MORE DESTRUCTION AWAITS IN 2018!
2018 BANGER SEASON PREVIEW
2018 BANGER SEASON PREVIEW
…And that brings us nicely on to 2018 where we already have some very exciting meetings to look forward to.
On Saturday 28th April, Stoke will once again host the Stan Woods Memorial which has become one of (if not the best) supported classic car meetings of the season for the last few seasons. This year, Startrax plan to make it even bigger and better and with bookings already starting to fill up nicely, it looks to be another brilliant meeting.
Sunday 27th May see’s Northern Ireland’s biggest Unlimited National Banger meeting take place at the Aghadowey Oval as the 2018 running of the Shamwreck takes place. This meeting also provides some great crashing as Northern Ireland meets Scotland and England’s best. The meeting may not get amazing numbers but the quality of it normally outweighs the quantity and I’m sure 2018 will be another terrific running of this annual event.
I’ve already mentioned the ‘Kingy’ Memorial to be held at Mildenhall with Pre-70 Bangers on Saturday 14th July followed by Pre-90 Unlimited National Bangers on the Sunday, which I’m sure will be a great meeting for all the wrong reasons. Arena Essex will host the Roy Rawlins Testimonial event with all MK1 and MK2 Granada’s on the Saturday 9th June followed by pre-90 Unlimited National Bangers on Sunday 10th June run to the Bears’ Bash rules which already has a decent early booking list for both days.
But the big one for many is the pre-85 Unlimited National Bangers Team Reunion at Skegness Stadium on Sunday 17th June, where we will see the return of Team Blitz and Shane Brown. Others booked in include Steam Team, Stinkbridge, Bears, DWO and Team Black who will all be looking to trade some paint. Add to the mix some Scottish, Irish and Continental’s, it looks like a list Carlsberg would create if they done National Banger booking lists!
Another meeting to look forward to is the Unlimited War of the Worlds at Kings Lynn on the 24th June. This meeting saw a great field of around 100 cars last year and saw some great wrecking too and if the list is similar to that, I’m sure it will be another great night at the Adrian Flux Arena. But before that, the 2Ltr National Banger World of Shale will take place on Saturday 2nd June in which the ‘People’s Champ’ 247 Lee Clarke ‘Bro’ will look to defend the title he won in 2017 but I’m sure there will be some drivers looking to take that title off of his hands.
Moving into late July, Emmen will once again host their ever popular Unlimited six-aside teams which I’m sure will have another cracking list of around 200 to 230 cars and around 25 teams with Holland’s biggest and beast going toe-to-toe with the best that England has to offer. This is always a great meeting with a cracking atmosphere which I hope will continue for years to come. Don’t forget, the Sunday afternoon also see’s any leftovers from the Saturday to have a crash allowing drivers to finish off their cars.
A week after the Emmen Team meeting, Kings Lynn hosts an all Volvo meeting on the 28th July which could be a decent session given how well Volvo’s go on shale and around the Adrian Flux Arena at Kings Lynn. The Adrian Flux Arena will host another rather unusual meeting on Saturday 18th August with an all Bluebird, Cavalier, Primera and Corolla meeting. Depending on the booking list, it looks like it could almost be an old school type Wimbledon London Open which were always spectacular meetings in their heyday. And the following day on Sunday 20th August, there will be a meeting for Pre-1990 2Ltr Rear Wheel drive National Bangers. It is also worth mentioning that the Bangers will be supporting the Saloon Stock Car World Final, so it looks like that weekend will be very hard hitting and chaotic indeed.
In a slight change of date from 2017, the Unlimited National Bangers Big Bears Bash will take place on Saturday 4th August, once again being held at the Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne. This event has grown in popularity over the years with both drivers and spectator’s alike with a list full of the best entertainers in the sport which normally provides some of the best action of the season. I’m sure the 2018 addition will be no different and hopefully, the Bears can raise another massive amount of money for charity.
Sunday 12th August see’s the return of the Unlimited National Banger East Anglian Veterans Meeting which was last held in 2015. On that day, there was an interesting array of machinery and some decent action on hand too. Once again, this year’s meeting will once again be held at Great Yarmouth and will be once again organised by our very own Bryson Walker or ‘Brick’ as some of you may know him. There are already a quite a few cars booked in for what looks to be another great meeting on the East Coast.
