Weddings, burnouts and high-octane action at the 2022 Red CentreNATS
The Territory’s ultimate festival of wheels recorded massive attendance and entry numbers. From burnouts to weddings, there was plenty of action to rrrrrrev your engines.
Alice Springs
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A record-breaking number of vehicles entered this year’s Red CentreNATS, with the event named as one of its biggest yet.
There were 1044 entrants into the eighth annual event, with 560 cars lined up for the Yeperenye Street Parade.
The automotive festival attracted more than 13,500 attendances across the Alice Springs Inland Dragway, Blatherskite Park and Lasseters Centre of Entertainment.
Nigel Warr in 74UTE took out the Red CentreNATS 08 Grand Champion title.
Robert Cottrell in 4DH8RS and Peter Beauchamp in WILDFB won the Burnout Masters and People’s Choice awards respectively.
The scene was set for Red CentreNATS wedding winners Joel and Bonnie Sykes to marry among the growl of tyres.
All were invited to Blatherskite Park for the Canberra couple to marry, after their wedding was postponed in 2021 because of Covid-19 restrictions.
After a weekend of high-octane action, Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said the 2022 event was a roaring success.
“Alice Springs has opened its arms to us again and we’ve loved every minute,” he said.
“We’ve had close to 200 entries for 2023 already and we can’t wait to get back.”
Major Events Minister Paul Kirby said the event was a boon for the region.
“It’s easy to see the incredible benefits events such as these bring for our region, with hotels full, restaurants packed and tourism operators booking out well in advance,” he said.
NT Police kept a close watch on motorists during the weekend, with members from the Darwin Traffic Operations unit travelling to Central Australia for the Red CentreNATS weekend.
The operation resulted in 47 traffic fines, seven defect notices and seven notices to appear.
There were also 16 arrests made, seven alleged drug drivers caught and four alleged drink-drivers.
Superintendent Peter Malley thanked the community for its overall good behaviour.
“The majority of the community were well behaved over the weekend however, there were still people who engaged in reckless behaviour behind the wheel,” he said.
“This is a reminder to the public, that despite this event being about drag racing and street parades, it’s important that you do not risk your life or the lives of others and act irresponsibly on the roads.”
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