"...have read the feature and think it is great...thank you very much for this it is a great honour that people think so much of my family to vote for us, please thank them." - Gary Page

The Page Brothers, Clive, David and Gary's, involvement began as crew members on Wild Bill Weichelts DosPalmos/Asmodeus dragster. Having decided to buy their own car they were narrowly beaten in a bid to purchase Freddie Whittles first 'Shutdown' altered. Instead they ended up with the ex-Mark Stratton 'Hustler' BSA pickup (for £250) which they re-christened 'Panic' after the famous Stateside Fuel Altered. It ran a best of 11.78/120. In early 1972 they decided to build a completely new car. Although Clive, Dave and Gary formed the nucleus of the team it was very much a family affair with Mother Iris and sisters Janice and Christine all playing an active part.
March 21st 1971 SPR. Season Opener. The weather was very variable, but even so, there was a crowd of around 3000 people. Making their debut at this meeting were the Page brothers who had purchased the ex Mark Stratton Hustler. They had renamed the car Panic and Dave was the driver at this meeting. Top Comp had just a couple of cars in the elimination. It was Dave Page’s Panic against the Johnson/Mullan Invader and it was the 12.2/110 from Invader which was too good for the 13.73/96 from the old BSA.
May 22nd/23rd 1971 RAF North Luffenham 30th Anniversary Show. NDRC Meeting. In Top Competition Roland Pratt in the Hillbillies Topolino defeated Dave Page in the Panic BSA pickup.
August 20th 1972 Blackbushe. Hot Car/Radio Luxembourg Grandnationals. NDRC Meeting. A crowd of nearly 20,000 saw the Page brothers debut their new 'Panic' altered at this meeting. The car featured a Roland Pratt chassis with a JWR 427ci Rat motor and Fibreglass Applications Topolino body.
August 27th/28th 1972 SPR. BDR&HRA Nationals The Page Brothers won the Senior Competition Altered Eliminator title with their new Topolino Altered 'Panic'.
April 22nd/23rd 1973 SPR. Custom Car Springnationals. Dave Page was runner up in the Senior Altered class to Pete Smith.
September 30th 1973

Blackbushe, Surrey. NDRC Championship Finals. Castrol/RAC NDRC National Championship Round Six. Senior Comp saw Dick Sharpe's Pontiac powered A35 Dorset Horn continue it's winning streak with a string of mid-eleven second runs. The Page's Panic Topolino looked to be the only one that could stop him but when the two met in the final it was Sharpe that took the honours, 11.44 to 11.55.

October 6th/7th 1973

SPR. Castrol Championship Finals. Senior Comp finally saw the Page team's Panic emerge as the car to put an end to Dick Sharpe's domination of the class. They ran a 10.7 in practice and a bye run in the first round saw them improve to a 10.4. Sharpe managed a personal best of 11.08 before losing out  to Martin Hall in his Chevy powered Firenza, a winning 11.4 to a hole shot 11.2. In the final it was victory for Panic with a 10.05/132 as Hall missed a gear.

October 21st 1973 Santa Pod Raceway. BDR&HRA Drag Racing News Trophy Meeting. In Senior Comp Dave Page took 'Panic' into the nines for the first time with a 9.83/125 in the second round. He won the final with a 10.01 against Dick Sharpe.  
November 3rd/4th 1973 SPR. Fireworks meeting. Bad weather took its toll on the proceedings but amongst the highlights on Saturday was Dave Page taking Panic to a 9.9.
March 24th 1974 SPR Season Opener. The Senior Comp field consisted of one Pro Stock car and a couple of comp cars. Dave Page in Panic soloed to 10.17/144, and then Kevin Pilling in the Satans Toy Pro Stocker put down 10.51/132 to defeat Bob Deichen. Pilling won the final in a PB of 10.48/131 as the Panic Topolino finished the run in his opponents lane.
April 7th 1974 Blackbushe. NDRC Spring Smokers Meet. Clive Page in Panic won the Senior Competition driving around Lawrence Burn’s Ollies Folly, 13.03/113 to a losing 18.36/76.9.
April 14th/15th 1974

SPR. Spring Nationals. Entry List. The attendance for the two days over Easter was put at 25,000 with 16,000 present for Monday’s eliminations. Qualifying in Senior Comp saw Dave Page at number one spot with a 9.6/145. Eliminations was again a two horse race as Dave Page and Dick Sharpe made their way to the final, Page taking a close win with a 10.6 to a 10.9.

May 5th 1974

SPR. May Day meeting. The eliminations were curtailed by rain. Dave Page ran a 9.8 in Panic.

May 11th/12th 1974 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. Senior Comp looked to be a forgone conclusion for the Page's Panic Topolino as Dick Sharpe had damaged his crankshaft at Santa Pod the previous weekend. Even the handicap of a broken diff, requiring some careful driving from Clive Page in order to keep it in one piece, didn't stop them and they won three out of three with 11s second runs against Bob Deachen.
May 26th/27th 1974

SPR. Whitsun Holiday Weekend Big Go. Dave Page in the Panic Topolino altered led qualifying in Senior Comp with a 9.8 but had the misfortune to roll the car against the barrier on his next run with Dick Sharpe in the other lane.

June 2nd 1974

Long Marston. Castrol/RAC NDRC National championship Round 5.  Dave Page was back in competiton having rolled the Panic Altered the previous weekend. he made it to the semi finals of Production two in the family's Cortina. It was however the Cortina of Steve Stevens that took the final win.

