Events Coverage

3rd October 2009
Extreme Monster Trucks Tour of Destruction
Stockland Park, Kawana Waters, Sunshine Coast QLD
Extreme Monster Trucks Australia
- Mark Hurley

Trucks: Batman, Monster Patrol II, Outback Thunda, Outback Thunda II, Rex The Ride, Scooby Doo, Taz

Crowds cram in for monster of a show - by Mark Furler

FORGET football... If you want to mount the case for a new stadium at Stockland Park bring in the monster trucks!

Almost 9500 people packed the Kawana sportsground on Saturday night for a spectacular three-hour show which included enough noise and fireworks to send every dog on the Coast running for cover. But the drama was not just the scripted stuff. Organiser Clive Featherby’s own monster truck became a ball of smoke after his transmission went - something that seems to happen every time he comes home.

The Glenview showman was fuming about not being able to do a backflip with his truck in front of his home crowd. “It’s the one night of the year you get terrified,” Clive said. “We do about 40 shows around Australia - almost one every week - but when you’re home you really want to put on your best show.”

The Australian monster truck champion may have been disappointed by his own machine but his teenaged sons Billy and Jaye got plenty of airtime as they crushed cars in the middle of the park. A 14-tonne motorbike with a 700 horsepower engine was also a crowd pleaser as it sliced through wrecks.

Among those checking out the action were Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin, fellow crocodile wrestler Wes Mannion and his family, and tennis star Pat Rafter.

International motocross champions Robbie Marshall and Clinton Moore took “massive risks” to pull off blackflips on their bikes into a headwind at the end of the show. The wind meant plans to put Clive’s daredevil daughter Sarah on the bonnet of a car and plough it through a wall of fire had to be abandoned because of the risk of sparks going into the crowd. But an unscheduled return of the fire spewing jetvan, together with a fireworks show that was three times the normal one; meant most fans should have left happy.

Yesterday, Mr Featherby was back at Stockland Park to inspect what damage had to be fixed up. This included the impact of dropping a Ford, still leaking fuel, and a Holden from a crane right onto the playing field.

The show cost well over $200,000 to put on - including $25,000 to hire the park - and $45,000 for seating to be erected to accommodate the massive crowd.

Reference:
Furler, Mark 2009, ‘Crowds cram in for monster of a show’, Sunshine Coast Daily, 5 Oct.