Ford I' V8 flathead rail (failed scrutineering) and the Herridge/Harrison Dragster Developments Cadillac (described as too fresh to risk ruining an expensive motor) left the class a little depleted. The Hills Houndog II made it to the final. The new car featured last years 3.4 Jag motor in an all new 150" wheelbase slingshot frame, with an aluminium body, front mounted Wade blower, triple SU carbs and Goodyear racing tyres. Also in the final was Richard Wrights 5.4 litre Cadillac T Bucket Hot Rod. This car had a half-Allard half-home made chassis with Buick wheels and an Oldsmobile auto box and rear axle. It had previously appeared as a fiat bodied 'Drag Coupe' and a shortened Austin Pick Up street rod. Houndog took the win as Wright spun the tyres and developed a misfire. Nobby Hills also collected the 'most improved performance' trophy. John Hume's Dragon took Top Eliminator with an 11.11 win over Tony Kinch in his Cortina. Gerry Belton would have attended with his Allard Dragon but he had blown the motor at the last practice day. Instead he drove to the meeting in his Ford Corsair with the Dragons head and blower in the boot. Once there he set about transplanting the units to the Corsair. Once installed he managed to make one run, without the cars bonnet which now did not fit. Due to overfuelling caused by the head and blower being set up to run methanol the smoky misfiring pass netted no more than a 22 second timeslip.

For all class results awards and best times click here.

South Marston nr. Swindon. BDRA Vickers Drag Meet. Over 10,000 people attended this 'Vickers Supermarine Sports and Social Club Gala Day' with the drag race being the main part of an event which also featured many flying displays. Highlights were Norman Barclay who drove Dos Palmos to a 9.77/155, a new record for a British driver on British soil, and Alf Hagon who ran a best of 10.39/141 on his JAP motorcycle to win his class against Ian Ashwell on his Vincent 'Satan'. Ashwell ran 10.97/136. A total of 59 competitors turned up for the meeting. The vehicles were divided into classes according to vehicle type and engine size. Each competitor had three qualifying runs before the eliminations began. In a bid to minimise any confusion amongst the crowd the decision was taken to run each class elimination to its final before starting on the next class. This caused some problems for the air cooled motorcycles and the un cooled dragsters but fortunately no mechanical failures occured. The delays caused by 'cooling time' however meant that there was no time left after the class eliminations to run the Top Eliminators. The car entries consisted of various saloons, Minis, Sports Cars, a few American Saloons, some circuit racers and the dragsters of K. Stevens, Derek Metcalf, Nobby Hills, L. Moss, Alan Allard, Colin Glass, Tony Densham, Allan Herridge and Norman Barclay. The motorcycles consisted of a variety of straight-line racers, many of which were sprint machines, from 350cc up to the 1000cc-plus bikes of Alf Hagon, Ian Ashwell and Freddie Wells. Keith Sales made it to the final of  Car Class 4 in his Jaguar where he met the Pontiac of Mrs Ann Bennett. Mrs Bennett holeshot Sales and took the win with a 15.60/88 to a 15.59/93. Nobby Hills took 'Houndog II' to a best of 12.25 and won his final with a 12.50/101 against the Riley powered dragster of L. Moss. Class 2 of the motorcycle eliminations threw up an interesting situation when all four of the semi finalists made foul starts. The organisers carried on with the elimination in case the lights were at fault. On completion the lights were judged to be in good working order and all four semi finalists were disqualified. The rain waited until the action on the track had just finished before putting in an appearance, and the wind blew the start line gantry over for good measure!

For all class results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

The Blackbushe Dragfest was plauged by torrential rain. This years U.S. tour was a financial disaster.Runs for the Americans were limited to demonstrations only on the Sunday. Buddy Cortines ran the best et and speed at 8.78/179. Allan Herridge drove his new Pulsation slingshot to a best of 12.31 and collected £12 for the days quickest qualifing run.

To see all the results from this meeting click here.

RAF Woodvale Dragfest. Buddy Cortines won the US Competitors elimination and recorded the fastest time of the '65 Dragfest with a 7.74/201. This stood as an unofficial UK record until 1970. In the first round of racing Danny Ongias, who had run the UK's first seven second pass by qualifying at number one with a 7.99, became the first to break the 200mph barrier in the UK. Shortly after Cortines, in his first round race, also ran 200mph. It would be another eleven years before there was another eight car Top Fuel field in the UK. Also at this meeting Allan Herridge matched his 12.31 et from Blackbushe with a terminal speed of 117mph.  Dick Rios and Priness Perry brought over a pair of nitro-burning twin Triumph motorcycles. Rios managed a best of 11.12 on Two-Timer, while Perry, aboard Sonny Scott's Stage Fright, ran 10.53/150, putting him into the semi finals where he would face Alf Hagon. When the time came for the pair to race however Perry was disqualified for taking too long to arrive at the start line. Hagon soloed to a 10.50/147, the fastest time of the day, and went on to win the final against Rios, who suffered gearbox troubles.

To see all the results from this meeting click here (Simon Groves, Steve Collins & Jon Spoard)

Santa Pod. BDRA Meeting.  Entry List. The U.K.s first permanent, purpose built dragstrip opened, Santa Pod Raceway near Wellingborough. It rained until midday! There had been some frantic action in the hours leading up to the morning of the event, as the sun rose over the horizon a temporary roof was being fixed to the control tower and the metal staircase was being welded to allow the officials to gain entry to the three story buiding.There was a total of sixty entries including 15 dragsters. Amoung them were Ken Cooper with his Bazooka slingshot which ran low 14second passes, Ken Bunce who debuted the Jaguar powered Barons Barrow with a 15.65, Clive Lingard who had problems with carburettor fires in his 317 Lincoln dragster Purple Heart (the car was later sold to a nightclub owner who put it on display in his disco, which burnt down destroying the car), Chris Pattison with the Allard Dragon he had won in a competition in British Drag Racing magazine, Pete Atkins with his Allard Dragon (still in use today driven by Alan Smith with the Wild Bunch) and another Allard Dragon powered by a 2000cc Bristol engine and driven by Colin Glass. Harold Bull in his Stripduster dragster became the first person to run and receive an official timeslip at the new venue. Tony Densham won Top Eliminator in his  1500cc blown Ford dragster 'The Worden' at 12.32/122mph. P. Huggins took his Triumph powered machine to a new Dragster H Class E.T. record of 14.29 seconds.

Click here to see the results.

SPR. Brian Witty took his Ford powered dragster to a new class C E.T. record of 12.674. Don Farrell took his Competition Altered 'Farralac' to a new B class speed record of 112.49. K. Bunnage set both ends of the G Class record for Sports & GT with a 15.312/89.21 in his Marcos. In the Production division I. Caplain set a new C Class E.T. record of 16.155 in his Jaguar while J. Elms set a new F Class E.T. record of 21.480 in his Cortina. (Jim & Janet Smith) 

For all class results and best times click here.

SPR. Car Meeting.

For all class results click here

SPR. BHRA Motorcycle Meeting.With only a small entry field, several different eliminations were run. There were Class eliminations followed by Division eliminations, then a Super Eliminator and a Top Eliminator. In the Class eliminations, Ian Richardson on Moonraker won the A class, Eamon Hurley on the 1300cc Manx Dragster won the B class, D class was won by Dennis Allen on Ramrod, Tony Heading on his Velocette won the E class, Eamon Hurley won the F class on his 350cc Manx Dragster and David Pickett won the G class on his Yamaha. In the Division eliminators, Ian Richardson beat Les Field and then Dennis Allen to take the A class with FTD 11.80 at 121. In the final of Super Eliminator, Ray Brown ran 15.34/83 to defeat Eamon Hurley. In the Top Eliminator, Dennis Allen got his revenge by beating Ian Richardson on Moonraker with a run of 12.22/110.

