YOU only need to listen to the chanting crowds to know who the most popular driver in burnouts is. It’s Lynchy first, daylight second. The whirling dervish from Horsham, Victoria solidified his reputation as a balls-out tyre-shredder a few years ago, but Lynchy Mania reached fever-pitch at Summernats this year, where, despite ripping off two incredible skids in the Burnout Masters, he and his Corolla had to be content with fourth place.

“I don’t do it to win, I just like travelling places and smashing tyres off,” he says. “I like to get out of the car at the end, not having hit any walls, tyres off, and be happy. If I did a slow burnout to please judges, one that wasn’t my style, I just wouldn’t be happy.”

Given the enormous number of blown cars on pads these days, it’s a credit to Lynchy’s driving skill that his KE55 Corolla remains naturally aspirated. And, until his budget improves, he’s sticking with it. “Junking motors would take the fun out of it if it cost me five grand every time I did it,” he says. “I junked a motor three weeks ago and it cost me $500 to fix.”

The vocal Summernats crowd seemed to think Lynchy should have won this year’s Burnout Masters, but the man himself understands why the judges saw differently. “I was sort of lacking in the smoke department, so fair enough. We all know the rules and what we’ve gotta do. I’d rather have it judged properly than win ’cos the crowd thought I should.”

Driver: Andrew Lynch
Car: LYNCHY, 1981 KE55 Corolla
Engine: GM 6.0-litre L98