Bug Jam 19 Report (2005)

After last year's show, we didn't think Bug Jam could get much bigger, but to everyone's surprise, Europe's largest VW festival grew even bigger for the 19th year in a row.

The gates were opened early on Friday morning to clear Airfield Road of the queue of eager Vee Dubbers waiting to get through the hallowed gates of Santa Pod, and the campsites filled up quickly with all sorts of classic VWs, from rust-bucket campers to immaculate '50's Beetles and everything in-between.

The track was open for Run What Ya Brung drag racing on Friday, and loads of people took to the track to see what drag racing was all about, and to test the performance of their car. Also on track were some of the VWDRC and racers from supporting classes testing their car set-ups and getting in some practice for the planned racing on Sunday.

Friday night's music entertainment started up as the sun set, and revellers had a choice of five different music arenas to suit all tastes, so whether you rocked out to indie tunes, sang along with the carwash and Gwen Dickie, or bust some moves to the G*Spot crew, we know you had a great time!

Saturday started off bright and breezy, and as more cars thundered down the track, some notable performances were keeping the track truly entertained. Paul Hamilton finally cracked the 9's in his street-legal Beetle at well over 130mph, and a pair of full-length type-2s were popping side-by-side wheelies all day. not a sight you see very often!

Off-track, the Bound & Gagged comedy tent quickly filled to capacity with punters eager to be entertained by the line-up of top comedians, and after three hours of that, anyone who's sides weren't aching from laughing too much already was treated to Mr & Miss Bug Jam - taking place on Saturday Afternoon for the first time. The new host, Norton Graham, managed to whip-up the contestants into a dancing frenzy that finally ended in lots of nudity. we can't really give a full explanation here, but it was fun to watch anyway! The winners were Paul Jukes and Shireen Fullerton.

As the smell of a thousand barbeques wafted across Santa Pod, people were getting ready for another night of lunacy in the music arenas, and what a top line-up they had to look forward to! Once again, there was something for everyone, but Queen 'ed really made the night on the main stage, with a tribute that would have Freddy Mercury dancing in his grave! To say the Pod was ROCKED is understatement of the year!

Sunday morning started with so much promise: The AUTOGLYM show & shine area was full with over 140 cars (more than twice last year's entry), and what a fabulous display it was, with huge, unexpected entries that resulted in an impromptu Baja bug and rat-bus line-up.. Although not exactly show & shine material as such, it was great to see these cars on display and they were appreciated almost as much as the pristine show cars along side. Running near by was the Back to '89 nostalgia display featuring a great selection of famous show cars past and present.

Just as the action on the track was ready to start, things went a bit wrong and the heavens opened! The rain was unrelenting, and sadly, the racing didn't conclude in the spectacular fashion we had hoped. What a disappointment!

We will shortly announce the decisions made by the VWDRC, Super Mod and Street Eliminator coordinators with regards to points etc as soon as these announcements have been made.

The rain didn't stop Ultra VW choosing their favourite show cars, and it didn't stop the Bound and Gagged comedy from taking place in the Feature Zone either, so there was still plenty to see and do away from the sodden quarter-mile.

The show & shine winners were as follows - congratulations to all the winners and thanks to EVERYONE who took par. it was a highlight of the show for many. The "coolest rat-look" trophy may have to be re-introduced for next year though! It was a shame to send these guys home empty-handed.

Sadly, that was it for the day. the rain made everything else impossible, but the Sunday afternoon was a good time to wander around the trade stands for some last minute bargains, and Nitro FM did a great job of doing a "virtual Bug Jam" over the radio as people packed up and headed home.

Top Five Times
Here are the top fives times in each class from Bug Jam's incomplete qualifying session:

VW Sportsman
1. Richard Merriman +0.009 16.409/81.23
2. Paul Day +0.024 16.724/79.08
3. Graham Fairhead +0.034 15.634/84.28
4. Mason Griffiths +0.042 13.942/95.93
5. Christopher Bray +0.052 15.402/88.17

VW Pro
1. Travis Rider +0.016 11.816/111.74
2. Chris Emmens +0.040 11.440/114.10
3. Martin Taylor +0.042 12.542/109.19
4. Paul Hamilton +0.051 9.951/137.62
5. Darran Chandler +0.056 12.556/104.87

VW Alternate Engine
1. Spencer Tramm +0.012 9.752/138.80
2. Matt Attwood +0.094 13.674/97.79
3. Mat Finney +0.095 15.185/91.48
4. Andy Raw +0.151 11.761/110.61
5. Wayne Allman +0.160 11.560/117.23

Street Eliminator
1. Steve Nash 8.166/171.18
2. John Sleath 8.465/177.86
3. Andy Frost 8.470/171.04
4. Colin Lazenby 8.616/174.47
5. Steve Pateman 8.868/170.33

Super Modified
1. Graham Ellis 7.679/175.74
2. Andy Kirk 7.914/169.21
3. Andy Hone 8.136/165.58
4. Craig Gibbs 8.191/162.54
5. Ian Marshall 8.445/164.11

Sunday Day Ticket Holders - Hang onto your tickets. There has been a rain-out value apportioned to your ticket due to the lack of racing taking place. Your ticket is worth it's full gate value in part exchange for any event between now and Bug Jam next year. We hope to see you there! A massive thanks goes out to all who attended the event, and everyone who helped make it happen. WE hope you all had a great time.

Bug Jam 20 will be 21st - 23rd July 2006.