For all class results click here. (Clive Rooms)

 SPR. The Easter meeting drew a competitor list of 70, the largest yet, and the largest ever spectator attendance with 6000 fans and TV cameras too. Mark Stratton debuted his BSA Scout bodied Altered, 'Hustler' which ran a 265ci Chevy motor. He made it through to the final of Super Eliminator where he was beaten by Keith Sales in his 370ci Chevy powered 'Megalomania' a glass fibre bodied fastback with an E-Type front end. Sales ran 13.54/104.6 to Strattons 14.12/95.4. Dennis Priddle set new E.T. and speed records in the I Dragster class driving Tony Ganes 'Wicked Lady' Rudge powered machine. The new marks were 12.639/101.94. A. LeFort took his Ferrari to a new D Class speed record of 108.93mph. F. Foley took his Imp to new G Class Modified Production records of 17.019 seconds and 87.49mph while in Production L. Neville took his Austin to set new records of 21.429seconds and 63.98mph in Production G Class. (Jim & Janet Smith)

SPR. BHRA Big Go. A new record competitor list for Santa Pod, this time 86 in all. Clive Skilton was competing in a 997cc Ford powered version of an HRF Opus which he drove to the track from Hemel Hempstead. He also won the Top Street Eliminator driving an E Type Jag. This meeting also saw the first Continental competitor to run on British soil, U.S. Serviceman Sydnor Harris with a 283 motored '55 Chevy 'Little D', complete with cheater slicks and a Hurst shifter, which he had driven from the Ramstein USAF base in West Germany. He ran a best of 15.583/90.01 in the Street Elimination. Keith Sales put in a trial run in 'Megalomania' on Saturday and broke a halfshaft, he replaced it only to have the propshaft fail the next day. Pete Allen ran some demos on his twin Triumph engined bike and Ian Richardson did the same on 'Moonraker'. Dennis Priddle won his class in 'Wicked Lady' and was entered in the Top Eliminator but lost to Alan Ing in the ex-works Dragon dragster who went on to meet Harold Bull in 'Stripduster' in the final. Bull showed he was a true sportsman when Ing had trouble getting his car to fire up. He cut his engine on the line and waited while Ing was "pushed furiously about the start area". The car eventually fired, Bull re-started and the race was on, with Ing taking the win with a 10.874/122 to a 13.087/100 from the less powerful 'Stripduster'. In Competiton Altered C Class D. Cottingham set a new E.T. record of 13.846 in his Jaguar powered Ford Popular while in G Class M. Thomas set both ends of the record at 15.131/94.34. The Street Altered class saw no less than six new records set. In B Class M. Kent set a new E.T. record of 14.502  in the 'Facel Vega' while D. Davis set the MPH record at 96.71 in his Pontiac. R. Rose set both ends of the Class C record with a 12.045/126.42 in his 'Maclaren Rose'. Both ends of the D Class record went to C. Jones in his Opus/Ford at 15.928/73.31 while D. Render set both ends of the E Class record at 13.800/92.08 in his Ford powered Fiat. Finally in Street Altered K. Bullen set a new MPH mark of 66.31 in the G Class. In the E Class of the Sports & GT section G Tyack took his Porsche Carrera to set both ends of the record at 13.534/113.51. Modified Production saw three new records with a new MPH mark in the D Class from E. Ellis in his Ford while J. Smalley set both ends of the F Class with a run of 16.348/86.58. In Production G. Bennett took his Studebaker to a new MPH record of 88.57 in the C Class. A drivers/organisers meeting was held on the Sunday night at which some decisions were made that would affect the way meetings would be run in the future. To view these click here.

For all class results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

SPR. This was a motorcycle meeting and also the first weekend of the US Commandos Drag Racing Team’s two meetings during which they were running demonstration passes. Alf Hagon was trying to become the first British rider into the 9 second bracket, he didn’t make it but it wasn’t for lack of trying. He made runs of 10.11, 10.41, 10.16, 10.13 and 10.52. Peter Allen debuted a new bike with two 650 Triumph engines. Over the weekend, he made 12 runs, all in the ten second bracket, and one run was coupled with a terminal speed of 157 mph. In the 500cc class, John Hobbs was making a name for himself by running an 11.95, the first rider in his class to dip under twelve seconds.

For all class results click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR.This meeting saw the second visit from Bob George, Al Eckstrand and the combined American Commando Drag Race Team. The class eliminations were run on the Saturday, and the night meet completed that evening, but Sunday was rained out and the Major Eliminations were not run. Alan Ing took the Top Eliminator and the D class titles. Dennis Priddle was driving Tony Ganes "Wicked Lady" and won the I class for Dragsters. Within 24 hours of the meeting being called off the RAC had made all the necessary arrangements for the meeting to be re-run on the following weekend.

For all class results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

SPR. Rain Date Meeting. The re-run of the Commando Team Meeting from the previous week. As the Class Eliminations had been run on the previous Saturday the first day was a general practice and match race day. The Commando team promotors had worked hard all week to promote the event and on the Saturday Ron Jelinek took the twin engined Buick rail out to a local carnival to help publicise the next days racing. On the track Bud Barnes put in a wild run in his "Ultra Sonic" rail finishing in the opposite lane to the one he started in. Later in the day Tony Densham, with friend and collegue Peter Billington and assisited by Bud Barnes mechanic Bob Gladstone, pushed the Commuter out onto the strip for its first fire up. With Gladstone in the cockpit the car was pushed up the track until the oil pressure was up and then Bob dropped the clutch and it fired first time. This operation was repeated many times while Bob tuned the newly fitted Hilborn injection system. Also making use of the late evening track time was Keith Sales who had fitted a 1957 Oldsmobile rear axle to his "Megalomania" and Harold Bull whose "Stripduster" rail appeared with a front mounted cabin blower attached to the BMC 'A' type motor for the first time. On the Sunday Al Eckstrand took a drive in "Megalomania" and recorded a  12.5. Tony Densham took to the cockpit of the Commuter for his first run but as the car fired the magneto drive failed and that was it for the weekend. 20 cars contested the Competiton Eliminator ranging from the 14 second Lotus of Ken Obee to BHRA secretary Mick Collins "Half a min" running in the 23 second bracket. (Handicaps were used in competition, cars running to the class records which stood at that time).Hugh Gunderson took the final in his Singer Chamois "Oscar" with a 16.981 to defeat the Rat Fink Drag Racing Teams Geoffery Pearson in his "Mini Hater" Morris Minor 1000. The Super Eliminator contained, amongst others, Mark Strattons "Hustler", Gayle Fenners Mustang, Cliff Beasleys Austin Cooper and the Barracuda of US Airforceman Fred Batchelder. Top Eliminator was as usual reserved for the eight fastest competitors. Alan Ing emerged victorious with an 11.901/116.14 win over Ken Coopers 12.883/106.84.

For Eliminations results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

Duxford. Alf Hagon, was present with his 1260cc Hagon-JAP. He had increased the size of the inlet port for the Shorrocks blower from 2 to 2 5/16 in. in preparation for an attempt at breaking into the nines. He had run consistant 10-ones in his last three meetings. With a 30% nitro load he made his first run, a 10.10/150, during which he experienced some steering wobble. The cause of this became apparent as he came off the throttle, the front tyre was flat. A skillful effort from Alf got the machine stopped safely. His next run was a 10.03. He then lowered the rear slick pressure from 17 to 14psi for his third attempt as the bike had slewed sideways on both previous launches. This time the bike ran straight and stopped the clocks at 9.93, the first nine second run outside the USA. (Original entry contributed by Alf Hagon)

SPR. BHRA Motorcycle Drag Race Meeting. In the final of Super Eliminator, Ian Richardson on Moonraker just crossed the stripe ahead of Dennis Allen on Ramrod. Richardson’s time was 11.504/123 to Allen’s 11.506/112. In the final of Top Eliminator, John Lloyd put down the only 10 second run of the day on his Vincent at 10.84/130 to see off the 12.48/124 from John Henderson on Blood-Shot.

For all class winners click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR. Car Drag Race Meeting. Drag Racing & Hot Rod Magazine Trophy Meeting. In the first round of Top Eliminator, Harold Bull in Stripduster, now with a supercharger, was surprisingly beaten by the Square One Oldsmobile engined car, 12.74/100 to a losing 13.07/86. Ken Cooper then defeated Brian Ringsell in the Wee Green Pea dragster with a 12.36/113, Alan Ing in the Allard Dragon put down an 11.48/112 to send Derek Metcalf back to the pits, and Ray Archer in the Jag powered Blunderbus ran 13.69/95 to see off Alan Blount’s Weekend Warrior. In the semi-finals, Ken Cooper ran a PB 12.00/113 which was too strong for the Square One car, and Alan Ing recorded an 11.02/124 which was too strong for Blunderbus. The final was an easy win for Ing as his 11.22/121 was too quick for Cooper’s 12.33/110.

For all class results click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR. Motorcycle Drag Racing Championships Meeting. Santa Pod was paying out £10 for each sub ten second run and Alf Hagon collected £20. Alf’s first nine was a 9.93, and his second was 9.679 coupled with a terminal speed of 143.88 mph. The ET at the time was the worlds quickest. It came in the final of Top Eliminator against Pete Allen on his twin engined Triumph machine. Allen could only manage 10.91/129. One interesting fact about Hagon’s record breaking run was that his front tyre deflated on the run which didn’t cause any problems under power, but meant quite a hairy time slowing down!

