IF YOU take a glance at Carnage’s automotive arsenal, you’ll realise that almost every car is built to go fast in a straight line, and a straight line only. Cornering has never really been the forte of heavy weapons like Turbo Taxi, Mr Dodgey or the Trolvo. Things changed when the Big-Block Barina came along, which gave Carnage viewers their first taste of anything resembling a lap time.

Fast-forward to 2019, and the gang nabbed a reasonably tidy 2002 Renault Clio with the goal of competing in the Nugget Nationals racing series. The Nugget Nats is all about budget racing, limiting drivers to cars with a 1.5-litre engine capacity or smaller and without heavy modifications.

The 2019 season wrapped up before we could bring the golden nugget out for a spin, so Telfo co-opted it as a daily driver, a duty it’s fulfilled since then. Well, aside from the day it was stuck on a dyno and blasted with nitrous.

In preparation for the 2020 championship, the team saw fit to take the Clio for a test run at Bryant Park, better known as Haunted Hills. This is a hillclimb track with truly frightening elevation changes, perfectly suited to small and nimble cars.

Scotty, Kian and Bubba each copped three laps in the little five-cog hatch to set a best time. A deft hand at throwing FWD econo-boxes around a track, Kian claimed the crown with a 48.3-second lap.

Before taking on the Nationals, there’s work to be done in the suspension department, which will potentially shave precious seconds from lap times. We’re just getting started with this car, so you’ll be seeing it again on Carnage!