MASTER BLASTER
THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION ANDREW LYNCH FINALLY SCORED HIS FIRST BURNOUT MASTERS CROWN AT ’NATS 36
There was plenty of celebration happening around EPIC on day three of Street Machine Summernats 36, but few would have partied harder than Andrew ‘LYNCHY’ Lynch, who was crowned Burnout Master for the first time after years of skidding his infamous Corolla in the Masters.
The other Masters finalists cheered along with the pumped-up crowd when Lynchy was announced as the winner – a fitting tribute to his long history of wild ’Nats performances.
Runner-up went to Chris Orchard in his Nascar-powered VH Commodore, THE GAME, followed by Robert Cottrell in third in his 4DH8RS XD Falcon.
It had already been an epic Masters instalment even before Saturday’s finals. It all began on
Thursday with the Last Chance Wildcard Shootout, where competitors who hadn’t already booked their Masters spot fought for one of four golden tickets to the big dance. Rain interruptions meant only eight drivers managed to tear up their tyres that day, with the remainder having to wait until Friday morning. In the end, Chris Orchard, Adrian Cuthbertson, Codie Free and former Burnout Master Tim Brown all won the chance to prove their mettle in Masters qualifying.
The grandstands were jammed and spectators lined up 20-deep for the quals, and they witnessed a major upset when defending Master Jake Myers didn’t make it through the round in his ’66 Mustang, leaving the competition wide open for the remaining hopefuls.
Scott Yates was laying down a textbook skid in his blown Commodore until he dropped oil on the track, and Rick Fuller also drove hard in FULLONX, producing plenty of noise and smoke from the blown HX. Michael Pratten went from a hospital bed to the driver’s seat in a matter of hours to complete his qualifying skid in his VX SS Commodore.
But crowd favourite Lynchy was on a mission from the beginning, opening his Masters campaign at full noise in his infamous Ls-powered Corolla, using every corner of the pad and producing an insane amount of smoke to the delight of the crowd. And come Saturday’s finals, his dedication and flair paid off with his first – but surely not last – Burnout Masters crown.