A week later on Saturday 18th August, the Arlington Stadium hosts its now annual Classic Carnage meeting and this year, the theme is Old and Gold run to over and under National Bangers. Whilst this meeting has not been the hardest hitting meeting, it has always got healthy numbers with an old school type feel to the whole day with the meeting normally starting off with nudge and spin heats before gradually getting heavier as the meeting wears on. Whilst this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it is a classic car meeting and if you go to wanting to see old school Banger Racing, you will not leave disappointed.
The August Bank Holiday is all about Big Van National Bangers with arguably, the biggest one taking place at the Adrian Flux Arena, Kings Lynn on Monday 27th August. This meeting is a charity meeting raising money for Cancer Research which has provided the biggest entry of Big Van Bangers seen anywhere in the country for the last two years since its been running. It has also provided some great entertainment for the large bank holiday crowd too with some interesting material also taking to the shale. In 2017, we saw 170 Chris Ship bring a stretch limo van which got absolutely ruined!
The month of September is where things start to get a bit more serious. On Saturday 8th September, Kings Lynn hosts the 2018 Unlimited National Banger World of Shale and on Sunday 23rd September, Arena Essex hosts the oldest running National Banger World Final where West Country man 74 Adam ‘Scratchy’ Hitchcock will look to defend the title he won in 2017, but I’m sure he will be up against some stiff opposition as well as the Arena Essex regulars who are all more than capable of winning the Gold roof.
On Sunday 2nd September, Warneton hosts the annual Unlimited National Bangers European Championship which is always a very lively event which sees some of Britain’s best go and mix it with the Continental’s to determine who will become the European Champion for 2018.
October see’s the big one though, the 2018 Unlimited National Bangers Championship of the World at the Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich. The 2017 running saw an incredible entry of over 250 cars book in and race, and despite the poor weather and arduous conditions that greeted the drivers, it was a great night of action with all the usual drama a World Final brings. The win was initially given to 59, ‘Leadfoot’ Steven Bolton before Last Chance Qualifier, 455 Ricki Finney asked them to check the result as he thought he had won, but after a couple of days of uncertainty, it was deemed that in fact it was Steven Bolton who won. This was the biggest win of his career so far and he was also the first overseas driver to win the event, so could we see another one this year?
Saturday 20th October see’s one of the biggest meetings of the year at Emmen take place in the shape of the Blue Oyster Trophy. This event has proved to be a fantastic meeting over the last few years with plenty of cars, plenty of cool material and plenty of quality entertainment. I’m sure this year will also be filled with plenty of cool cars and plenty of crashing too!
A week later back on English soil on Saturday 27th October, we see the Unlimited National Bangers Halloween Havoc and Carnival Night take place at the Adrian Flux Arena, Kings Lynn. This event has been very well supported since the Unlimiteds were added to the fixture a few seasons ago. The event has even prompted some drivers to bring out a Hearse or Limo to race and wreck their way round the raceway. As an added bonus, there will also be a Fireworks display and a fancy-dress parade. Also, up for garbs that night will be Under 25 Championship of Great Britain which will be defended by 209 Tom Waller.
A week later on Sunday 4th November, the Arena Essex raceway hosts the 27th annual Firecracker. Whilst this event may not get the numbers it used to in its heyday, it still provides some good action and some decent material too and wit the potential of it being one of the last (if not the last), could we see a potential resurgence of an old favourite?
Moving into December, at Standlake on Sunday 2nd, ‘Caged!’ bring you the ‘race your rubbish’ meeting in which the format is still to be decided, but what we can say is that we are all very excited by organising our first meeting together.
A couple weeks later, Emmen Speedway hosts it’s final meeting of the season as the Unlimited National Bangers return to contest their Oliebollenrace which again is always a cracking meeting to end the year before everyone stuffs their faces with Turkey.
The final meeting of the season is the Micro National Bangers East Anglian Team event at the Adrian Flux Arena which is always well supported with around 100 cars spread around 30 different teams. Again, this fixture has provided some great crashing over the last few years and is always a good little end to the year before the following season kicks off on New Years Day.
