A very hot rod at Santa Pod’s Main Event

Santa Pod’s inaugural FIA/UEM event of the season always manages to throw up some red-hot race action, but this year’s event, held last weekend, saw Dutchman Henri Joosten get a little hotter than usual, as his gorgeous ’55 Bel Air Pro Mod car disappeared in a fireball on the start line.

Suffering from a nitrous ‘burp’, where Nitrous Oxide ignites under the bonnet, the car quickly caught fire. Luckily, Henri was out of the car in seconds, completely unhurt. As he watched on helpless, his once pristine racecar burned furiously, despite the textbook efforts and lightning-quick reaction of Santa Pod’s fire teams. Thanks to their prompt action however, the fire was neatly contained and presented no danger to either track staff or spectators.

As almost £200,000 worth of top-level racecar burned itself to an unceremonious crisp, it was clear to see that the packed crowd felt the pain for Joosten, with many going up to see him in his pit afterwards to check that he was OK.

Commenting on the incident, Santa Pod General Manager, David Lloyd-Jones said, ‘It’s never good to see a racer lose their car like this, and everybody at the Pod was delighted to see Henri just step from the car. I am indebted to our brave fire teams for the superb job that they did in keeping it all under control. We practise hard for this kind of event and they performed exceptionally. It just goes to show how close to the edge these cars run. We hope that Henri is back racing with his next car very soon’

Expect more thrills and spills at between the 8th and 11th of September when Santa Pod hosts the FIA/UEM European finals!

For more information on Santa pod events, visit santapod.com.