For all class winners click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR. British Drag Race Championship Meeting.  Sunday saw the running of the Class Eliminations, the first heats of some of the major eliminations and some demonstrations from Tony Densham in the 'Commuter'. The first saw the car bog off the line and then rapidly pick up speed as Tony got to grips with the power. The E.T. was 10.30, the fastest of the day so far. A second run later showed that Tony was gaining confidence in the car and he clocked a storming 9.10/141, the quickest ever by any British built car. Also on hand for demos was Alf Hagon who put in a nine second run on the JAP. His second run of the day ended before it had begun when a broken crank pin seperated the flywheel and wrecked the crankcase on the start line. Pete Gray brought along two Harley Davidsons, the first was a street bike on which he performed a selection of stunts for the entertainment of the crowd, the second was his supercharged, nitro-burning sprint bike which dropped a valve on the start line before its first run. After action on the track had finished the 200 campers, and the assembled competitors, made the most of the warm evening and various parties sprang up, one of which was being organised by the start line crew. They had laid claim to Jack Stillwells 'Stripside Stores' and were supplying free drinks with music and dancing. For reasons which are not apparent Clive Skilton decided to see how many women he could cram into the cockpit of his 'Henry T' Hot Rod. The answer being a staggering 15! Monday saw Tony Densham out for another demo but some backfiring on the fire up indicated problems and that was his weekend over. Alf Hagon had stayed at the track and put in a smoky run on Pete Allens supercharged Triumph twin, and Ian Richardson put in some demos on  'Moonraker'. The eliminations produced some great racing. Keith Sales missed out on his chance of a Super Eliminator title in 'Megalomania' in the second round when his parachute came out as he left the line against Peter Mylrea in 'Stagecoach'. Mylrea made it to the final where he lost out to Dave Riswick who was driving the 'Hustler' altered. Only six dragsters were entered for the Top Eliminator which would decide who took the Championship crown. Alan Ing, in his blown Cortina engined 'Dragon' rail, had missed a gear and put a rod through the block on the previous day but was back out with a rebuilt motor using a block that another competitor had lying in his garage. The other drivers in Top Eliminator had decided that Alan would be allowed back into the running whenever the car was ready. He defeated Harold Bulls 'Stripduster', 11.604/121.65 to 11.728/114.94, in the first round, got a bye-run in the second where he recorded 11.776/118.06, and advanced to the final by beating Maurice Hicks Jaguar powered 'Avenger' with an 11.752/113.25. His opponent for the title was Ken Cooper who had earlier run a personal best of 12.050. There were doubts that Ings temporary motor would stand up to another full pass. Both cars launched well and stayed together until half track where the motors of both began to falter. It was close at the top end but Ing crossed the line first with a 12.869/117.51 to a 13.280/101.73. This meeting saw the introduction of a 'Ladies Eliminator' Christine Skilton, driving Clives E Type, beat Diana Floyd in Jagos T while Rachael Harvey beat Pam Metcalfe, the only woman to try her hand in a dragster in husband Dereks 'Wombat'. Christine took the final win over Rachael.

For all class results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

SPR. Motorcycle Records Meeting. Just a couple of strip records were broken at this first Records Meeting. Newcomer Mick Merrick took the strip record for three wheelers at 12.531/107.41, and John Lloyd on his Vincent Special reset the C Class record at 10.558/136.45.

For all class results click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR. Records Meeting. The line up for this meeting promised to be one of the best yet, 17 Dragsters, 19 Altereds, a team of 13 Americans with big Stockers from Ramstein in Germany, Tony Densham with the 'Commuter', Alf Hagon with his JAP Dragbike and Ian Richardson with the 'Moonraker' bike. Unfortunately rain marred the proceedings and half way through the Class Eliminations the meeting was called to a halt for an extra long lunch break. At 3 p.m. Drag control decided that the meeting would continue, despite the wet conditions, with a reduced eliminator and the loyal fans were treated to some decidedly 'hairy' racing. Although it was late in the season some new cars made their debut, among them 'Orange Crate' Derek Benbows 303c.i. Oldsmobile powered Pop, Reg Sommers Zephyr 6 powered rail with its unusual front suspension set up and Clive Skiltons '64 Stingray. Clive made a little piece of history at this meeting when he became the first person to win both the Super Eliminator (in the Stingray) and the Competition Eliminator (in the 'Henry T' Altered) on the same day. He also won the Sports & GT B  and the G Street Altered Class Eliminations. Alan Ing won the Top Eliminator, defeating Harold Bull in 'Stripduster'. Densham, Hagon and Richardson wisely decided not to run in the wet conditions but there were some demonstration passes from one of the most unusual vehicles yet seen at Santa Pod. Jack Daly put in three runs in his Turbonique  rocket powered Go-Kart. Unfortunately I can find no times or speeds for this machine and no details other than it launched with a bang, slowly built up speed, crossed the line looking like it would never stop and the vapour trail it left behind brought tears to the eyes of spectators and officials.

For all class results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

SPR. Last chance Motorcycle Meeting.

For all class results click here

SPR. Last chance Car Meeting. The day started off damp from overnight rain and the puddles on the strip slowed down the first competitors in the practice session which was extended until 12.45pm. Keith Sales had a new set of headers on 'Megalomania' but the rain soaked strip slowed him to a 14.843 in practice with some serious sounding engine trouble which put the car back on the trailer. Making its debut, and creating a lot of interest, was John Woolfes 427 Shelby Cobra. Woolfe put in three practice runs of 13.529/97.94, 13.391/110.25 and 12.828/112.61. He went on to take the Sports & GT B Class with a 13.173/110.13. He was then entered in the Super Eliminator where he defeated David Render in the 'Tornado' Fiat/Ford Altered, ran 12.909/107.87 to beat Peter Mylrea in 'Stagecoach' and met Mark Strattons 'Hustler' in the final. Stratton took the win, with a 109.89mph terminal speed and no recorded time, to Woolfes close 12.723/112.11. Ian Demaine put on a spectacular start line show in his Mustang powered Zodiac when oil leaked onto the headers and set the sump alight, resulting in Ian and most of the start line crew getting covered in foam. Top speed of the day went to Alan Blount in his 'Weekend Warrior' rail at 13.60/121.07 which also won him the B Class Elimination. Alan Ing was dominant in the Dragster classes again, winning the D class with a 11.922/117.23, which was the quickest time of the day, and the Top Eliminator where he defeated the 1500cc Rootes powered rail of Chris Leaney. With time to spare at the end of proceedings some match racing was in order, Pete Atkins taking his Cobra powered T Bucket to a win over Ian Demaine while John Woolfe and Clive Skilton held a best of three. Skilton had a two second start in his Stingray and was caught and beaten in the first race by Woolfe. In the second Woolfe left too early and pulled a red, handing the win to Skilton. In the final and deciding race John was careful not to repeat this and waited too long to catch Clive at the top end.

For all class results click here. (Jim & Janet Smith)

SPR. Easter Monday. Season Opener for cars.  10,552 spectators turned up for the first meeting of the season. Amongst those present were Tony Densham with the Commuter who set a new low E.T. mark of 9.052 with both head gaskets blown, Clive Skilton in the Allard-Skilton Chrysler rail who set a new terminal speed of 163.40mph, and the debut of a new car, the Keith Black hemi powered Tudor Rose of the Priddle/Sluggett team which ran some promising low nine second shakedowns. With Rex Sluggett driving the first run stopped the clocks at 10.25/154, the best being an impressive 9.409/161, which was a new A Class dragster record. Nobby Hills debuted his Houndog 3 rail which had a 154 inch wheelbase, American style body and a 1955 Cadillac Engine (5.7L) "Movin" Mike Hutcherson was doing the driving duties. Another debut  that created a lot of interest was 'Mean Machine' the ex-Bill Thomas/Dick Harrell 427 Chevy II "Funny Car" driven by Bill Slattery. With no windows, fat slicks and an altered wheelbase it was these cars that were the forerunners of the funny car as we know it today.  Bill put in a couple of 12.3s before lunching the transmission. Densham and Skilton held a match race which saw the Commuter lose fire twice before Skilton was given the green and ran 9.138/163.4. D. Render set a new E Class Street Altered speed record of 94.16 mph in his Lotus/Ford and J. Chant set a new G Class Modified Sports Production speed record of 89.77mph. In Sports Production G. Belton set both ends of the CC Class record at 13.582/104.60 in his Ford while K. Barnes drove his Honda to set both ends of the G Class record at 18.685/70.87. J. Copp set a new Modified Production speed record of 100.21mph in the CC Class. Also in Modified Production P. Shelton set both ends of the E Class record at 14.498/94.88. In the Production class John Wright set both ends of the C Class record at 17.019/81.04 in his Jaguar while K. Barnes took his Honda to set both ends of the I class record at 21.684/58.62.(Bill Dossett)

To see all class winners from this meet click here (Jerry Cookson)

SPR. Season Opener for bikes. About 3500 people turned out for the first bike meeting of the year, unfortunately many of them left early after long delays in track action. The delays were put down to confusion caused by the new track layout, a temporary loss of power when SPRs generator broke down, and the number of people "milling about" in the pit area preventing riders from getting their machines to the start line. Also a light aircraft decided to drop in using the strip as a runway! Alf Hagon brought out his re-vamped JAP for demonstration runs, complete with a repainted frame and and multi-coloured anodised alloy fittings. His first run netted a 9.644/148.59, the fastest run ever in the UK but, much to the disappointment of the crowd, very little in the way of his trademark smoking rear slick. Always one to please the fans Alf came out again and smoked the full quarter mile to record a slower 9.718/144.09. In the Top Eliminator Final Ian Ashwell , riding his 1000cc Vincent 'Satan', took an early lead over the 500cc Triumph of John Hobbs. Ashwell then missed a succession of gears and Hobbs caught up with him, the pair crossing the line together. In their excitment the timekeepers missed the indicator which told them who got there first! The sporting duo each declared that the other guy won but later the win was awarded to Ashwell.

