The Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) has announced the establishment of a national championship, for which the 2021/22 season will begin this July.

Known as the Australian Drag Racing Championship (ADRC), the programme will take in the National Title and the ANDRA Christmas Trees for the Group One categories of Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle.

The 2021/22 ADRC season will be held over six rounds, representing five different venues across four states/territories.

The Hidden Valley Drag Strip hosts the season-opener on July 16-17 before the circus heads down to Alice Springs Inland Dragway for Round 2 on the following weekend (July 24-25).

From there, there will be events at Adelaide International Raceway in October, the Perth Motorplex in November, Calder Park Raceway in February, and a return to Perth in March.

Each ADRC event will include a round of the 2021/2022 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, with that competition’s full calendar to be announced shortly.

Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association President and Top Doorslammer competitor, Matt Abel, welcomed the news.

“As both the President of the Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association and as a Top Doorslammer competitor, I am very excited about the establishment of this national-level Group One series,” said Abel.

“The entire Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association committee is thrilled, and we are very much looking forward to the challenge of hosting the first event of the inaugural season.

“It is going to be great to get the racing back on track and see it build bigger and better across the coming years.

“This is something that I think everyone will agree we have needed for a long time, and we are looking forward to being part of building a great Group One championship for Australian drag racing and its fans.”

Top Fuel Motorcycle Australia President and long-time competitor, Benny Stevens, is also looking forward to seeing the new national series grow.

“The new Australian Drag Racing Championship is a great concept, and it will be brilliant to have a proper Australian series back on track,” Stevens said.

“We are looking forward to being part of building a successful championship for not only Top Fuel Motorcycle and Top Doorslammer competitors but also fans Australia-wide and we are going to be working hard to get a good, solid field of riders involved.

“The Top Fuel Motorcycle community have always been great supporters of Top Doorslammer and vice versa, so it will be fantastic to be back on the road travelling together with some solid fields around the country racing towards the ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree and Series honours.”

ANDRA Chief Executive Officer, Brett Stevens, said the ADRC has been a long-held ambition.

“We have been listening to what our members and our member tracks want and there has been a lot of people doing a lot of work on this for a long time,” explained Stevens.

“It gives me great pride to now be able to announce the exciting new Australian Drag Racing Championship to provide a place for true national-level competition for Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future, for additional Group One categories.

“We are very excited about the future and look forward to seeing the growth and success of both the Australian Drag Racing Championship and the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series over the coming season and into the future.”

Calendar: 2021/22 Australian Drag Racing Championship *

* All dates correct at time of publication; subject to change