Summernats 36: Burnout Championship eliminations and Masters qualifying

After a wet start to Street Machine Summernats 36, the sun finally came out on Friday, providing perfect conditions on the burnout pad as fans lined the fences to watch their favourite drivers fry the tyres off some of the toughest and most notorious skid cars in the country.

The rubber-toasting bonanza kicked off at midday when a mammoth pool of contenders lined up for the Burnout Championship eliminations.

Piloting his Commodore wagon on the pad for the first time, Ivan Myers put on a stellar performance before a tyre fire cut his fun short.

Jesse Johnson threw his KILLA K VK Calais hard and fast across the pad, making plenty of smoke and noise as the crowd cheered him on.

Shane D’Amato blew the tyres off his blown VS ute, GHETTO, while Thomas McManaway drove his blown Datsun straight from the unveil hall to the pad, where he smoked out the grandstands and laid down one of the best skids of the day.

The action continued as 30 of Australia’s top skidders fought it out in Burnout Masters qualifying to cement a place in the top 10 and guarantee their spot in Saturday’s finals. The grandstands were jam-packed and spectators were lined up 20 deep as the qualifying round went off from 4pm.

Crowd favourite Andrew Lynch went 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.

Scott Yates did a textbook skid in his blown Commodore before he dropped oil on the track. Rick Fuller also drove hard in FULLONX, producing plenty of noise and smoke in the blown HX.

Michael Pratten went from a hospital bed to the driver’s seat in a matter of hours so he could complete his qualifying skid in his VX SS Commodore, SPASTIC.

In the major upset of the day, two-time Burnout Master Jake Myers didn’t make it through the round in his ’66 Mustang, leaving the competition wide open for the remaining hopefuls.