2018 looks to be another great season for the National Bangers with some top meetings to look forward too as well as plenty of others happening up and down the country and across Europe. I hope everyone has a great year, whether they are spectating or racing and I wish you all the best of luck!
On Saturday 28th April, Stoke will once again host the Stan Woods Memorial which has become one of (if not the best) supported classic car meetings of the season for the last few seasons. This year, Startrax plan to make it even bigger and better and with bookings already starting to fill up nicely, it looks to be another brilliant meeting.
Sunday 27th May see’s Northern Ireland’s biggest Unlimited National Banger meeting take place at the Aghadowey Oval as the 2018 running of the Shamwreck takes place. This meeting also provides some great crashing as Northern Ireland meets Scotland and England’s best. The meeting may not get amazing numbers but the quality of it normally outweighs the quantity and I’m sure 2018 will be another terrific running of this annual event.
I’ve already mentioned the ‘Kingy’ Memorial to be held at Mildenhall with Pre-70 Bangers on Saturday 14th July followed by Pre-90 Unlimited National Bangers on the Sunday, which I’m sure will be a great meeting for all the wrong reasons. Arena Essex will host the Roy Rawlins Testimonial event with all MK1 and MK2 Granada’s on the Saturday 9th June followed by pre-90 Unlimited National Bangers on Sunday 10th June run to the Bears’ Bash rules which already has a decent early booking list for both days.
But the big one for many is the pre-85 Unlimited National Bangers Team Reunion at Skegness Stadium on Sunday 17th June, where we will see the return of Team Blitz and Shane Brown. Others booked in include Steam Team, Stinkbridge, Bears, DWO and Team Black who will all be looking to trade some paint. Add to the mix some Scottish, Irish and Continental’s, it looks like a list Carlsberg would create if they done National Banger booking lists!
Another meeting to look forward to is the Unlimited War of the Worlds at Kings Lynn on the 24th June. This meeting saw a great field of around 100 cars last year and saw some great wrecking too and if the list is similar to that, I’m sure it will be another great night at the Adrian Flux Arena. But before that, the 2Ltr National Banger World of Shale will take place on Saturday 2nd June in which the ‘People’s Champ’ 247 Lee Clarke ‘Bro’ will look to defend the title he won in 2017 but I’m sure there will be some drivers looking to take that title off of his hands.
Moving into late July, Emmen will once again host their ever popular Unlimited six-aside teams which I’m sure will have another cracking list of around 200 to 230 cars and around 25 teams with Holland’s biggest and beast going toe-to-toe with the best that England has to offer. This is always a great meeting with a cracking atmosphere which I hope will continue for years to come. Don’t forget, the Sunday afternoon also see’s any leftovers from the Saturday to have a crash allowing drivers to finish off their cars.
A week after the Emmen Team meeting, Kings Lynn hosts an all Volvo meeting on the 28th July which could be a decent session given how well Volvo’s go on shale and around the Adrian Flux Arena at Kings Lynn. The Adrian Flux Arena will host another rather unusual meeting on Saturday 18th August with an all Bluebird, Cavalier, Primera and Corolla meeting. Depending on the booking list, it looks like it could almost be an old school type Wimbledon London Open which were always spectacular meetings in their heyday. And the following day on Sunday 20th August, there will be a meeting for Pre-1990 2Ltr Rear Wheel drive National Bangers. It is also worth mentioning that the Bangers will be supporting the Saloon Stock Car World Final, so it looks like that weekend will be very hard hitting and chaotic indeed.
In a slight change of date from 2017, the Unlimited National Bangers Big Bears Bash will take place on Saturday 4th August, once again being held at the Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne. This event has grown in popularity over the years with both drivers and spectator’s alike with a list full of the best entertainers in the sport which normally provides some of the best action of the season. I’m sure the 2018 addition will be no different and hopefully, the Bears can raise another massive amount of money for charity.
Sunday 12th August see’s the return of the Unlimited National Banger East Anglian Veterans Meeting which was last held in 2015. On that day, there was an interesting array of machinery and some decent action on hand too. Once again, this year’s meeting will once again be held at Great Yarmouth and will be once again organised by our very own Bryson Walker or ‘Brick’ as some of you may know him. There are already a quite a few cars booked in for what looks to be another great meeting on the East Coast.
