Pictures Matt Howes & Damien Widdows
Report Mark Paulson
The Banger Racing world gathered at the Adrian Flux Arena, King’s Lynn on Saturday night, 13 June, to say a fond farewell to one of the sport’s greatest ever entertainers, 13 Pieter ‘Peewee’ Leistra, in Heinegone. The meeting lived up to all of its hype and more with an epic display of wrecking in a list of material unlikely to be matched in a very long time, if ever.
Well over 150 drivers were in action, with 160 Unlimited Bangers in the pits as the man of the moment surpassed even himself with five fantastic motors, one for each of the four sub-classes, plus another to be saved for the destruction derby.
They came from far and wide, with a big travelling contingent from Peewee’s Dutch homeland, plus Irish, Scots, Welsh and many from every corner of England. A selection of the stunning machinery they piloted is listed below:
1 Maarten Steenbekkers Rover P5 Coupe
4 Mark Mitchell Vanden Plas 3-Litre R Hearse
10 Bert Petter Oldsmobile Mk8
13 Pieter Leistra Wolseley 6/110
13 Pieter Leistra Ford Granada Mk2 Hearse (Irish)
13 Pieter Leistra Dodge Charger (1973)
13 Pieter Leistra BMW M6 E63 (2009)
13 Pieter Leistra Nissan President ‘Wide Body’
16 Mike Flaherty Dodge Charger (1974)
17 Kyle Overy Toyota Crown S110
27 Jake Fowler Rolls Royce Silver Shadow I
27 Will Longford Rover P5
48 Mark Cassidy Ford LTD Crown
54 Tom Davey Ford Granada Mk1
56 Karel Eeckloo Cadillac Fleetwood limousine
61 Hendrick Domine Buick LeSabre Mk4
67 Rickie Beasley Toyota Crown S50 Estate
72 Billy Bond Cadillac Seville Mk1
89 Joe Barrett Daimler XJ1200 Hearse
90 Adrian Harboard Jaguar Mk10
122 Mark Cooper Lincoln Town Car Mk2 limousine
125 Nathan Lake Daimler DS420 limousine
126 Richard Reitsma Ford Thunderbird Mk10
128 Andy Shipp Cadillac Eldorado Mk7
133 Karly Day Cadillac Seville Mk1
133 Marc Paton Rover P4
152 James Dillon Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II
153 Shaun Buckley Nissan Stagea
168 Calvyn Girling Austin A135 Princess limousine
170 Darren Teal Ford Granada Mk1
174 Curtis Rathbone GAZ ZIM-12 limousine
176 Ady Gibbs Rover P5 Coupe
186 Mike Pullen Ford Granada Mk1 limousine
189 Marco Krul Mazda 929 Estate
196 Ben Harrison Cadillac Fleetwood
203 Darren Nash Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II
206 Phil Milner Bentley T1
208 Frankie Samyn Daimler DS420 limousine
222 Matty High Lincoln Town Car Mk2 limousine
226 Brian Youngson Jaguar Mk10
247 Lee Clarke Rover P5
252 Steven Bugler Cadillac Fleetwood
252 Gareth Griffiths Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Estate Mk2
262 Buddy James Toyota Crown Custom S60
280 Simon Goodale Rover P5
301 Albert Troost Toyota Supra Mk4
312 Sybo Huizenga Lincoln Town Car Mk2
313 John Cullingford Rover P5 Coupe
313 Craig Osborne Ford Scorpio limousine
338 Terry Garrod Volvo 940 limousine
347 Dave Bull Mercury Marquis
349 Lewis Price Bentley Turbo
353 Dan Buckley Pontiac Tempest Coupe (1962)
359 Simon Rolph Mercedes E-Class Estate
388 Stevo McGrath Rolls Royce Silver Raith Hearse (1947)
388 Taylor Sowter Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II
396 Karl Turner Jaguar Mk10 (used)
401 Steve Hemmings Austin A135 Princess limousine
404 Luke Brinton Daimler DS420 Hearse
411 Daniel Pegg Oldsmobile Mk10
433 Ben Smith Daimler DS420 limousine
439 Danny Sutton Toyota Crown S110
465 Liam Johnson Jaguar XJ Series 1
476 Ross Coleman Austin A135 Princess
479 Joel Allen Lincoln Town Car Mk2 limousine
549 Phil Smith Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II
557 Paul Bowen Daimler Sovereign
559 Petrick Kooiker Volvo 242
581 Simon Fixter Humber Imperial
597 Andy Ashman Lincoln Town Car Mk2
601 Chris Medler Toyota Crown S110
611 Joe Geeves Lincoln Town Car Mk1
622 Garry Webb Rolls Royce Corniche
632 Callum Read Ford Granada Mk2 Hearse (Irish
733 Kyle Picton Rover P5
739 Jason Moore Toyota Crown S50 Estate
776 Ady Groom Rover P4 (used)
779 Luke Allen Daimler XJ1200 Hearse
791 Nicky Young Humber Pullman limousine
800 Tom Hannah Lincoln Town Car Mk1
811 Pete Winter Ford Scorpio limousine
812 Lewis Winter Ford Scorpio Hearse
821 Ryan Preston Rover P5
827 Sjirk Hansma Rover P4
