We Were Leaving The Park At 07.00AM

to pick up Steve and Kai,

we were going to Podington, a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire,

part way we stopped,

for a bite to eat and a coffee,

meal finished I popped outside to admire this beauty,

a Kawasaki Ninja, 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds, 

it needs these huge twin disc brakes to stop, but 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds is a slow snails pace where we are going, 

and here we are Santa Pod, the home of UK's dragster racing,

a few things to observe,

we parked up,

we had brought a few cushions with us,

a bit of a walk from the car park,

wind turbines at the end of the quarter, someone is making a fortune!

and here we are Diana, Kai and Steve,

coffee time,

Diana and Kai,

behind the coffee and food stalls,

there was a exhibition area,

where daredevils showed off their skills,

I have seen lots of cars drifting, 

but this is the first time I have witnessed motorcycle drifting,

extraordinary stunts were being performed by Lee Bowers, 

smoking the rear tyre,

he thrilled the crowds,

doing acrobatics on the bike,

look no hands!

what a show, 

Diana was enthralled, as we all were,

we looked across to the pits,

and the grandstand where we have seats reserved,

back to the arena, 

a 400 kilogram car,

powered by a 1,000 cc motorcycle engine,

was performing,

making what are called doughnuts,

then 2 funny cars thundered by,

I looked back to the funfair,

the Waltzer, after their last experience, the one ride the girls defiantly did not want to go on!

now that is more like it!

coffee and doughnuts,

we found a place to sit,

before making out way to the other side of the track, and our first close up look at a dragster,

the engine typically 400 to 500 cubic inches, going back 30 years or more since my last visit it was a Donavan block with Keith Black heads, as the norm, 

we looked around the trade stalls,

so much to see,

looking at the signs for a man cave,

I noticed this one, luckily Diana did not!

lots of bright shirts,

and a place to make number plates,

arguably the most import bit of a dragster, the front aerofoil, without it the front of the car would go skywards, in no time at all!

and the bit that gives the punch, dragster make depend in the class and fuel typically between 1,500 to 5,000 horse power, but for the ultimate in horse power look no further than American Tony Schumacher's US Army Top Fuel Dragster, in 2015 the horsed power measured on a electro-magnetic torque sensor measured an amazing 10,156 horsepower! but a follow-up test in California with improved air conditions revealed 11,051 horsepower, I can not wait until Santa Pod has International meetings as they had before covid and the Americans bring over their super fast cars, not that the teams this weekend are slow, today we will see cars breaking 300 mph and motorcycles passing the 200 mph barrier easily, one thing to remember about dragster racing, there is no second place, you win, you have the fame, the glory, nobody remembers second place in dragster racing, actually there is a second thing I should mention, as far as I am aware this is the only sport where female competitors have a slight edge over men, it is a physical fact that women have a quicker reaction time that men, and reaction time at the green light is just so important, if you click onto the blue highlight you will see that the study: 'has so far revealed that the average women’s reaction time is 0.386 seconds, with the average time for men being 0.402 seconds', not much, but at this level of the sport every one hundredth of a second can make the difference between being remembered and totally forgotten,

back to the stalls,

our seats in the grandstand,

we had 74 - 77,

Diana spotted this for me, how cheeky!

what a sight!

reflective in the sun, this couple really stood out, I had no idea if they were collecting for charity but I guess so,

Diana weakened and bought a pair of ear defenders,

I settled with fingers when needed!

all set, 

a few photographs,

and the racing begun,

crews readied a pair of funny cars as they are called for their burnouts, these heat the tyres to give maximum grip,

all set to go,

across the track the VIP stand,

the crowd here was enormous,

green light and the car was away, I should mention these cars are loud, spelt with a capital L,

next up a pair of dragsters,

smoking his rear tyres,

another funny car,

they roared past us,

as did,

pairs of motorcycles,

people on the ride getting a grand view! we watched so many races, these all qualifying for the final later in the day,

we then took a break,

back to the stalls,

the junior section queuing for their turn,

I have no idea of how many people were here, but the place was packed,

time for lunch,

pizza for Diana,

chips for Kai,

Steve shared Kai's chips, Steve had volunteered to drive back,

 

so I had a liquid lunch!

then the tent became packed, the worst possible thing had happened, 

it had started to rain, so that was effectively that,

I was so sad that we would not see the finals,

then I remembered I had a beer!

if it was a slight shower there was always a chance that the track would dry out, the slightest amount of water on the track means that races can not take place, but this was not a shower!

we started with many others, 

to make our way back to the car,

hoping to avoid the next downpour,

on the way back past the arena 

the monster trucks,

were just finishing their display,

water does not effect their performance,

well they might slide a tad,

but no real difference,

the sky was getting darker again,

these were cute, 

mini monster trucks,

luckily the rain held off,

as we made our way back through the village,

it took an age to travel home, accidents and hold ups everywhere,

we eventually reached Blackwall Tunnel,

and arrived home where we said our farewells to Steve and Kai, did the girls enjoy the racing? well yes, but, they mentioned that next year Steve and myself can go, they will have a day in London!

it was already late so for tonight just a sandwich, 'Cheers!',

using some of Diana's video and a bit of my own here is a short video, as it happens I did not take many photographs and videos as I would have, I was waiting for the finals, but they were cancelled in the afternoon due to the rain storm, in the video you can see Lee Bowers and The Maximum Lock perform plus a few dragster runs, but for a better look at what we witnessed have a look here, 

it is a video of what was happening at Santa Pod over the weekend, you may even see us in the grandstand! will I be back next year? I truly hope so! I am only making one post today, so after our evening sandwich and a couple of Midsomer Murders as Diana had a early start tomorrow we were off to bed.