MEMBER OBITUARY NOTICE – Rod Pallant
MEMBER OBITUARY NOTICE
July 2026
Member: Rod Pallant
Inducted: 2023
We are saddened to hear that BDRHoF Member, Rod Pallant, has recently passed away. Our sincerest condolences to his friends & family. Rod & Anne Pallant were inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2023 and their citation can be read HERE
BDRHoF Member and Selector, Keith Lee, has written the following tribute to his friend & legend of the sport.
The Drag Racing community lost a memorable bike racer, when Rod Pallant sadly passed on Monday. He was a standout character in the pits, and especially so on track, with a series of crowd-pleasing machinery, which he always rode like he stole it.
In 1974, Rod started a Harley Davidson dealership, and bought a Harley race bike from Jerry Mitchell, which they ran together. This was soon followed by Rod’s first experience of a twin-engined bike. He bought the 1000cc supercharged Triumph from Barry Townsend, who also joined Rod in his small race team.
His LA Hooker bike name was christened in 1978, when Rod debuted his next twin, powered by a pair of supercharged Kawasaki motors. Not happy with the performance, the blower was ditched for a Hilborn injection system, and this bike was raced for three years. Rod then wrestled with a V8 Rover powered monster – ‘Heavy Metal’. The unforgettable unblown, black heavyweight contender had some nitro tipped in the tank for the first Transatlantic International meeting at Long Marston, and Rod guided the huge bike into the 8 second zone. There was to be a rear-engined version – but while the bike was having bodywork built, the engine and running gear were stolen!
Twin-engined bikes were Rod’s racing passion, He was Inspired by Carl Ahlfeldt’s Orange Crush, and Rod threw everything into …