There’s something poetic about a bike brought back from the brink. A machine dusty and forgotten, rescued, rebuilt, and reborn to thunder down the quarter mile once more.
In Mackay, Queensland, Rachel “Pocket Rocket” Wilkins and her partner Simon have made that poetry their calling.
What began as a modest hobby—buying old race bikes to tinker with—has evolved into a quiet movement that’s giving the drag racing community fresh momentum. Through their outfit, H2 Racing, Rachel and Simon have turned restoration into reinvestment: every bike they bring back to life finds its way back to the track or into the hands of a new racer ready to make their own mark.
From Spider Homes to Start Lines
The pair’s workshop is a rotating museum of Australian drag-bike history. Vintage Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, even the occasional Harley—each with its own scars, stories, and second chances.
Rachel laughs when she talks about how it started: “We’re drag bike foster parents, we help them find forever homes. We often talk about how many old drag bikes are stored in sheds waiting to come back out.”
Her first was a humble vintage Honda 250cc single, a learner’s machine that she wrung for every ounce of power until she shaved her times from 24 seconds down to 16. Then came the 1992 Honda CBR250RR Repsol, a four-cylinder screamer that took her into the 14s. From there, the pace—and the power—only escalated.
Each bike tells a chapter of her growth as a racer: the Yamaha XS650 that belonged to her father-in-law, the Harley-Davidson Sportster where she broke 100 mph for the first time, and the Suzuki GSX-R 600 that she rebuilt in ten days flat before debuting at the Winternationals.
By the time she was piloting her GSX-R 750 into the low tens—and setting two Australian records in the 1000-foot distance—Rachel had found her rhythm.
A Record-Setter With a Restorer’s Heart
Today, Rachel stands among Australia’s most respected motorcycle drag racers. Her résumé reads like a roll call of milestones: two national speed records, a nostalgia championship, multiple event wins, and the highly coveted Gold Christmas Tree trophy from the 400 Thunder national series.
She’s also the fastest female racer at Palmyra Dragway this season, holding her own against the quickest in the country with personal-best runs in the low eights—most recently an 8.18 @ 166 mph at her home track.
And if you want proof that hard work fuels results, just look at the miles logged this season. In 2025 alone, Rachel and Simon have barely paused to catch their breath — competing, testing, and displaying across Queensland from New Year’s Nitro to King of the Kane. Between back-to-back top qualifier finishes at Palmyra, a runner-up at the PDRC Round 3, and appearances at Winternationals, Powerfest, and Karnage in the Kane, their year reads like a full national campaign. Add in community showings at Mackay Motorshow, Revvin’ the Reef, and the Old Iron Restorers Show—where they earned “Best Display” and “People’s Choice”—and it’s clear H₂ Racing isn’t just a team; it’s a travelling workshop of passion and perseverance.
But it’s not just about the numbers. What sets Rachel apart is the way she and Simon treat each bike as a chance to pay it forward. Many of their former machines have gone on to fuel other racers’ dreams—literally.
“That’s the best part,” Rachel says. “Seeing someone else take a bike we’ve revived and run new personal bests on it. It keeps the sport alive.”
One of those bikes, her GSX 1400 big-tyre machine, helped her clinch a top-five finish in the national Modified Bike championship before being sold to a father-and-son team who now race it—and win—with pride. Another, a ZX-10R, found its way to Sydney as a stepping-stone bike for a young graduate from the junior ranks.
Creating Pathways for the Next Generation
That idea—helping the next wave of riders bridge the gap—is what drives H2 Racing today.
Rachel and Simon now sponsor a female junior bike racer each Winternationals, offering mentoring support, and sponsoring prizes for junior competition at Palmyra this season. Their latest creation, a Kawasaki Ninja 650L, has been purpose-built as an arrive-and-ride deal for 18- to 19-year-olds moving up from Junior Drag Bike.
With modest horsepower and manageable handling, it gives young riders a platform to build confidence without over-capitalising on equipment. In other words, it keeps them racing—without breaking the bank.
It’s a model that could redefine grassroots drag racing: affordable, accessible, and driven by community rather than commerce.
The Road Ahead
Even as Rachel continues to chase quicker passes—her Hayabusa 1441cc is still in development, inching toward the 7-second bracket—H2 Racing’s focus has expanded beyond performance to preservation.
Together with former Australian champion Steve Kitchen, Rachel and Simon are presenting his vintage Top Fuel Kawasaki, a formidable relic from Australia’s golden era of nitro motorcycles—carefully restored by the last owner Rob Cassar prior to Steve buying it back. It’s not being paraded out as a return to Top Fuel competition, but rather as an exhibition bike—a travelling showcase of drag racing’s heritage, celebrating the machinery that once defined the sport.
For Rachel and Simon, it’s a shared passion project—a way to honour the bikes that built drag racing and the riders who tamed them. “These bikes deserve to be seen,” Rachel says. “They’re part of our racing heritage.”
Ask anyone at Palmyra Dragway, and they’ll tell you the pair’s real contribution isn’t just measured in elapsed times or trophies. It’s in the culture they’re cultivating: one that values community over competition, and preservation as much as performance.
Rachel “Pocket Rocket” Wilkins may be diminutive in stature, but alongside Simon, she’s proving that heart and horsepower remain the true constants of Australian drag racing.
For every bike they revive, a new story begins—and a sport steeped in horsepower and history gains a little more soul.
Bridget Bell is a seasoned motorsport media professional and a skilled mechanic, with over a decade of experience in On-Air Hosting, Event Hosting, Television Presenting and Commentating. Passionate about supporting women in both the industry and motorsport, Bridget volunteers as a mentor and actively champions female representation.
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