It’s been a little while since we’ve seen the Bangers at the Adrian Flux Arena, but they return with a bang for a bumper weekend of action featuring the Unlimited Bangers War of the Worlds on Saturday, and an all banger day on Sunday headlined by the 2L Bangers alongside Micro Bangers, Unlimited Lady Bangers & Junior Bangers.
Saturday 2nd July
Very rarely do we get to see Bangers alongside BRISCA Formula 1 Stock Cars these days, and we are treated to just that on the Saturday in what feels like a throwback to Coventry Masters meetings gone by. The Unlimited Bangers War of the Worlds has cemented itself as one of the team meetings of the year, and currently sees 13 teams booked in to compete for the honours. The focus will likely be on the action, with the prize pot being put onto the Most Entertaining Team; fingers crossed that will encourage some big crashes.
The Predators and Team Black will no doubt cross paths on several occasions with the two factions having three teams a piece. Team Black are no strangers to victory lane when it comes to these events, having had one of their teams win on the last four occasions. They have come fully prepped with some star studded line ups. Team Black ‘A’ features two world champions; BRISCA F1 star 84 Tom Harris will be on double duties as he makes another welcome appearance in the bangers and has great company with current Unlimited World Champion 217 Sid Madgwick alongside. They are joined by Mildenhall BWS winner 459 Blake Platts, and he went extremely well at the Suffolk venue last week. 209 Tom Waller has had a very strong season here so far this year and will be looking to continue that form. 400 Lee Kingsnorth and 399 Jonny Atkin complete the team and are also very strong candidates for some points. Team Black ‘B’ includes 103 Jack Deacon who was another to impress at Mildenhall last week taking a heat and Showdown double – he’ll be buzzing off the back of that and will be looking for some more wins tonight. 199 Shaydy Gough is one of the sport’s top youngster, and can pedal when he needs too but also doesn’t shy away from a crash when called upon. 356 Harry Overy, 739 ‘Meerkat’ Jason Moore and 99 ‘Goffy’ Scott Gough will all no doubt proof to be valuable assets on the evening. 617 Jack Overy’s Team Black ‘C’ rounds up a top trio for them. The World of Shale Champion hasn’t had the best of runs recently and will be looking to put that behind him tonight. 760 Joey Reynolds is a regular amongst the front runners wherever he goes and always proves why he gets selected in these events. 67 Rickie Beasley and 455 Ricki Finney are experienced in this type of event and it’s great to see the surprise addition of 219 Harry Steward. More known for his ventures in the non-contact scene, Harry can certainly get a motor round a track and could easily score some handy points tonight. 555 ‘Dirty Harry’ Gelsthorp concludes the line up of Team Black and will surely itching for the first opportunity to stop a blue and red car.
Those Blue & Red cars, The Predators, will be gunning for entertainers glory, and will jump at the chance to land some heavy blows to their Black counterparts. 178 ‘Slim’ Kieran Bowman brings three teams as well, but with a varied line up including some drivers not typically associated with the colours. Typically reliable Predator entertainer 178 Slim is joined by 279 Bradley Bowman, Whites & Yellow Champion 307 Martin Kent, 595 Drew Burdett; fresh off a top performance in his Mercedes limo at Mildenhall’s BWS round, 87 Damien Matthews and 403 Steve Parrish who are usual suspects of the Predators, and they have been busy on the recruitment front to accumulate some top guests. 299 Tommy Callaghan continues to soar away at the top of the World of Shale qualifying points and is having an impressive season. 478 Craig Royal and 634 Ben Green are very handy pilots if the team needs to pick up some points, and on the crashing side, 41 Louis Fidment, 224 Graham Gamble and 514 Charlie Taylor are reliable on that front.
The Dover Boys look to have a strong line up and will be hoping to stay out of trouble to add the Unlimited War of the Worlds to the Suffolk Open Teams title they took at Mildenhall on Good Friday. 673 Darren Fendley has been winning races for fun this year, making it look very easy and shows how comfortable he is on the shale. 188 ‘Victor’ John Reeves can pedal when he needs to. The other members of the team, 51 James Licquorice, 155 Sam Coote and 828 Jordan Sharpe have the capabilities to perform on either side depending on what route they want to go down, so keep an eye on them for the title.
2L Shale World Champion 830 ‘Stretch’ Lee White just loves his racing and is here once again with a Team Mates side made up of himself and 699 Aaron Nelson. Stretch has proved time and time again, however, that he can get among the big boys and with Nelson’s support, may sweep some valuable points. Lee was second place in the Wildcard Final from the back of the field last time the Unlimiteds were here, so he’ll be hoping for similar results this evening.
TMT are never far away from a team meeting. 623 ‘Tricky’ Ricky Hutton has again put together a strong looking team. 592 Mark Marchant and 741 Charlie Daniels provide top experience to the side. 577 Alfie Lee took the BWS Wildcard at Northampton earlier in the year as last car running, so maybe it will be a case of deja vu if it all kicks off this evening. Critt pairing 448 Alfie and 449 Bill are never far away from the action when it does kick off, often it is the case that they are the ones starting it. TMT will certainly be among the mix either way.