August 18th 1974

Blackbushe. NDRC Hot Car/Radio Luxembourg Grandnationals. Expectations were high for this meeting which marked the tenth anniversary of the 1964 Dragfest, but the weather continued to make things difficult for the NDRC as it had at earlier meeting this year. Most of the morning saw rain falling and, once it had stopped, drizzle continued on and off before the rain set in again and called an early halt before the event was completed. Senior Comp saw the return of the Page team with their new Panic Altered, built in 8 weeks. Clive Page's first run clocked an 11.4. He took a semi final win as John Dickson red lit. The final was one of many that didn't happen due to the return of the rain.

August 25th/26th 1974 Supernationals SPR.  In Senior Comp Dave Page managed a 12.5 in Panic to qualify at number three. On the Monday he made his way to the final with a 10.4 win over Dick Sharpe's 10.8. Dave Hayden-Smith ran a solo 11.2 but failed to make the final, leaving Page to take the win unopposed. .
September 8th 1974 SPR. G Max Trophy Meeting. Senior Comp saw Dave Page in the new Panic altered defeat Dick Sharpe’s Dorset Horn 9.97/133.69 to a losing 10.80/120.
September 14th/15th 1974

Silverstone. NDRC Meeting. Senior Comp saw Sweden's Bengt Stafberg take his 427 Chevy Altered take number one spot with a 10.2. Clive Page in Panic was next with a 10.59. In eliminations Page ran a personal best of 9.6 to defeat the Ford Rochdale of Freeman Rogers before the meeting was called due to rain.

September 29th 1974

NDRCs first meeting at Snetterton circuit, Norfolk. The final round of the Castrol/RAC National championship, and a round of the STP/Custom Car Championship for Pro Stock and Super Street. Clive Page led the way in Senior Comp, clocking a 9.7/150, followed by a 9.4/144, the quickest ETs ever recorded for a carbureted petrol burning car in any class. Page made his way to the final with a 9.9 win over a 10.8 from Dick Sharpe's Pontiac A35. In the final Page wheelied off the line and took the win with a 10.7 to Rodgers 11.45.

October 6th 1974 SPR. Rain ended the meeting before qualifying had even finished. Dave Page in Panic ran a good 9.65/140.
November 2nd/3rd 1974

SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. Rain and mist played havoc with the racing and times and speeds were affected by the slick track conditions. Many finals were not held and some classes didn't progress beyond the first round. Saturday saw most vehicles get at least one run in, but the track conditions meant that nobody was able to run anywhere near their full potential. Senior Comp saw Freeman Rodgers lose fire twice, leaving Dave Page to solo to the final with an 11.44/103.4. He would have been up against Vic Hammond's Mr Big in the final. Hammond also had a solo in the semis, a 13.20/122.70, after a no show from John Dickson.

November 30th/December 1st 1974 SPR. Winternationals. Tony Anderson managed a 9.3/147 win over a 10.3/134 from Dave Page in Panic.
March 30/31st 1975

SPR. Easter Meet. In qualifying Dave Page in Panic clocked a best of 9.98/146.41.  Page took the Panic Altered into the three car Senior Dragster Class to make up the numbers. He disposed of Alan Sharpe with a 9.59/140.45 to a 10.68/129.03. Tony Anderson ran 9.41/149.03 to beat a 13.24/96.25 from Malcom Olley. The interesting prospect of a Panic/Trouble final was a victim of the weather and never happened.

April 20th 1975 SPR. In the altered classes the entries for the two top classes were thin on the ground so Dave Page in the Senior Comp Panic and Phil Elson in the Top Comp Sneaky T ran a best of three. Page ran a 9.40/138 early in the day for a new personal best, and then went on to win all three matches after Elson destroyed his clutch in the second. Page's times were 9.50, 9.43 and 9.44.
May 3rd/4th 1975

Snetterton.RAC National Drag Racing Championship Round Four, round one of the Wolfrace Street Championship and a round of the 208 Pro Comp Championship. The 208 Pro Comp class saw the addition of Clive Page in the Panic Altered as he had no opposition in Senior Comp. Despite being the only car to be running on petrol he won his first round against the Vauxhall Funny Car of Pete Barnett before facing the blown 392 Altered of Mike Hall. A lightening start reaction from Page looked promising for another victory but a worn band in Panic's Clutchflite transmission caused a slow shift and Hall came past to take the win and a place in the final with a 9.2/171 to a 9.7/139. 

May 11th 1975 SPR. Senior Comp altered was a best of three between Panic and Bob Deichen in Majesty. Dave Page won all three.
May 24th-26th 1975

SPR. May Day Holiday Weekend Big Go. On Sunday Dave Page in Panic and Phil Elson in Sneaky ran a best of three for the Group B honours. Page ran a personal best and new class records of 9.27s and 147.06mph to a 9.29/129.03 to take the first round. Elson retaliated in the second with a winning 9.48/146.20 and took another win in the final with an 8.73/131.58 to a 9.48/146.20. On Monday Senior Comp saw Dave Page run 9.48/146 in the semis, followed by a 9.46/147 win over Mike Kason's Kerbdozer III in the final.

June 8th

SPR. BDR&HRA One Day Meeting. Top and Senior Comp saw a combined two entries, resulting in a best of three between Dave Page in Panic, with a half-second head start, and Phil Elson in Sneaky. Page red lit in the first and took the win in the second after Elson shut off with steering problems. In the third an 8.7s blast from Elson wasn't enough to catch Page who made it 3/3.