851 Adam Storr Cadillac Fleetwood
880 Neil Naismith Humber Super Snipe
884 Tom Filmer Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II
888 Lloyd Stark Cadillac Fleetwood
912 Kieran Greenway Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II
959 Aaron Keoghan Nissan Cedric Y30
996 Brett Driver Oldsmobile Cutlass Mk5
A grand parade at 4pm allowed the huge crowd the chance to savour the fantastic machinery before it was given a send-off in style, beginning with a heat for pre-1985 cars, mainly Granadas (Mk1 and Mk2), Volvos and Jag XJs. On a track surface made a little tricky by rain, the 43 cars immediately all piled in on bend 4, with Peewee himself among those who didn’t even make it to the green flag. A wrecking train developed on bend two, while 209 Tom Waller followed in one of the Dutch Volvos, with 514 Charlie Taylor and 632 Callum Reed joining in before 189 Marco Krul blitzed Reed’s Irish-built hearse. The action on bend four was completed by the entertaining 557 Paul Bowen reversing into the pile-up at speed and 338 Terry Garrod using his Volvo limo to take out passersby, including 248 Dave Harding. Out front, 22 Dave Vincent led in his Toyota Crown until three laps to go, despite hefty rear-end damage, but was caught and passed by 158 Shane Davies’s well-used Mk2 Granny. Entertainers awards went to 390 David Gibson, Krul and 359 Simon Rolph.
Heat two was for pre-70 machinery, raising a super-impressive 44 cars. It begun with 27 Jake Fowler following in his number-sake 27 Will Longford and 549 Phil Smith doing likewise to 791 Nicky Young’s amazing Humber Pullman limo. 176 Ady Gibbs blew up 476 Ross Coleman’s A135 and was then done by 90 Adrian Harbord, while Peewee took in 776 Ady Groom. A track blockage developed on bend four and we were treated to an amazing 14-car wrecking train. The action was completed by Beasley blasting Peewee before red flags were called to aid 827 Sjirk Hansma. Entertainers awards went to Beasley, Hansma and 912 Kieran Greenway while 247 Lee Clarke was awarded the win on countback, whilst in the middle of the train!
A superb showing of 23 Yanks (not quite all those present) came out for heat three. Peewee took in 411 Daniel Pegg, while 611 Joe Geeves, 252 Gareth Griffiths and 16 Mike Flaherty all went in hard, 996 Brett Driver was given a trip up the fence and 851 Adam Storr blasted Peewee. 331 Jason Jackson used his massive machine to deliver a shot on 61 Hendrick Domine and was later blasted by 196 Ben Harrison. 72 Billy Bond gave up the lead to hit 126 Richard Reitsma on the nose, before Storr blasted the latter, followed by 85 James Ellis. 122 Mark Cooper walloped his huge motor into Ellis, with 56 Karel Eeckloo, 48 Mark Cassidy and 10 Bert Petter then joining in. The field was now getting very thin as 597 Andy Ashman hit 851 The Intimidator to block the track. Eeckloo managed to get going again to do another lap and pile into Storr, with 252 Steve Bugler then blasting the former, and Jackson also backed off to pile back in again. Ashman managed to free his crippled motor and bring it home for the win, the only car to complete the distance. The efforts of Geeves, Storr and Eeckloo were deemed worthy of entertainers awards.
Heat four was for modern machinery , tracking 44 cars. 89 Joe Barrett used his hearse to blow up the late-arriving 24 Mark de Laat, while 137 Jason Chilton did 811 Pete Winter’s limo. Several good shots went in on turn one, involving 399 Jonny Atkin (Jag), 148 Ian Redden (Mercedes) and others, while a wrecking train developed on bend two. On the final bend, 779 Luke Allen used his hearse to blast 331 Eelke van der Zwaag and earn himself an enterainers award, alongside 148 Shorty and 266 Callum Hall, while 89 Panda managed to pilot his hearse to victory – a rare sight indeed.
The top three from each heat, together with race entertainers, qualified for the final, but were all eligible to contest the consolations if they wished as well. Before those took place, an interval was taken while expert track curator Buster Chapman bladed off the wet stuff to reveal a fine racing surface for the rest of the night.