The Gladiators can not be looked when it comes to both titles up for grabs this evening. 107 Taylor Pratchett has put a chokehold on the entertainers league and keeps his big margin at the top. He won’t be far away from the crashes tonight. He is joined by veterans 174 David Osborne, 549 Phil Smith and 589 Simon Smith, who along with 93 Dylan Goodman and 214 Connor Osborne form one of the strongest looking Gladiator line ups we have seen in a while.
Another team we regularly see here in the Unlimiteds is Orange & White. 661 Shaun and 662 Dalton Smith are joined by 21 Jason Colbert, all of whom will surely get in the mix.
Bad Boys and Matt’s Mafia complete the line up. The Bad Boys team features 271 Ashlun Woods who has been in form in the Unlimiteds recently, 697 Brandon Lawton and the always entertaining 721 Clarkey, whilst Matt’s Mafia includes 611 Joe Geeves, 800 Jacob Rushton and 50 Simon West who will all be looking to leave an impression.
Let’s not forget, this meeting is in support of CALM, the campaign against living miserably. Mental health is such an important topic in all walks of life, and with the common perception that banger drivers are tough cookies, it’s key to remember that underneath there is many across the scene that have their struggles. A problem shared is the first step to improving mental health, please never feel alone. Many of us would rather listen and help where we can, it’s so important to talk. I know first handed how much support means when you are struggling. Hopefully we can raise a good amount of money for CALM, but also raise awareness of how important it is to speak out.
Sunday 3rd July
Sunday’s meeting sees a bumper banger fixture.
The 2L Bangers always deliver the goods when they are here at the Adrian Flux Arena, and looking at the bookings, this has the recipe to be more of the same. 2L Shale World Champion 830 Stretch will lead the contention. He currently heads the National Points with a slim margin ahead of 69 Brad Bartram who sees a climb to superstar as he continues his impressive season. Current Trackstar points champion 337 Ashley Garrod typically goes well in the 2l class, and will be hoping for a good meeting today. They will be joined by an array of top 2L pilots in the way of 552 ‘Blacknuts’ Karl Douglas, 57 Max Stott, 519 ‘Knuckles’ Lee Middleton, 119 ‘Cruncher’ Davey Cox, 248 Jamie Blything and some quick white top drivers such as 403 Daniel Jordan, 78 Lee Mace and 699 Aaron Nelson. On the contrary, there is plenty of wreckers among the bookings with 178 Slim, 51 Licquorice, 808 Fablaa, 962 Pidgeley, the TMT camp, 32 Connor Byram and 910 Jack Rookard who will all look to get well stuck in.
The Micro Bangers boast slightly better numbers in terms of bookings. 511 Jack Licquorice has been going well and sits third in the UK qualifying points in a Bartram sandwich with Ryan second and Brad in 4th, which will provide interesting after the last Micro meeting where the Licquorices and Bartrams exchanged some heavy hits. 830 Stretch will be on double duties so will hope to take some valuable points. UK Champion 99 Ricky Garrod always goes well in the Micro Bangers here. We see the return of 247 Jon Bailey who has had a bit of time off, he’ll be itching to get stuck in straight away. Looking through the bookings there are several drivers that could easily grab a win today – 36 Ricky Lewis, 621 Hawesy, 624 Cameron Hubbard, 7 Dan Bitson, 339 Jack Garrod, 556 Matt Tillow, 229 Harry Cobb, all top Micro drivers. Looking to stop them will be 384 Liam Neve, he was on top form at the last Micro session. 707 Jack Lilley, 817 Milzy, 115 Bull, 318 Olive, 28 Bell, 107 Pratchett and others will also be looking to get in on the action front.
The Unlimited Lady Bangers enjoyed a top opener back in May where 469 Emily Taylor took the final win. She’s been upgraded for this month so will be interesting to see how she gets on from there. 313 Shannon Woods proved to be the most consistent last time which sees her take the early points lead from 57 Sophie Tillow and 477 Amy Steele; all three of them will be looking to secure valuable points today. 10 Charlotte Coote and 232 Samantha While were heat winners, but were unable to replicate that same success in their other races. They’ll be hoping to continue that race winning form. 85 Danielle Ellis, 67 Charlotte Whittaker and 319 Jodie Grief are all experienced pilots and will be looking to use that experience to gain some top results.
It’s difficult to look passed 291 Liam Waterfall in the Junior Bangers currently. The youngster from Spalding has been on fine form all year and currently sits second in the points. He’ll be happy to see the July grade changes, with several of the faster lower grade drivers making significant jumps in grades. 10 Harry Andrews is one of those drivers. He leads the Trackstar points and was the final winner last time, but now finds himself off the blue grade. In fact, all race winners last time out were from the white grade, although 8 Perry Williamson and 702 Ben Kaleta have not been upgraded. They’ll be making the most of drivers around them moving up. The Juniors were in lively spirits last time out which was great to see, and hopefully that will continue today.
Whether you are joining us for just one day, or both days, we hope enjoy your day. Don’t forget to donate to CALM where you can and we hope to see you here on the 16th for 1 Maii’s Testimonial meeting.
