The first of the War of the World team events takes place this Saturday as the 2L Bangers take centre stage.
TMT will be back to defend their titles, with 623 ‘Tricky’ Ricky Hutton assembling two very strong teams. Tricky is joined in the A team by one of the sport’s finest Mondeo pilots; 552 Karl ‘Blacknuts’ Douglas, who will be very reliable for points. Young star 670 Max Eaton and 720 Kenny-Joe Gabriel will also be strong assets to the team. The B team boasts equally strong talents. 248 Jamie Blything and 403 Daniel Jordan are now strangers to victory lane, and the added experience of 270 Mark Hutton and 592 Mark Marchant, will prove to be a strong entity on their own.
Local favourites The Predators have put together two teams for the occasion also. 178 Kieran Bowman heads the A team alongside 129 Joe Skutela, 279 Bradley Bowman and 595 Drew Burdett. The quartet will be hoping to ride the wave of their high from the successful Alan Tarn Memorial last week at Northampton where Kieran, Brad and Drew all had race wins, and Joe was on top form all evening too. 87 Damien Matthews is joined by familiar guest 648 Jamie Smith in the B team, and although down on numbers, have the ability to mount a challenge themselves.
The Dover Boys are one of the most coveted outfits of the modern era of bangers – there’s not many occasions where they don’t come away with some form of silverware. With a star-studded line up for both teams in the form of 30 Brandon Mayes, 51 James Licquorice, 116 Nat Cohn, 128 Andrew Shipp, 188 John Reeves, 337 Ashley Garrod, 570 Jordan Cumming and 730 Deane Mayes – the sheer level of talent speaks for itself. You’d fully expect Victor to work out some solid team tactics and don’t put it past them to take the honours.
The Gladiators aren’t renowned for their racing exploits collaboratively, but 589 Simon Smith is romping away with the points championship currently, and will be looking to continue that today, so he could single-handily help the team battle at the front of the standings. 107 Taylor Pratchett, 214 Connor Osborn and 349 Lewis ‘Noddy’ Price will be game for a crash, so could be on blocking duties to help Simon score highly.
830 Lee ‘Stretch’ White is Simon’s closest opposition in the points standings, and will be looking for a top night of results too. He forms part of a strong Team Mates line up with 28 Mac Bell, 545 Karl Hough and 689 Aaron Nelson; all of whom are fantastic 2L pilots and shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s rare to see a 2L meeting with seeing the Scrapyard Screamers. A very strong A & B team includes drivers that have had strong results here at the Adrian Flux Arena over the past 12 months. 299 Dale Locker will be sure to lead the way, but 126 Daniel Bowley, 296 Tom Jennings and 314 Luke Rawlings have all showcased their abilities here.
The Sharpe Boyz & Ben team, with the addition of ‘Cock’ 100 Callum White remain an unchanged line-up from the 1500 East Anglian Team Championship where they lifted the entertainer title, and they’ll be looking to do the same once again. 828 Jordan Sharpe is smashing it at the front of the individual entertainer standings, whilst brother 829 Jay is rapidly rising through the ranks. 257 Ben Waddingham, alongside Cock, are out and out crashers and should produce the goods this evening.
Team Sexpot are not seen regularly enough here at the Adrian Flux Arena. 183 Simon and 813 Troy Goodwin, alongside 49 Blake Macdowell, have recruited 342 Freddie Crittenden, and all four have the potential to either mount a fight for the overall points, but if the mood takes them, could rival Sharpe Boyz for the entertainer accolades.
32 Connor Byram is the sole Team V member, making the long trip down, but he is always a welcome addition here, and has had success on the shale. Unlikely to mount a challenge, Connor could still take some points off of teams looking to do battle towards the front. Twisted Metal pairing 36 Ricky Lewis and 359 Lee Moatt also have the potential to take some points off of others teams, whilst the likes of 12 Troy Cobbett, 707 Jack Lilley and 908 David Brown for Matt’s Mafia could be among the contenders for points.
CrashZone will be looking to be among the front-runners in the entertainers table. 113 Lee Waller, 210 Callum McKee, 410 Jake Calvert and 526 Jak Denikiewicz are all top crashers and will be more than up for the occasion.
Supporting the 2L Bangers are the stars of the future in the Junior Bangers. 10 Harry Andrews was the final winner here last time out, taking the win from 609 Levi Murkin and 455 Lexi Finney, and those three will be among the names to keep an eye on tonight. 517 Rylee Taylor and 420 Curtis Murkin were heat winners on June 3rd and will be looking for more of the same success once again, whilst little 222 Romeo Gould took the white top only heat win, and his recent performances have seen him upgraded to the yellows for tonight. 291 Liam Waterfall leads the points, but is soon set to bow out of the formula due to age, and he’ll be looking to end on a high. 701 Riley Marsh is the driver with the most wins here at the Adrian Flux Arena thus far, and will be hoping to go back to winning ways. 339 Jack Garrod Jnr has been a really welcome addition to the formula, and is showing a lot of promise – he now finds himself starting off the blue grade. It will be interesting to see how he fairs from there. It’s not often we get to see visiting Junior Banger drivers to Trackstar, but Spedeworth regulars 132 Jack Wyatt and 516 Callum Gould are welcome additions. 619 Millie Turnbull has been close to a victory recently, and she’ll be hoping to keep it all together and see that chequered flag emerge – it’s not far away!
Completing the bill are the 1300 Stock Cars. Their World Championship takes place here on Saturday 19th August, and we have incredible 40+ drivers expected again tonight as they look to gain both points and valuable track time as that date draws near. 584 Charlie Sime currently heads the National Points after winning the Final on 13th May. Charlie had a strong set of results on his travels recently at Lochgelly, where the 1300s competed for their European and Scottish Open titles. It was Charlie’s nearest rival in the points, 391 Jake Banwell that represented Trackstar the most in his results, with a strong 7th in the European before a 2nd place finish in the Scottish Open. 600 Carl Waterfield was another to string together some strong results and is always fast around the Norfolk shaleway. 167 Jimmy Morris has been the man to beat here all season though, and will remain among the favourites for the gold come August – keep an eye on him. 671 Leo Moore is having a standout season, and took the victory in the white top only heat here last time. He somehow has managed to hold onto that white roof starting position and will be looking to capitalise on that once again. 733 Kyle Picton recently joined the 1300 Stock Car ranks, and has plenty of experience from his 2L Saloon Stock Car days of racing here that he’ll be looking to put to good use.
It should be a great night of hard hitting stock car and banger action, with all fans in for a treat. We hope enjoy your evening and look forward to returning on July 1st when it’s the return of the Unlimited Bangers for their War of the Worlds event alongside the big league of Stock Cars; BRISCA Formula 1 as seen on Top Gear and the white and yellow graded BRISCA F2 Stock Car drivers will be out in action too.
Photos courtesy of Kimberley Jessica Photography, Lee Lee’s Race Pics & Trackstar Social Media
