AFTER a one-year hiatus, the biggest horsepower party of the year is finally set to return to Canberra when Street Machine Summernats 34 rolls into Exhibition Park, 6-9 January. The 2022 ’Nats promises to be a cracker!

“This is looking like it’s going to be the biggest Summernats ever,” said ’Nats managing director Andy Lopez. “There’ll be record-breaking entry numbers – over 2500 – as well as the largest Burnout Masters field ever with the biggest prize money we’ve ever offered, the most unveilings we’ve ever seen and the world-first Summernats Fringe Festival activation in Braddon.”

The Fringe Festival will be a groundbreaking new addition to the ’Nats, with a portion of Braddon closed to civilian traffic on Friday and Saturday evening, leaving the roads vacant for up to 600 Summernats entrants to cruise in a controlled environment. All the bars, pubs and businesses will be open, there’ll be live music and food trucks at the car wash, and the public will be allowed in free of charge (on foot). “The residents and business of Braddon really wanted this to happen, and we reckon this is a first of many for activations like this,” said Andy.

COVID-safe practices will be implemented throughout the precinct, but there is no vaccination requirement for entrants or spectators, as per ACT Government regulations. “There may be capacity limits on the indoor spaces, but the grandstands will be at maximum capacity, which is awesome,” Andy said.

The rules around masks are constantly changing, but as Andy said: “Observe social distancing where you can, and if you can’t, put a mask on.

“No matter what we’re asked to do, we’ll do it,” he continued. “If wearing a mask or observing social distancing is the price to pay for going to the best car festival in Australia – and the price to pay for us to put it on – then we’ll do it, with a big bloody smile on our face. We’re really lucky to be back, and what we are about is putting on a really safe event.” Skid Row will be back and firing on all cylinders, and there’ll be improvement all over the EPIC precinct to help make this Summernats the most enjoyable ever. “There’s going to be plenty of cooling stations, more seating, more shade, and there’ll be a new shaded area down at Skid Row, along with the big screen,” said Andy.

The Summernats crew will also have a new marquee set up outside the Rare Spares pavilion, where they’ll be selling merch, and it’ll also act as a broadcast studio with special guests (including some SM royalty), where spectators can also chill out and take a breather from the action.

This year’s music comes from young Aussie hiphop stars Kerser and Hooligan Hefs on Friday night, before DJ sensation Hot Dub Time Machine lights up the decks on Saturday night with a fireworks spectacular.

Throw in the biggest ever Burnout Masters field ever (60 cars) and a massive unveiling of over 20 new stunners, and Street Machine Summernats 34 is set to be one for the ages.

DAY ONE
THURSDAY 6 JANUARY

THE first day of action for the long-awaited return of Street Machine Summernats promises to be the perfect entrée to a ripping weekend! Entrant scrutineering gets underway from 7am, with the cruise route open 9am-10pm.

The annual City Cruise takes place 12-1pm, where the streets of Canberra will be awash in a sea of horsepower. It’s a chance to get your unregistered beast outside of the Summernats cruise route and onto public roads with a special permit, and it’s a true sight to behold for spectators as these mad machines cruise in public.

Those on the cruise route can then opt to scratch the itch and burn some rubber down the beloved Skid Row from 1pm to 8pm, where all entrants will be allowed to pin it to the floor and send those tyres to heaven. Once you’ve whetted your appetite for burnt rubber there, jump across to the burnout pad for the Last Chance Wildcard Shootout from 4pm to 6pm, where desperados will vie for a spot in the whopping 60-car Burnout Masters field that will go into qualifiers on Saturday.

Schedule
07:00-20:00: Entrant Scrutineering
09:00-22:00: Entrant Cars Cruising
10:00-17:00: Street, Elite & Tuff Street Judging
12:00-13:00: City Cruise
13:00-20:00: Skid Row
16:00-18:00: Last Chance Wildcard Burnouts

DAY TWO
FRIDAY 7 JANUARY

FRIDAY is when the ‘Nats hits another gear, with drifting, the dyno, show ’n’ shine, Top 60 unveilings and of course a whole day’s worth of burnout action on Skid Row and at the pad!

The Drift Cadet rides (near the scrutineering pavilion) kick off at 9am and go right through to 8pm if you feel like getting your slideways on.

The MPW Performance dyno cell fires up too, with the Haltech Horsepower Heroes running from 9am to 5pm to see who has the biggest squeeze.

Day one of the Shannons show ’n’ shine on the grassy Canna Main Arena gets cracking from 9am too, while Skid Row will see burnouts belting down the alleyway from 11am to 8pm.

It’ll be a mammoth day on the pad too, with Burnout Championship qualifiers getting underway at 10am, mincing rubber ’til 5pm. Late Friday afternoon also marks the very first day of the Summernats Fringe Festival in Braddon, where the city streets of Canberra will be closed off to anyone except Summernats entrants, who will be cruising the streets against a backdrop of live music, food trucks, open pubs and bars, and park-ups with a show ’n’ shine.

Speaking of shine, back at EPIC, the highly anticipated unveilings in the Meguiar’s Elite Hall kick off at 6:45pm. A whopping 24 cars have been tipped to have the covers peeled off for the very first time, making it the biggest year for unveilings in Summernats history.

And if that’s not enough for you, the live music from Aussie hip-hop stars Hooligan Hefs and Kerser starts cranking from 8.30pm ’til late.

