HKS Drag Series 2008 Championship Review

The HKS Drag Series has now concluded, and we would like to say huge congratulations to our new 2008 champions:

Pro Class - John Bradshaw - Project GTST Nissan Skyline GTST

Street Class - Johnny McKeon - RK Tuning Nissan Skyline GTR

FWD Class - Guy Chamberlain - CPL Racing Honda Civic

It’s been a truly thrilling year that has gathered momentum in a way no one could have predicted. Speeds have gone up and times have gone down in all classes, and new European records have been set, broken and re-set in the course of the season.

Pro Class

We saw the first and second 7-second runs by Jap cars in August by Steve Whittaker, and the feat was repeated over and over again just a month later by John Bradshaw. This really was the story of the Pro class, and the two rivals eventually came down to the wire, with all hopes resting on a thrilling race in the final round, but it was not to be- the weather put a dampener on that, and the championship was sadly decided on a handful of bonus points rather than a heart-stopping head-to-head. That’s not to take anything away from John Bradshaw, whose car has been fast and reliable all season. That, combined with John’s skill behind the wheel has seen him also take the current ET record for the class, and left him topping the tables with 590 points.

In second place is the current terminal speed record holder, and extremely close runner-up, Steve Whittaker. Steve’s car has been an armed weapon all season, sometimes struggling with reliability, but never short on fire-power when going well. The huge terminal speeds show that there is more to come, and Steve would have loved to let-loose in the final round. Steve finished the season on 540 points.

In third place is Geoff Rance, with the RE:Worx Mazda RX8. The car was a relatively late arrival, but a convincing performer, with even better days ahead of it for sure. Geoff finished on 310 points.

Street Class

With a HUGE 1075 points, Johnny ran away with the championship for the second time. With ET’s frequently in the 9’s, Johnny was fast and determined. 360 degree spins on the track didn’t put him out of joint; neither did the occasional mechanical fault. He was always in the running at every event, and that counted for a huge amount in this class.

In second place, Gary Passingham came in with 685 points. An event win and plenty of fast runs meant he was a real danger to Johnny, but missing round 1 hurt Gary’s claim on the championship this year.

In third place, Kevin Huntley pulled in 455 points. Big points at the start of the season were squandered when mechanical failure put his Supra out for the last two rounds.

FWD Class

925 points put Guy Chamberlain firmly at the top of the table. The undisputed expert of Honda tuning managed to get power, reliably and consistency out of his car, and it was impossible for his competitors to take him on reactions either. Guy took the European FWD record for both ET and TS, and nobody looked likely to take it from him.

Neil Knight earned 360 points and 2nd place in the championship. He never managed to beat Guy, but his car was undeniably quick off the line and always up there with the best.

Douggie Gemmell netted 230 points with two very solid performances, but being absent in round 1 hurt an otherwise good season.

The full season standings table is on the 2008 Season Standings page.