The first major meeting of the 2018 National Banger season took place at Standlake Arena on Sunday 7th January and raised just over 200 cars across the four categories. Like always, there were some great cars in attendance, most notably in the Unlimited Classics and Unders Classics. The latter was mostly fielded by Nissan Bluebirds with your usual mix of Ford Cortina’s, Sierra’s and Capri’s. The Unlimited Classics saw a lovely Rolls Royce for 35 Harry Berry, two Taxi’s, a few Jag’s and a Hearse for 226 Liam Bricknell, as well as a couple of Ford Scorpio Limo’s and a used Yank driven by 884 Tom Filmer.
Race 1
The first race of the day was for the Micro’s and began with 420 Nicholas Souch getting pushed into the armco on turn’s three and four. He was then spun out by the lively 315 Jack Holmes. A few cars then got caught up in a small tangle on turn’s 3 and 4 leading to 792 Barry Osborne weighing into 920 Terry Church. Martin Wesby in 837 then pushed 315 Holmes into turn’s three and four with Holmes tagging a stationary car damaging his left rear suspension. Jack Holmes carried on crabbing around for the rest of the race despite this damage with a great ‘never say die attitude.’
Race 2
The second race of the day saw the Micro’s out again and began with 535 Tommy Cox hitting the number 19 car of Dave Mounger. 746 David Tyler was then spun towards the turn’s three and four armco by a small gaggle of cars. 820 ‘Maggot’ Martyn Perkins then followed in 136 John Harris hard into the armco on turn’s three and four. Tommy Cox in 535 then followed in the 15 car of Simon Eggelton in practically the same place. 101 Jamie Warr then hit the stricken 136 car and was subsequently jacked by 479 Jason ‘Ghost’ Wood. 468 Colin Quinnell then hit the Warr car and was jacked by 479 Wood again. 101 Jamie Warr then came around to jack Jason Wood.
Race 3
Race three of the day saw the Unders Classics (RWD) out on track for their first race of the day and it was a fairly quiet affair with the only real action coming when 114 Liam ‘Lakey’ Lake hit the 323 Dean Kelly car over the right rear wheel whilst it was stranded on the back straight.
Race 4
The FWD Unders Classics were up next and to be fair, it was a fairly timid affair with a few spins and taps with nothing happening really worthy of noting.
Race 5
The fifth race of the day saw Heat one for the 2Ltr National Bangers. 794 Andrew Shorten and 489 Bobby ‘Massive’ Harris got tangled together on turn’s 3 and 4 as another 794 of Scott Martindale got pushed into the 794 of Shorten by 275 Jonny Tomlinson. 44 Michael Bunnyan then followed in car 2 ‘Spooky’ Luke Dawson on turn’s one and two getting a little bit of air time.
Race 6
The next race of the day saw another heat race for the 2Ltr National Bangers and began with a big push on turn’s three and four which saw loads of spinners. The rest of the race saw a few more taps and spins but nothing else major to note.
Race 7
The seventh race of the day saw the Unlimited Classic’s out on track for the first time. The first action saw 884 Tom Filmer jack the 240 Volvo Saloon of 179 Jamie Phillips on the back straight. 221 Justin Riley of The Bears spun on turn four and was met head on by 77 ‘Patch’ Beasley. 418 Amie Jones and 17 Kyle Overy then spun on the entrance to turn three as 260 Keith Reynolds went gentle into the side of the pair only to be hit by 226 Liam Bricknell who was then hit by 88 Randy Mulder. Amie Jones was then hit by 221 Riley as 35 Harry Berry got followed in by 7 Jamie Charles into the turn’s three and four armco. Jamie Charles then stopped on the home straight and was jacked by 230 Keirren Genge who was then was then jacked by 77 ‘Patch’ Beasley creating massive air time.
Race 8
The eighth race of the day saw the modern Unlimiteds out and saw 617 Jack Overy put in a great performance against The Bears as that little rivalry resumed after the last instalment of it at the UK Open at Ringwood in December.
Race 9
The Micro’s returned for the ninth race of the day and began with a big push going into turn’s one and two forming a small pile up by the armco. The 15 car of Simon Eggelton was pushed into the side of the 20 car of Luke Pugh on turn’s three and four by 199 Tom Pearce. A small pile up formed on turn four which lead to 102 Clayton Wheeler delivering a hard shot over the left rear wheel of 837 Martin Wesby.
Race 10
The Unders Classics took to the track for race ten and started with 787 Marc Key getting followed in by 360 ‘Jackstar’ Jack Reynolds on turn’s three and four. 228 Matt Fall spun on the home straight and was hit over the left rear wheel by 84 Carl Boswell. 72 Billy Bond then jacked the Cavalier of Jim Craddock in 759 and was then hit over the rear right wheel by 252 ‘Boogie’ Steven Bugler. Marc Key was then t-bonned by 371 Joe Allen on turn four. ‘Boogie’ then weighed into the 282 car of Ollie Monger on turn’s three and four.
Race 11
The 2ltr National Bangers were out next for their third heat of the day. It began with 703 Scott Whitaker following in someone on turn’s three and four which evolved into a small pile up with drivers slipping and sliding their way into it for the rest of the race.
