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This is the second part of a trilogy based on Roger's pictures which looks at the hectic development of Top Fuel Dragsters in the UK which took place in the early 1970s. We saw in The Class of '71 that Dennis Priddle and Clive Skilton were vying for supremacy with Clive definitely having the upper hand although Dennis Priddle was closing on him fast. However, both men knew that they were going to have to up their game for 1972 which meant new cars. Their new cars could not have been more different - Clive's was rear-engined which was the firm trend in the USA, whilst Dennis stayed with the front-engined 'slingshot' design. Who was to be the dominant force in 1972? Read on . . . [Note : not all of the pictures were taken in 1972] |
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DENNIS PRIDDLE AND MR SIX The team got busy and the car was built in Tony Gane's workshop in Martock, Somerset. Call me biased if you like but the result was one of the most beautiful looking front-engined rails ever built. It also had the benefit of the first slider clutch in the UK. In drag racing it is usually the case that if a car looks good it goes just as well, and that was emphatically the case with the 1972 car. The team's first meeting was at Easter and Dennis blasted off a 7.12/204 lap to serve notice of his intentions. He later went tantalisingly close to a six second pass when he recorded 7.06 seconds at 'only' 181 mph (he dropped a cylinder at half track which accounted for the disappointing terminal speed). The team's next race was the Big Go held over the extended Whitsun weekend. A 7.1 second shakedown pass on Sunday morning was followed by a moment of history later in the day when Dennis flew down the quarter mile in 6.995 seconds to become the first person outside of the USA to go under seven seconds.
Not content with this Dennis rattled off passes of 6.95/208.33 and 6.93/204.92 on the Bank Holiday Monday. No wonder they decided to call the car 'Mr Six'! Next up was the 3rd International meeting held over the weekend of 8 and 9 July although the first day was a rain-off. Dennis and Clive squared off for the first race on the Sunday with Dennis taking the win with a 7.1 second clocking. He won the second race with an epic 6.88 second lap at 185.19 mph and also took the last race with a 7.08. The action moved on to an NDRC-organised meeting at Blackbushe Aerodrome on 20 August where Dennis and Clive ran a best of three contest. Dennis took round one with a stout 6.92/194 effort although he lost round two when he had to shut down after the burn out with fuel problems. Mr Six lived up to its name for the last race and smoked the entire quarter mile but still clocked 6.91 at a mighty 211 mph which was the highest terminal speed ever recorded in the UK. Dennis Priddle was to become the undisputed master of the tricky Blackbushe surface. The following weekend saw battle resumed at the August Bank Holiday meeting back at Santa Pod which saw the first side-by-side six second run in Europe with Dennis running 6.67 seconds (no speed recorded) to see off Clive Skilton who ran his first six with a 6.89 second lap. Clive and Dennis returned to Santa Pod on 23 and 24 September when Mr Six continued to deliver the goods by re-setting the strip record down to a fantastic 6.59 seconds, the terminal speed on this pass was 200.8 mph. Not content with strip records the team attended the ISO Elvington Records Weekend held on 30 September and 1 October to attempt the World Standing Start Quarter Mile record. Dennis' first run was 6.69 seconds which he followed up with a 6.75 second run in the opposite direction. However, World Record runs have to be completed in opposite directions within one hour of each other and the second pass was declared out of time. Undeterred, the team prepared for another run which was achieved in 6.65 seconds thus giving an average of 6.70 seconds for a new World Record. Only one pass was made at the G Max Grand Trophy meeting at Santa Pod over the weekend of 21 and 22 October, a 6.98 second run at a dawdling 153.74 mph. Although a disappointing run it showed the fantastic progress made by the team during the year. They started off trying to break in to the sixes and by the end of the year could run a six with ease even with an early shut-off. Dennis rounded out the year at the 4 and 5 November Fireworks Meeting by defeating Allan Herridge driving Firefly but I have been unable to find details of times and speeds. Phew - what a scorcher!
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CLIVE SKILTON AND REVOLUTION III The start of the year was bedevilled with mechanical problems mostly surrounding the fuel pump. However by the time of the International meeeting in July the team were getting on top of things which enabled Revolution III to run 7.2 seconds followed by a very encouraging 7.07/203.25 pass. Disaster struck in the third race however when Clive lost four pistons and the blower. This engine damage forced Clive to use the 392 cubic inch engine from the Hillbillies' wrecked Transcontinental Funny Car at the August Blackbushe meeting. Accordingly he ran off-form, passes of 7.62/189, 7.87/180 and 7.89/189. Revolution III made its first six second pass at the August Bank Holiday meeting by clocking a superb 6.89 second run at 211 mph. This was also the first side-by-side six second race on European soil as Dennis Priddle laid down a 6.67 second lap. Clive took Revolution III to the Brighton Speed Trials on September the 9th and ran tyre-smoking passes of 8.1 and 8.7 seconds which must have really got the attention of the crowd. The ISO Elvington Records Weekend held on 30 September and 1 October was the scene for the team's next major success when Clive took the World Standing Start 500 metres record at 8.4 seconds. The terminal speed was a whopping 240 mph. Clive rounded off the year with a 7.04/204 clocking at the G Max Grand Trophy meeting at the end of October.
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ALLAN HERRIDGE AND FIREFLY This power made itself evident at the Grand Fuel Meeting held over the first weekend in August when Allan Herridge put down a 7.8 second lap at 192 mph. By the end of the month Herridge ran a storming 7.34 ET at 201 mph to beat Clive Skilton's 7.41/200 which was the first time side-by-side 200 mph passes had been run in Europe. Firefly improved later in the meeting down to 7.2 seconds. Times and speeds continued to improve at the end of September meeting held at Santa Pod when Firefly ran 7.12 seconds at 212 mph which was a terminal speed record. This record was upped to a whopping 218 mph at the G Max Trophy Meeting held on 21 and 22 October. Allan Herridge also performed Britain's first ever fire burn out. The year ended on a slightly sour note when racing Dennis Priddle in the Top Fuel final at the Novemeber 4th and 5th meeting. Herridge was visibly gaining on Priddle when the car went sideways into the barrier bursting a tyre. Firefly straightened up when the parachute was pulled and Allan stopped the car safely although the rear end was damaged. Undeterred he brought Firefly out later for some fire burn outs. Quite a year! [Also notable in 1972 was a 8.09 second pass by John Siggery driving The Commuter.] . |
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'MOVIN' MIKE' HUTCHERSON AND NOBBY HILLS' HOUNDOG 5
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1972 saw a complete reversal of fortunes in the ongoing Priddle/Skilton rivalry with Dennis taking the honour of being the first man to run under seven seconds. Not content with that he worked his way down through the sixes and finished up with a magnificent 6.59 second clocking and the World Standing Start Quarter Mile record. Clive Skilton, although plagued by mechanical gremlins, got himself into the sixes, took part in the first side-by-side 200 mph race, and took the World Standing Start 500 metres record. Unbeknown to their many loyal fans both drivers had decided that new cars were necessary for 1973, and both had decided to buy in cars with established performance credentials from the USA. Dennis Priddle stuck with his favourite front-engined format whilst Clive Skilton continued with the rear-engined configuration. To find how these two great rivals faired in 1973 you will have to wait for 'The Class of '73' which will be the subject of Roger's 12th page coming here soon. |
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I am indebted to Chris Dossett and his superb Trakbytes website |
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This page is dedicated to the memory of |
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All material on this site is copyright |
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(First posted on 8 January 2015) |
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