Qualifying sheet8 runs posted
Drag racing in New Zealand, one pass at a time
New Zealand drag racing began, as far as the record shows, on the clay floor of a coal mine in the 1960s. It moved to aerodromes, closed industrial roads and finally to purpose-built strips. This site writes that story down, explains the machinery, and tries to make a timing slip readable to someone who has never held one.
It is written by the topfueldragbike editors, a small independent group with no ties to any team, rider, series, venue or sanctioning body. Where the record is thin we say so. Where a claim can be checked, we link to the place you can check it.
Latest runsFull sheet
- 08Why nitro? The fuel that makes your eyes waterBikes
- 07Your first drag meeting: what to expect, what to bring, how to standThe shed
- 06What it takes to run a race team: crew, clutch and the 4am rebuildPeople
- 05From club days to nitro: how a bike racer gets to the stripPeople
- 04Where the strips are: Meremere, Ruapuna, TaupÅ and the airfieldsTracks
- 03How to read a timing slip (and why the 60-foot matters most)Tracks
- 02What is a Top Fuel bike? Nitro, a blower and 1,500cc of bad ideasBikes
- 01From a coal mine to Meremere: how drag racing started in New ZealandHistory
Sections
- HistoryCoal mines, closed roads, aerodromes and the first purpose-built strips.
- BikesClasses, fuel, clutches and what the numbers on the slip mean.
- TracksWhere meetings run, and how a quarter mile is laid out and prepared.
- PeopleCrews, juniors and the long road from club day to a fuel licence.
- The shedSpectating, gear and old bikes brought back to life.