A window of opportunity granted by the autumnal weather allowed Andy Robinson to seal his ninth Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship at Santa Pod’s National Finals.  

Two qualifying sessions and the opening elimination round were all that took place before racing was abandoned to the rain.  

Outgoing champion Bobby Wallace’s 5.944 seconds low qualifier was the truncated event’s quickest pass and Robinson’s first-round 246.37mph its fastest. 

Robinson, who has been competing since the late 1970s and is now a member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, first set his eyes on a drag strip in 1976, when he was invited to marshal at Blackbushe. 

He soon started racing and even competed the day after his own wedding at Santa Pod! Beginning with the top category of Pro Mods in the late-1980s, Andy has since won the British Drag Racing Championship eight times following its introduction in 2007 – and his wife Kate, son Luke and daughter Stef, have been alongside him almost every step of the way. 

He comments, “You’ve got sons and daughters driving when dad or granddad used to run, so in some families there are three generations racing together. I’m not sure you get that in most forms of motorsport.” 

Read more about the Robinson family here.