Who ever had the idea to go Drag Racing in Britain - the only motor sport that stops when the weather turns bad? With the Easter Thunderball falling unusually early this year we were always bound to fall prey to the elements, as indeed we did – freezing winds, rain, sleet and snowfall all conspired to stop any action for most of the weekend. Friday wasn’t too bad, although a strong crosswind gave a few racers a moment or two as they got clear of the grass banking near the end of the quarter mile, but Saturday was written off early, and when we woke on Sunday morning to find everything covered in a layer of snow it was inevitable that we’d not be going far that day either.

Monday was fine though and we managed a full day of racing. As part of the crew for SP/VW 97 (Abi Tether in her 21-window Split-Screen VW Samba) the disappointment of the van not running properly – firing on three cylinders so low 20-second quarters instead of the usual 17s – was outweighed by seeing her get through to the quarter finals, only to be knocked out by Spencer Tramm who went on to win the class.  

Russ Weir had a brilliant introduction to the sport, getting his blue Karmann Ghia through to the final on his first event (losing to Spencer), and Shane ‘Crazy Canuck’ Rae in the blue Bay Window camper had an interesting moment when he pulled the gearlever clean off whilst grasping for third gear. Helen ‘Tia’ Williams made her debut in the second Crazy Canuck Racing VW, a freshly finished blue Beetle which deservedly won the RNJ Motorsport trophy for best VWDRC car of the event.

The next time I’ll be part of the team is at Big Bang in April, again at Santa Pod. Here’s hoping for better weather!