SUMMER-TATTS
TATTOOS have long been a part of
Summernats with a small but well-attended
competition held each year, but this year
the organisers have embraced the culture
wholeheartedly and invited tattoo artists from
around the country to participate in the Body
Art Nationals. The aim is to celebrate tattooing
as an art form and to provide an awesome
opportunity for the artists to have exposure to
the 100,000-plus people and the culture
of Summernats.MASTER BLASTERS
BURNOUT Masters at Summernats really is
the finals series, and as we Aussies are clearly
the best in the world at high-intensity and
very smoky burnouts, we could take a leaf
out of the Yanks’ playbook quite easily call it
the World Championships. With a qualifying
process that takes in all of the major events
around the country, it really does bring the
best of the best to Canberra. It’s a hard-fought
and much-coveted award, and no matter how
many burnout comps people have won in the
past, this is the one that they want the most.THE 2018 MASTERS
Steve Nogas – KILLAB
Leigh Mackenzie – LUXURY
Rick Fuller – LSONE
Andrew Lynch – LYNCHY
Andrew Pool – IBLOWN
Anthony Page – PAGEY
Tim Brown – CEMBLO
Shane D’Amato – GHETTO
Matthew James – UNWANTED
Matthew Hughes – MONSTA
Justine Mott – GEMSKID
Fred Watson – FEAR
Thomas Beltrame – INFERNO
Kevin Mantach – ALCOTRAZ
Matthew Purnell – BLACKOUT
Jason Tanian – KENOATH
Matt Power – T4TUFF
Grahame Rowe – GAMBLE
Scott Yates – YATESZ
Steven Loader UCSMOKE
Brett Battersby – BLWNLUX
Matthew James – COMPACT
Gary Myers – AGROXA
Craig Hawke – MONGREL
Jason Sweet – TERIFRY
Michael Pratten – SPASTIC
Karl Staines-Walsh – U2BH8TEN
Adrian Cuthbertson – SKIDMATTS
MASTER BLASTERS
SATURDAY is always a massive day at Summernats. There is so
much to see and do that it’s hard to take it all in. It’s a time to check
out the cars in the Elite Hall, where hopefully the crowds will have
died down a little from the Friday night opening. It’s a great place
to start the day before heading out across the oval where you can
check out the cars in the Shannon’s Show ’n’ Shine, or watch
the driving events as people slip and slide their way around the
grass circuit. It’s the one place at Summernats where too much
horsepower sometimes is, well, too much.
Where you can never have too much power is on the burnout
track, although those competing in the Heads-Up Go-Whoa need
to find that right balance of horsepower, traction and braking on
a dime. Making it even more exciting is the fact that there are two
cars – hence the heads-up bit – with the loser eliminated and the
winner going through to the next round.
But let’s face it, what you really want to see are the last couple
of hours of the burnout eliminations plus the big guns battling it
out in the Masters eliminations. No one really knows how much
horsepower some of these guys make, but most estimations are
somewhere well north of 1000hp. One place you’ll know for
sure how much power someone is putting down is at the MPW
Horsepower Heroes event in the Dyno Hall, where you can also
get a reprieve from the usually scorching sun.
Wrap up the day by finding a good spot along the trotting track
so you can see the coolest cars at Summernats, including many
of the Top 60 cars, cutting laps on the dusty shellgrit. Top it off
with a fireworks display and concert and you’ve got a top night out.
DAY THREE
SATURDAY
06 JAN