Big Bang Camper & Bus Show 2010 Report
23rd to 25th April at Santa Pod Raceway

Read the Big Bang 2010 Report below and view more photos on the 2010 Gallery page.

Big Bang is now over for 2010!

Did you miss it? Or Did you have the best vee-dubbin’ weekend of the year, bathed in sunshine with glorious show cars, great racing and great entertainment?

It was looking good even before the gates opened, with a decent weather forecast and a great line up of activities for a packed weekend. The show opened on Friday with a steady stream of fabulous Vee Dubs rolling in through the gates all day. Tents and awnings went up, and attendees readied themselves for the weekend ahead. Out on track, the Alternative Energy Racing was running, which is a show-within-a-show for alternative fuel and electric vehicles. There were great performances from the VW crowd, with several biodiesel vans, an electric Golf and an electric Beetle all doing well. But it was the Beetle that stood out, with a supercar-beating 11.4 second run that really caught the crowd’s attention. Driver Sam Young was very pleased to top the Zero Emissions class, and take home the trophy for the VW crowd. Read a full report at www.aeracing.org.

The track was also shared with Run What Ya Brung, and it was great to see so many quick air-cooled VWs hitting the track and laying down some serious times. As the sun went down, the music went up, and live acts Pure Genius and the Blue Renegades put on a great show in Fuelers Bar.

Saturday morning started with the new-for-2010 Rust and Rat Show, and it was a welcome addition for all those dubbers who don’t mind showing their car’s age. A glorious show of rusty metal was the result, and the perfect antidote to those over-pampered show cars!

Saturday lunchtime saw the first-ever human-powered race on the track, and it was a hilarious battle of BMXs, choppers, trikes, bikes, skates and even wheelchairs! The race took competitors to the finish line and back, covering half a mile in the process! The runaway winner was Mark Salisbury.

Saturday also saw the first sessions in the Live Action Arena, with freestyle motocross, monster truck shows and the opening of the handling track. A great variety of cars hit the cone-filled track but it was Scott who took the title in his VW Lupo.

Saturday afternoon also saw much more run what ya brung on the track and a live auction in Fuelers Bar. This was not intended to be a charity auction, but so much money was raised just from tat lying around the Santa Pod office that we were able to donate over £120 to the Air Ambulance charity! The auction was shortly followed by the Guitar Hero competition, where repressed axe-meisters could get their own taste of performing to a live crowd. It was a tough competition, with many competitors biting off more than they could chew, but a superb performance from Nick Adamson bagged the trophy with 142,692 points.

For those who were into more dirty habits, the Baja and Buggy course was open for several sessions throughout the weekend, and it was great to see so many cars getting all four wheels in the air and drivers having so much fun!

Saturday evening was disco time for both kids and adults, with a special disco for the youngsters being held in the kids marquee, and tribute pop acts for the adults in Fuelers Bar. A brilliant night of silly dancing and fancy dress was guaranteed.

Sunday was the day for serious racing on track, and serious show cars in the Show & Shine competition. Things were delayed slightly by a bit of a rain shower first thing, but the sun came out again and the weekend was quickly back on track! The Show and Shine had over 100 excellent entries, but the following winners rose to the top:

Show & Shine Winners

Best of Show - Dave Harries 1962 VW Type 2 A mid-mounted v8 and custom chassis should tell you all you need to know about how much work has gone into this. Add to that a great exterior and hydraulics that allow it to sit on its belly, this is the van everyone was gawping at.

Show + Go - Andrew Joyner 1968 VW Beetle Show = 125/200, Go = 136/200, Total = 261

Best Custom - Paul Fallanche 1972 Beetle Low, wide, and covered in ingenious custom touches, this bug was topped-off with mile-deep paint.

Best Interior - Sam “Little Miss Sunshine” 1974 Beetle A bold and bright interior that almost glowed from inside the car, with brave white carpets.

