1985 Penthouse/Virgin Atlantic Drag Bike Race at Long Marston Raceway
Photos © Jerry Cookson and Trevor Gardiner, and reports © Melvyn Record and original reporters.
For the 1985 running of the race previously known as the Transatlantic Drag Bike Race, organising club the National Drag Racing Club obtained sponsorship. The two companies that lent their names to the title of the race were Penthouse magazine and Virgin Atlantic airlines.
The field was headed by US legend Elmer Trett, there to defend his 1984 title (when he had run a track record of 7.24/197), with riders from Holland, Sweden, France and Germany hoping to win against him. Elmer's presence was enough to inspire many racers to personal bests. The Top Fuel Bike field was the quickest seen in Europe with five runners getting into the seven second bracket. Brian Johnson raced at this event for the first time, having been in the USA during the 1984 event and racing in Pro Stock in the 1981 debut event.
As well as around 80 bikes, there were cars racing at the event with four Pro Comp runners topping the car bill.
The Motor Cycle Weekly report summarised the event: "The meeting enjoyed good weather and an enthusiastic crowd and generated an atmosphere rarely seen in this country."
Top Fuel Bike
Elmer arrived with his family crew wife Jackie and daughters Gina and Kelly over a week before the race. The weekend before the Drag Bike Race was a round of the Superbike magazine sponsored Ultimate Streetbike Championship where Elmer set up and ran some demo passes to get a feel for track conditions.
Elmer Trett suffered a cracks in his cylinder head and crank on his qualifying run and Rod Pallant drove back to London to collect a replacement crank, which he supplied in exchange for Elmer's damaged engine; Elmer completed work on his bike in the early hours of Sunday morning. Eliminations Round 1 Stefan Reisten 7.857/179 def. Angus McPhail 8.473/161 Stefan Reisten was suffering injection problems. Brian Johnson's crank broke in his defeat of Ton Pels who was reinstated under the break rule Semi-finals Ton Pels 8.132/155 def. Stefan Reisten, 10.162/74 (primary belt broke) In his defeat of Lennart Olofsson, Elmer's cylinder head suffered damage and the final was delayed after he was allowed the time to replace it with a spare. Final Elmer Trett 7.315/NS def. Ton Pels 8.632/138 It was Elmer's second win at this event after his 1984 debut victory. Ton Pels rode his luck after being reinstated and then Stefan Reisten suffering damage in the semi final. Of course Ton went on to become a legend in Super Twin racing in Europe, running his team for over 40 years.
Pro Stock Bike Pro Stock was round one of the European Championship which attracted a huge field. Qualifying
Eliminations Round 1 (excerpts) Dirk Huesmann 9.657/142 def. Andy Capper, broke (stalled) Quickest run of the round was Jack Valentine's 8.999/149 and the fastest was Mark Clutton who reached 154mph in his defeat of Alan Jackson. Round 2
Rob van Ginneken 8.928/150 def. Dirk Huesmann 10.33 Semi-finals Rob van Ginneken 8.938/136 def. Mark Clutton 9.252/147 Final Rob van Ginneken 8.938/136 def. Jack Valentine 9.252/147
Top Bike Eliminations - Final: Henk Vink (Holland, Big Spender Kawasaki 1200cc) 8.938/136 def. Barry Eastman (GB, Tokyo Express 1000cc turbo Honda) 9.080/153 Top Bike comprised #9-#16 bike qualifiers. In earlier rounds, Henk had run 8.105/160 and 7.991/174 Senior Bike Eliminations - Final: Paul Rose (GB, Pitsville Express Yamaha 1500cc) 10.004/NS def. T Lewis (GB, Second Vision Kawasaki 1075cc) 10.041/100
Middle Bike Eliminations - Final: A Dougharty (GB, Bootlegger Norton 820cc) 10.387/128 def. P Scott (Blow Pipe Kawasaki 903cc) 11.162/127 Street Bike Eliminations - Final: Steve Berry (GB, Kawasaki 1290cc) 9.871/133 def. Steve Howe (GB, Ugly Duckling Suzuki 1238cc) 10.043/137
Gas Bike Eliminations - Final: Glynn Robinson (GB, Warlord Kawasaki 1325cc) 9.863/128 def. John Davies (Wales, Taffasuki Suzuki 738cc) 10.355/119 Exhibition
Car classes Pro Comp Qualifying:
Eliminations: Semi-finals Dave Wilson 6.764/188 def. Lesley Prior 10.305/132 Steve Read 6.892/199 def. Doug Bond 10.829/76 Final: Dave Wilson 6.462/188 def. Steve Read 7.340/198 Dave Wilson's time in the final round was the quickest outside the USA for a blown alky-burning Dragster, utilising a new clutch system.
Super Comp Eliminations - Final Steve Johnson (GB, Motor Mouse dragster, Cosworth 207ci) 20.575/42 def. Pete Mack (Plum Tuckered altered, Ford ) no-show Senior Comp Eliminations - Final Steve Blencowe (GB. Radical Ride dragster, Leyland 79ci) 11.849/108 def. Brian Howells dragster (GB, Snowman Ford 97ci) 13.852/100 Modified Eliminations - Final Tom Laffey (Laffey Capri III, Chevy 409ci) 10.722/137 def. Stephen Clifton (Hot Tomato II,) 14.337/57
Shadow Racing Street Car Championship Elimination 1 Final Brian Huxley (Toyota SBC) 12.541/103 def. Gordon Appleton (Pontiac Transam 452ci nitrous) 12.000/108 In previous rounds, Brian had defeated Dave Baldwin and Tim Hines, whilst Gordon won against Rich Little and Martin Holden Elimination 2 Final Chris Rawlins (GB, Three Time Loser Ford Mustang 351ci) 15.065/93 def. Andy Robinson (GB, Street Elite Racing, Rover Ford 351ci) 17.059/85 Andy Robinson was driving his Rover tow car whilst his Monza race car was awaiting its third set of half shafts that season. Current Championship leader Zane Llewellyn was defeated by John Mulligan We thank drag racing historian and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame director Jerry Cookson who has kindly provided copies of the material used in this feature.
1985 Event programme (14 Mb pdf file)
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