Category: 2025 Member

Keith Lee

Keith Lee’s interest in Drag Racing started when his father took him to Blackbushe to watch the final event of the first Drag Festival series in 1964. It made a big impression on the youngster – especially the sight of Don Garlits and Tommy Ivo in their fuel dragsters. It also introduced him to some unusual drag bikes, including a twin-engined Triumph and the unique Drag-Waye.

His first visit to Santa Pod was the new track’s second-ever event, and which turned out to be a slalom sprint, after an 80-mile drive there! The next event he attended included one of the wildest bikes ever to run there, in the form of EJ Potter’s injected Chevy monster.

Late in 1968, Keith set out to build a motorcycle-engined dragster to compete with, but plans were frustrated by facilities at home, which proved to be too small to allow the idea to progress. Instead, a tuned 500cc Triumph engine was shoe-horned into an old Lambretta scooter, to turn it into the most powerful scooter around. This was raced over the period 1971 to 1973, when he was already becoming involved in the reporting and photography side of the sport. 

In 1971, the BDR&HRA initiated a system of area reps, to help promote local interest in the sport, and Keith volunteered to cover Berkshire and Oxfordshire. He had already got to know Peter and Erica Bartlett; and it was Peter who first encouraged him to start writing.

December 1971 saw the first issue of Drag Racing News published, and just a few months later Keith started writing the race reports and other features. This would continue for the next decade. At the end of 1972, the National Drag Racer magazine editor wanted broader race coverage than just NDRC events, and Keith was asked to …

Kathy Taylor

Above Portrait: Blackett Photography

Kathy Taylor’s interest in Drag Racing started in 1986 with the ‘ERICs’ (Essex Racing is Cool), a clique of friends including Steve Dodds, Rob Loaring, Brian & Julie Pateman, Jon & Jeanette Webster and brothers-in-law Ray & Kev Perkins. On Kathy’s birthday weekend they all went to the Cannonball race at Santa Pod and Kathy was allowed to drive the tow car for Rob’s Vendetta 2. At this time the towing lane ran down in front of the grandstand and, in Kathy’s words, she thought she was Queen Bee and was hooked. Gary’s Picnic weekends were enjoyed with her two girls in a trailer tent. However Kathy’s passion was always bikes.

She didn’t feel that the new Santa Pod Racers Club paid enough attention to the bike classes and started to write race reports for SPRC News and later Drag Racing UK magazine. She also had a couple of articles published in Motorcycle News. She crewed on four Super Street Bikes around the time that Ken Cooper was the guru. It wasn’t long before her outspoken views earned her a place on the SPRC Committee representing the bikes. One particularly well-fought issue was over the Club allocating points each year for an Overall Champion across all classes– but only for cars. She ensured that this system included the bikes and thus Mark Fisher, who had the same number of points as Ray Guy, was recognised as joint Overall Champion.

After a couple of years assisting in the signing-on office, Kathy became Race Secretary in 1998. ACU Steward Bill Robinson and MSA Stewards John Ledster and Geoff May were her much-admired mentors who gave her a wider understanding of the role. She studied and became licensed as a UEM Clerk of the Course & Sporting …

Jon Webster

Above Portrait: Blackett Photography

Jon Webster has been around the sport for what seems like forever. It was in 1984 that Jon first took an interest in racing, albeit illegal street racing in a modified yellow Morris Minor on an industrial estate in Essex until it was stopped by the authorities. Therefore a visit to Santa Pod in 1986 was required to race the Minor at RWYB events. Jon started his own business in 1988 and decided to sell the Morris Minor to help fund the start-up, sharing a unit with Rob Loaring in Southend. He first became involved with Pro Mod between 1988 and 1990 with local man Tim Cook, for whom Jon built his first full race car, a 7/8 scale ‘55 Chevy. He also worked with Dave Mingay, Alan Packman and Colin Taylor. Jon began work part-time for Hauser Racing in Higham Ferrers before moving to Northamptonshire to work full-time.  During his time there he helped set up a rebuild facility for the constant flow of damaged ASCAR cars which raced at nearby Rockingham Speedway. He also built many Junior Dragsters which at the time were not part of mainstream racing. Thanks to the efforts of Jon and others, Junior Dragster became part of the national championship scene and, with growing numbers of racers, became the success it is today. 

In 1995 Jon was offered an opportunity to move to the USA to work in the racing industry. Unfortunately, the deal fell through – in hindsight, their loss was our …

Kenny Coleman

Kenny Coleman’s first encounter with Drag Racing came in 1971 at Blackbushe Airport in Surrey with his childhood pal Dave Grady and Dave’s Holden Monaro. It enthralled Kenny, and he decided he wanted to be involved in Drag Racing from there on. As a mechanic by trade, he wanted to know what type of engines and what modifications had been made to cars such as Gary Goggin’s Corvette and the dragsters to make them run much quicker than Dave’s. If Kenny was impressed at Blackbushe, it was probably his first visit to Santa Pod in the summer of 1972 seeing Money Hungry, Go-Go-Gone and Maxine’s Toy that sealed his fate as he has been involved in preparing race engines and going back ever since.

Kenny has owned numerous race cars over the years and has supplied and prepared the powerplants for many racers all over Europe in many motor sport disciplines, including of course Drag Racing.

Kenny initially raced American Street cars which he delighted in tuning to extract maximum power from fairly stock components. His first encounter with competition cars came when he purchased Herb Andrews’ Viva Altered Pumpin’ Iron which had been Invader in an earlier life. Having experienced the wild handling of that car and survived a few visits to the fields at York Raceway, Kenny went for a doorslammer in the shape of Jim Briggs’ Wild Man Maverick, renamed Stampede.

Nigel Patrick

Nigel Patrick started Drag Racing in 1977, riding his 1000cc Kawasaki in the Street Class. He scored a win at the end-of-season Santa Pod race, beating Steve Woollatt in the final.

At the start of 1978, Nigel had prepared a neat, turbocharged Rickman Kawasaki to enter the Pro Street class. From high tens at the season opener, he went ever quicker. Running into the nines by the end of May, when he also recorded the first 150mph speed, Nigel was soon into winning ways as he became the rider to beat. Class-leading times of 9.4sec were achieved during 1978.

Following the 1978 season, he picked up the Motor Cycle Weekly Drag Bike Racer of the Year award, and also the Scrutineer’s award for Best Prepared Bike.

In 1979, Nigel became BDR&HRA Competitions Committee vice-chairman. On track, progress continued into the low 9-second bracket, with more wins. A 9.10sec pass was recorded en route to winning the September World Series event.

1980 would be the final year for Pro Street as a group of riders sought to ban turbochargers and replace the class with Pro Stock. Nigel ran a slowing 8.96sec in April, to stamp his authority, before clocking a stunning 8.66sec/156mph class record in early May, at his last event in the class.

He was the only rider outside the USA to run under 9 seconds on a petrol burner.