The first round of the FIA Championship “The Main Event” at Santa Pod Raceway is something that not only the fans look forward to greatly but with such a strong field of vehicles entered (especially Top Fuel), the staff are also excited by what should be a real stormer!

It’s only been a matter weeks of course since we held the annual Easter Thunderball event which is another major weekend in Santa Pod’s calendar. The short gap between these two events, combined with the seemingly endless public holidays (including the Royal Wedding!) has meant that there has been no time to waste!

Preparations have been on-going and as we speak, the track is being prepared with rubber removal and the baseline VP track prep is being applied. Unlike most of the other FIA drag racing venues, the track at Santa Pod is used and prepped every weekend between January and November therefore our base line track prep is always maintained as we can sometimes suffer from too much rubber. You’ll know that we have Peak Performance event this weekend coming so the track will, of course, be race ready by then. The race paddock has also now been marked and set out ready for race teams that test on Sunday and will remain set up for the following week.

You may be surprised to know that we have used over 900 litres of paint in the past two weeks making sure that everything, including the track walls and start line area, sparkles! Even Santa Pod’s collection of five sweepers are being serviced and prepped – which takes over a week to do!!

For those who have not attended an event since last season, it’ll be hard not to spot some significant permanent additions and improvements to the venue in general. A complete new toilet block has been installed close to the main bar to cope with demand and over the Main Event weekend alone we will use over 160,000 litres of water! A new “bankside” hospitality suite is nearing completion and final touches are currently being applied. We’re very proud of the standard that this building has been finished to and we strongly encourage racers to inspect the facilities with a view to providing their sponsors with a hospitality option in the future. We’ve always dreamed of being able to offer private balcony suites and at last the dream has been realised!

Of course, it is no secret that UK has been enjoying some fine weather during the past couple of months and therefore the campsites and grass areas are looking in great shape. Long may it continue!

Much of the additional event attractions such as the funfair, the Live Action Arena, children’s play area, have started to arrive and are being assembled now ready for next weekend. Santa Pod attracts an ever increasing number of families these days and it’s our firm intention to maintain a diverse selection of “off track” entertainment to keep all ages happy. Of course, there’s no age restriction to enjoying the famous Red Arrows aerial show and we’re all very excited about their visit on the Monday of the event.

Finally, we’d just like to mention that the VP race fuel delivery has arrived and been logged so the pre ordered fuel by visiting teams is ready for them to collect or be delivered to them when they arrive.

We look forward to welcoming all our racers and spectators very soon.

Caroline Day (Marketing Manager) and David Lloyd-Jones (General Manager)