Big Bang Camper & Bus Show 2009
24th to 26th April at Santa Pod Raceway

Read the Big Bang 2009 Report below and view more photos on the 2009 Gallery page.

Big Bang Camper and Bus is now over for 2009! We’re sorry if you missed it, because it was bloomin’ good. Not only did the sun shine most of the weekend, but there was plenty to do and see, and two great nights of partying to boot. The weekend started off with Alternative Energy Racing on the track and bands and comedy in the Big Top. With the sun out and weekenders steadily streaming through the gate, Big Bang was off to a great start. Once the jam sessions bands had finished in the Big Top, Alan Hudson kept the crowd amused with his comedy magic show. Meanwhile, the campervan tug-off competition was taking place behind the grandstand. In a Herculean feat of strength, Shaun Fradsham tugged the mighty hulk of a fully laden van across the line in 9.19 seconds, but respect goes out to anyone who gave it a try, from old men to petite ladies.

Tug Off Times

Friday night entertainment was split between a rock and indie night in the Big Top and some big beats in Fuelers bar. Saturday started with a little bit of drizzle, but by the time the hangovers had cleared, so had the rain, and the track opened for Run What Ya Brung. There was no embarrassment for even the slowest buses and clapped-out bugs on the dragstrip- everything was welcome and yin and yang of the universe was kept in balance by the super-quick cars, including the likes of Stefan Betzeüga who ran an amazing 12-second pass in his Splitscreen van, a world record for a Splitscreen and any non-turbocharged van.

RWYB Winners

Class A – Beetles (air-cooled) John Walklett VW Beetle 12.32 @ 108.65mph

Class B – Split campers/vans Shawn Brown VW Splitscreen 14.88 @ 90.13mph

Class C – Bay campers/vans Steven Turnbull VW Combi 17.25 @ 72.24mph

Class D – Late-model campers/vans Paul Geary VW T25 Crew Cab 13.75 @ 95.78mph

Class E – Off Road - No Entries

Class F – Other Aircooled VWs Mark Eltringham VW Karmann Ghia 15.61 @ 88.84mph

Class G – Water Cooled VWS Nathan Fountain VW Golf R32 12.92 @ 104.87mph

Class X – Non Road Legal and all other vehicles Barry Giles Dragster 7.62 @ 173.60

Taking place behind the grandstand was the campervan cook-off, where budding chefs got the chance to make a feast for a king out of the scraps of a peasant, using only the implements in their campers. Taking top honours with his delicious spam fritters (yes really), was Kev Mclean in his T25.

Over in the Live action arena, the monster truck and jet beetle put on some great shows throughout the day and then handed over the expanse of tarmac to the handling track which for the second year was extremely popular. There aren’t many places where you will see type 3’s understeering around cones at full throttle, but you could here, and a riotous time was had by all who took part. Note also that the best of show car for the show & shine took part!

Handling Track

The kids disco took place in the late afternoon, and parents were glad to have Nitro the dragon, Jimbob the Chicken and top kids entertainers take care of things for a couple of hours. The disco was certainly popular with under-11s and everyone was very sad when it had to make way for the hard-drinking and thumping tunes for the big kids. Ivan McCutcheon and Trademark saw to things in Fuelers Bar and the madness of This Was TISWAS went on in the Big Top. We can’t really tell what happened in there, but it certainly was interesting…

Sunday morning broke with bright sunshine and a slight breeze- perfect weather for washing and drying those show cars heading over to the Show and Shine. With Big Bang’s biggest-ever entry, this was a tough one to judge for the Volksworld crew, but the following worthy winners were picked for trophies:

Show & Shine Winners

Best of Show - Terry Fuller VW Beetle Maybe not to everyone’s taste, but no-one could deny that this was the most complete and perfect car on show. With loads of custom performance touches, it was a brave and original car.

Show + Go - John Walklett 1963 Beetle Clocking enormous points for a superb 12-second run on the track, and looking great into the bargain, John took the show & go title for the second year running.

Best Custom - Phil Jarvis Beetle Karman Cabriolet A stunningly well built car, with a great choice of paint and lush interior. Custom touches were subtle but well detailed.

Best Interior - PJ Gibbons VW Beetle A lovely period interior that matched beautifully with the exterior and was dressed with some genuine 60’s accessories found with the car.

Best Exterior - Howard Vincent 1962 Split Paint-jobs don’t come more striking than this, with smooth panels and an excellent finish.

Best Engine - Robert Wren Meyers Manx Buggy The best engine on show despite the fact that it hangs out the back of the car in the very worst of the elements.

Best Watercooled - Danny Smith MK1 Golf No brown car has ever looked this eye-catching before! A Mk1 Golf in as-new condition with every detail right down to the engine-bay clean as a whistle.

Coolest Rat - Jason Cooper Hi Top Split A cool and unusual van on the outside with one of the best surf-inspired interiors you will ever see. Rusty, ratty, but a glorious thing to behold.

Best Beetle - Giles Marchant 1972 Beetle Mile-deep paint and subtle custom touches just kept you looking around this car for ages.

Best Other Aircooled - Ed Napolitand Buggy Unusual white-wall tyres, fabulous paint and a stunning finish made this the stand-out for this trophy

Best Split - Carl Elliot 15 Window Deluxe Split An all-round great splitty which didn’t shout for attention too hard. The quality and detail did all the talking.

Best Bay - Richard Machin Early Bay Westy Smooth, clean and a stunning example that stood out in a huge entry of Bay-windowed vans.

Best Wedge, T4, T5 - Jeremy Sharp T4 Lots of custom details on this unusual and well looked after V6 van.

Best Camper Interior - Will Temple Early Bay Westfalia An exceptional and practical re-fit of the interior of this van, with loads of neat touches.

Best Original - Pete Mellen T25 Crewcab Fire Truck A nicely cared-for pickup in the original fire service livery.

On track, the VWDRC and invited race classes battled it out in the drag racing eliminations, and great track conditions produced some exciting racing. A summary of the race results is as follows:

Drag Racing Finals

Super Modified: Andy Hone winner, Nigel Payne runner-up.

B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator: Andy Frost winner, Mats Andersson runner-up.

Sportsman ET: Geoff Cowley winner, Spencer Tramm runner-up.

Junior Dragster: Josh Saunders winner, Joe Kellett runner-up.

VW Pro: Colin Jardine winner, James Hodson runner-up.

VW Sportsman: Lucy Matthews winner, Russ Weir runner-up.

Outlaw Anglia: Richard Colby winner, Colin Millar runner-up.

9.50 Bike: Phil Pratt winner, Carl Atkison runner-up.

8.50 Bike: Sandra Chaplain winner, Julian Harris runner-up.

If you would like the full race report, check out Eurodragster’s excellent report and gallery here: www.eurodragster.com.

Thanks to everyone who came along and made this another great event. We hope you had a great time and we’ll see you back at the Pod soon!

View more photos on the 2009 Gallery page.