There’s no rest for the wicked they say, and fresh off a top night of racing for the 2L Shale World Final, we return to the Adrian Flux Arena for the annual Pre 80 Banger night.
The meeting doubles up as a celebration of 959 Aaron Keoghan’s racing career, some 30 years of action. Aaron is commonly associated with The Simples, but of recent has close links to The Jokers also. Aaron is set to feature in the Overs class with a Daimler Regency, and will be joined by four of his Jokers comrades as 276 Adam Rowell, 277 Sean Rowell, 278 Aaron Palmer and 528 Lee Vaughan look to have a quartet of Daimler Conquests.
178 Kieran Bowman is set to feature heavily, currently booked in for all three classes and I’m sure he’ll look to get stuck in to try and close the gap in the entertainers league on 107 Taylor Pratchett. Taylor himself is set to compete in the unders and overs also, and should have a Mk2 Ford Cortina for the under class. It will be great to see how the Gladiator driver gets on with that.
Looking through the bookings, there is an array of material set to feature here tonight. Last year’s event saw 419 Laura Quadling and 420 Matthew Jode impress with a pair of Riley RMEs, and they are set to have another duo of vehicles with another pair of Daimler Conquests. 6 Mark Lumsden is set to make the journey down from north of the border, which is an impressive feat considering Lochgelly features Unlimited Bangers tonight also, and he is expected to be piloting an Austin A135 Hearse. The Overs class is set to be a best of British in terms of material, with the odd exception of a Volvo or Mercedes. 791 Nicky Young swaps his usual Taxi for a slightly different Austin; an A135 Sheerline Limo to be precise!
639 Tye Williams is set for action. He has been one of the standout drivers this year around the ovals and has been a heat winner here already this year. Tye Pirate was a top performer at the recent Maai Testimonial and he’ll be hoping for the same tonight. 673 Darren Fendley should be bringing a Rover SD1, and although not the strongest of cars, they can be a rapid motor and you’ll certainly hope that to be the case with Darren behind the wheel. Darren has four wins to his name here at the Adrian Flux Arena and will be one to watch tonight. 299 Tommy Callaghan has had another top season and is always improving. Tommy heads the World of Shale Qualfying points which highlights the form he is in currently. Team Sowter/Filmer are always great value for money, so expect to see 288 Carl Sowter, 883 Jack Filmer and 884 Tom Filmer to be getting stuck in. Add 246 Aston Burt, 224 James Burrows and 342 Ryley Freestone in the mix, the action should certainly be strife in the Overs.
Expect the aforementioned 673 Fendley to be the man to beat in the mid-size class in his Triumph 2000, although he does have competition among the field. There’s several TFB drivers booked in, and they tend to be the ones to beat in the 1500 Bangers usually, so hopefully that transpires across tonight. 670 Max Eaton pedalled his Capri well at the Kev Waller Memorial, and he’ll look to do the same tonight. 267 Martin French typically goes well here too, so look out for him among the front runners. 537 Martin Brunson has been enjoying a few appearances this year, and it’s always good to see the Steam Team man out in action. Our Dutch visitor 372 Rene Reijer will be looking to put his TC1 Taunus to good use. 188 John Reeves found himself among the front runners in the 2L World last week before being spun out, and he’ll be hoping to make up for that with a win tonight.
The Unders class has the least amount of bookings of the three, yet should still provide the goods. 439 Daniel Sutton will likely be the man to beat. He was in top form at the recent ‘Classic Carnage’ meeting so is in great practice for this evening. It’s likely to see several cars return from the Kev Waller Memorial weekend which was one of the top meetings of the year so far. 327 Mick Maskell Jnr was rated one of the top performers that night and is Morris Oxford powered again tonight; he’ll be looking to replicate that success. 477 Amy Brown and 100 Emma Mullins have been the front runners in the Unlimited Ladies this year, they’ll be hoping to hold their own on track tonight now they have a long break before their gold roof in October. The likes of 350 Ryan Yeo, 329 Michael Carter, 93 Lewis Godfrey, 265 Karl Gant and 349 Lee Saunders are usually well involved in the action so keep an eye on them.
Although spread across three classes, tonight’s meeting should be a lively affair within the right attitude and spirit of what the Pre 80 meeting is all about. Congratulations must go to 959 Aaron Keoghan also, 30 years of service is a great achievement that not many drivers reach. We hope you enjoy your evening!
