A triple treat awaits fans attending Europe’s premier drag race weekend at Santa Pod Raceway from 9th to 13th September.
Europe’s 2026 racing season climaxes with the FIA/FIM European Finals. Currently some 300 car and motorcycle racers from 17 countries are numbered on the entry list. Drag racing’s usual plethora of classes on two and four wheels ranges from nitro-burning Top Fuelers to the Junior divisions populated by the sport’s budding youngsters. The Finals run from Thursday to Sunday.
There’s a pre-race bonus. The Carl Cox Motorsport Series reaches its concluding round on Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th. The superstar DJ and motorsport entrepreneur has backed a three-race series during the season for Pro Modified racers with a lucrative prize pot on the line. Cox himself competes in his own, 250mph American-built machine. The Carl Cox Motorsport organisation also supports the Junior Dragster and Dragbike classes racing over the weekend.
And a special car show celebrates Santa Pod’s 60th Anniversary. The display will feature vehicles from every one of Santa Pod’s 60 seasons. Racecars, hot rods, street rods, customs – owners and drivers are bringing six decades’ worth of prized machinery for display on Saturday 12th.
Ten ground-shaking, blown nitro cars top the Euro Finals bill. Four 10,000-horsepower Top Fuel Dragsters will battle for FIA European Championship supremacy while six Fuel Funny Cars engage in their own thunderous contest for the UK Funny Car Cup.
Sweden’s Susanne Callin, the reigning FIA Top Fuel champion, aims to resist the challenge of Swiss former champion Jndia Erbacher while Norwegian Top Fuel veteran Øyver Jacobsen has returned to the cockpit after decades away. The lone male entrant is Colin Millar. The popular Scot hopes to cement this season’s step up from Outlaw Anglia with victory over his all-female opposition.
Funny Cars use the same nitro powerplants as the long, thin Top Fuelers, but crammed on to short-wheelbase chassis beneath lightweight replica saloon car bodies – funny peculiar, not funny ha-ha. Some among the six-car, all-British field have enlisted American tuning guidance to further their bids for the prestigious Funny Car Cup. Steve Ashdown was last year’s cup-winner. Kevin Kent leads this season’s cup chase, to be settled this weekend.
Several Pro Modified entries will already have been exercised in the Carl Cox Series, but Sunday’s 16-car FIA eliminations will crown the FIA Pro Mod champion. Just qualifying will be an achievement. Nordic 250mph turbo cars are in a tight title battle: Finland’s Jere Rantaniemi pursues a championship hat-trick but Estonia’s Andres Arnover enters the race a handful of points ahead.
FIA championships will also be decided in Top Methanol and Pro Stock classes.
On two wheels, nitro power leads the way too. Top Fuel Bike is the senior class, but its dominant figure of recent years will be missing, and missed. Sweden’s champion and 260mph record-holder, Rikard Gustafsson, was killed making a demonstration pass soon after returning home from his latest Santa Pod victory at the end of May. An eight-bike field will compete for this season’s FIM-Europe title in Gustafsson’s memory.
Super Street Bike provides the event’s largest motorcycle field. These remarkable machines unleash six-second, 220mph quarter-mile performances on street-legal tyres without the aid of wheelie bars. Britain’s Jake Mechaell is favoured to retain his 2025 FIM title in a 16-bike shootout once the tyre smoke has cleared. Pro Stock Bikes and thumping nitro Super Twins complete the motorcycle agenda.
On-track, a full programme of Sportsman competition classes and Jet Car exhibitions supports the European championship contests.
Off-track, there’s an array of entertainments to suit the whole family – Monster Trucks, stunt riding and driving demonstrations in the Live Action Arena, parachute jumps and historic flying displays, funfair rides, music and fireworks, and a multitude of food stalls.
Camping is free for multi-day ticket holders and live bands provide late-night entertainment for those staying over. Paddock access is also free, allowing fans a close-up view of the pitside action.
The FIA/FIM European Finals and Carl Cox Motorsport Series weekend takes place from Wednesday 9th to Sunday 13th September at Santa Pod Raceway, near Wellingborough NN29 7XA. Full event information is available at https://santapod.co.uk/european-finals.php and tickets may be booked online there or by telephoning 01234 782828 – advance booking only, no tickets available on the gate.
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