June 14th/15th 1975 Wroughton. NDRC International meeting including 2nd round of the TOR LINE European funny Car Championship. In Senior Comp Altered Dave Page beat Anders Lantz 9.68 in the final round.
July 5th/6th 1975

SPR. European Grand Prix incorporating the first British funny Car Grand Prix.  Senior Comp saw the unusual addition of the Pro Stock Camaro of Gary Goggin. In the semis against the Altered of Mike Kason he managed a 10.05, but failed to advance due to having pulled a red light. Kason met Dave Page in the Panic Altered for the final, but was unable to select a forward gear and reverswed into his own push car, leaving Page to take the victory with a 9.46/145.

July 12th 1975 Aintree. The first Drag Race event to be held at this venue was promoted by European Dragways, organised by the Pennine Drag Racing Club and run on a narrow eighth mile strip. Qualifying produced some good runs including Clive Page in 'Panic' with a 6.58.  
July 13th 1975 Long Marston. Castrol Dragster Challenge. Competition Altered (B): Dave Page def Rob Messent - 6.28/118
July 27th 1975 Santa Pod Raceway. BDR&HRA Drag Racing News Meeting. Dave Page in Panic held a best of three match race with Bob Diechen for the Senior Altered title. Page won all three races.  
August 23rd-25th 1975 SPR Holiday Weekend Supernationals. Dave Page won Senior Comp on the Monday with a victory over Bob Diechen.
August 30th 1975 Aintree. Pennine Drag Racing Club Meeting. Full rounds of practice and qualifying were completed on the eighth mile but the meeting was brought to a premature end by rain. Dave Page took 'Panic' to a 6.43/116.25 in qualifying.  
September 6th/7th 1975 Snetterton International Senior Dragster and Senior Comp saw only one entry in each class so the two were combined. In the following best of three Clive Page in the 'Panic'  Model T Altered, which was still running on pump gas but using injectors for the first time, won 3/0 with a best of 9.33/147.
September 20th/21st 1975 Anglo American International. TSenior Comp went to Dave Page in 'Panic'. His 9.17 in the best of three match race with Vic Hammonds 'Mr Big' was a new class record.
September 28th 1975 SPR. G-Max trophy. Dave Page took the 'Panic' Chevy altered to a 9.62 but mechanical problems put the team out for the rest of the day.
October 12th 1975 SPR BDR&HRA Meeting. In Senior Comp Dave Page had to push the "Panic" Altered to the finish in a desperate attempt to earn some points after opponent Bob Harman red lit. He went on to win the elimination.
March 7th 1976 SPR. Season Opener.Cold winds and snow showers kept the number of competitors down to just under 100. Dave Page in Panic took the Senior Comp win in 11.17/118 as Russ Carpenter trailed behind with problems.
April 16th 1976 Snetterton. Good Friday Superdrag Funny Car Championship and Gualoises/NDRC Pro Comp Championship. Second round of RAC National Drag Racing Championship, first rounds of NDRC points Championship and Manufacturers Championship. All in one day! Admission price £1.60. In the early rounds of the Senior Comp Altered eliminations Gary Page had a nasty moment in Panic when a brake disc sheared puncturing a slick which sent him sharp right at the finish. Because his chute was already deployed, he brought the car safely to a halt.
April 17th-19th 1976 Over 50,000 people attended SPRs 10th anniversary Easter meet starring the legendary Don Garlits in his  1975 car, the Swamp Rat#21 fueler. Gary Page won the Senior Comp title on both days eliminations in 'Panic'.
May 8th/9th 1976 SPR. May Day Summernationals. Panic once again won Senior Altered as Dave Page’s 9.65/135 was too strong for the 10.12/127 of Dick Sharp’s Dorset Horn.
May 23rd 1976 Snetterton. NDRC Meeting. In Senior Comp Altered, Clive Page went out in qualifying with another broken brake disc.
May 29th-31st 1976 Holiday Weekend 'Big Go'. SPR. Dave Page was again the winner in Senior Altered beating Dick Sharpe 9.60/136 to 10.13/128.
July 18th 1976 Snetterton. Gualoises/NDRC Pro Comp Championship, Motorcycle/Superdrag Top Fuel Bike Championship, fourth round of RAC National Drag Racing Championship. Second round of NDRC points championship and Manufacturers championship. In Senior Comp Altered Gary Page had his first NDRC win of the season when he defeated the Dorset Horn with a 9.87/132 to 10.38/130.
 August 15th 1976 Wroughton. NDRC meeting. Senior Competition Altered was a round robin between Gary Page, Dick Sharpe in Dorset Horn and Vic Hammond in Mr Big. Page took the first race with a 10.04/136 to Hammond’s much quicker but losing 9.58/131. Page then ran 9.86/135 to Sharpe’s 10.58/128 to take the title.
September 18th/19th 1976 SPR. Supernationals Re-Run.The weather certainly was a lot better for the re-run. In Senior Altered, Dave Page beat Vic Hammond 9.45/140 to a losing 10.28/131. In the final, it was Panic all the way with a 9.46/140 win over Dorset Horn.
October 16th/17th 1976 SPR. Winternationals. Senior Altered saw a wild race between Gary Page and Kjell Johansson with both drivers getting out of shape and refusing to back off. Panic took the win for Britain with a 9.48/136 to a losing 9.82/111.
November 6th/7th 1976 Fireworks Spectacular. SPR. There was no qualifying at all on the Saturday due to the strip being too damp. In the Senior Altered semis Gary Page ran 9.76/132 to defeat Barry Sheavills in Stagecoach. The final was abandoned as the strip was again too damp.
March 20th 1977 SPR. Season Opener. There were four Senior Altereds entered, but both the Pages Panic, with a new Chevy motor, and Vic Hammond in Mister Big, had problems and couldn’t make the eliminations.
April 24th 1977 Blackbushe. NDRC Spring Smokers Meeting. Gale force winds blowing straight down the strip affected the times. Senior Comp Altered winner was Gary Page in Panic with a 10.07/140 winner over Vic Hammond’s losing 10.61/138.
April/May 30th-1st 1977 SPR May Day  Summernationals Meeting. Senior Altered was a best of three between Dave Page and Tony Preston with the Page’s Panic handicapped by 1.5 seconds. Preston took it 2-1 as Panic broke a driveshaft in the decider.
May 15th 1977 Snetterton. NDRC. Senior Comp Altered had four entries with Gary Page in Panic taking the final with a 9.33/150 run just ahead of Keith Potter’s losing 9.43/144.
June 5th-7th 1977 SPR. Silver Jubilee Big Go. Rain hampered proceedings and the organisers struggled to run one days eliminations out of a scheduled two. Gary Page was runner up in Senior Comp with a 10.39/128 to Keith Potter's 9.52/132.
July 3rd 1977 Snetterton. NDRC meeting. Senior Comp Altered saw victory for the Page's Panic with Gary putting in record breaking runs of 8.6/154 and 8.56/156.
 August 27th-29th 1977

