What's on in the area

FIA European Drag Racing Championship

May 2009 (annual)

Cost: Various

Hours: Gates 8am

Enjoy one of the fastest sports on the planet at Northampton's Santa Pod raceway. Originating from illegal street racing in America in the 1950s, drag racing still has that underground allure and the smell of danger.

Dragsters are the fastest cars on earth. Two top fuel dragsters are more powerful than 15 Grand Prix cars and reach 100mph in one second and 300mph in five. The race consists of two drivers racing head-to-head over a quarter of a mile known affectionately as "the strip."

The G-force and pull on the drivers is intense. One common problem is tyre shake, where the vibrations rattle the driver's eyeballs so much they have to drive blind. For spectators however, it is certainly an eye-opening experience. The nitro that the cars run on sends six-foot flames rushing from the exhausts, producing 5500 horsepower in the process, and the ground shakes as they launch, requiring not one but two parachutes to stop.

Aside from the main event, other speed attractions are Europe's fastest motorbikes, including the Harley Davidson FIM Super Twins, which can hit 190mph in six seconds. The riders need to be in total control as the merest twitch of a finger and they are thrown from the bike. Not a pleasing prospect at 190mph.

The grandstand, which holds 11,850 spectators, runs the length of the track, so keep your eyes peeled during that vital millisecond when the car passes your seat.

Santa Pod Raceway

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