Schedule

09:00-20:00: Drift Rides
09:00-17:00: Haltech Horsepower Heroes
09:00-17:00: Shannons Show ’N’ Shine
10:00-17:00: Burnout Championship Qualifying
11:00-20:00: Skid Row
17:00-23:00: Fringe Festival – Braddon
18:45-22:00: Top 60 Show, Unveilings
20:30: Concert – Hooligan Hefs & Kerser

DAY THREE
SATURDAY 8 JANUARY

SATURDAY is often seen as the biggest and wildest day during the Summernats festival, and when you look at the rundown of what’s on offer, it’s not hard to see why.

There’s something going on in every corner of the joint, with the cruise route kicking off from 9am and Skid Row open from 11am to 8pm, and Saturday afternoons tend to get pretty wild down there as everyone idles their way down Tuff Street in the hopes of snagging a spot in the queue to blaze a set down Skid Row.

Action on the pad ramps up as well, with qualifying for the Burnout Championship starting at 11am, before the heavy-hitting Masters hit the pad for qualifying at 3pm. This year the Masters field hasdoubled to a whopping 60 cars, which will still be whittled down to 10 finalists aiming to take home the $25K cash.

By day, the Canna Main Arena will see the hilariously awesome lawn mower racing and the Fashions on the Field. Tattoo, mullet and fashion competitions will be on the main stage, while the Shannons show ’n’ shine take up the rest of the grass.

Sunset brings with it the annual Supercruise around the trotting track, and wrapping up a killer night is DJ sensation Hot Dub Time Machine, who will open the evening with a pyro show to accompany the Saturday-night fireworks, before belting out mad tunes from 9.30pm ’til late.

Schedule

09:00-22:00: Entrant Cars Cruising
09:00-11:00: Motorkhana
09:00-17:00: Haltech Horsepower Heroes
09:00-18:00: Summernats Tattoos
09:00-16:00: Street Finalists Display
11:00-15:00: Burnout Championship Qualifying
11:00-20:00: Skid Row
15:00-18:00: Burnout Masters Qualifying
17:00-23:00: Fringe Festival – Braddon
19:30-20:45: Supercruise
21:30: Concert – Hot Dub Time Machine

DAY FOUR
SUNDAY 9 JANUARY

THE final day of Summernats is all about crowning winners and making legends, as top gongs are handed out across the board.

The Grand Champion driving events kick off from 11am, with all the pristine machines in the running to prove they have to go to match the show. The Grand Champion is then crowned in the traditional ceremony on the burnout pad at 12pm, with the Burnout Championship finals to follow straight after at 1pm.

If you’re after more show-stoppers, the Top 60 Elite finalists will be on display in the Meguiar’s Pavilion from 9am to 3pm, as well as the PPG Vibrance Supreme Show in Central Park from 9.30am ’til late morning.

Winners of the Haltech Horsepower Heroes will also be crowned for each class, with competitors turning the wick up to 11 on their cars as they chase big numbers and silverware.

The headline act, the Burnout Masters finals, gets underway from 3pm, with 10 of Australia’s best burnout drivers and machines battling it out for the title of Australia’s top tyre-fryer and the $25K prize money.

Shortly afterwards, Summernats will draw to close, a time in which we can all summon what little energy we have to kick back with a beer and ponder another ripper edition of Street Machine Summernats.

Schedule

09:00-17:00: Entrant Cars Cruising
09:00-15:00: Top 60 Finalists Show
09:00-14:00: Skid Row
09:30-11:30: Ppg Vibrance Supreme Show
11:00-12:00: Grand Champion Driving Events
11:00-12:00: Haltech Horsepower Heroes
12:00-13:00: Grand Champion Awards
13:00-15:00: Burnout Championship Finals
15:00-16:30: Burnout Masters Finals

READY TO STAGE

AUSSIE hip-hop stars Hooligan Hefs and Kerser will be taking care of Friday’s live music from 8.30pm. ’Nats 34 has been a long time coming for Kerser, who missed out in 2019 and 2020, first due to bushfires and then COVID, so he’s pumped to finally get there and smash some beats out!

FRINGE FESTIVAL

IT HAS been many years since Summernats entrants could cruise and gather in numbers outside EPIC, but it is set to happen again, with the Fringe Festival taking over the suburb of Braddon on Friday and Saturday nights.

“There’ll be up to 600 Summernats cars cruising the area, as well as parking up with a show ’n’ shine, live music, and open pubs, bars and restaurants, to create a city precinct,” said Summernats managing director Andy Lopez.

“It’ll be all of Lonsdale Street between the two servos and the whole block around, so it’s going to be a big area. The streets will be shut off to normal traffic from 5pm until 11pm on both nights, but the public can access the event free of charge on foot.”

MULLETS & MOWERS

BESIDES hundreds of killer cars, the main arena on Saturday is full of action, including mower racing, mullet comp, tattoo comp, Fashions on the Field and more!

MEGA MASTERS!

THE Burnout Masters qualifying pool has doubled to 60 cars! That number will be culled to just 10 finalists on Sunday, all vying for the highest cash prize ever offered for the win – $25,000!

HERLX

JUDITH Menso’s plans to unveil her blown LX hatch at Summernats 2020 were dashed by COVID, so she did the deed at Rockynats instead! But lucky for us, Judith will be bringing HERLX down from FNQ for us all to enjoy at Summernats 34. If you see it, give it a good look – it’s a stunning build.

MIGHTY MERCH!

THE Street Machine team have a full range of merch up for grabs in the Rare Spares pavilion all weekend long, including the new Street Machine Legends Volume Two book, HQFORU shirts for the whole family, a new GTR XU-1 design by Ten Tenths Creative and another by Marty Schneider starring our 2021 Milwaukee Street Machine of the Year winner! Drop past and say g’day!