Santa Pod Season Review 2006

The 40th year of Drag Racing at Santa Pod Raceway was probably the best ever with European records being broken in numerous classes. As the the popularity of Drag Racing continues to increase there were also record numbers of spectators attending many events.

The improvements at the raceway continued in 2006 with a new ramp and new toilet blocks at the finish line on bankside, further pit expansions and the introduction of a second grandstand at major events. Expect to see further developments in 2007.

There was far to much going on at Santa Pod in 2006 to cover in one go so click the links throughout this report to find out more about each event, including winners info and photo galleries.

As usual the year 2006 season started with Run What Ya Brung events and this year the Castrol Challenge, a league table for street legal cars open to everyone, ran from the first RWYB meeting. View the full Castrol Challenge table at www.RWYB.com.

The Fast Show was the first Modified event of 2006 and everything from 1960's Fords through to the latest supercars were on show and running down the strip. The Fast Show was the first event at Santa Pod to have a handling circuit which proved a great success and is becoming a regular feature at our modified shows. Full report at www.TheFastShow.com.

Easter Thunderball was the first Drag Racing meeting of the year and once again the racers competing in the first round of the national championships were joined by European pro racers making exhibition passes and a host of stunt vehicles including Monster Trucks, Jet Cars, Motocross riders and more. Read full Easter Thunderball report.

The Central Ford RS Owners club and GTi Sprint day were both back at The Pod in April before Big Bang, the first classic VW event of year which was host to great racing from the VWDRC, RWYB, comedy and live bands throughout the day. Full report at www.Big-Bang.co.uk.

May saw bikes only going down the strip at Straigtliners before modified boys were back for Redline Rumble which saw some great action on and off track with several 9s runs from cars in the God of the Pod competition, the win going to Andy Forrest. Full report at www.RedlineRumble.co.uk.

The European Drag Racing season started at the end of May at the Main Event with great racing from the cars and bikes and a stunning fly-past from WWII RAF planes. Read full Main Event report.

June held the Performance Vauxhall Show and the Classic Ford Show both featuring the finest examples of the marques, old and new. Then the Sportsmen Racers were back for a scorching hot Summer Nationals. Read full Summer Nationals report.

June ended with the JapShow and glorious sunshine, thousands upon thousands of beautiful cars, and some superb action both on and off track. There were bigger crowds then ever around the drifting arena whilst Kevin Huntley took the Pro Shootout win. Read full JapShow report.

July started with the best of the old at Classic and Retro, the second GTI Festival of year and then americas finest were back for the 13th Mopar Euro Nationals. July's biggest event however was as always Bug Jam. Beetles and camper vans streamed through the gates of Santa Pod, filling the site to capacity in record time for a hot sunny weekend of racing, music and much, much more. The VWDRC and RWYB VWs were joined on the track by the Super Mods and Street Eliminators. Read full Bug Jam report.

August started with USC, Europe's largest modified car festival saw the Santa Pod site full for the second time in two weeks with a record number of car clubs in attendance. It was a case of competitions all weekend including, RWYB, Flame Out, Burn Out, Miss & Mr USC, Handling and more. After the sun set the music continued late and the last day saw a massive Show & Shine competition. Read full USC report.

August continued with Auto Italia, the first Italian car day at Santa Pod followed by UK Truck Show another first for The Pod with diesel power proving a great success and the truck racers more used to circuits all promising to be back for 2007 with proper drag tune ups.

The start of September saw the end of the European Championships at the European Finals where Urs Erbacher set a new Top Fuel Dragster ET European record with a 4.747s/318.95mph run. Roel Koedam won Top Fuel Bike in his last season before switching to a Supertwin. Read full European Finals report.

September continued with more new events including Extreme Performance Bike Weekend which combined On 2 Wheels and Scooter Hijack from previous years, and then Ultimate BMW Show, The Pod first BMW only event which was a great day and is set to be bigger and better in 2007.

Unfortunately the National Finals were called off due to persistent rain all weekend. The rain was gone by JapShow Finale and the spectators who came in their thousands were not disappointed as eight cars in total ran 9's on the day whilst Tim Webster ran two eights smashing the European Four Wheel Drive record. Expect much more from the exciting Jap scene in 2007. Read full JapShow Finale report.

Flame & Thunder was a action packed end to the 2006 season at Santa Pod Raceway, with motorsport mayhem entertaining the crowds across the whole site. There were demo cars and jet vehicles galore on the track as well as Monster Trucks and Motocross off track, the evening ended with a giant bonfire and two spectacular firework displays. Read full Flame & Thunder report.

We hope you enjoyed 2006 at Santa Pod Raceway and hope to see you back here in 2007.

Read the 2007 Season Review here.
Read the 2005 Season Review here.
Read the 2004 Season Review here.