Written and photographed by Taha Siddiqui
The highly awaited and anticipated annual show arrived in Sydney at the Penrith Paceway on Sunday 25th of August. Two rounds including a 4-cylinder class and an unrestricted engine class, full of thrilling smashes, enthusiastic drivers and a large audience, mixed with families and friends of the racers were in attendance. Demolition derby cars of all shapes and sizes were worked on for countless days and prepared for the event. The interior of the vehicles was stripped to bare metal, with only a drivers seat and metal mesh on the driver facing side of the windscreen present. It was obvious that these cars were destined to be at the wreckers, and were now transformed into these fierce looking (and performing) cars, their fate was to be sent off with a literal bang, instead of just being a boring routine at the wreckers.
Each car stood out on its own, contrasting the vibes of the racers with the customisation on the exterior of the vehicles. Some were painted all black with pink goth accents, some were paying homage to someone, most seemed like they were decorated by children, possibly by the racers’ own. More so, it was the craftsmanship and the dedication of the racers involved that put a great show on display, the fleet of cars was truly an amazing sight to gaze at.
The first round was a 4 cylinder category, mostly smaller and fewer cars than the second round. Demo cars reverse into each other, spinning out and stabilising on the grass of the paceway while the audience cheers out in support amongst the loud roars of muffler delete engines. There were lots of cars in the beginning, then it shed down to a 1v1 and the last standing was crowned the winner. Most cars were shot down with a single hit, while a few remained contested. One would assume these racers are practised individuals, but they were regular working folk with a strong passion for the thrilling, long standing demolition derby.
The second round was a bit more exciting, with a open class category, meaning racers were not braced by engine capacity as they were with the 4 cylinder round, these were much more powerful vehicles. In fact the second round got so wild that it had to stop a few times because of some cars catching fire or their motors smoking excessively. With a cloud of smoke covering the Penrith Paceway, the event came to an end. A mess of busted up cars on the grass seemed to look beautiful in a way that could easily be seen as an art piece in a museum.