The first consolation was reserved for cars from the first two heats and raised 42 cars. It begun with 401 Psycho piling straight into 388 Little Stevo’s nearly 70-year-old hearse, with several more then flying in too, resulting in another massive wrecking train. 288 Carl Sowter took in 4 Mr Happy’s hearse which was later shot to pieces by 313 John Cullingford in one of the hits of the night. That earned Cully an entertainers award, along with 152 James Dillon and 1 Maarten Steenbekkers who was well involved with 791 Spud, among others. Out front, 17 Kyle Overy took his Jap to the win.
Thirty-six returned for the second consolation where Pegg blasted Peewee, back out in his sixth consecutive race, this time in the Westy. Pegg was then done by 800 Tom Hannah, with 41 Arjan de Witte, 479 Joel Allen and 312 Sybo Huizenga then piling in. 222 Matty High dished out a head on to Flaherty, while Harboard was wasted after a hit on Bugler, with 128 Andy Shipp, Domine and 415 Scott Cornish joining in for good measure. When Jackson and de Witte piled in to the back straight heap red flags came out, with 830 Lee White taking the win, and Flaherty, 18 Jamie Clayton and Shipp earning entertainers awards.
The third consolation had the night’s smallest field at 23 cars. It saw 20 Rocky McKenna put the BMW-mounted Peewee away who then was done head on by the pack. Harding blasted Fowler and Cooper on the home straight, before Cooper went straight into 812 Lewis Winter’s hearse which was broadside across the track by the pit gate. The race then went relatively quiet until 604 Ross Cooper blasted 174 Curtis Rathbone’s superb GAZ and was then done by 262 Buddy James’s equally fantastic Custom Crown, while the latter suffered at the hands of 339 Jack Garrod’s Previa. 321 Kieran Fry uncharacteristically turned down the opportunity to join in with the big shots as he motored to the win, while James, Cooper and Garrod were named the race entertainers.
The qualifiers-only final featured 27 cars with heat winners starting at the back. 133 Karly Day led them away before Peewee (Dodge Charger) walloped the similarly-mounted Flaherty. That left the star of the show broadside across the track and 10 Paul Whiteman (used Mk2 Granada) duly obliged with a big hit over the back wheel, realising too late that unlike Flaherty, Peewee’s car was left-hand drive. Red flags came out and the thankfully unhurt – if shaken – Peewee emerged from his car. In the pile-ups on the restart, Overy tried to blast Davies head on but only managed to clip him, while 247 Bro blasted Rolph, and Steenbekkers was dealt shots by Eeckloo and Geeves. Beasley went in with an enormous hit on 390 David Gibson on the scoreboard bend and backed off with little damage which raised a few eyebrows. He went on to finish third behind Vincent, who near enough led from start to finish, and 301 Albert Troost in a modern Supra, but was later excluded for illegal strengthening, while Bro – promoted to third – and Geeves earned themselves entertainers awards.
The first allcomers race saw 100 Callum White follow in 347 Dave Bull, and Joel Allen did Peewee who was back in his Granada hearse. Several big shots from the lively Midnight Runners duo of Bull and Jackson earned themselves entertainers awards, along with 349 Lewis Price, while 160 Shayn Winsor raced to the win and Eeckloo entertained by taking himself into the fence a couple of times after losing his steering.
Down to 26 cars for the last allcomers race, Peewee’s mechanics finally had to admit defeat in turning his cars around after nine consecutive races. But Geeves came to the rescue and gave up his big Yank to allow Peewee to take a tenth ride of the night. He didn’t get it very far, getting well stuck in on the action on bend two, while some big shots went in on the back straight too and a fire on board 900 Jasper Verboven’s Volvo required a stoppage. Only eight cars were left for the restart but it was still lively, as Vincent planted 308 Rick Woertnik into the trashed 997 Meilof Troost. 433 Ben Smith caught and passed Buddy James for the win, with the latter blasting Vincent on the last lap.
Given the action already seen, a mid-30s turnout for the destruction derby was a terrific effort from all concerned. Peewee, out in his very unusual bodykitted Nissan President (minus some of the plastic bodykit) set himself up for Geeves to put him away as a mark of gratitude for his previous gesture, although sadly Geeves couldn’t oblige when his car wouldn’t start. Before the Gladiators fought to the death, Peewee instead embedded himself in 479 Jooble’s big Lincoln and was duly blasted by Bull to bring the curtain down on his career.
A very big hit to end a very big night. It was a superb effort from everyone involved – thanks go to them all – and none more so than the man himself, Pieter Leistra. Happy retirement, Peewee.