2017 - A Preview
By Matt Josey
It's finally April! Which it can only mean one thing... the whole banger season is nearly in full-swing! Yes, we have meetings throughout the cold and miserable winter but now we can finally look ahead to the 2017 season for all banger classes across the country.
This weekend marks the return of Aldershot Raceway featuring an Unlimited double header for Back to Basics and Nationals. The Back to Basic class has always impressed at HQ so we look forward to a good turnout there, the Unlimited Nationals will feature just a standard domestic meeting for them so don't go expecting a lot from that class. Elsewhere we can look forward to some 'huge' one off events. Ringwood plays host to two big meetings this year. The all Jaguar meeting on Easter Monday looks to be doing well with around 60 cars booked in, then you have the Jason Burt farewell meeting in September for all Granadas and Volvos. Kings Lynn meanwhile hosts 811 Pete Winter's One Last Shot as well as the just announced All Granada meeting with well over 100 cars already booked in. Standlake features 'Crash for CDH Charity Fundraiser' on June 11th for Unlimited National Bangers and 1800cc Street Bangers, be sure to support this meeting! Dover is set to have an interesting year ahead with RMC Promotions no longer in partnership with the ORCi. First of all it's worth mentioning RMC Promotions sounds to be like RDC (just without Dave Coventry) however with RMC wishing to go at it alone this will mean some changes to the National Banger scene there, no idea what this means but we will wait and see. Also, still no idea if the legendary MC! will be on the mic in Kent.
For those spectators that love Banger Racing but aren't enjoying watching the modern day nationals, there's no reason to stop going even if things are well... a little too serious these days. For starters you could have a local non-ORCi track which runs a simple nudge 'n' spin banger class, these little promoters need every penny they can get and without doubt some offer great cheap days out for the average person. Take Standlake Arena as a fantastic example. The Street Banger scene over the past 2 years has averaged around 45-60 cars per meeting. Take into account £12 entry, £2.20 a cheeseburger, free programme (albeit very bland and basic), free parking and x amount of banger races you're laughing! Then you look at some of the bigger promotions who will charge £15 entry, £2 a programme, £1 parking, £3.50 a cheeseburger and probably three banger races. Yeah... no further comment. If a boggy Standlake doesn't tickle your fancy then there is the Back to Basic class across Spedeworth's empire. You will be paying premium prices for the day out, however, what you get is how typically bangers should be 'fun' (don't shoot me for having this opinion), ran by 260 Keith Reynolds this class is about basic build on bilge cars with decent action to boot. Aldershot has been the dominant home for Back to Basics, most meetings will get you somewhere between 35-50 cars per meeting but the fun doesn't end there, 2016 saw some 'fun' meetings including Figure of 8, Wacky Races, Siamese bangers and chained pairs. But 2017 looks to carry that tradition on with some of last years epics and some new ideas too.
Finally I'm going to end this by thanking everyone who has contributed to Caged so far. I certainly believe 2017 is Caged's year to grow, starting with 1,000 likes on our Facebook page and now hitting good viewing numbers per day on the site. We recently welcomed Bryson Walker to the team both for reporting and running the website alongside me. So far he's done a fantastic job, not just keeping the site updated but also adding new features such as previews and driver of the month. Then we have Jordan Hollands, Hanley Reilly and Lewis Adams sending in reports. Sadly we have lost Andy Watts who wants to take time out, I'd like to thank him for contributing with reports and keeping the Facebook page alive.
Banger Racing - still going strong...
It's finally April! Which it can only mean one thing... the whole banger season is nearly in full-swing! Yes, we have meetings throughout the cold and miserable winter but now we can finally look ahead to the 2017 season for all banger classes across the country.
This weekend marks the return of Aldershot Raceway featuring an Unlimited double header for Back to Basics and Nationals. The Back to Basic class has always impressed at HQ so we look forward to a good turnout there, the Unlimited Nationals will feature just a standard domestic meeting for them so don't go expecting a lot from that class. Elsewhere we can look forward to some 'huge' one off events. Ringwood plays host to two big meetings this year. The all Jaguar meeting on Easter Monday looks to be doing well with around 60 cars booked in, then you have the Jason Burt farewell meeting in September for all Granadas and Volvos. Kings Lynn meanwhile hosts 811 Pete Winter's One Last Shot as well as the just announced All Granada meeting with well over 100 cars already booked in. Standlake features 'Crash for CDH Charity Fundraiser' on June 11th for Unlimited National Bangers and 1800cc Street Bangers, be sure to support this meeting! Dover is set to have an interesting year ahead with RMC Promotions no longer in partnership with the ORCi. First of all it's worth mentioning RMC Promotions sounds to be like RDC (just without Dave Coventry) however with RMC wishing to go at it alone this will mean some changes to the National Banger scene there, no idea what this means but we will wait and see. Also, still no idea if the legendary MC! will be on the mic in Kent.
For those spectators that love Banger Racing but aren't enjoying watching the modern day nationals, there's no reason to stop going even if things are well... a little too serious these days. For starters you could have a local non-ORCi track which runs a simple nudge 'n' spin banger class, these little promoters need every penny they can get and without doubt some offer great cheap days out for the average person. Take Standlake Arena as a fantastic example. The Street Banger scene over the past 2 years has averaged around 45-60 cars per meeting. Take into account £12 entry, £2.20 a cheeseburger, free programme (albeit very bland and basic), free parking and x amount of banger races you're laughing! Then you look at some of the bigger promotions who will charge £15 entry, £2 a programme, £1 parking, £3.50 a cheeseburger and probably three banger races. Yeah... no further comment. If a boggy Standlake doesn't tickle your fancy then there is the Back to Basic class across Spedeworth's empire. You will be paying premium prices for the day out, however, what you get is how typically bangers should be 'fun' (don't shoot me for having this opinion), ran by 260 Keith Reynolds this class is about basic build on bilge cars with decent action to boot. Aldershot has been the dominant home for Back to Basics, most meetings will get you somewhere between 35-50 cars per meeting but the fun doesn't end there, 2016 saw some 'fun' meetings including Figure of 8, Wacky Races, Siamese bangers and chained pairs. But 2017 looks to carry that tradition on with some of last years epics and some new ideas too.
Finally I'm going to end this by thanking everyone who has contributed to Caged so far. I certainly believe 2017 is Caged's year to grow, starting with 1,000 likes on our Facebook page and now hitting good viewing numbers per day on the site. We recently welcomed Bryson Walker to the team both for reporting and running the website alongside me. So far he's done a fantastic job, not just keeping the site updated but also adding new features such as previews and driver of the month. Then we have Jordan Hollands, Hanley Reilly and Lewis Adams sending in reports. Sadly we have lost Andy Watts who wants to take time out, I'd like to thank him for contributing with reports and keeping the Facebook page alive.
Banger Racing - still going strong...