To see all class winners from this meet click here. (Jerry Cookson)

SPR. Car meeting. Alan Allard set both ends of the D class Competition Altered record at 13.513/102.04. B. Harvey set both ends of the Modified Sports Production F Class record at 16.284/81.43. K. Sales set a new Modified Production ET record of 14.917 while P. Harris took the speed record at 93.98, both driving Jaguars and R. Alonso took both ends of the Production B Class at 15.158/95.97 in his Mercury. (Bill Dossett). Clive Skilton ran low E.T. and top speed of the meeting with a 9.268/160.77 run. Mark Stratton was out in his Hustler altered, now with a new L88 427 Chevrolet motor, running a best of 13.05/102.35. Closest race of the day was Keith Sales, in his "SS Draguar" Jaguar, against the Mercury Cyclone GT of Rod Alonso. Keith took the win with a 15.204 to Alonsos 15.203! Nobby Hills Houndog 3 won Top Eliminator with an 11.49/105.71.

For all class results click here. (Jerry Cookson)

SPR. Motorcycle Match Race meeting.  After the poor organisation of the seasons opener meeting for bikes it was imperative that this meet ran without a hitch and the editor of Drag Racing And Hot Rod magazine, John Bennett, was called in to oversee the proceedings. It seemed to work with an average of 40 races every hour. There was one delay when Pete Smith, riding his 650 Hagon Triumph, drifted into the finish light mirrors breaking them and three bones in his foot. The format was as follows; each rider made two qualifying runs to determine which bracket they would compete in. The brackets were split from 10.5 seconds, in varying steps down to 19.4 seconds. The first round of each bracket was a best of three match race between each pair of riders with the next rounds following the same pattern until there were two bikes left in each bracket. Simple eh? Ian Ashwell won the fastest bracket on his 1000cc Vincent with mid ten second runs at 130mph. Ian and John Hobbs ran a match race to decide the confusion caused from their final race at the season opener. Ian agreed not to tip the can to give Hobbs a chance with his 500cc Triumph. Hobbs took full advantage of this and beat Ashwell 2/3.  In Competiton Solo Motorcycle John Lloyd set both ends of the C Class at 10.363/141.44 on his Vincent and R. May took his Triumph to a new F Class speed record of 118.91. In the Street Solo Motorcycle class M. Copelin took his Triton to a new D Class speed record of 102.35. (Bill Dossett)

For all class results click here. (Jerry Cookson)

SPR. BHRA Big Go. Cars only. Pete Atkins set both ends of the CC Class Competition Altered record at 11.643/125.47. Ken Obee set a new E Class Modified Sports Production ET record at 13.930 in his Lotus 7 while T. Faulkner took the speed record at 98.91. Also in MSP, D. Sinclair ran a new ET record in the G Class at 15.148. (Bill Dossett) A record entry of 95 cars attended this event. For the first time ever one of the UKs top racers, Clive Skilton, was running in competition in the Allard/Skilton rail. Clive and crew were determined to be the first into the eights and ran consistently under 9.2 seconds at over 160mph. His best of the weekend was 9.005. Rex Sluggett was driving Tudor Rose, also attempting to get into the eights. He didn't come as close as Skilton but set a new terminal speed record on his first run at 168.35mph in 9.097seconds. His second run saw an E.T. of 9.3 seconds and an improved speed of 179.53mph. Bill McGrath pushed his Jaguar powered Roadster 'Goink' the full length of the strip to make the next round of eliminations, his E.T. was 790.865 seconds, over 13 minutes! He red-lit in the next round. In the Sunday morning practice Mark Stratton ran his best ever time of 11.1/129.5. Allan Herridge also ran his best ever in his injected Chevy rail of 10.3/143, only to have his timing gear blow on the next run. Bill Slattery returned with the ex-Bill Thomas/Dick Harrell 427 Chevy funny car 'Mean Machine'. He had added a four speed box and 200lbs of ballast in the trunk to try and get the front wheels to lift. He made a wild pass of 12.02 seconds but the fronts stayed on the ground. He lowered the tyre pressures to 15psi on the next run but broke the rear axle on the start line. Les Turner ran a new personal best in his four cylinder Ford rail of 10.2/132.4, only to find he had split a piston. Three bikes were present to give demo runs. Steve Perry ran a best of 13.6/114 on his V6 Ford powered machine. Dennis Allen took the nitro burning 'Ram Rod' to some ten second runs and Alf Hagon ran quicker every time he came out, culminating in a best of 9.432/153.85. The finals took place on a rain-soaked track and Clive Skilton took the honours in Top Eliminator with an 11.40/129.03 to Brian Ringsells 14.02 in 'Taxi'. Clives dad took the final win in the Viva Drivers Eliminator. R. Rose set both ends of the CC Class record at 11.809/120.77 in his McLaren/Ford. (Bill Dossett)

For all class results click here. (Jerry Cookson)

SPR.  Combined car and motorcycle meeting including night racing. Cars and bikes on Saturday, bikes only on Sunday.  Tony Densham was on hand with the Commuter and took top speed of the meeting at 9.2 seconds with a terminal speed of 168.63mph. Clive Skilton was entered in the Allard/Skilton rail, he ran low E.T. and best time for competing cars with a storming 9.043/167.50. On his second qualifying run he lunched the clutch but still stopped the clocks at 9.5/144. Roy Phelps brought along the Fibre Glass Repairs Corvette Stingray wheelie car and managed to get all four wheels off the ground at one point. The meeting took on a match race format with cars grouped in brackets, and paired off, according to their qualifying times. Bracket One ran from Skilton's 9.04 to 12.8 seconds. Skilton's breakage gave a bye to Alan Blount. Pete Atkins in Slo Mo Shun took an 11.6s win against Derek Metcalf's Strip Star. Ken Cooper's Bazooka Too took an 11.7 victory over an 11.9 from the Opus One of Cliff Jones. Harold Bull also advanced to the semi finals in Stripduster with an 11.72 against Pete Ringsell in the Rinsall/Reynolds Taxi. In the semis Blount took an easy win with a 12.03 after Atkins left too early. Cooper then beat an off-form Bull with an 11.7 to a 12.04. In the final Cooper made a promising holeshot but Blount caught and passed him at half track to take the win with an 11.28/120 to an 11.77. In the Bracket Two (12.08 - 14.07s) semis Reg Sommers took a win in his MAB rail against the Geronimo car of Mick Tickner, and Gerry Cookson's Trouble Shooter beat the Lotus of Ken Obee. Sommers took the final win with a 13.35/99.6. Number Three Bracket (14.08 - 16.00s) semis saw Rod Alonso's Mercury Cyclone GT take a 14.8 win against a 15.07 from Gary Goggin's Mustang. Bill Weichelt took the other semi win in his Firebird against the Leprechaun of Mick Cunningham. Alonso took the final win with a 14.8 to a 15.35 from Weichelt. Bracket Four (16.01 - 19.05s) saw Chris Urlwin's Uncle Otis Vitesse make it to the final after opponent Jim Wanberg, in his 57 Chevrolet, red lit. There he met the Cortina GT of Stan Rapson who had taken a bye in the previous round. Urlwin took the final win with a 17.4 to an 18.2.

On the Sunday John Lloyd took his nitro burning Vincent motorcycle into the nines for the first time, a 9.84, this was the first ever sub-ten second run in the world for a 1000cc machine. There was almost another rider in the nines. Dennis Allen took his 750cc Triumph to a 10.086/138.31. John Hobbs had some issues early on which resulted in disappointing 12 second runs, but after some fettling he ran a best of 10.97/124.22 from the Olympus Triumph. In the first round of Top Eliminator Lloyd, who had won the C Class Eliminations with a 10.41/147.93, took an easy win over the Ingenious 750 Triumph AJS of Reg McCarty, 10.309/146 to 12.52/106. Hobbs beat the Norton of Chris Bartram 11.52/118 to 11.723/112, and Mick Butler took the 1000cc Pegasus to a 14.978 win over a 12.377 from Don East's Triumph! Dennis Allen on Ramrod had won the D Class Competiton solo eliminations, with a 10.46/133.87, made it through the first round, but gearbox failure meant he was out. Lloyd then set the pace with his 9.84 at 146.63mph, a run which resulted in a broken clutch shaft, putting him out of the running for the final. Hobbs meanwhile advanced with a strong 10.976/124, going on to meet Butler for the title race and taking the win with an 11.024/124.

