DAY ONE THURSDAY 02 JAN
AUSTRALIA’S biggest horsepower party, the Street Machine Summernats, is set to rock Canberra for the 33rd time in 2020. The best way to get over your Chrissie prawn and ham coma kicks off on Thursday 2 January, with four epic days of non-stop action. Last year saw some alterations to the wellhoned Summernats format, including the smashhit addition of Skid Row, which will be back in 2020 with spectator viewing platforms and a huge viewing screen so more people can scope the action. Skid Row is a killer place to watch entrants throw a bit of smoke out in a specially prepared lane next to Tuff Street, without the pressure of having to go onto the actual burnout pad and compete in the toughest skid comps in the world.
After some scorching temperatures over the past couple of years, the ’Nats crew have put in hundreds of metres of shade throughout Exhibition Park, as well as stand-up misting stations to take the edge off the heat and ensure everyone has a beaut time in the Canberra summer. And ’Nats 33 should be a bumper year, with all 2000 entries sold out early!
As the old saying goes, variety is the spice of life and, boy, don’t the ’Nats crew nail that each year! Once again there will be a bunch of ways to celebrate our combined love of cars to suit enthusiasts from all walks of life – from the glamours in the Top 60 Elite Hall, to the cool rides lapping the cruise route, the angry machines hanging staunch at Tuff Street, and the Street Class cruisers parking up on the oval.
When you add in bands, fireworks, drifting displays, lawn mower racing, dyno competition and a massive automotive trade show, you’d have to be trying to not be entertained if you find yourself bored at Summernats.
But don’t think the ’Nats is just for people with the wildest, slickest, most perfect old cars: even if you don’t have a car or yours isn’t ready to roll, come on down to Canberra as a spectator and check out the wildest car festival in the world.
AFTER 12 months of preparation and build-up, the ’Nats organisers will officially throw the roller door up on the 33rd Summernats at 11am on Thursday 2 January.
At midday, the annual City Cruise will once again start the weekend’s formal events, as up to 500 killer cars will rumble down Northbourne Avenue and take over the Canberra CBD. These hand-picked Summernats entrants get to strut their stuff in front of the local lunchtime crowd flanking the cruise route, and it is a real spectacle to take in.
Despite the City Cruise running on public roads, there are temporary permits available for entrants with unregistered cars that otherwise wouldn’t have a cinder’s chance in snow of being allowed on the street, so long as they register under 100db and have a passenger if they have an engine hanging through the bonnet.
Skid fiends should make sure they’re camped at the burnout pad by 4pm to see the Last Chance Wildcard Shootout. This is normally awesome viewing, as everyone fronting for the Wildcard Shootout tends to turn their combos to 11 in an attempt to land a spot in the Burnout Masters, which runs alternately with the main Summernats Burnout Championship over the following three days.
The Shootout wraps at 5pm, and from then ’til gates close at 10, there’ll be cruising to check out, peel-outs down Skid Row (which closes at 8pm) and live music. It is generally a good idea to have an early night on the Thursday; while it is tempting to go hard straight up, there are three more crazy, funfilled days to follow!