How To Master Grand Champion At Summernats

There is no award held in higher regard in the Australian car scene than the Street Machine Summernats ‘Grand Champion’. Each year, from a selection of hundreds of wild rides — one competitor stands out on top claiming the Grand Champion sword. Wanna know how they do it? Check out what makes a Grand Champ!

Consistency is key when building an elite vehicle, every part of the build should make sense. Not every project starts from the same point but it is always very important to have a clear vision of the end result. When it comes to elite level judging we look at lots of different components of the build, from Engineering, Paint, Bodywork, Engine Bay, Interior and Undercarriage/Driveline. Each of these award categories should be executed to the highest standard as they are scored individually by our highly skilled judges, with each vehicle getting a final overall score. 

Cleanliness is king when we are talking about displaying an elite level build, every surface of the vehicle should be highly detailed from undercarriage, inner jams and all those hard-to-reach places. The overall presentation of the display and the vehicle should be to the highest standards, attention to detail is extremely important.  

The cream of the crop is where the grand champ contenders are selected from, that epic crop being the elite pavilion. Out of the hundreds of cars that come through judging across all our events we select which cars make it into our grand championship line up. 

Driver skill will get you over the line when it comes to Grand Champ, you will notice over the years that the driver skill comps usually determines the winner. Many cars are built to an extreme standard, but a good chunk of the points are determined in the driving events.

When it all comes together is the most exciting time for us and the entrants, it all comes down to the final judging scores along side any additional points from the people’s choice award and the driver’s skill competition. After a big couple of days and long hours of judging its not until that final run on that Sunday that we even see the result, it’s always a nail-biting finish. 

After all is run and done the Super Seven are celebrated by the amazing crowd in a convoy on the Summernats Burnout Pad, where we finally award the ‘Chic Henry Grand Champion’ sword.

Every year the competition is fierce so just you wait to see the cars coming through the gates for Summernats 36 in January!