For all class results click here.

SPR. Summer Match Race. Mark Stratton set both ends of the B Class Competition Altered record at 11.030/131.06. M. Wheeler set a new G Class Dragster speed record of 105.49 in his Rootes powered machine. B Lawrence set a new E Class Street Altered ET record at 14.121. C. Plummer set a new F Class Street Altered speed record at 77.46. K. Barnes set both ends of the F Class Modified Production  record at 15.206/90.66. Gary Goggin took his Ford Mustang to a new CC Class Super Stock Production speed record of 95.97 and R. Ours took his Chevy to new ET and speed records of 18.935/71.63 in the D Production class. (Bill Dossett). With Clive Skilton absent, as he had been unable to get a new clutch for his Allard Skilton rail, only Tony Densham with the Commuter and Rex Sluggett with Tudor Rose were on hand to put in some demo runs. First out was Densham who put in a smooth 9.2. Sluggett followed this with a smoky9.5/168.92. Densham came out a second time and put in a storming, out of shape 9.1/170.07 to take the overall top speed and E.T. of the day. To everyones excitement the two were due to come out at the end of the meeting for a side by side race. Unfortunately it began to rain and the decision was taken (unusually) that it would be too dangerous to run the UKs two quickest cars on a wet strip. Roy Jameson was present with an experimental prototype Rolls Royce Merlin powered sports car, essentially a chassis with a motor. Some personal bests were set, Mick 'Tik' Tickner, in the Oldsmobile powered 'Geronimo', put in his first ever ten second run, a 10.901/136, in qualifying. In his first race, against Tony Ellisons Jaguar powered Austin Ruby, Tik went one better and took the win with a 10.05/143.47, to give him the top E.T. and speed of the meeting amoungst the competing cars. Mark Stratton was running slicks for the first time on the 'Hustler' Chevy Altered and dropped into the tens for the first time with a 10.71/134. The two met in the Top Bracket Final, both cars launched sideways, Stratton lifting slightly before nailing it and taking the win with an 11.97/129.87 to Tiks 12.00/141.44.

For all class results click here. (Jerry Cookson)

SPR. Combined car and motorcycle meeting including night racing. The first ever side by side run by two British built top fuel dragsters.Tony Densham in Commuter Vs Rex Sluggett's Tudor Rose.Sluggett red lit, smoked the full quarter and ran 9.312/176.78. Densham ran a 9.036/163.93. (Jon Spoard) This was also the first ever side by side nine second match race in the UK. In the second race between the two cars Rex rolled the beam for another red light but sat and waited until Densham launched before hitting the throttle. The Commuters motor blew at the 1/8th and Rex took the win with a 180.83 mph terminal speed. Densham coasted over the line with a 9.82 E.T. In the qualifying sessions Dennis Priddle had taken the weekends first drive in Tudor Rose and ran a 9.343/141.84. His second drive in the car clocked an easy 9.503/157.23. Mick Tickner took Geronimo into the nines for the first time with a 9.973/143.27. Allan Herridge ran a new personal best of 10.20/141.84 in his Motovation Chevy rail. Tony Densham ran a strong 9.20/166.94 and Clive Skilton, in the Skilton/Allard rail clocked a 9.236/156.49. Clive Skilton entered the eliminations having been advised not to run with a damaged head gasket. He ignored the advice and shut down the Ringsell-Reynolds 'Taxi' and Alan Blounts Chevy powered 'Weekend Warrior II', before meeting Mark Stratton in the 'Hustler' altered for the final. Stratton made a good start and left the line ahead of Skilton but Clive smoked the tyres the whole way through, passing Mark at about 100 yards, and winning with a 9.543/148.15 to a losing 10.95/124.22. The end of the meeting saw Allan Herridge and Mick Tickner running a 'grudge match' with Tik just taking the win with a 10.174 to Bootsies 10.193, another new personal best.

R. Geary took his Triumph to a new D Class Street Solo Motorcycle E.T. record of 13.397. Phil Eeles took his Honda to a new H Class Street Solo Motorcycle speed record of 58.82mph. Neville Barham set both ends of the B Class Competiton Threewheeler record at 12.556/105.60(Bill Dossett)

For all class results from this meeting click here. (Jerry Cookson)

SPR. Combined car and motorcycle meeting including night racing. The Drag Racing and Hot Rod Magazine Trophy Meeting. Originally scheduled as a practice day this was the re-run of the rained out meeting the previous weekend.  Tony Densham took the Commuter to Santa Pods first eight. An 8.891/173.16 alongside the Oldsmobile powered Geronimo of Mick Tickner, the quickest unblown fueler outside the USA at this time. Densham received a cheque for £50 as the prize for the first eight second run. 45 minutes later the Commuter was out again for a solo run.This time Densham ran 8.459/180.83, the lowest ever E.T. in Europe. In the Super Eliminator Gerry Cookson put in some of his quickest runs in the 'Trouble Shooter' dragster to meet Pete Atkins Cobra Altered. The final saw Cookson get a hole shot and hold the lead to the 1/8th before the Altered came storming past, Atkins then lost top gear and watched Cookson regain the lead before dropping a couple of cogs in desperation and winning by half a cars length at 13.30/113.64, in second gear! On the Sunday it was the turn of the bikes. Roger Barnes pulled a huge wheelie in the first round of the Class E eliminations, coming down hard and hitting his chin on the handlebars, but kept the power on and ran a 15.38 before having five stiches put in the cut. He came back out in the Compettion Eliminator. Ronnie Vane broke the Comp Eliminator class record on two occasions on his 998cc Vincent, leaving it at 13.52 seconds. In the first Heat of Top Eliminator the two favourites, Dennis Allen and John Lloyd, met. In a close race Lloyd took the win with a 10.18/132.10 to Allens 10.30/134.59. Lloyd defeated Don East in the final, 10.32/140.65 to 10.82/125.94, before sitting out the second heat until the final round. Dennis Allen fought his way through the second heat to meet Les Turner in the Final, and took the win with a 10.54/132.80 when Turners machine failed. The two heat winners then met for the Grand Final. Allen pulled a red light and ran 10.614/131.75 to Lloyds winning 10.29/139.86. With the eliminations out of the way a 'Certified Record Session took place with silver cigarette boxes up for grabs for the sucessful competitors. Desmond Heckle cut a whole second off the Class G Competition Solo record, with a new time of 12.313, and Phillip Kersey lowered the H Comp Solo record from 16.34 to 14.76 on his 125cc Bultaco.   Allan Herridge and Alan Blount made it through to the final of Top Eliminator. Blount got the holeshot in his Weekend Warrior and held on to a 10.71/123.61 victory over a 10.46/141.44 from Herridge's Motovation. Doug Harler took his Dodge Charger to a win over Rod Alonso's Cyclone GT in Competition Eliminator and the Street Eliminator title went to the twin cam Ford powered Austin A40 of Tim Dawson Collins over the Black Bandit Chevrolet of Jim Wanberg. Roy Phelps put in some demonstrations in the Santa Pod Wheelie Stingray, managing to keep the front wheels up for 130 yards or so.

For all class results click here. (Jerry Cookson)

In the dragster classes Alan Blount set both ends of the CC class record in his Chevrolet powered machine at 10.661/132.10. Alan Ing set both ends of the D class record at 10.967/124.69 in his Ford powered rail. M. Cunningham set both ends of the E class record at 14.397/89.45 and B. Parkins took his Triumph powered machine to both ends of the I class record at 14.414/88.18. Doug Harler took his Chrysler to both ends of the B class Super Stock Production record at 14.099/103.09.G. Reeve set both ends of the E class Street Solo Motorcycle record at 15.082/86.51 on his Vincent. In Competition Threewheeler R. Vane took hisVincent to a new C Class speed record of 101.51mph and A McFadzean set both ends of the D Class record at 13.270/102.88.(Bill Dossett)

