Fire-breathing Jet Cars and nitro-burning Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars join an array of family-friendly off-track entertainment to give Easter weekend’s Festival of Power its special season-opening flavour at Santa Pod Raceway.
Get ready for a mind-blowing experience with the awe-inspiring jets — these fire-breathing marvels traditionally take the Festival of Power spotlight, unleashing their one-of-a-kind, smoke-flame-thunder extravaganzas all weekend long. While officially, they are in exhibition mode, don’t be fooled — the competitive spirit between these jet teams rivals that of their wheel-driven counterparts, turning the track into an inferno for a fierce and unforgettable showdown.
Jets apart, the Festival launches 2024’s UK championship drag racing season, and the variety of classes on show range from production saloon cars to the most powerful racing machines on earth. It’s the same story among the motorcycle racers, and of course, there are age eight-eighteen classes on two and four-wheels for upcoming youngsters.
A Top Fuel dragster match race pits Sweden’s Susanne Callin against Malta’s Duncan Micallef. At present, Callin is the quicker and faster of the two, at 3.840 seconds and 320.20mph. Micallef’s career-best figures are a “mere” 3.896 E.T. and 312.18 MPH. On the other hand, Micallef has 2017’s FIA European Championship to his credit, while Callin’s best-placed finish is second, earned twice in 2022 and 2023. On an unusual side note, as President of the Malta Motorsport Federation, Micallef is undoubtedly the world’s fastest-driving head of a national motorsport authority.
At the fast-and-loud end of the spectrum, Top Fuelers are not the only ground-shakers on the bill. Five brutal fuel Funny Cars are due to kick off the European Funny Car Cup series while, one rung down, a field of colorful Nostalgia Funny Cars, harking back to the class’s origins decades ago, begin their own annual battle for competitive honors.
Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Champion Bobby Wallace, from nearby Bedford, launches the defense of the title he achieved last year among the spectacular Pro Modifieds, saloon cars in silhouette but ferocious, 240 MPH racers under the skin. Beneath that level, all manner of cars and motorcycles compete for national supremacy in their individual classes. Access to the pits is free and open, so wander at will to view the work going on to fettle these mechanical marvels.
Away from the track, the Live Action Arena features Monster Trucks and stunt driving and riding displays, and for those of all ages fancying a detour indoors, the award-winning John Lawson’s Circus presents four shows a day throughout the weekend. For the grown-ups, there are historic aero engine displays and night-time live music, while children’s entertainments include dinosaurs, transformers and mini-Land Rovers.
The Festival of Power takes place over Easter weekend, March 29 to 31, 2024 (not Easter Monday) at Santa Pod Raceway, near Wellingborough, NN29 7XA. For further information and to buy tickets, visit www.santapod.com or telephone 01234 782828.
This story was originally published on March 12, 2024. 