SPR. Holiday Weekend Supernationals Including fourth round of the Motorcraft Pro Fuel Masters Championship. Dave Page won Senior Comp in Panic with a 9.05/153 against a 13.54 from Norm Wheeldon, who had earlier run in the nine second bracket.

September 17th/18th 1977

SPR. International. Reported in the December issue of Custom Car;

"Hard luck story of the meet must go to our very own Panic team who had a gearbox go in qualifying on Saturday, slaved through the day to get a replacement and fit it, found that the new box wouldn't mate with their engine, rebuilt the old box and installed it, and then lost a main bearing when they warmed the engine to check it over. Most people would give up at this stage, not so ace wrench and driver Dave Page. The engine was taken across to team Readspeed's mobile workshop and stripped down overnight with help from Steve Read. By six o'clock next morning Panic was ready to race again, but then the weather put the stoppers on the meet and our heroes were left with no reward for their efforts, other than the long trek home."

April 16th 1978 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. There were just a couple of entries in Pro Comp which Liz Burn took with an easy 8.95/155 as the Page brothers and Panic had blower problems.
April/May 29th-1st 1978 SPR.May Day Festival Of Speed. In Pro Comp, Pat Cuss debuted his new streamliner and had an easy 9.15/157 bye run to the final. In the other semi, Peter Lille in the old Ratcatcher just crossed the stripe ahead of Dave Page as both cars suffered problems.
May 21st 1978 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. In the Pro Comp elimination, first round losers were Vic Hammond, Shellie Billington and the Pages.
May 27th-29th 1978 SPR. Spring Bank Holiday Big Go. In the Pro Comp final Dave Page got a holeshot in the 'Panic' altered over Jim Reads new, as yet unpainted, rail. Despite a good effort from Read, Page got there first with an 8.13/172.4 to a quicker, but losing 7.82/184.5.
June 3rd/4th 1978 Snetterton. NDRC Championships Round Four, RAC British Drag Race Championship Round Four, Gauloises/NDRC Pro Comp Championship Round Three and Round Five of the ACU British Drag Race Championship. Pro Comp winner was Liz Burn defeating the Pages Panic in the final. There were three other PC entrants; Vic Hammond, Reg Hazelton and Dave Bavington.
August 13th 1978 NDRC Meeting at Blackbushe. 6th Round of Gauloises-NDRC Pro Comp Champioship, 8th Round of NDRC Championship, 8th Round of ACU British Motorcycle Championship. Pro Comp had a five car field which Jim Read won, beating Pat Cuss in the final. The other three entrants were the Pages Panic, Liz Burn and the Hazelton team.
August 26th-28th 1978 SPR Supernationals August; Gary Page drove the 'Panic' Altered to its first ever seven second run in the final of Pro Comp. A 7.92 at 175mph beating Reg Hazletons 8.52 in Thunderbird.
September 9th/10th 1978 September this season saw the last event organised by the NDRC at Snetterton Circuit, Round nine of the NDRC Points Championship.Pro Comp had seven entrants. In the final, the Pages Panic beat Graham Hawes.
September 24th 1978 NDRC Finals, Blackbushe. Pro Comp had a four car field and the losing semi-finalists were Team Panic and Ollie Burn’s Komodo Dragon FC, which left Liz Burn and Reg Hazelton to contest the final. Liz took it.
October 14th/15th 1978 SPR. Winternationals. The meeting was badly affected by fog and drizzle with most of the eliminations not even commencing. Gary Page qualified 4th in Pro Comp with an 8.20/169.
April 13th/16th 1979 Easter Internationals SPR.(Including European Pro Comp Championship Round 1). Dave Page was the winner in Pro Comp with a 7.18/189 to Gerry Andrews  7.35/190 in 'Hemi Hunter'.
April 22nd 1979 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. Four Pro Comp cars were entered but only two made the call for eliminations. Pat Cuss and Clive Page in Panic lined up for a best of three. The first round was a 10.11/78 solo for Cuss as a broken screw on Panic’s shift lever meant a first round loss. However, the Pages decided to run Panic through and duly stripped all the differential teeth. Cuss soloed through again in 11.98/66 to take the win.
May 5th-7th 1979 SPR May Day Internationals,"Festival Of Speed". Gary Page was the winner in Pro Comp on the final day's eliminations. He defeated Graham Hawes with a 7.46/176 to a 7.50/174.
August 5th 1979 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. The Pro Comp final was a match-up between Jim Read in Le Patron and Gary Page in Panic and, in an exciting race, Page just managed to overtake Read in the lights.
September 30th 1979 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. There were six entries in Pro Comp culminating in Tim Claxton beating Jim Read in the final. The other entries were Graham Hawes, Gary Page, Vic Hammond and John Hazelton.
The June 1979 issue of Drag Racing News announced that the Pages 'Panic' was now officially the fastest ever British Pro Comp car and the fastest British Altered. It was only three tenths of a second off the long standing American record of 6.82/202.24 set by Ron Boggs in 1977.
The Pages Panic altered won the 1979 NDRC/Gauloises Pro Comp Championship, the Division 1 RAC Championship and was 2nd overall in the RAC Championship.
May 3rd-5th 1980 SPR. Spring Nationals. Round one of Pro Comp saw Norm Wheeldon become the first Pro Comp runner to clock both a six and a 200mph run together with a 6.98/201. In the semis he faced Gary Page in 'Panic'. Page pulled a holeshot but both cars broke as they approached the finish line, Wheeldon getting there first with a 7.39/163, and a demolished motor, while Page had a lifted blower and a 7.80/130. Neither car could be repaired for the final so Gerry Andrews soloed for the win.
10th May 1980 The NDRC opened their own  permanent  Drag Strip at Long Marston. Rob George and Clive Page ran a best of three match race in their Pro Comp cars.
June 28th/29th 1980 Long Marston. The National Drag Racing Club held its second meet at the newly established drag strip at Long Marston Airfield with encouraging results and a healthy entry of some 130 cars and bikes. Four cars made up the Pro Comp eliminator which was reduced to 3 following a rather disastrous run in qualifying for the Page Brothers 'Panic' altered which snapped both half shafts after a very forceful burnout.
July 20th 1980 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. The day started damp and qualifying, and eliminations did take place in front of an appreciative audience. The Page Brothers, with Clive at the wheel took the win in Pro Comp to lead the Gauloises NDRC championship.
1981 The Pages purchased Dennis Priddles Monza Funny Car complete minus the motor, intending to buy a new motor from the states for the car. But the period between buying the funny (as the 'T' still hadn't been sold) plus the astronomical cost of all the transatlantic phone calls and shipping trying to get a new motor together, slowed the project down considerably. The team decided that to get the car back on the track at all, a motor was going to have to be sought in the UK. The team returned to Dennis Priddle, and another deal was done for Dennis to put a motor together for the car.