SPR. 3rd Annual Championship meeting. Cars only. An estimated 8000 fans turned up for this event. Proceedings on Sunday were hampered by rain. The Tudor Rose of the Sluggett/Priddle team and Tony Densham's Commuter, having only put in gentle practice runs the previous day, had a three round match race. In the first round Rex Sluggett (running on methanol only) pulled a red light but Densham got to the line first with an 8.52/167.79 to an 8.69/160.77, the first side-by-side eight second race the UK had seen. Both cars were back at the start line half an hour later, this time with Dennis Priddle in the driving seat of Tudor Rose, and 30% nitro in the tank. This time the Chrysler took the honours with Priddle getting the hole shot, smoking the whole quarter and recording an 8.88/148.81 to an 8.83/166/78. The third, and deciding, round saw Densham too eager to take the honours with a red light on his 9.05/149.93 while Priddle, now with a 38% nitro load, once again smoked his way to the win, lifting before the line as the car twitched, and recording an 8.46/171.23. The 1968 Championship final was down to Allan Herridge in Motovation against Mick Tickner in Geronimo. Herridge had destroyed the timing gear on his Chevrolet powered rail the previous day, and rebuilt it with old parts overnight. When the call came for the final Tickner was ready, but Herridge's push car was stuck in the pits. The track marshalls attempted to bump start the car, to no avail, and Tickner was given the OK to go on a solo. But instead of taking the Championship there and then he sportingly offered to postpone the race until Herridge was ready. Once both cars were fired and at the line Tickner got the jump on Herridge only to watch as the Chevy powered past him to win with a 9.90/141.64 (a new personal best and Allan's first nine) to a 10.07/144.09. the Super Eliminator was won by Mark Stratton in The Hustler with an 11.80/116.96. US Serviceman Joe Copp took the Competition title with a 13.5/103 in his '57 Chevy Colt 45 Maverick. Keith Elliot took the Street title with a 16.5/84.25 in his Red Witch Jaguar.

For all class results click here. (Mick Tickner)

SPR. 2nd Annual Motorcycle Championship meeting.The meeting was severely affected by the weather with only the Class Eliminations being completed. There was a strong headwind which meant times were lower than usual. There were 58 entries for the meeting but only 46 competed in the Class Eliminations. Alf Hagon was making demonstration runs, but the weather meant he could only put in a single pass which was 9.3/157.73.

For all class results click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR.  Last Chance meeting for cars. In the Street Altered class 'G'  T. Wickett set a new speed record at 77.76mph in his B.M.C. powered machine. In Modified Production class 'CC' J. Copp recorded a new E.T. record at 13.869 in his Chevrolet. In Super Stock Production M. Collins set a new speed record at 73.42mph in the F class while in Production class E there was a new E.T. and speed record of 17.838/76.22 set by A.Ward. (Bill Dossett)

 Tony Densham put in an early 8.75 before Rex Sluggett in Tudor Rose set a new class A Dragster speed record with a 9.42/182.82mph blast, at the end of which he hit the timing lights a damaged a front tyre. That evening, with front wheels borrowed from Allan Herridge, Dennis Priddle took the driving seat of Tudor Rose and lined up alongside Densham. A holeshot from priddle saw Commuter trying to catch up and, despite getting crossed up and lifting before the finish, Dennis took the win with an 8.28/167, a new track record, Commuter followed in spectacular fashion with flames from a popped blower and an 8.77/157.

SPR. Last chance meeting for bikes. SPR Motorcycle Championships Re-Run. At this re-run meeting, most of the competitors who attended the 15th September meeting, were in attendance. Even though the weather didn’t look very promising, the organisers decided to run an Eliminator for the Championships and another one for non-qualifiers. (Clive Rooms) P. Eeles set a new Street Solo H Class E.T record of 22.230 on a Honda. In Competiton Threewheeler R. Vane took his Vincent to a new C Class E.T. record of 13.490 (Bill Dossett) John Hobbs won the Motorcycle Championship Top Eliminator title.

For all class results click here.

SPR. Combined Car & Bike Meeting. Among the highlights of this meeting was Harold Bull’s diminutive Stripduster dragster running 10.6, 10.4 and 10.5. The Marshall-Dickson 394 Olds powered Good Vibrations Anglia ran a PB of 12.88/104.6 and John Lloyd on his 1000cc Vincent bike set top time of the day at 10.33/142.28. John Hobbs dipped under the E Class record on his 500cc Triumph with a time of 10.75/132.45. (Clive Rooms). . Mike Hutcherson in Houndog 3 took his third Top Eliminator title of the year (due to the oppositions red light) with a winning time of 13.3/63.25mph

For all class winners click here. (Clive Rooms)

SPR.  1500 fans braved the December cold at this final meeting of the year. The anticipated debut of the Sluggett/Priddle Tudor Rose 2 failed to materialise and there were no 'big' cars in attendance. In Top Dragster Harold Bull was out early for qualifying but blew a head gasket on his first run. Undeterred Harold decided to continue running, tightening down the head before each run. This paid off as he ran the quickest qualifying time of 10.68/130.89, his best ever top end speed. John Harrison in Jynx set a new class record of 12.79s but destroyed his clutch in the process leaving a three car field for eliminations. Bull took his first round win with an 11.164/131.23 win over an early shut off 15.31 from Reg Sommers MAB. Alan Blount had a solo run, but the Chevrolet engine in his Weekend Warrior II was smoking heavily from the headers and he clocked a 12.38/99.11. Blount decided to continue to run in the final, despite the failing health of his engine, to make it a race for the spectators. A valiant 11.40/112.36 however was no match for an on-form Bull who ran a spectacular 10.14/132.10 for his first major title win. Four cars were entered in Middle Dragster. Pete Wilson brought his Martini Go Kart all the way from Guernsey and laid down a 13.37/104.06 in qualifying, which made the other competitors sit up and take notice. In the first round he took the win against the Leprechaun rail of Mick Cunningham who left too soon and shut off early as Wilson recorded a 13.47/104. In the other first round race John Whitmore in Obsession took a 13.89/94.43 win over the Triumph Keele Kart of Brian Parkins who trailed at 14.30. In the final Whitmore got a hole shot over Wilson and took the win with a 13.81/95.24 to a quicker 13.58/103.63. Middle Comp Eliminator also had a four car field. Dave Collis in his recently aquired Chevrolet powered Opus One ran 13.283/107.99 to defeat the Jaguar Midas Touch of Rob Skinner with a 14.50/95.98. The Marshall-Dickson Oldsmobile powered Anglia took the other first round win with a 13.94/104.28 as Bill McGrath lunched his Jaguar engine in Gloink. In the final it was Collis that took the win with a 13.42/107.07 to a 13.71/104.82. In the eight car Junior Comp field only one entrant was a regular Santa Pod competitor, the Mini-Hater of Geoff Pearson. He met the modified Triumph Spitfire of Peter Yorke in the first round (Yorke had driven from Guernsey with Pete Wilsons Martini Kart on his trailer) and lost. Yorke then lost out to one of three visiting circuit racers, the 292 Ford powered Morris Minor of Mike Bennion in the semis. Bennion had defeated Simon Eldridge in the first round. The other circuit racers, the Jaguar powered Anglia Janglia of Mick Hill and Nick Lees in Mike Berman's 1648 Ford Berpop met in the semis, Hill having defeated John Tarbox in a borrowed 1498 Anglia, and Lees dispatching Bob Fisher's Ford Falcon. Lees took the win and went to take the final over Bennion with a 15.23/90.25 to a 15.64/92.25. Doug Harler took his Dodge Charger to the Top Street win when Pete Shelton's Cortina bogged on the line. A determined charge from Shelton almost got the win but Harler, who shut off early,  crossed the line half a car ahead at 15.92/65.96 to Shelton's 14.92/94.88. Shelton had prevoisly defeated Gary Goggin's Mustang in the semis 15.02 to 15.26, and Harler had a semi final bye having defeated Joe Rico's 302 Mustang in the first round. Junior Street went to Reg Clark's Hannibal II with an 18.43 win over a 19.73 from Fred Bolden's Anglia. Gary Goggin (GT 350 Shelby Mustang) and Cliff Jones (327 Corvette Stingray) held a best of three match race. The first went to Jones, 15.07 to 15.29, the second to Goggin, 15.15 to 15.19. In the third and deciding race it was Jones that took the glory with a 15.29 to a 15.52. In a four bike Top Bike class the final win went to Ray Feltell's Philanderer with a 12.57/109.89 over a 12.84/94.16 from Neville Barham. The Middle Bike final was a one horse race as George Wilkins failed to make it to the line, leaving Geoff Reeve to take the honours on his Vincent with a 17.06/75.36. Keith White took the Junior win with an 18.14/70.74.

