Micro Banger Teams – Kings Lynn – 30/12/23 – Meeting Preview

The season here at Adrian Flux Arena draws to a close with the annual Micro Banger Team Championship, with support from the 1300 Stock Cars and Junior Bangers.

What a season it has been, and it’s set to conclude with another top Micro session to dust off those Christmas cobwebs; just what we need! TFB have been the main stars of the past two years, and are the defending champions, but we are yet to see them book in, so we can expect to see new winners crowned.

608 Lenny Murkin and his ‘mates’ will be a strong favourite heading into the day. Lenny is one of the fastest FWD pilots here at Kings Lynn, and has many a race win under his belt in the Micro division. He is joined by 701 Riley Marsh who was outstanding here in his Junior Banger career which he recently graduated from, and saw immediate success on his step up to senior level taking a brace of victories in his smartly turned out Ford Cougar in the 2 Litres here in October; he will be hoping for the same fortune this afternoon. 644 Alfie Sime completes the trio and is another capable youngster who will aid their points haul through the day. Team Bash are always there or there abouts when it comes to the silverware. We’ve lost track of how many times we have seen 673 Darren Fendley on victory lane; a very versatile driver than can win in any discipline whilst 155 Sam Coote is the current Trackstar White & Yellows Champion – they are joined by 678 Alex Ward who is improving all the time and is developing in to a talented pilot also. He took a second place in the last chance at Ipswich on 1600 World Final night and always enjoys the chance to race alongside his Team Bash comrades. Team Mates duo 830 Lee White and 28 Mac Bell will also be gunning for glory, whilst Team Havoc duo 69 Brad Bartram and 557 Liam Jaggard are also ones you’d expect to feature well among the places. 869 Jamie Steele has been a great addition to the ranks since turning 16 and is another bright star of the Trackstar future. He is part of the Team Plonkers line up that looks a strong outfit. 

All eyes will be on the battle between 828 Jordan Sharpe and 214 Connor Osborn, as they aim to best one another in the battle for the Entertainers League. The battle has ensued all season with neither budging and both determined to fight to the end for the honour. Jordan currently heads Connor by only 25 points, so it will go down to the wire and you can be expect their teams to get involved also. ‘Sharpey’ is joined by brother 829 Jay, and 257 Ben Waddingham who have also been outstanding all season and both feature in the top 10 in the entertainers standings. Connor is joined by last year’s entertainer champion 107 Taylor Pratchett, and Gladiator veteran 542 Craig Oliver who will be more than happy to get stuck in.

Dover Boys won the entertainers proceedings at last year’s event, and although they are not represented today, 51 James Licquorice was part of that winning team and will no doubt emulate that alongside his Team Allsorts comrades with 212 Jack Maryon and 372 James Cable always up for a crash. ‘Little Mario’ was runner-up in the UK Open back in September, however, but usually enjoys the less serious side of this fixture. TSR Mafia could be a team to keep your eyes on with 117 Lee Reynolds, 165 Ben Randell and 748 George Matthews always good value as are Team Dosser duo 335 Lee White and 799 Owen Dack. The Hitmen are always brilliant, and it’s always a pleasure to see the iconic colours out on track.

Another battle that has the recipe for some liveliness is Blue & Black against Wild Boyz. There is no love lost out on track between the two teams, as they often cross-paths here on the Norfolk shaleway. 551 Brett Jackson and 311 Garry Lown will lead the charge for the Blue & Black, whilst YorStox 1600 Points Champion 197 Glen Woodward is joined by 190 Ben Germany and 460 Luke Tongue in what is a lively looking trio. We are joined by some European guests. The Rednecks from the Netherlands have a trio of well presented Fords to do battle and they won’t be shy of who’s on the receiving end. 

A highlight of the 2023 season was the 1300 Stock Cars World Championship in August, and we already look forward to the staging of their British Championship in May. It was an enthralling finish to the World race, with 303 Jacob Bromley timing his last bend lunge on 600 Carl Waterfield to perfection to take his biggest win to date. The pair are locked in battle for the points title too, and it was a night of tension between the pair on their last outing at the Halloween Carnival Night; expect that to continue. 302 Jack Smith raced to glory in the World of Shale and will be hoping to continue that form. 

The Junior Bangers complete the fray. They have been in superb form all season with top displays throughout the year and bumper grids. Once again the demand for bookings was high with 44 young stars expected to been in attendance. 750 Rhys Parrin heads the points standing after a great performance last time out which saw him take a brace of wins when he claimed the Final and Alcomers. 113 Beau Jeanes, 610 Alex McBain Jnr and 78 Lee Macey Jnr were all heat winners last time out, making it 27 different races winners in the class so far this season highlighting how competitive the class is. 10 Harry Andrews, 556 Lincoln Douglas, 455 Lexi Finney and 609 Levi Murkin will all be looking for a strong end to the season. 51 Joelan Maynard was a welcome addition last time and returns today. He looked very quick in his opening heat making rapid progress through the field before suffering mechanical gremlins and he’ll look to take some silverware home today.

We thank everyone for visiting us throughout the year, and we hope you enjoy our final offerings this year and hope to see you back in January when the Icebreaker Teams return.