Tuesday April 9, 2019 at 2:04pm
The 2019 Drag Racing season starts at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway over the Easter period on the 19th to 21st April. Top Fuel Bike. Steve Woollatt starts his defence of his title against two Super Twin bikes of Allan Davies who will be hoping to run his first six-second pass and first 200mph this year. The other rider is Neil Midgley who has run 6.4sec at over 180mph. Funny Bike. There is a couple of changes this year, which sees Phil Crossley riding Bob Brookes bike and Dave Batcheler riding Crossley’s bike. Dutchman Kars Van Der Belt will be hoping to run his first six-second pass if the weather and track conditions are good. Last years National Finals Belt ran 7.001. Dave Peters will be top contender again. Jiri Lukes returns to the track after a two-year absence. Comp Bike. Last year saw Margot Schmidt become the first overseas lady to win an ACU Championship class and the third lady to win the ACU Comp Bike Championship. Schmidt has done some mods and is hoping to go quicker than 7.5sec. Sean Mills will be out to win the title after coming so close last season. Riders to watch out for Paul Hambridge, Rudolfo Maduro and Thurtny Martina have all run in mid sevens zone. Louis Davies will debut the ex Nick Daniels Funny Bike, with his dads Funny Bike motor fitted in the frame. At the weekend Davies tested the bike and ran personal best figures of 7.87-167mph. Super Street Bike. Both Steve Venables the Reigning ACU Super Street Bike Champion and Graham Balchin will use this meeting as a test session before they travel to Hungary to compete in the first round of the FIM Championships. Garry Bowe will want to forget last season after damaging a few motors and get back to the top of the pile. Stephen Mead ran well towards the end of last year, as did Mark Dainty. Alex Hope will race more in Super Street Bike in 2019. Report by Steven Moxley.