 Mike Bennion set both ends of the B Class Street Altered record at 15.445/94.88. (Bill Dossett) 

SPR. A reported 10,000 people attended the Easter meet. Harold Bull in Stripduster set new et & speed records in the F/D Dragster class at11.247/130.24. P Smith ran a new speed record in the Street Altered D class at 89.61mph while C Plummer took the et record with a 17.001 second run. N. Johnstone ran 17.144 seconds to set a new G/SA best. In the Sports Production category G Pearson set new B class records of 14.392/98.43 in his Chevrolet, T Leake ran his Aston Martin to new C class records of 13.592/101.01 and A LeFort took his Ferrari to new D class records of 12.844/108.70. In Super Stock Production Bill Weichelt ran a new et record in his Ford at 14.733. In Production F class R LeCount set new et and speed records at 19.451/67.61 in his Fiat. All these records stood until the end of the 1969 season. (Bill Dossett)   'Commuter' was the only Top Fuel car present after the demise of the Priddle/Sluggett team. Clive Skilton's car was waiting for parts. A challenge race took place between Tony Densham and Harold Bull in 'Stripduster'. Bull was given a two second head start over Commuter and a determined flat-out charge from 'King Harold' took the win with a 10.68/127 to a tyre-smoking 9.27/152 charge from Densham. On a later demo run Densham clocked a smoky 8.85/141. The Top Dragster final went to John Siggery in 'Geronimo' whilst Middle Dragster was won by John Whitmore in his BMC powered 'Climax'. Ed Gurney took the Top Competition title in his Buick powered 'Hush Too'. Dennis Norman ran a string of ten-second passes on his double Triumph to take the Top Bike win.

For all class results click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. BDR&HRA Club Meet.  C. Watts set a new Sports Production F Class speed record of 68.59mph and in Super Stock Production M. Sargeant set both ends of the G Class record at 18.653/70.03. K. White set both ends of the I Class Competiton motorcycle record at 23.679/49.50. (Bill Dossett)  Rain in the morning made sure that qualifying times were sub-standard, but the sun began to dry out the strip after lunch. Dave Collis escaped unhurt after his Chevy powered Opus One Altered aquaplaned off the track. The car suffered a badly bent front end. Dennis Priddle (I think?) put in some promising runs in the new John Woolfe Racing Whistler, a fibreglass Reliant GTE with the 427ci L88 Chevrolet V8 that had previously seen service in the teams Hustler Altered. Tony Anderson, a newcomer to racing in his V6 Ford powered rail 'Trouble', put in some consistent low twelve second runs before beating Alan Blounts Weekend Warrior 3 in the final, 12.44/110 to 13.01/105.60. Rob Skinner took the Top Competition final in Midas Touch when the Whistler lost fire on the line.

For all class winners click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. Spring Match Race. Tony Densham in the Commuter set a new E.T. record for a class A Dragster. With a 25% nitro load, and 8psi in the slicks, he stopped the clocks at 8.228/181.82, his chute then failed and, whilst pulling hard on the brake to get the car stopped, the chassis flexed so much that it bottomed out and holed the sump, putting the car out of action for the remainder of the meeting. At the close of qualifying only Top Street had a full field of eight cars, but two of those never made it to the eliminations after breakages. Dave Render, in his V8 powered Ginetta Buick, took a first round win against Cliff Jones before getting a bye to the final round. There he met the 440ci Dodge Charger of Doug Harler. Harler left too early, his red light leaving Render to take a 13.39/99.80 win. Harold Bull won the Top Dragster final, beating John Siggery in 'Geronimo'. Bull and Siggery both recorded times of 10.89, the quickest of the day after Commuter, but King Harold's holeshot was evident as his 126.58mph terminal speed was slower than Siggery's 133.87.   In Top Competition Altered Dennis Priddle took the win in the Mark Stratton built 'Whistler', sponsored by John Woolfe Racing. A string of consistent low eleven second passes saw him reach the final, where an 11.36/109.83 was more than good enough to defeat Derek Benbow's 12.47/114.68 from his Buick T. Tony Anderson repeated his success of the previous week with a 12.32/110.86 win over a 12.45/109.41 from Bert Knight's Jaguar powered Knightmare in Middle Dragster.

R. Knight set a new speed record for a class C Dragster with a 110.01mph run in his Jaguar powered machine. In Competition Altered N. Johnstone set new E.T.and speed records in the G/CA class at 17.137/75.93. D Render set new E.T. and speed records in Street Altered C class at 13.145/102.15. (Bill Dossett) To see all class results click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. BDR&HRA Big Go. Europe's first three day meeting.  

R. Knight set a new class C dragster E.T. record of 12.369 in his Jaguar powered rail. M. Wheeler set a new G class dragster ET record  in his Rootes powered machine of 12.368. New E.T. and speed records were set in the Competition Altered E class by D. Florent in his Ford. M. Kent took his Chevrolet to new CC Street Altered E.T. and speed records of 13.999/103.74. P. Smith set a new D class Street Altered E.T. record of 14.560 in his Daimler. C. Watts set a new F class Sports Production E.T. record of 19.351. In Super Stock Production F class Mrs C. Skilton set a new E.T. record of 17.914. Bill Weichelt set both ends of the CC class Production record in his Ford at 14.929/93.28. (Bill Dossett)

 Dennis Priddle won Top Competition Altered in the Whistler Reliant GT/E at 11.35/122 (Simon Groves)

Racing on the Saturday was curtailed by rain, the first time this had happened in the history of the event. Sunday saw the running of the handicapped division eliminations whilst the major eliminations were run on Monday. Two major competitors were sidelined early on. Harold Bull broke a con rod which wrecked Stripdusters engine, and Allan Herridge suffered a similar fate with the Glacier Bearing Special when his oil pump drive broke. In fact due to breakages the Top Eliminator field was reduced to just three cars. Kevin Burrows debuted his Malibu Express Chevrolet powered slingshot with a best time of 15.25/72.57. The Top Eliminator final went to John Siggery's Geronimo with a 10.397/120.77 win over an 11.068 from Ken Coopers Flathead powered Bazooka Two. Cooper had also finished as runner up the previous day with an 11.073/124.07 to a 12.71/106.04 from Mick Wheelers Scorpion. Rookie Doug Florent in his 1650cc Anglia won the handicapped Altered Eliminator and reset both ends of the Class E record at 16.40s and 82.60mph. An eliminator was held for 14 attending members of the XK Jaguar Owners Club. David Harris was the winner with a 14.576/98.04 from his Lister Jaguar. He also qualified for Top Street and was runner up in Sundays Modified Sports Eliminator. 38 Motorcycles were in attendance. Alf Hagon, resplendent in a new set of white leathers, put in three nine second runs, with a best of 9.55/151 from his blown JAP bike. His seven year old son Martin put in a 33 second pass on a specially built junior Hagon Drag Bike. This was, I think, Alf's last appearance at Santa Pod before announcing his retirement from competition. Bernard White took his 650cc nitro Triumph Endeavour to the Top Bike Eliminator final win, first beating a red lighting John Lloyd, on his Romulus Vincent, before defeating John Hobbs Olympus Triumph in the final. The close final was won on the line as White's 107.8mph terminal speed was eclipsed by Hobbs 124.5. Dennis Norman had his twin engined Triumph blower manifold explode on the start line. Don East, on his 650 Triumph, won the Middle Bike Eliminator having run a 10.60s on the Sunday, quicker than most of the machines in the Top Bike ranks.

For all class results click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. Spring Nationals. John Hobbs set new E class solo competition motorcycle records for E.T. and speed with a 10.402/135.87 run on his 'Olympus' Triumph. R. Perkins set new records for F Class Street Solo motorcycle at 18.223/66.40. R. Fielding set a new speed record for the F Class Competition Altered at 74.57mph. D. Cottingham set new E.T. and speed records for C Class Modified Sports Production at 14.097/103.52 in his Jaguar. J. Robinson set new E.T. and speed records for G Class Modified Production at 17.016/77.16 and Bill Weichelt set new CC Class E.T. and speed records at 21.256/61.88. In Super Stock Production Mrs C. Skilton set both ends of the C Class record at 17.533/73.21.(Bill Dossett) 

 At this somewhat low-key event the top speed and low ET of the weekend went to John Siggery with a 9.897s and 141.84mph in his injected Oldsmobile powered Geronimo which bettered Allan Herridge's previous class record. Siggery took the Top Dragster final with a 10.05/139.08 to an 11.28/121.21 from the Flathead powered Bazooka Too of Ken Cooper. Cooper had travelled home during the meeting to collect gearbox spares before rebuilding the transmission in time for qualifying. His runner up place was his third in four meetings. Siggery's victory was his third in four meetings. Making a return to the strip was Ian Richardson with his 1969 Small Block Cobra. Richardson had previously run on two wheels with his Moonraker motorcycle. Running in Top Street he took the final win against Bill Weichelt after a semi final bye and a round one defeat of Dave Cottingham who red lit. The competitors who came closest to Siggery's marks were both on two wheels. John Lloyd clocked 136.80mph on Romulus and Bernard White stopped the clocks at 10.43s on Endevour. White put in two consecutive ten second runs to take the Top Motorcycle Eliminator. He defeated red lighting Chris Bartrum's blown 500cc Norton, John Lloyd's blown Vincent Romulus and, in the final, John Hobbs blown 500cc Triumph. Hobbs went on to reset both ends of the E Class motorcycle record.  In Middle Motorcycle Philip Eeles, on his nitro burning Hagon Triumph, had a first round bye before defeating the blown 650cc Triumph Centaurus of Stuart Bently in the final. Junior Motorcycle went to the 250cc Yamaha Starmaker of Des Heckle. He ran 13.1 to defeat John Bridges Hog Rod, 12.7 against the 500cc JAP of Roger Barnes and a 12.58 in the final against Brian Chapman's 500cc Vincent. Neville Barham made a return with his 1260cc JAP Polyphemus and put in some low eleven and high ten second runs.