Race 12
The 2ltr National Bangers were back in the field of action for race twelve of the day and began with 284 Leon Benjafield delivering a stiff T-bone through the passenger doors of 122 Wayne Boland. The rest of the race mainly consisted of spins and taps.
Race 13
The thirteenth race of the day saw the Unlimited Classics out on track again and saw a big push going into turn’s three and four with 45 ‘Lips’ Anthony Croshaw jacking 77 ‘Patch’ Beasley. ‘Lips’ was then hit by 884 Tom Filmer as the taxi of 122 Wayne Boland weighed in on Filmer. 260 Keith Reynolds then hit the Green Volvo of 179 Jamie Phillips who was hit in turn by 884 Tom Filmer. 77 ‘Patch then weighed in on Reynolds. Wayne Boland was then hit hard over the rear right wheel by 67 Rickie Beasley.
Race 14
The modern Unlimiteds were out next and started with a few spins before 747 Eddie Cotton was jacked by 321 ‘Chatty Man’ Keiron Fry. Justin Riley in 221 then went into the back of the modern Jag of 2 Jon Bricknell. Meanwhile, down on turn’s one and two, 920 Terry Church weighed in on 831 ‘Wally’ Shane Fry who was then hit over the right rear wheel by 221 Justin Riley. Shane Fry tried to reverse out and got hit over the left rear wheel by 617 Jack Overy and t-boned by 103 Jack Deacon. Jack Deacon then got tangled up on the home straight and was jacked by Keiron Fry in 321.
Race 15
As the sun began to set over Oxfordshire, the Micro’s returned for their Heavy Metal Classic Final. The early exchanges saw a small pile up form over on turn’s one and two with some decent shots going in from 128 Daniel Allen and 468 Colin Quinnell. Jamie Warr was jacked on the exit of turn two as cars were sliding all over the place on a very greasy track.
Race 16
The Unders Classics Final followed and began with a big push going into turn’s three and four claiming a few and causing others to go spinning. Carl Boswell then jacked the 268 car on turn’s one and two and was then jacked massively by 360 ‘Jackstar’ Jack Reynolds. The 184 car of Andy Nutley then hit the 329 car of Kevin Ealson.
Race 17
The 2Ltr National Banger Heavy Metal Classic Final was race seventeen of the day as day became night and began with another big push on turn’s three and four. On a very slippery track, cars were finding it hard to find traction and so there wasn’t much in the way of ‘big’ hits but it was still reasonably lively with plenty of spins and little tangles.
Race 18
Race eighteen saw the Unlimiteds back out for their Heavy Metal Classic Final. 521 Ashley Riley ‘Ace-Ash’ was spun on the exit of turn two and was hit over the rear left by 88 Billy Page and then over the front right wheel by 77 ‘Patch’ Beasley. ‘Patch’ then spun on turn 4 and was hit on the nose by 221 Justin Riley who also caught 514 Marty Eighteen at the same time. 260 Keith Reynolds was then jacked by 240 Rob Setters on the exit of turn four. 230 Keirren Genge then went on opposite to jack the Hearse of 226 Liam Bricknell as number 90 Mark Bartlett jacked the 253 car of Ben Hunt.
Race 19
The Micro’s were out next for their Allcomers into DD. 469 Paul Quinnell followed in 746 David Tyler at high speed on turn’s three and four. 333 Charlie Randall then went on a mission jacking anyone he could before he was followed in by Paul Quinnell on turn’s one and two. The DD began with Aaron Charles getting pushed into the 315 car of Jack Holmes on the home straight. 260 Keith Reynolds followed in 747 Bradley Dee Crandon on turn’s three and four. Jack Holmes was then jacked hard on the home straight by 468 Colin Quinnell. A few more cars remained but nothing else happened worthy of noting.
Race 20
Race twenty saw the Unders Classics mixed in with the 2Ltr’s for their Allcomers race into DD. It began with 244 Jack Bunyan following in 275 Jonny Tomlinson into the turn’s three and four armco as more cars slid their way into the bend creating a small plie up. 883 Jack Filmer was jacked hard on the entrance to turn one by 276 Ross Walters. The DD began with 787 Marc Key getting spun on turn’s three and four only be hit with a massive t-bone through the passenger doors by 252 Steven Bugler ‘Boogie’. Most of the action happened in the pile up that had formed on turn’s three and four with some fairly solid hits going in. 114 Liam Lake’s Cortina was bent right up after he took some hits to the rear in the DD.
Race 21
The final action of the day came from the Unlimiteds which only saw a handful of cars out for it. The race was ‘roddy’ with nothing happening at all. Three cars stayed on the track for the DD including 240 Rob Setters, 514 Marty Eighteen and 699 Stacey Holdsworth. 514 Marty Eighteen won after he kept hitting the 240 Setters car on the rear end.
Overall, I thought it was a solid meeting. Nothing special or amazing really of note but a good day all round. Thanks to all the drivers for their efforts once again. No complaints from me. Over 200 cars, over 20 races including three DD’s, some cool cars, good racing and some good crashing, and all for £12!
