Jonathan Sutton films, with a face-full of excitement, in the passenger seat of Caleb Burgess’ Nissan Laurel during the Nelson Car Show’s burnout competition on Sunday. Photo: Phillip Rollo.

Burnout comp up in smoke

1
2025

The winner of the Nelson Car Show’s burnout competition believes the Nelson City Council should be doing more to keep the event going, despite the weekend’s comp being its last.

Steve Saul aka Mr Sicko, a now two-time winner of the burnout competition in his 1979 Ford F100, organises six similar events in his hometown of Christchurch, and says it’s a shame that the Nelson event is now ending because council consent is not being renewed at the venue next to the Speight’s Ale House. “They still have boyracer problems in Christchurch but we get a lot of entrants and everyone backs me. The council down there are really good because it’s done at a speedway,” he says.

But Mr Sicko believes the decision to end the burnout competition will just create more problems on the streets and that the council should be more supportive.

Event organiser Steve Steel says the event was created to promote doing burnouts in a controlled environment and not on public roads. “This is what the kids do out on the road. It’s a fun event and how often do you get to see it, let alone be involved in it?” he says. “The calibre of entrants is always pretty high but there were a number of new ones this year.”

But he acknowledged that the council is not interested in supporting it. “We’re going to have to come up with a new event so if anyone has any ideas or offers then give me a ring on 021 707 212.”

The rest of the podium spots went to Nelson’s Hayden Cole and Marc Cederman.

Steve says the burnout competition was the perfect warm up for this weekend’s Nelson Car Show, which is being held at the Parkers Rd end of the Tahuna Holiday Park this Saturday and Sunday from 10am.

“We had a really good turnout today so it’ll be amazing to see how many turn up to the car show.” The Nelson Car Show is being held on a different weekend this year because it outgrew the previous site.

Entry to the event is $5 per adult and under 12s are free.