The team had hoped to debut the car during 81, but the woes with the motor and cash flow meant the Monza finally made it back out in it's good looking 'Panic' colours at the Easter 82 meeting at the Pod. (From the Priddle Monza profile by Darren West)

May 1st-3rd 1982 Long Marston. NDRC Meeting. The Pages 'Panic' Funny Car went out in the first round of the Pro Fuel eliminations to Tony Boden's fueler, 7.83/189 to an off-song 9.10/156.
May 29th-31st 1982 The “Big Go” meeting was blessed with hot, sunny weather. There were eight Funny Cars in attendance with Lee Anders Hasselstrom leading the qualifying with a 6.43/200 pass. Dave Page in the new Panic FC made the fifth slot with 7.72/184, In the first round of eliminations, Hasselstrom recorded low et of the meeting, 6.38/212 in defeating Dave Page’s 7.03/201.
July 30th/31st 1982 Mantorp Park, Sweden. Sko Uno Drag Festival. In Funny Car Dave Page qualified 5th in Panic. He went out in the first round after he pulled a red light against Swede Lennart Ekering.
August 28th-30th 1982 Santa Pod Raceway. Supernationals. Gary Page took the Funny Car win in the "Panic" Monza with a 7.03/190 while opponent Dave Stone got out of shape and shut off while heading for the centre line. Page had beaten Chris Filsell in the "Satans Sledge" Datsun 6.97/196 to 7.09/203 to make the final.
September 24th-26th 1982 SPR. World Finals. Gary Page qualified fourth in Funny Car, behind Tom Hoover, Harlan Thompson and  Lee Anders Hasslestrom, with a 6.87/193. In the first round he defeated Allan Herridge with a 6.64/200. He was due to then meet Rune Fjeld in the semis but rain stopped play.
November 6th/7th 1982 Santa Pod Raceway. Firework Spectacular. Dave Page ran the quickest E.T. of the weekend in the "Panic" Funny Car with a 6.61 in a match race with the Stones "Stardust II" Mustang. The throttle jammed open on Stones car after a 3/4 track burnout leaving Page on a solo.
April 1st-4th 1983 SPR. Easter meeting. There were seven Funny Cars in attendance but they didn’t put in an appearance until the Monday. The Funny Cars were supposed to contest a Cannonball style three-quarter mile race. In the first round Tony Boden had shut off as he couldn’t engage reverse gear following his burnout leaving Gary Page to put down an impressive 6.77 in the slippery conditions. Damage to the car prevented Gary making any more runs.
May 15th 1983  NDRC Meeting, Blackbushe. Headlining the meeting were match races between Gary Page and Ronnie Picardo. In the Funny Car match up, Gary Page won both of the races. The first with a 7.93/178 to Ronnie’s 8.24/176, and the second with a 7.29/183 to a losing 8.07/180.
May 28th-30th 1983 SPR. The Big Go. In Funny Car first round Clive Page had a bye run. In the semis, Clive had to shut off leaving Bill Sherratt to solo.
July 2nd/3rd 1983 This years Cannonball event at SPR was sponsored by Budweiser. Gary Page in the Panic Funny Car beat Tony Boden in Hitman in the final.
August 7th 1983 Blackbushe. Street Machine Summer Nationals. Three Funny Cars were present and they ran a round robin. Clive Page in Panic beat Ronnie Picardo 7.53/180 to a smoky 8.86/181. The last pairing saw Page defeat Tony Boden in a close race 7.45/182 to a 7.44/198.
September 23rd-25th 1983 SPR. World Finals. Gary Page qualified fourth in Funny Car behind Allan Herridge, Harlan Thompson and Tom Hoover. He went out in Round one with a 6.85/209 to Rune Fjeld's 6.52/188.
October 2nd 1983 Blackbushe. NDRC Meeting. Funny Car match racing between Gary Page in Panic, and Ronnie Picardo in the Blue Way Datsun, saw Page take the first round with a 7.05/172 to an 8.46/164 before going on to set the highest terminal speed for the day at 188mph.
May 5th/7th 1984 Long Marston. May Bank Holiday Spectacular. Putting in demo runs was Dave Page in the Funny Car running 7.78/192 and 8.20/130.
July 7th/8th 1984 SPR. The Cannonball. Gary Page was fourth quickest after the three rounds of qualifying. His quickest time was a 6.98.
August 12th 1984 Blackbushe. 20th Anniversary Of The Drag fests Meeting. Funny Car was won by Gary Page in Panic with a 7.17/190.
November 3rd/4th 1984 SPR. Fireworks Spectacular. There were quite a few demo runs from various cars over the weekend including the Page's Panic FC with new driver Bob Jarrett. Jarrett had sold his 'Stripteaser' Altered to buy a share in the Pages Funny Car.
