It’s the turn of another fresh idea here at the Adrian Flux Arena with Brooks’ Bilge Bonanza for Micro, 1600 & 2 Litre Bangers who will be accompanied by the Classic Cars R Us Junior Bangers.
The idea of the meeting came about to commend the 30+ years of racing of ‘Mr Bilge’, 352 Stuart Brooks – a driver through his own admission never really had the budget to buy the cars all the ‘top names’ were using at the time so raced the cars they didn’t sort after, and this meeting aims to recreate that a little with an old skool feel of cheap, throw away motors that drivers can have a bit of fun in. (Make sure to buy a programme on the night where you can read more about Stu’s racing career and about how the meeting came about.) There will be little in the way of prize money for drivers to chase, but instead an emphasis on entertainer awards and special merit awards including hardest trier, best pit crew, rarest car, worst car and much more.
Mr Bilge himself is set to feature in all three classes in what will surely be a busy night for him. He will be joined by a host of Team Bilge and Condoms running mates over the course of the evening. The Micros featuring 18 Glenn Brooks, 19 Joe Mullarkey, 47 Andrew Davies, 77 Steve Davies, 143 Aaron Mann, 230 Declan Finn, 747 Bradley Davies and 873 Kyle Roberts. 552 Jordan Street, 664 Aaron Challis and 666 Kieron Challis join Stu in the 1600s, and Street is also set to compete in the 2 Litre class.
Looking at the rest of the bookings, Trackstar Entertainers League leader 51 James Licquorice is set to feature in the Micro Bangers which is set to be the most popular class. There is a host of top crashers among the ranks. Keep an eye out for the likes of 32 Connor Byram, 666 Ben Dobson, 428 Nick Ashbridge and 93 Lewis Godfrey. It’s always great to see 749 Kyle and 949 Tony Fidoe make the journey down – perhaps a pair of Metros for the duo! 241 Daniel Lake graduates from the Junior Bangers where he was one of the star drivers down at his local track of Ringwood, and is a welcome addition here. There are few teams booked in with numbers including the Gravediggers, Equalizers and Fatboyz who will all be looking to make an impact.
The 1600 Bangers also sees an array of entertainers. TYB pairing 160 Jamie and 928 Levi Warr make the trip up from the South-West and are always in top form. It’s great to see some older faces out on track. ‘Paranoid’ Paul Bowen (557) makes a welcomed appearance, as does Predators man 776 Ady Groom who loves these types of events. Ex-Cream Team man 116 Mark Want takes a break from Caravan DDs at Yarmouth to have a play. 12 Coby Prestage, 43 Nicky Bishop, 68 Kyle Gill, 112 Daz Prestage, 420 Matthew Jode, 713 Lauren Annetts and 920 Kaelan Blakeman will be others to look out for when the action gets going.
The 2L Bangers conclude the programme. Trackstar World Champion 178 Kieran Bowman returns to the Norfolk shaleway fresh off his Unlimited Shamwreck win at Tullyroan last weekend. 69 Brad Bartram always put on a show. Wright pairing 112 Brad and 113 Dan love these ‘old skool’ type of 2L meetings and are bound to feature heavily over the evening. North-East visitor 246 Dylan Ward is set to be on double duties also competing in the 1600s and will be looking to take a couple of buckled motors home. CrashZone duo 113 Lee Waller and 410 Jake Calvert, Aftermath young gun 401 Riley Shinn, 460 Luke Tongue, 649 Adam and 679 James Strudwick and 791 Nicky Young will all be drivers to watch out for.
The Classic Cars R Us Junior Bangers are back for another outing. The youngsters always provide top quality racing, with the crop of talent among the field at such high levels, it really is a difficult task predicting who will take the race victories. 609 Levi Murkin took a heat and final double last time out and this may be his last outing before graduating the formula, so he’ll be looking to go out on a high. 08 Taylor Morton has had a very strong start to the season and continues to impress on each outing whilst 442 Stanley Crittenden garnered a good amounts of points last time out with a heat win alongside a second and a third place finish. 455 Lexi Finney, 920 Rhys Medley and 41 Archie Horwood have also been consistent performers of recent, but it could be any one of the 28 drivers set to feature that take the wins today.
It certainly is shaping up to be a top evening of racing. We hope you have as much fun watching as Stuart is hoping the drivers have on the day.
Photo Galleries
Ipswich – 6/7/24 – 1600 Bangers Euro Teams – Meeting Gallery
