The quiet county town of Shepparton, Victoria, became inundated over the weekend as rev heads flocked to the DECA Driver Training grounds to the to push their machines to the limit in a haze of high revs and thick clouds of tyre smoke.

Production Editor Stoney and I were lucky enough to get hold of a VE Omega to make the 8 hour trip down to Shepparton, which was soon to be proven worth the while. It wasn’t long before it became apparent that Police were out in force, with a quick stroll through town on the Friday revealed many parked rides with the look on their owners’ faces showing their discontent.

A picturesque Shepparton sunrise marked the start of the event as car after car began entering the gates, usually accompanied with a rather high stack of spare tyres ready for sacrifice. First up was the Shelly’s Show and Shine, and with a diverse range of vehicles on display, tastes from all sides of the fence were well and truly catered for. The sounds of screeching tyres and high revs signaled the start of the driving events with a massive line up of vehicles from all shapes and sizes doing battle in the Spear a Spud and the Go to Whoa, with some taking it more seriously than others.

One of the main highlights for the 2006 Springnats event was the return of the infamous Roman Autotek ‘Beast’ burnout ute, with Stoney eagerly putting his hand up for the passenger seat in the burnout demonstration session. With a camera on board, the ute carved up a series donuts and high speed power drifting that soon ended spectacular fashion as transmission lines let go creating a ball of fire that engulfed the engine bay with flames reaching all the way into the cabin. Quick thinking Stoney removed the on board camera just in time to video fire crews hard at work extinguishing the blaze.

The burnout eliminations saw many cars come and go, with most leaving behind a green liquid reminder that hot days and high revs don’t mix! Some top performers in the V6 Commodore field with ‘JANGLZ’ in the white VN giving it hell on Saturday and Sunday, putting some of the top V8 boys to shame.

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