Mad Mike Summer Bash 8 did exactly what it was supposed to do: bottled New Zealand’s sun-soaked, fuel-burning chaos and detonated it all over Hampton Downs.
By now, Mad Mike Whiddett’s Summer Bash has become a fixture on the calendar, but familiarity hasn’t dulled its edge. If anything, the crowds are growing louder, the builds more unhinged, and the machinery increasingly allergic to mechanical restraint. Fans turned out in force, drawn by a heady mix of rotary madness, classic JDM heroes, and the promise that something expensive would probably be making very loud noises.
A stroll down pit lane was reason enough to be there. Mad Lab’s greatest hits were lined up like a mechanical fever dream: the Lamborghini-based NIMBUL, the absurd P1 GTR MADMAC, and—stealing the show—the utterly deranged 787D. While some cars sit quietly and look expensive, the 787D was out giving demo rides, its naturally aspirated five-rotor engine screaming like a banshee with a megaphone. Anyone lucky enough to ride shotgun will be hearing that noise in their head for years.
Then came the reveal…Mad Mike pulled the covers off something deeply personal: the MADBUL FD3S, a car that harks back to the very beginning of his drifting journey. Painstakingly pieced together using parts from its own storied past, the rebuild felt less like a restoration and more like a reunion. Mike was visibly buzzing as he explained the vision behind the project, and if enthusiasm alone could put tyres into smoke, MADBUL would already be halfway around the world. The hope now is simple: see it back where it belongs—tearing up tarmac again in the near future.
Of course, Summer Bash without drifting would be like a rotary without oil—brief and catastrophic. Hampton Downs delivered as always, its layout providing the perfect canvas for some of the country’s best drifters to go full send. Local talent was stacked:
Olivecrona’s thunderous Lexus V12, Team Jenkins’ 2JZ-powered GT86, and Lincoln Whiddett debuting his freshly finished, rotary-powered S14, all shaking down machines before battle commenced.
As temperatures rose, so did commitment. Battles were tight, proximity was savage, and drivers pushed hard enough to make the crowd wince in sympathy. The final showdown came down to Kase Pullen-Burry versus Dave Steedman, and after an intense back-and-forth, Kase emerged victorious—snatching the Summer Bash belt away from the reigning champion… Mad Mike himself.
Between tyre smoke and rev limiters, the event found time to breathe. Jacky and the Tsukuba team finally lifted the covers off their time attack HKS built GR86 machine which has landed back on New Zealand soil after tackling Tsukuba circuit over in Japan piloted by none other than Jacky himself. It was amazing to see such a high quality build being finally brought into NZ.
Cruising sessions around Hampton Downs were a crowd favourite as well, offering the rare joy of rolling alongside friends, flawless builds, and—just to keep things interesting—Mad Mike himself piloting an ever-changing selection of noisy toys. Lowriders, wild JDM builds, piston and rotary power, plus the occasional supercar, created a rolling car show that gave ears a rest and cameras a workout. It was the perfect lull: lunch in the sunshine, engines burbling instead of screaming.
Mad Mike Summer Bash 8 proved, once again, that this isn’t just an event—it’s a celebration of excess, creativity, and doing things the loud way because the quiet way is boring. With year-on-year growth and Mad Lab never short on ideas, you’d be brave to bet against next year being bigger, louder, and featuring something even more unhinged.
And honestly? We wouldn’t want it any other way.