On the Sunday a two minute silence was observed for John Woolfe who had died at Le Mans the previous afternoon.

The official entry numbers were 50 cars and 30 motorcycles.

For all class results click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. Summer Spectacular. John Siggery ran 9.99/140mph in "Geronimo" to defeat Allan Herridge in the Glacier Bearing Special Dragster.(Simon Groves)

For all class results click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. BDR&HRA Club Meet.

For all class winners click here. (Steve Collins)

SPR. All Stars Meeting. S. Perry set a new A Class Competition Solo Motorcycle speed record of 106.38mph on his Ford powered machine. R. Fielding set a new F Class ET record in Competition Altered at 16.893. B. Wareham set both ends of the E Class Sports Production record at 15.734/86.73 in his Lotus. K. Giffen set both ends of the B Modified class record at 13.847/101.83. (Bill Dossett)

In a three car field John Siggery in Geronimo qualified at number one in Top Dragster with a 10.34. Second was Ken Cooper's Flathead powered Bazooka II at 10.96. Bruce Brown was third with an 11.49 from his first outing in the rebuilt ex-Allan Herridge Pulsation rail, now powered by a 5.3 litre Chevrolet and known as Prospector II. Brown defeated Cooper but it was Siggery who took the final win with a 10.11/120.05. Dennis Priddle continued his success in Top Competiton, taking the Whistler Altered to an 11.31/111.61 final win. A disappointing turnout in the lower Street classes saw only three qualifiers in Middle and none at all in Junior. In Middle it was Ken Obee who took the final win in his 1650cc Lotus Ford. He defeated Alan Ward's V6 Escort Otis Blue in the first round and U.S. Airforce man Bernard Wareham's 1600cc Lotus Elan in a close final, 15.384/86.13 to 15.648/85.47. In Top Motorcycle John Lloyd on Romulus qualified at number one followed by Bernard White at number two. In the first round White defeated the blown 650 Triumph of Don East while Lloyd took a bye. John Hobbs red lit on Olympus against Dave Clee's Shot Gun blown 650 Triumph. Clee then went on to red light himself in the next round allowing Lloyd through to the final while it was now White's turn for a bye. In the final a holeshot from Lloyd saw him take the win with a 10.603/136.99 to a quicker 10.581/134.23. Middle Motorcycle saw six qualifiers, all of whom ran below twelve seconds. First round winners were Pete Millar, who went through despite red lighting as opponent Ron Williams failed to make the call, Ray Feltall, who beat Chris Bartrum, and Phil Eeles, who beat Phil Green. The final was between Feltall and Eeles, both riding nitro powered 650 Triumphs. Feltall took the honours with an 11.4/116 to a 12.2/111. There were only two qualifiers in Junior Motorcycle. Ron May took the win on his 350cc blown Triumph with an 11.92/114.29 to a 14.144/91.53 from John Bridges' Hog Rod 650 Triumph. Roy Phelps was putting in passes in the Wheelie Stingray and finally managed a full quarter mile pass on the rear wheels. An earlier attempt had looked promising but Phelps had come off the throttle before the finish line as he was worried he was going to hit the timing lights.After the eliminations finished a handicapped division eliminator was held.

For all class results click here. (Steve Collins)

Woodvale. BDR&HRA "On Tour" Meeting. A low turnout of 38 competitors and a low turnout of spectators on the first day was reported. Qualifying on the Saturday started later than expected as setting up took longer than planned. In the Dragster ranks Clive Skilton led the way with a 9.4 from the Allard Chrysler Revolution. John Siggery was next with a 9.8. Graham Croucher in Malibu Express ran some low eleven second passes and Harold Bull, with oiled tyres, put in some ten second runs. The Competiton Altereds completed their qualifying with Dennis Priddle in The Whistler at 11.2, Ed Gurney in Hush Too at 11.7, Fred Whittle in Shutdown (No time reported), Robin Skinner's Midas Touch at 12.2, Derek Benbow's turtle T at 12.5, Ian Garbutt's High Fever at 12.7 and Phil Elson's Lil-Daf at 13.4. Bill Jaynes managed to get ten runs in, most of which were alongside the Otis Blue escort of Alan Ward, with a best of 13.8. In the bike classes Ian Messenger put in a couple of tyre-smoking ten second runs, Mick Warne's Little Red Riding Rod ran a couple of low twelves among his half a dozen attempts, and Neville Barham ran a middle eleven second pass on his 500cc JAP. Dennis Norman struggled to break eleven seconds while Dennis Allen broke his gearbox on his first outing. A much larger crowd turned up for racing on the Sunday. Pete Atkins, who had been absent the previous day, put in a 12.2 qualifier to secure his place in the Comp Altered eliminator. Clive Skilton put in a solo run in Walt Ithel's twin-engined Aggrevation resulting in a 10.03 with a dragging clutch. John Siggery ran an easy 10.7 in his Oldsmobile powered rail to defeat Malibu Express. The final looked to be a certainty for Skilton, but he bogged off the line and Siggery took full advantage, taking the win with a 9.789 to a 10.105. In Middle Dragster Harold Bull led the way, Bryan Smith's 350cc Baby Blue defeated Chris Leaney, and Brian parkins took his Keele Kart to a victory over Keith Elliot's Red Witch. In the second round Bull soloed to a 10.7 and Parkins defeated Smith. Parkins inevitably took runner up spot with a valiant 13.08 against an 11.013 from Bull's Stripduster. Top Comp saw Dennis Priddle run 11.1 to defeat Ian Garbutt at 13.3. Fred Whittle beat Pete Atkins with a holeshot, 12.8 to 12.5. Derek Benbow ran 13.06 which was no match for an 11.7 from Ed Gurney. Robin Skinner had a broken cluch cable on Midas Touch, letting Phil Elson through to the next round. Priddle continued on into the final by beating Whittle with an 11.4 and Gurney defeated Elson. In the final it was Gurney who took the win. His slower 11.67 taking the honours as Priddle bogged off the line and chased hard to no avail with an 11.56. Junior Comp had two entries. Dick Fielding's Imagination and newcomer Jim Macklin. A best of three was run but this was reported to have been a draw (?). The two drivers offered to run two more rounds but unfortunately both broke. Bill Jaynes led qualifying in Top Street with his 13.8. Michael Derry was second with Kay-Otik at 14.4, followed by Alan Ward and Bill Weichelt both at 15.3. Jess Ruyg's Mortician was next with a 17.8 and finally Stuart Lee with a 17.6 from his Chevy Nova. In the first round Derry beat Ruyg, Weichely beat Ward and Jaynes beat Lee. Weichelt's Charger continued on to defeat Derry, both cars running 15.3. Jaynes meanwhile took the bye and put in a 13.9 for his place in the final. His luck continued with a 13.9 defeat of Weichelt's 15.07. Top Bike was back up to four entries after Dennis Allen rebuilt his gearbox with borrowed parts and put in a 10.8. In the first round Neville Barham with his Polyphemus JAP took an 11.4 victory over an 11.3 from Dennis Norman. Ian Messengers 998cc Vincent ran 10.8 to defeat a 10.9 from Dennis Allen's 750 Triumph. Messenger went on to take the final with a 10.9 over a Barham's 11.5. Middle Bike qualifying stood at Mick Warne 12.1, Ray Baskerville 13.0, Roger Barnes 13.3, while the Whitelake Honda of Michael Ford suffered numerous problems and didn't manage to get a run in. Barnes had a bye in the first round while Warne's 650 Triumph defeated Baskerville's 650 BSA. In the final it was Warnes who took the honours with a 13.03 to a 13.68 from Barnes.

SPR. British Drag Racing Championships. Entry List One Entry List Two.  Phil Kersey set both ends of the J Class Competiton Solo Motorcycle record at 19.97/62.70 on a Suzuki. (Bill Dossett)

For all class results click here.

Hullavington. Entry List One Entry List Two. The BDR&HRA organised another On Tour meeting, their first at this Wiltshire venue. There were 56 car entries and 14 bike entries and all were affected by the strong, gusting winds. Clive Skilton in the Allard/Skilton rail couldn’t qualify due to oil problems. John Harrison in his Austin Healey powered dragster had a collision with the start line mobile tower which resulted in a badly dented front end.

For all class results click here. (Clive Rooms)