Susanne Callin’s European Top Fuel title extends run of women champions

Susanne Callin’s second consecutive European Top Fuel championship, secured at Santa Pod Raceway in England in September 2026, has brought renewed attention to women’s success in drag racing. The FIA says she had clinched the title through qualifying before rain prevented a planned final against Colin Millar. A BBC report published on 8 October places her result within a run of four straight European titles won by women.

The distinction matters to the result: Callin won the championship, but did not beat Millar in a final at Santa Pod. The event ended before that race could take place. The FIA reported that Millar finished second in the championship and Jndia Erbacher third.

How Callin secured the 2026 European Top Fuel title

According to the FIA, Callin made the title certain by qualifying third on Saturday at the European Finals. Persistent rain then restricted race-day eliminations to one round. Further rain, together with the venue’s 21:00 curfew, brought proceedings to an end at 20:30. The weather shaped what spectators saw on the final day, but did not undo the points position that had already given Callin the championship.

Callin did race Erbacher, the 2024 champion, in the opening elimination round. The FIA says Callin won on a holeshot, meaning her start gave her the advantage despite Erbacher recording the quicker elapsed time. Callin was due to meet her team-mate Millar in the final. Rain stopped that showdown, leaving no direct final-race result between the season’s top two finishers.

Why women’s results stand out in Top Fuel

The BBC reports that women accounted for 20% of drivers in this year’s US and European Top Fuel seasons. For comparison, it cites campaign group More Than Equal’s estimates that women make up about 10% of motorsport participants and 4% of elite drivers overall. Different competitions and measures sit behind those figures, but they show why repeated women’s wins in Top Fuel draw attention across motorsport.

Top Fuel is a direct contest between drivers, with cars racing over 1,000 feet. According to the BBC, they can exceed 300mph during runs lasting about four seconds, and parachutes help slow them beyond the finish. Callin compared the acceleration to being shot out of a cannon. She also told the BBC that safety concerns remain, while describing the precautions used by drivers as effective.

Callin told the BBC she had never felt underestimated or treated badly because she is a woman in drag racing. Her account is one driver’s experience, rather than a measure of every competitor’s experience. The BBC describes Erbacher, a Swiss driver and Callin’s rival, as a friend too, illustrating the relationships that can sit alongside their competition on the track.

The history behind women’s Top Fuel championships

Fran Longstaff, chief innovation officer at More Than Equal, told the BBC that research she co-led pointed to visible female role models, junior programmes, open pits and a collaborative, family-oriented culture. She said that work did not identify physical or biological factors to explain the sport’s pattern. These are the group’s findings and interpretation, rather than proof that any single feature caused women’s championship success.

The history extends well beyond Callin’s current streak. The BBC identifies Shirley Muldowney as an early benchmark: she won the US National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980 and 1982, becoming the first driver to win three such titles. It also reports that Muldowney faced resistance before becoming widely celebrated. Her record offers context for the role models Longstaff describes.

Callin’s latest title adds a confirmed result to that history. The unfinished Santa Pod final leaves one narrower sporting question unanswered: how she and Millar would have matched up in that particular race. The championship itself was settled before the rain stopped the meeting, and the BBC’s reported run of women champions concerns season titles rather than the outcome of a single curtailed final.