July 6th/7th 1985 SPR. The Cannonball. Harlan Thompson qualified #1 with a 6.23. #2 was Gary Page in Panic at 6.65/202. After the first round the format was changed to an elimination and Thompson and Page made it to the final. Page defeated John Spuffard in Round One, 6.80/192 to 7.16/200, and Alan Bates in Round Two, 6.67/205 to 6.74/209. In the final Pages chute shook out at 3/4 track slowing him to a 6.69/170 while Thompson took the win with a 6.50/190.
August 18th 1985 North Weald NDRC Inaugural Meeting at this venue. Funny Car had 6 entries including Bob Jarrett in the Pages Panic.
September 20th-22nd 1985 SPR. World Finals. Bob Jarrett won the funny car class driving the Pages Panic car. He had qualified third with a 6.73 behind Tom Hoover and Rune Fjeld. He defeated Tony Boden in Round one with a 6.86/202 to a 7.40/212. In Round Two he defeated Bill Sherratt with a 7.10/201 to a 10.20. The final saw him up against Harlan Thompson but Thompson broke leaving Jarrett to solo to a 7.02/202 win.
November 2nd/3rd 1985 Santa Pod. Fireworks Spectacular.The weather was fine for both days but there was a severe frost on Sunday morning. The fuel cars were making exhibition runs on the Saturday evening. Both Geoff Bosworth and the Page's Panic FC's lost fire.
1985 At the end of the '85 season the Panic Funny Car was shipped to Jersey to appear at the Islands first ever motor show.
June 7th/8th 1986 North Weald. NDRC Southern Nationals. A few of the big cars were at this second NDRC meeting at North Weald including Gary Page in Panic.
July 5th/6th 1986 SPR. The Cannonball. Rain took its toll on the proceedings and Saturday was washed out. The rules were changed to an elimination format on the Sunday with the four quickest of eight cars from a single frantic qualifier going into an elimination. Alan Bates ran the quickest for #1 spot with a 6.27 in the Houndog Corvette but broke in the process. Bill Sherratt made #2 with a 6.35 in the 'Cannonball' car and #3 was Tom Hoover with a 6.35/216.40. #4 was Andy Craddock but he broke on his 6.47 run and #5, Tony Boden also broke on a 6.76. This meant that Rune Fjeld (6.79) and Dave Page (6.94) qualified at 6 and 7 respectively but made it into the four car field! Also among the casualties were John Spuffard and Harlan Thompson who both failed to qualify with breakages. The first semi final saw Rune Fjeld beat Bill Sherratt 6.64/212.7 to 6.90 while the second saw Tom Hoover beat Dave Page 6.31/221.7 to 6.80. In the final Fjeld took the win with a 6.32/220.3 over Hoover.
September 12th 1986 Dave Page was tragically killed in a road traffic accident at the age of 34.
November 1st/2nd 1986 SPR. Fireworks Meeting. Saturday was a washout but on Sunday Gary Page in the Panic FC made a couple of passes; 6.44/217 and 6.74/206.
April 18th-20th 1987 SPR. Easter Nationals. In Funny Car, Rune Fjeld beat fellow Norwegian Ragnar Nordli with a close to the barrier 6.25/179 to a smoky 10.32/158. The other semi was between Bill Sherratt and Gary Page. Sherratt wheelied off the line and ended up in front of Page who had to shut it off to avoid a collision. Page then nailed it to 7.20/192 as Sherratt coasted through. Rune Fjeld was unable to make the final as he had damaged the crank so Sherratt came back in. Unfortunately, both Page and Sherratt had staging difficulties and neither received times but Sherratt was deemed the winner.
May 2nd-4th 1987

SPR. Labour Day Nationals.This was the third running of the Labour Day Nationals and was held under threatening weather which kept the attendance down. There was also quite a small entry of competitors. The Pro Comp and Fuel classes were combined due to depleted fields. Steve Read ran 6.63/209 to down Dave Hartshorne with 8.69/164. Geoff Bosworth on the Cannonball FC went the long way round with 8.10/137 to down Ragnor Nordli with 8.40/112. Gary Page then ran 6.66/222. The third place winner was Dave Hartshorne who took the win over Geoff Bosworth as the motor in Cannonball let go in a big way. Gary Page was the winner of the final with 6.70/213 beating Steve Read who had blower belt problems on his 8.23/102 run.