A week later on Saturday 18th August, the Arlington Stadium hosts its now annual Classic Carnage meeting and this year, the theme is Old and Gold run to over and under National Bangers. Whilst this meeting has not been the hardest hitting meeting, it has always got healthy numbers with an old school type feel to the whole day with the meeting normally starting off with nudge and spin heats before gradually getting heavier as the meeting wears on. Whilst this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it is a classic car meeting and if you go to wanting to see old school Banger Racing, you will not leave disappointed.
The August Bank Holiday is all about Big Van National Bangers with arguably, the biggest one taking place at the Adrian Flux Arena, Kings Lynn on Monday 27th August. This meeting is a charity meeting raising money for Cancer Research which has provided the biggest entry of Big Van Bangers seen anywhere in the country for the last two years since its been running. It has also provided some great entertainment for the large bank holiday crowd too with some interesting material also taking to the shale. In 2017, we saw 170 Chris Ship bring a stretch limo van which got absolutely ruined!
The month of September is where things start to get a bit more serious. On Saturday 8th September, Kings Lynn hosts the 2018 Unlimited National Banger World of Shale and on Sunday 23rd September, Arena Essex hosts the oldest running National Banger World Final where West Country man 74 Adam ‘Scratchy’ Hitchcock will look to defend the title he won in 2017, but I’m sure he will be up against some stiff opposition as well as the Arena Essex regulars who are all more than capable of winning the Gold roof.
On Sunday 2nd September, Warneton hosts the annual Unlimited National Bangers European Championship which is always a very lively event which sees some of Britain’s best go and mix it with the Continental’s to determine who will become the European Champion for 2018.
October see’s the big one though, the 2018 Unlimited National Bangers Championship of the World at the Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich. The 2017 running saw an incredible entry of over 250 cars book in and race, and despite the poor weather and arduous conditions that greeted the drivers, it was a great night of action with all the usual drama a World Final brings. The win was initially given to 59, ‘Leadfoot’ Steven Bolton before Last Chance Qualifier, 455 Ricki Finney asked them to check the result as he thought he had won, but after a couple of days of uncertainty, it was deemed that in fact it was Steven Bolton who won. This was the biggest win of his career so far and he was also the first overseas driver to win the event, so could we see another one this year?
Saturday 20th October see’s one of the biggest meetings of the year at Emmen take place in the shape of the Blue Oyster Trophy. This event has proved to be a fantastic meeting over the last few years with plenty of cars, plenty of cool material and plenty of quality entertainment. I’m sure this year will also be filled with plenty of cool cars and plenty of crashing too!
A week later back on English soil on Saturday 27th October, we see the Unlimited National Bangers Halloween Havoc and Carnival Night take place at the Adrian Flux Arena, Kings Lynn. This event has been very well supported since the Unlimiteds were added to the fixture a few seasons ago. The event has even prompted some drivers to bring out a Hearse or Limo to race and wreck their way round the raceway. As an added bonus, there will also be a Fireworks display and a fancy-dress parade. Also, up for garbs that night will be Under 25 Championship of Great Britain which will be defended by 209 Tom Waller.
A week later on Sunday 4th November, the Arena Essex raceway hosts the 27th annual Firecracker. Whilst this event may not get the numbers it used to in its heyday, it still provides some good action and some decent material too and wit the potential of it being one of the last (if not the last), could we see a potential resurgence of an old favourite?
Moving into December, at Standlake on Sunday 2nd, ‘Caged!’ bring you the ‘race your rubbish’ meeting in which the format is still to be decided, but what we can say is that we are all very excited by organising our first meeting together.
A couple weeks later, Emmen Speedway hosts it’s final meeting of the season as the Unlimited National Bangers return to contest their Oliebollenrace which again is always a cracking meeting to end the year before everyone stuffs their faces with Turkey.
The final meeting of the season is the Micro National Bangers East Anglian Team event at the Adrian Flux Arena which is always well supported with around 100 cars spread around 30 different teams. Again, this fixture has provided some great crashing over the last few years and is always a good little end to the year before the following season kicks off on New Years Day.
2018 looks to be another great season for the National Bangers with some top meetings to look forward too as well as plenty of others happening up and down the country and across Europe. I hope everyone has a great year, whether they are spectating or racing and I wish you all the best of luck!