Best Exterior - Danny Smith 1975 Mk1 Golf Just a lovely car from the outside with the perfect stance and a good choice of rims.

Best Engine - Simon Bull 1967 Splitscreen Pickup custom Widened body hides an amazing Dodge Viper engine. Beautifully engineered and well presented.

Best Watercooled - Neil McLaughlin 1992 Caddy Sport Pickup Stunning engine bay, great exterior, stance and interior. The perfect pickup.

Best Beetle - Hussein Omer 1973 1303 Cabriolet Beetle Perfect details and blessed with the “wow factor” this bug rises to the top of the pile at yet another show.

Best Other Aircooled - Ben and Rewth Coates 1969 Karmann Ghia Coupe Immaculate resto-cal style Ghia lowered to the deck and with custom interior

Best Split - Daz Adams 1964 21 Window Deluxe Type 2 An all-round great bus that ticked all the boxes

Best Bay - Chris Stortow 1970 Weatfalia Camper Type 2 A great original bay in superb unmolested condition

Best Wedge, T4, T5 - Suzy Willis 2003 T4 Transporter A cool custom van with great interior and lovely fresh exterior

Best Camper Interior - Jason Mead 1980 T25 Devon A nicely restored camper with custom touches and a great home-made interior.

Best Original - Sam Pole 1967 Beetle A 2-owner car that has been kept in showroom condition. Stunning.

Volksworld Judges Choice - Jason Ware 1962 Split Screen 23 Window Samba A great looking bus that needed no flashy features to do the talking.

Rat Look Winners

Best Rat Beetle - Chris Guite 1959 VW Beetle A cool early bug with a great stance and natural patina, decorated with a few well chosen rusty accessories.

Best Rat Camper - Peter Rickard 1974 Type 2 camper panel van This bay was packed with character and attitude, and featured loads of details that kept you looking through it for ages.

Best Rat Other - Mat Ward 1967 Karmann Ghia A solid Karmann Ghia that to the untrained eye looked like it had been abandoned! Slammed to the deck and painfully cool in flat grey paint.

Out on track, the racing concluded in the afternoon with the following pairings:

Drag Racing Finals

Super Modified: Winner Belinda Bull, runner-up Andy Hone.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Winner Ian Hook, runner-up Steve Pateman .

Sportsman ET: Winner Ian Jackson, runner-up Nick Gay.

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

VW Pro: Winner Dave Bridge, runner-up James Hodson.

VW Sportsman: Winner Russ Weir, runner-up Matthew Bennett-Sime.

Outlaw Anglia: Winner Colin Millar, runner-up Mark Bracking.

9.50 Bike: Winner Jake Mechaell, runner-up Shaun Spiers.

8.50 Bike: Winner John McDonald, runner-up Paul Watson.

Check out full race coverage with Eurodragster’s excellent event report and photos here: www.eurodragster.com.

RWYB Winners

Class A – Beetles (air-cooled) Andrew Searle 1303 VW Beetle 12.1419 @ 113.22

Class B – Split campers/vans Stephen Chivers VW Splitscreen “Shitbox” van 13.8959 @ 104.29

Class C – Bay campers/vans Jan Holm VW Camper 14.735 @ 87.36

Class D – Late-model campers/vans Vincent Cambride VW Transporter 15.2375 @ 88.03

Class E – Off Road Brian Eves VW power Beach Buggy 14.4902 @ 88.40

Class F – Other Aircooled VWs Brett Costello VW Karmann Ghia 14.2512 @ 101.94

Class G – Water Cooled VWs Nathan Fountain VW Golf R32 12.5374 @ 108.24

Class X – Non Road Legal and all other vehicles Andrew Knapp BMW M3 13.5853 @ 101.22

Full table of Run What Ya Brung Class times on the 2010 RWYB Times page.

Thanks again to everyone that came along to Big Bang Camper and Bus 2010, we hope you had an excellent time and we look forward to welcoming you back at Bug Jam.

View more photos on the 2010 Gallery page.

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