Veyron-beating, 3000 bhp Bentley to take on Santa Pod

Bentleys are at usually spotted wafting down the King's Road in Chelsea, but if you get yourself to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend (23-26 May), you'll be in for a surprise! The home of UK drag racing plays host to round one of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships, an action-packed weekend featuring some of the best drag cars in Europe, and among the runners is Steve Neimantas in his insane 3082hp Bentley Continental GT. This incredible drag machine should cover the hallowed quarter-mile in just seven seconds, reaching speeds of over 200mph - so fast that it needs parachutes to stop it safely!

Even though the metallic grey Continental GT still looks like the footballers' favourite Bentley, 48-year old Steve - a Swiss-trained watch repairer from Brighouse, Yorkshire - has spent the past eight months transforming the original car, installing a lightweight carbon fibre interior inside its strengthened steel body shell. Under the Bentley's long bonnet is a 10.2-litre Chevy V8 engine that uses two huge turbochargers to produce over three thousand horsepower - that's five times more than the most powerful Conti GT that Bentley can sell you, and three times more than a Bugatti Veyron. It's taken many hours, and over £250,000 of investment, but all that hard work will pay off this weekend as the Continental GT rips down the drag strip in the heat of competition. To find out how you can be there to see it and the rest of the high octane drag racing action, head to santapod.com – day tickets range from just £15 - £38 and kids under 16 go free!