After a decade long absence, championship drag racing is returning to Adelaide.

The Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) can confirm that an ANDRA Pro Series round featuring Top Fuel, Top Alcohol, Top Bike and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories will be held at Adelaide International Raceway on April 13, 14 and 15.

Adelaide sports fans will be left in awe by the nitro-fuelled Top Fuel dragsters, which produce 8000 horsepower each and can reach over 400kmh in just three seconds. Spectacular nitro flames are thrown from the exhaust pipes and the sound literally shakes the ground.

Among those competing will be reigning national ANDRA Pro Series champion Darren Morgan who is thrilled at the opportunity to race in a new capital city.

“We’re excited Adelaide can now become a piece of a national series,” he said. “It will be great to race only four hours from our base in Mildura and this will be our new home track.”

Morgan said Adelaide motorsport fans need to see a Top Fuel dragster in the flesh to truly understand the power and the speed.

“It’s the only motorsport that physically shakes the ground, it’s a motorsport that you feel,” he said. “Until you have seen a nitro car, you haven’t experienced real horsepower.”

Event manager Rino D’Alfonso said spectators will be able to see the teams up close in the pits and just metres away on the track.

“Adelaide is not going to know what hit it, Top Fuel dragsters are the pinnacle of the sport,” he said. “When they roar past, it’s like an earthquake hitting. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about the return.

”The event will attract competitors and spectators from around Australia, delivering an economic boost to South Australia.

A recent one day exhibition event attracted over 10,000 spectators, demonstrating a hunger to see the sport of drag racing return to the capital.

“People are excited about the return and cannot wait for the event,” D’Alfonso said. “It was like a reunion of the drag racing community in November and now we’re keeping it here.”

The event will be run over a 1000 feet (304.8 metres) distance and will also feature sportsman racers in a number of soon to be announced categories.

Racers seeking more information can contact Rino D’Alfonso on 0419 722 464.

Image by Dave Hope