May 23rd-25th 1987 SPR. Big Go. The Funny Cars of Geoff Bosworth, in the Cannonball, and Gary Page, in Panic, were the only two present to contest the Heart Like A Wheel trophy. Both cars had problems. Panic suffered an engine seizure and The Cannonball had handling problems.
June 27th/28th 1987 SPR. The Cannonball. Nine Funny Cars entered this year including Gary Page. Americans Harlan Thompson and Tom Hoover made it through to the final.
August 29th-31st 1987 SPR. The Sun Super Nationals. Pro Drag was a mixture of Fuel and Pro Comp cars. Gary Page ran a bye 6.97/166 and then visiting US racer Hans Kuesel Tempo alky FC beat Robin Read 6.95/209 to 7.29/NS. Craig Lowes ran 7.62/187 to beat Charlie Draper who crossed the centre line. Steve Read defeated Dick Cruse who snapped a blower belt. In the first semi, Steve Read took the win over Gary Page and then Kuesel ran 6.61/212 to beat Lowes. It was a final round win for Kuesel in 6.78/194 to Steve Read's 6.97/199.
September 13th/14th 1987

North Weald. This meeting was organised by the British Drag Racing Association after the demise of the NDRC a couple of months earlier. Pro Drag featured four cars and in the first semi the Read brothers came up against each other. Steve smoked his dragster off the line and let Robin through to take the win in 8.11/171 to 8.16/193. In the other semi, Gary Page easily beat an up in smoke Dick Cruse 7.65/176 to 10.50/71. In the final Robin Read broke a rocker shaft handing the win to Gary Page who ran 7.58/172.

September 25th-27th 1987 SPR.  World Finals. Six Funny Cars were present. Lee Anders Hasselstrom was #1 qualifier at 6.20/216 but broke and was unable to run in eliminations. Rune Fjeld, who qualified at #4 with a 6.61/224, also broke and was unable to make the eliminations. This meant that  #2 Harlan Thompson (6.26/235) and #3 Gary page (6.53/220) were joined in competition by previous non-qualifiers Tom Hoover (6.64/183) and Ragnor Nordli(8.28/166). Thompson beat Hoover with a 6.10/231, the best FC time of the meeting, and Page beat Nordli with a 6.34/214 but broke in the process. This was the best time the car had run in the Pages hands. It was also to be the final meeting for the car in it's current guise as it was sold soon afterwards.
October 31st/November 1st 1987

Santa Pod. Fireworks Spectacular. For the second successive year, the Saturday of the fireworks meeting was completely washed out. The strip wasn't opened until 12.30 on Sunday. Due to the conditions, most of the big cars didn't venture out of the pits. One who did though was Gary Page in the Panic FC who put down a wild 9.71/112 run.

July 2nd/3rd 1988 SPR. The Cannonball. The weather caused problems throughout the weekend. Most of the Cannonball entries struggled to find traction. Gary Page was driving the Purple Power Corvette for the first time as Tom Hoover was driving the new Showtime Pontiac.He managed to get one run in before rain brought a halt to proceedings.
August 27th-29th 1988 SPR. Summernationals. Gary Page ran 5.90 in the 'Silver Showtime' Pontiac funny car, an ex-Tom Hoover machine.  Tom had previously run a 5.94 and a 5.88 earlier this season in Sweden.
September 23rd-25th 1988 SPR. World Finals. In Funny Car three pairs of cars ran the first round but the elimination was cancelled due to lack of time caused by rain. Gary Page ran the fastest time of the meeting, 5.89/229, to beat Harlan Thompsons 7.13/136.
July 1st/2nd 1989 SPR. The Cannonball. A total of nine fuel coupes turned up for the event. Due to the downtime caused by an earlier crash the decision was taken to run the rest of the Cannonball as an eliminator with the fastest four cars going through. The timing equipment threw up some spurious speeds, including a 284mph for Gary Page. The second semi saw Gary Page beat Harlan Thompson with a 5.94/ns to a 6.05/185. The following report of the final comes from the 1996 Cannonball programme,"...all hell broke loose in the final as Gary Page pulled down a fraction late to face Rune Fjeld. In an audacious move, Harlan Thompson as first alternate fired up, burnt out and pulled alongside Fjeld, before Page could make the show. The large crowd showed their contempt by hissing and booing the Budweiser team. The cars went down the track with no green lights showing, no times recorded and no winner. The race was therefore declared null and void."
September 22nd-24th 1989 World Finals SPR. In Funny Car Gary Page qualified at #1 with a 5.87/241 in the Showtime Pontiac. In the first round he came up against the black Lonsdale sponsored VW of Norm Wilding, who was #3 qualifier at 6.07. Page broke on the run and coasted to a 7.58/115 while Wilding took the win with a 6.04/238.
May 5th-7th 1990

SPR Springnationals. Entry List  In Funny Car Gary Page put in a 7.27 half pass in the Showtime car. In eliminations Gary Page and John Spuffard ran the final in Funny Car, with Page taking the win 6.08/235 to 6.48/190. For final results click here.

