With winter in sight, the quarter-mile season has ended, and for the D.R.U. challenge competitor, it was no different. The season brought travel and thrill races, but weather also played a huge role. A total of 64 racers entered the Super Pro E.T. (24 competitors), Pro E.T. (32 competitors), and SuperComp (8 competitors) categories, racing across Europe to collect points and turn the game in their favor. After all, only one can be champion. The 2026 champion of the SuperPro E.T. challenge is Robert Gasnner; Martin Weikum took the 2026 trophy in Pro. E.T., and Kenneth Celestin in SuperComp.

Text: Benjamin Wefer
Pictures: Benjamin Wefer
Last updated: 19-10-2026

The Drag Race Union (D.R.U.) is a non-profit organization that encourages teams to travel and race away from their home track! This year, competitors collected points in Germany, Italy, France, England, and Sweden. So how does this work? Competitors earn points for their qualifications and how far they advance during elimination, even if they don’t win. Each participant’s four best results count toward overall points, but only from two races on the same track. So you have to travel to win! So who won what this year? Let’s break it down for you.

Let’s start with the fastest and very tough category: Super Pro E.T. German Rider Robert Gassner became the 2026 champion! Gassner had only four races listed and started the challenge in May at Clastres Raceway (29th European Dragster), where he qualified twelfth with an 8.586 at 256 km/hrs on an 8.47 dial-in. Unfortunately, Laurent Arnoud defeated him in the first elimination round, but he still collected 25 points. His second race was also at Clastres, France (31st European Dragster in July), where he again qualified twelfth, this time with 8.527 seconds at 258 km/hrs on an 8.50 dial-in. There, he reached the quarterfinals before rain washed out the race and collected 65 points. Gassner’s fourth race was at Rico Anthes Quatermile (NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring in August), where he qualified 3rd with 8.480 seconds at 258 km/hrs on an 8.47 dial-in and had to race Christian Schneebeli in the final before rain washed out the race. Gassner moved to Italy for the Race Hills, where he collected 136 points, for a total of 340 points to win the challenge.

Robert Gassner

Christian Schneebeli from Switzerland finished runner-up, just 23 points behind Gassner! Schneebeli had five races in total, but his third race at CClastres, France (31st European Dragster in July), didn’t count because he scored only 22 points. Schneebeli started the season at the main event at Santapod Raceway (England), where he qualified eighth with 7.7768 at 174 mph on a 7.76 dail-in and reached the finals, where he lost to British driver Billy Cane (109 points). His second race was in July at Clastres Raceway (30th European Dragster), where he qualified second with 7.923 at 275 km/hrs on a 9.92 dail-in. As no elimination was run in June due to weather conditions, he collected 35 points. His fourth race was at Rico Anthes Quartermile (Hockenheimring, Germany, in August), where he qualified fourth and reached the semi-finals, losing to Robert Gassner (92 points collected). His last race was at Rivanazzano Dragway, Italy, where he collected 81 points.

Christian Schneebeli
Billy Gane finished the season in third place with 252 points, competing in five races at Santapod Raceway (England), Clastres Raceway (France), and Rico Anthes Quartermile (Germany).

In the Pro E.T. Challenge,s Martin Weikum claimed victory! Martin participated in 5 races this year, but his fourth was during the Nitrolympx weekend, when he scored only 21 points. Weikum started the season in May at Clastres Raceway (29th European Dragster), where he qualified fifteenth with a 10.566 at 206 km/hr on a 10.50 dail in. He reached the quarter-finals before rain washed out the race, earning him 62 points. His second race was also at Clastres, France (31st European Dragster in July), where he qualified eighteenth, with a 10.634 seconds at 205 km/hrs on a 10.55 dail-in. He was defeated in the second elimination round by Spanish driver Gerard Romero, still collecting 41 points. Weikum also competed at Zerbst (3rd race), where he earned 107 points, and ended the D.R.U. season back at Zerbst, where he collected 108 points, for a total of 318 points to win the season.

Martin Weikum

Carole Weyland took runner-up, finishing with 315 points. Carole participated in eight races this year, but the first two rounds at Clastres, France, Zerbst, Germany (fifth race), and Hockenheimring (sixth race) didn’t count as they were the lowest ones. Therefore, her third race at Jade, where she collected 104 points, gave her the boost to the top. Carole’s fourth race was at Clastres, France (31st European Dragster in July), where she qualified first with a 10.651 seconds at 199 km/hrs on a 10.65 dail-in, but was unfortunately defeated in the second round by Katja Krull; she still earned 56 points. Her seventh and eighth races were at Zerbst again and then at Rivanazzano Dragway, Italy, where she collected 29 and 126 points.

Carole Weyland
Rene Siefert finished third with 258 points, competing in five races at Rivanazzano Dragway (Italy), Clastres Raceway (France), and Rico Anthes Quartermile (Germany).

In SuperComp [8.90 index], Kenneth Celestin took the win in the first year of SuperComp within the D.R.U. challenge series! Celestin participated in 6 races this year, but his second and fourth races, both at Clastres, France (30th & 31st European Dragster in June and July), didn’t count for the challenge because they were his lowest scores. However, he did collect 48 points in his first race in May at Clastres Raceway (29th European Dragster), where he qualified second with an 8.918 at 246 km/hrs. Celestin was still in competition when the race was rained out. In July, in his third race at Jade (Germany), he collected 63 points. At Zerbst (his fifth race of the season), he collected 82 points. At Rico Anthes Quartermile (Hockenheimring, Germany), he qualified fourth with 8.924 at 221km/hr, where Janine Petzold defeated him in the semi-finals with an 8.962 against Petzold’s 8.923. But it was good for 49 points and ended the season on top with 242 points.

Kenneth Celestin

Janine Petzold finished the season as the SuperComp runner-up for 2026. Janine competed in seven races in three countries (her second, fourth, and seventh races didn’t count because they were the lowest). Janine started the season in May at Clastres Raceway (29th European Dragster), where she qualified first with an 8.911 at 260 km/hrs. She was still in the race when it rained out. Her third race was at Jade Germany in July, where she collected 42 points. Her fifth race was at Zerbst, where she collected 63 points. At the Rico Anthes Quartermile (Hockenheimring, Germany) in August, she qualified second with 8.913 seconds at 262 km/h. She was supposed to race Gerd Habermann in the finals, but unfortunately the race got rained out. Her seventh race was at Santapod Raceway, but it didn’t count because it was one of the lowest-scoring races. She ended up the season with 225 points.

Janine Petzold
Cheyenne Visser finished third with 119 points, competing in five races at Clastres Raceway (France), Zerbst Raceway (Germany), and Rico Anthes Quartermile (Germany).

The season brought thrilling races for competitors, but also weather challenges. This year, the Drag Racing Union expanded its championship by including Supercomp, and competitors responded positively, with Kenneth Celestin as the first winner. Next year, the D.R.U. team is expanding even more by including Super Gas in the Challenge series.