Bracket Racing is a way of handicapping drag racing so that you don't need a super face pro-race car to win.

In a bracket race each driver picks a "dial-in" and the winner is the driver who gets closest to his/her elected "dial-in", therefore someone with a 20 second car can (and frequently does) beat someone with a 14 second car, despite being 6 seconds slower on the 1/4 mile!

In short, Bracket Racing is a way of making drag racing "fair" so that it's not just the person with the most money that wins, it's driver skill, knowledge of your car and consistency that wins...

You get to be part of the biggest one make drag racing club in the world!

All members are given access to our members only forum, where you can ask questions and technical queries and get answers from both other racers and VWDRC committee.

When you're competing at an event you get priority entry to the track the day before the general public, no more queueing to get into Santa Pod!

You get invited to our many social events and gatherings, many great nights out!

As part of your VWDRC membership you also get discounts with some of our sponsors!

Yep, that's right, many of our sponsors offer discounts or special offers to VWDRC members, don't forget to ask when you order to get the most from your membership.

To get you and your car up to MSA racing spec, it should cost less than a set of twin carbs!

One important misconception needs laying to rest.

It is NOT expensive to participate

All that's needed is:

1. a car (obviously)
2. if you're planning to run Sportsman you need a minimum of a single layer Proban race-suit (£60ish from Grand Prix Racewear) running in Pro will require you to have a minimum of a two layer Nomex suit (starting at £170 from Advance Autosport) - Stop Press: The VWDRC have negotiated a club deal with Lille Racewear, give them a call and speak to Anthony for a 15% discount for all valid members!
3. A pair of Nomex gloves (£30ish from Grand Prix Racewear)
4. A BS Type-A helmet (£70ish from Grand Prix Racewear or full face for £230ish from Grand Prix Racewear ) although many people recommend a BS Type A/FR or Snell SA-2000 helmet
5. A fire extinguisher (£20ish)
6. An MSA "Non-Race National B" License (£35)
7. A full membership to the club (get your membership form and Licence Application form from Our Downloads Page

So for less than the price of a pair of twin carbs you're ready to go! Oh and you'll need about a hundred and thirty quid to enter the race meeting (for which you get 4 tickets - Bug Jam tickets cost £50 each - do the maths!)

The four entry tickets to events can be distributed to your crew (i.e. helpful friends) to share the cost of the race entry. On top of which you get to be involved with all that as a 'racer' in the pits!

First things first, You do not need an expensive pro-race car!

Your regular street Beetle/Golf/Polo/Scirocco/Bay/Split/T25/any other VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda derived car as long as it is Taxed and MOT'd it is almost ready for racing anyway.

You need to make sure your seat is secure and the battery/leads and fuel lines need to checked more thoroughly than the MOT (makes sense anyway).

You need a fire extinguisher for your pits

You need to wear a race suit, gloves and a helmet (these also make you look real cool).

The last thing you need is an (RAC)MSA Non-Race National B License.

Most of the rules are based on safety and currently, any car running quicker than 12.99, or has an open body or cut roof will need an MSA spec cage (cars running 14.99 down to 12.99 need a roll bar which is similar to a cage).

If you want to know the finer details, all the information you could ever possibly need is available, the easiest way to get it is to take an associate membership (for only £5) and ask all your questions in our very active Members Forum. If you are serious about building a full-on race car, please seek advice from the committee members and racers (who are happy to help) so your car can be built to the correct specification and pass scruitineering.

For more information on the rules and regulations on racing with the VWDRC we are offering a special offer £5 associate membership, this gets you access to the members only forum on this website where you can ask questions to other racers and receive information and answers from racers and committee alike. Just click here to download your application form for membership.

You can find more information about costs and prices on our "What does it cost to race?" page.

So how does this all tie in with the British VW Scene? Well the VWDRC have been holding a championship since 1988. Yes, we do have huge horsepower bugs and dragsters but it has always been the budget cars that have made up their numbers. 1996 was the biggest year for the VWDRC with 75 cars fielded in the old classes at Bug Jam and Beetle Bash.

During the VWDRC's history there have been a number of racing classes, and rules that had to be adhered to. For the year 2000 the club bravely swept that history aside and adopted a two class racing format, based on E.T.'s (Elapsed Times - or Dial In times as described above).

In short, if your vehicle can run QUICKER than 12.99 seconds down the quarter mile you enter VW Pro. Slower than 12.99 and you run VW Sportsman. Couldn't be simpler!

In 2002 an alternate engine class VW Alternate Engine was introduced to cater for the growing number of cars wanting to race with alternative engines. Subaru and V8 engines are the most common powerplants in this class which sees growing numbers every year.

Although our biggest fields are always at VW shows, the rest of the championship rounds are held at national drag racing events, so we get to pit and race in the same programme with sub 5 second Top Fuel dragsters and a vast array of fast bike and car classes..... great fun!

Using the VWDRC banner in your signature is easy

1. First select the banner picture as your image:
   http://www.vwdrc.com/files/vwdrc_banner.png
2. Then, include the following in your signature to add the image and a link:
   [center][url=http://www.vwdrc.com][SIGPIC][/SIGPIC][/url][/center]

That's it, you're done, you've shown your support for the club on the UK's Biggest on-line VW Community. Thanks very much.

The 2007 Drag Racing Year Book (White Book) on page 54 states:

So in a Beetle (or other rear engined VW) if you either:

a) Run quicker than 12.99secs
b) Have a cabrio, Webasto or altered roof
c) Have a GRP or non-metallic flip front

Then you have to have a 6 point roll cage as per GSR 4:11

If you run quicker than 14.99 but no quicker than 13.00 you must have a roll bar as per 4:10.

Joining the VWDRC is easy!

You can download a membership form from this website at the downloads page.

Simply fill in the short form and post it to the membership secretary at the address included and we'll get back to you with your membership details and add you to the Members Page, if you want a login to this site just Contact Us with your membership details and your login will be assigned.

The MSA Competition Licence Application form says

Hence anyone applying for a "Non-Race National B" license (the minimum required for VWDRC racing) is not required to submit a medical examination report.

You need a minimum of 4kg Dry Powder or Foam Fire Extinguisher for your pit area.

There is no requirement to fit a Fire Extinguisher to your race car.