 

 

July 27th/28th 1990 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.
August 4th/5th 1990 Avon Park. Auto Prix '90. Putting in demo passes was Gary Page in the Kopex sponsored 'Entertainer' Funny Car, who clocked a 6.975/190.18.
Over the winter of 1992/93 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.
September 16th-18th 1994 SPR World Finals. Three Fuel Funny Cars and a Fuel Altered were on hand. 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.
June 30th-July 2nd 1995

SPR. The Cannonball. Eleven cars entered the Cannonball, with six of them being the nitro variety. Gary Page made a checkout pass in Rune Fjeld's car, but a fuel line came adrift and he coasted through at 8.00 seconds. In the second round Gary ran a 6.66/244. In the third round John Spuffard, running alongside Page, suffered an engine explosion around half track and coasted over the line in 6.91 seconds at 149mph. Page recorded a 7.26/127. Rain brought a premature end to the meeting

July 6th/7th 1996 SPR. The Cannonball. Ten Funny Cars entered this years event. The two top qualifiers for the final were Gary Page and John Spuffard, both nitro cars. Spuff had run the low ET in qualifying, a 5.57/250 in the first round. Spuffard had destroyed his clutch on the third round of qualifying and so Lex Joon came in as first alternate in his Alcohol car. The final saw Page in trouble off the line with the car seeming to lack power, by the 1/8th mile he had pulled the chutes and Joon ran past for the win with a 7.00 second run.
September 13th-15th 1996 SPR. World Finals. This was the last time Santa Pod would use the title 'World Finals' for this meeting. It became the 'Euro Finals' in 1997. In Top Fuel Gary Page led the UK challenge with a 5.35/245 to take fourth spot in qualifying. In the first round Peter Lantz left ahead of Page, taking the win with a 5.37/275 to a quicker 5.35. In Funny Car Gary Page and John Spuffard repeated their Cannonball performances earlier in the year by running side by side fives. This time a 5.75/254 winner from Page against a quicker 5.58/238 from Spuffard.
June 28th/29th 1997 The Cannonball. SPR. John Spuffard took the honours with a 5.64/265 to Gary Pages 5.70/232.
August 8th-10th 1997 Summer Nationals. SPR. Fuel Funny Cars had 3 qualifiers; Alan Jackson 5.82, John Spuffard 5.83 and Gary Page 9.68. Jackson ran a bye 5.96 and then Spuffard took an unopposed win in 5.81 as Page didn't show. In the final, Spuffard ran a great 5.56 to Jackson's 5.72.
September 12th-14th 1997 SPR, European Finals. Gary Page, driving Rune Fjelds Mustang Funny Car ran a best ever 5.482/245 against Alan Jackson, very close to John Spuffards record 5.46. In his next race, which was the final against John Spuffard, he blew the motor  at 1000ft due to a rear axle failure and burnt the chutes off into the bargain. He got the win though with a 5.77/187. Spuffard himself came very close to the record with a 5.47/276, the terminal speed being the fastest recorded funny car speed in Europe.
August 8th/9th 1998 New Summer Nationals. SPR. Gary Page took a turn at driving the Showtime Dodge Avenger Funny Car of bob Jarrett and John Spuffard. He ran qualifying times of 6.31/155 and 5.82/193. In the four car elimination he ran 5.63/217 (the quickest e.t. for the car that year) to defeat Alan Bates 5.97/222. In the final against Alan Jackson he finished as runner up with a 5.79/226 to Jacksons 5.77/221.
November 5th/6th 2001 SPR. The Flame And Thunder Show. Gary Page was back on the track  for the first time in three years with an early shut off pass in Rune Fjelds Top Fueler. Tyre shake was the culprit.
2002 Gary Page took over the driving duties on Mark and Jackie Hawkins Dodge Avenger Nitro Funny Car. He drove at the Pro Fuel Shootout and then competed in the 2002 Nitro Funny Car Championship. He took the car to its first five second run with a 5.91/224.32 at Santa Pod in the final round during the Euro Finals Meeting. He finished the season with third place in the points. He also took to the driving seat of Rune Fjeld's number two car. Top Fuel Dragster and competed at Mantorp Park in Sweden in July. He qualified 4th with a 5.28 and made it to the semis where he was defeated by Barry Sheavills. In the process he ran a new personal best of 5.013/477kmh (296mph) setting a new track record. In August he went to Gardermoen to drive the car again and qualified third with a 5.17. He was beaten in the first round by Kim Reymond, 5.12 to a winning 5.02.
May 24th-26th 2003

Santa Pod Raceway. Main Event. In Top Fuel Gary Page qualified at number seven. He advanced to the final with a defeat of Anita Makela, whose engine went up in flames, and a 5.175/256.02 win over Kim Reymond whose tyres went up in smoke on the line. In the final it was Smax Smith who took the win with a 4.959/280.53 to a 5.382/211.65 from Page. 

August 23rd-25th 2003

Shakespeare County Raceway. All Star Nationals. In Fuel Funny Car first round of eliminations John Spuffard ran an early shut off 5.862/218.45 as opponent Gary Page suffered an engine failure which left oil along the second half of the track. Page had qualified fourth with a 10.693/90.91.

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