General News
16 May, 2022
Northern Nats ready to roar
MOTORHEADS are gearing up for the region’s premier celebration of motor excellence as Northern Nats 6 is set to smoke out Springmount Raceway this weekend.
MOTORHEADS are gearing up for the region’s premier celebration of motor excellence as Northern Nats 6 is set to smoke out Springmount Raceway this weekend.
The Northern Nats is one of the far north’s most well attended and well known racing events with something available for everyone to enjoy no matter your poison. From burnouts to drag races to the newly introduced car show and cruise, the three-day celebration of vehicular performance will attract thousands of spectators over the weekend.
General manager of Springmount Raceway Michael Gonzalez said Northern Nats has developed into its own form of festival over the years with competitors from across Queensland set to attend.
“Over the three days we always look at around 8000 people onwards – since Covid, people are desperate to get out to these events, Mt Garnet Rodeo was a prime example,” he said. “You come up onto the Tablelands in Mareeba and you are in a spot where you can do the lot for three days, whereas many other events are spread over certain districts – this is in one area, come in the gate, park the car, and enjoy it. “The equivalent of this event would be Summer Nats and you have to travel to Canberra, for some guys this is 20 minutes down the road.”
Drag racing, power skids, burnouts, car shows and cruises can all be enjoyed at this year’s event with a special surprise in store.
Gates will open at midday this Thursday as competitors slowly start to line up ready to burn through their fuel for the weekend’s events.
Mr Gonzalez said camping at Northern Nats has grown to be its own “entity” at the event as people come and set up for the weekend. “Camping is massive at this event because it is all at this one venue, camping has just grown to its own little entity,” he said. “We will three to four hundred on one side and another three to four hundred on the other side. “Last year I drove around at night just to see the campsites and they were like villages.”
Mareeba and the surrounding townships are set to benefit from the event, caravan parks are being booked out and cafes filled with travellers enjoying the areas treats in between racing.
“Most of our competitors are from here so they inject money back into the mechanical shops, the performance shops, the fuel places, the tire places,” Mr Gonzalez said. “A lot of the spectators will come up and some won’t camp, some will go to caravan parks. “They will also drive back into Mareeba during the day and inject money back into Mareeba which is crucial to me.”
The three-day event kicks off this Friday and runs through to Sunday, as gates open to welcome thousands of keen motor enthusiasts.
