Caged Weekender – Mendips Raceway – 15/16 October – Meeting Preview

We are delighted to bring to you, the Caged Nation, the inaugural Caged Weekender. It is looks to be a superb weekend with bumper bookings. The weekend features 87 (!), yes 87, Back to Basics Bangers across both the Saturday and Sunday as they look to contest for the Caged Open title. They will be joined on the Sunday by the all-action 2L National Bangers, with 39 currently booked in, and the Unlimited Bangers return to the Mendip hills on Saturday for their Thunderbolt and Caged Open titles, sponsored by R & J Vehicles Ltd.

The Unlimited Bangers boast a star studded line up. 582 Corey Hunt became the youngest World Champion when he took the Autospeed title back in July, and will be here today. Meeting sponsors 67 Rickie Beasley and 739 Jason Moore will be attendance; Meerkat found himself on pole for the World Final once again, and will be hoping for better luck tonight. The BRCM quartet of 252 Steve Bugler, 262 Rob Bugler, 333 Charlie Randell and 440 Macauley Mills are more than familiar with the track, and will be looking to keep the titles on home soil, although I’m sure ‘Nemesis’ 239 Steve Carter will be looking to ruffle some feathers on a rare appearance. 133 Terry Hill took a seventh place finish at World Final in his stunning Mk1 Granada, and will be among the front runners again tonight. 460 Clifford Friend was another with a top looking motor last week with his Mk2 Granada, and it’s great to see him booked in. It will interesting to see whether 284 James Head can defend his title; his confidence will be high after a last chance win at Ipswich a week ago. 278 Shaun Brokenshire turned out a pukka looking Rover P5, although on full Mercedes running gear so maybe a Rover W210 or Mercedes P5? Shaun’s racing exploits were on show last week, guiding said P5 to a second place in the Alcomers which was majestic to watch. Don’t be fooled though, ‘Bean’ is one of the most consistent entertainers of the banger scene currently and will be one to watch. He will be joined on the crashing front by 470 Gary Baker and 742 Titch Galley who are always great value for money.

The 2L National Bangers are back after that superb PRI World Final meeting. 39 cars is more than enough to make things entertaining around Mendips, so spectators are in for a real treat. 2021 PRI World champion 743 Jake Bond will be in attendance. 961 Brad Deeprose took a last chance win at the PRI World Final and is one of the leading names on the 2L tarmac scene; a serious pilot of a Mondeo. 262 ‘Roona’ came close to keeping the PRI World on home soil, but it wasn’t to be. He and brother Boogie are always top performers in the 2 Litres. Ex-English Champion 100 Alec Jenner makes a very welcome return – probably spurred on by his teammates World Final win. Alec knows his way around the track and could easily take the title on his return to racing. 440 ‘Big Mac’ is another ex-PRI World Champion and knows the track like the back of his hand. He’ll be a tough one to beat for sure! Impact Squad colours haven’t been seen at Mendips in a 2L Banger in a while, and it will be great to see them back when 27 Dean Quinn takes to the track. 133 ‘Terz’ was literally in reaching distance of the finish line, chequers in sight, the taste of gold, but it wasn’t to be as 623 ‘Tricky’ Ricky Hutton struck and stopped those dreams from becoming a reality. Terz isn’t able to get full redemption this weekend, with no TMT booked in to compete, but he can gain back a little bit of pride by taking the Caged Open title. 908 David Brown knows his way to a victory or two in the 2 Litres; an Alcomers winner at the Shale World Final at Kings Lynn back in July. The 2L bookings this weekend really does have the perfect mix of racers and wreckers. The Wallbangers and Galleys are top local drivers that are always on call when a little bit of action is needed to spice a meeting up. 297 ‘Chedda’ Aaron James is always about to spoil someone’s day. 720 Kenny-Joe Gabriel is always top drawer, and is reunited with associate 781 Blake Dudley as he takes to the track for the first time in some while. Both are out and out entertainers and will worth keeping an eye on.

The Back to Basics provide the perfect all round blend of bread and butter bangers. 87 cars is an impressive feat, and will prove to be action packed all weekend. There’s some top bilge set to feature over the weekend, with the back to basics proving the most sound environment for oddball vehicles. 150 Lewis Richards has shared his 1985 Nissan Sunny for the weekend, in pizza delivery livery, and that is just one of example of many. Previous local talent mentioned, such as 440 Big Mac, 739 Meerkat, 67 Beasley, 961 Brad and 962 Abbie Deeprose, the Wallbangers, Impact Squad and so forth will join Mr Caged himself, 317 Bryson Walker and Caged’s very own 238 Jake John Harris out on track. 200 Brian Pugsley will be back to defend his title he won last year at Ringwood Cheetahs; a slightly different surface this weekend than what he is used to. 154 Joe Odhams will be very quick, he’ll be one to look out for. Team Extreme as always great to watch; 262 Buddy and 462 Nico James will likely be putting the bumper about. 80 Matt Nuttley, 363 Sam Trim and 797 Scott Clarke are top national bangers from yesteryear, but still know how to pedal a car around. 404 Sam Dace is a regular on the Spedeworth back to basics scene and was drawn by the appeal of racing here with the car numbers. He’ll be among the front runners. It isn’t a back to basics meeting without the Bilge Brigade; 328 Mike Parry will likely bring something utterly rubbish, yet utterly fabulous in the same manner. Partners 160 Jamie Warr and 721 Carley Gabriel always have the right attitude to racing – have a few laps and drive through something if the opportunity prevails. Expect them to be at the forefront of the crashing. 832 Charlie Meggs is a good friend of us here at Caged! He makes his debut appearance, so we wish him the best of luck!

We’d like to take the opportunity in advance to thank Graham, Jack and all the team at Mendips including Jonny Hoare, Paul May and Rob Mills for their welcoming approach and assistance in putting on this meeting. A special mention must go to Jamie at Bangers Down West. The meeting wouldn’t be half of what it is without his enthusiasm in helping us behind the scenes, so please give his page a ‘like’ on Facebook. Enjoy your weekend, we know we will!