Big Bang - VW Festival

Big Bang 2006 Report

Big Bang 2006 once again repeated the feat of being the best start to the VW festival season, with three days of track action and two nights of great entertainment, with the weather staying mainly on the side of the VW fans!

Big Bang started early on Saturday morning, with hundreds of Vee Dubs flooding in through the gates and hastily setting up camp. The track was open for VW-only Run What Ya Brung, and plenty of people took the chance to try out their car on the track, including the VWDRC who used the RWYB session for testing.

Around site, there were traders selling everything from VW parts and accessories to clothing and exotic milkshakes, and there was plenty more to see just looking around the hundreds of club cars looking resplendent in the club camping areas.

Music from the Big Bang Jam Sessions wafted across the site on both Saturday and Sunday daytime and the site rocked to the sounds of live bands: The Heal, Silvermaker, The Wonderfuls, Majika, The Valerie Masters, Hey Edison and The Leech. The latest dance tunes from Mark Hamilton on Saturday and The Carwash on Sunday night filled the tent, whilst Freak 1 C entertained in Fuelers. For Sunday lunch, comedy was served from Geoff Norcott and Andrew Bird.

The VWDRC once again put on a great race on Sunday, with close battles and big upsets in all classes. Here is a summary of the racing, and you can see how tense it was by the number of breakouts!:

VW Pro: Brian Burrows (12.50) 12.499 breakout defeated Joe Gallagher (12.20) 12.187 breakout
VW Sportsman: Paul Herbert (14.64) 14.831 defeated Rhodri Price (16.20) 16.548
VW Alternate Engine: Mark Skeen (13.68) 13.678 breakout defeated Matt Finney (15.00) 14.984 breakout

On Monday, the Big Bang Show & Shine welcomed showcars new and old and attracted a superb variety of machines of all ages. Below is a full list of trophy winners:

Best of Show - Lee Fullard
1966 VW Splitscreen Camper
Lee's awesome splitty had it all: straight panels, a powerful Subaru engine, and incredible entertainment system. Nothing about this bus gave any doubts to it's best of show position.

Best Paint - Steve Partridge
1972 VW Beetle
A great all round car with loads of custom touches, but the paint was what caught our eye above everything else.

Best Interior - Simon Weits
1958 VW Beetle Hotrod
A controversial winner, since it didn't really have an interior! But the metalflake detailing and white spring seats had everyone talking and pointing, so it just had to win!

Coolest Rat - Rick Whittock
1963 VW Type 3 Squareback
Slammed to the floor and packed with attitude, this car was the worthy first winner of our "coolest rat" trophy.

Best Engine - Simon Preston
VW Beetle Cabriolet
Simon's cab had an interesting type 4 engine conversion that was detailed and exceptionally clean.

Top Five - Heather Jay
1965 VW Beetle
A beautiful car that has everything in stunning condition! No fancy bits needed!

Top Five - Charmaine Buckley
1999 VW Golf
Nice detailing and great stance made this gold Golf stand out from the other watercooled cars.

Top Five - Jo & Jill Calver
1966 VW Splitscreen Camper
A lovely fresh camper with straight panels, great colours and entertainment system. The fabric trim inside the doors was cool too!

Top Five - Michael Attwell
1964 Karmann Ghia
A low and mean Ghia with great resto touches and perfect bodywork.

Top Five - Al Boyle
1968 VW Beetle 1200

A great car in all areas and contender for best of show, with great custom details and awesome ICE.

For more photos of Big Bang 2006 view the 2006 Photo Gallery.