Pictures: Damien Widdows / Darren Garwell
It was Bangers, Bangers and more Bangers at King's Lynn on Saturday where the drivers delivered some fantastic racing and action all night
1500cc Bangers
The 2018 season finally got underway at King’s Lynn on Saturday night in an all banger affair where the 1500cc Bangers, 2L Bangers and Junior Bangers were all in action. Heavy rain the night before made conditions tricky and the track staff worked overtime to get the track in as good a condition as they did
Around 70 1500cc Bangers were in action for their National Championship which was delayed from last December.
A lively last chance race fielded 38 cars. 994 Craig Keeley led as the green flag fell but came under immediate attack from 113 Dan Wright who span the leader but also took himself out in the process although a quick recovery saw him back in the hunt and challenging new leader 678 Steve Lillywhite for the lead straight away. At the back of the grid there was a big pile up coming out of turn three which claimed several. 107 Andy Betts was buried hard by 902 Tony Lowther with Betts then being collected by several other cars which saw the reds come out as 174 Dave Osbourne put 315 Justin Webb in hard just before the caution was called.
Lillywhite led the restart with Wright on his back bumper. Lillywhite was attacked by Wright straight away with the former being spun out down the back straight. Wright was then challenged by 241 Beau Southgate and 175 Karl Corsby. Corsby spun Wright with the latter performing a perfect 360 degree spin which would have gained maximum points on “Dancing on Ice” which was on TV at the same time and came straight back at the new leader.
13 Alex Hexton was having a lively National Banger debut and amongst several hits he put 440 Lennin Phillips into the wall hard and 622 Stuart Davies and 902 Tony Lowther also weighed in with hefty shots. 321 Kieran Fry went in with a good hit on 13 Hexton whilst 902 Lowther was done with a stiff shot by 483 Lee Neve. As the laps ticked down Corsby pulled away from Wright and there was still time for 93 Luke Nieuwenburg to pull off a massive follow in on 678 Lillywhite whilst 390 David Gibson weighed in on 868 Jorji Stark and 110 Brett Judge blew up 249 Jonathan Ashbridge.
35 cars gridded for the National Championship with several drivers making a superb effort on presentation. The Incarace draw left 232 Steven Pope and 88 Lyndon Stark on the front row.
Whilst many expected the in form Stark to take advantage when the green flag fell it was Pope who surprised the field with a good start and he hit the front. Stark went backwards early as 800 Liam Halls, 12 Troy Cobbett and 271 Ashlun Woods led the chase.
321 Kieran Fry was out early and was part of an early pile up which claimed the smart car of 419 Laura Quadling amongst others. Quadling got some big damage as 93 Niewenburg continued his fine form in the Last Chance by blowing up the lady racer and the equally impressive 13 Hexton weighed in with a big shot on Nieuwenburg.
271 Woods was leading the chase to reel in the leader and on the eighth lap he launched an attack on his leading team mate which ended in disaster for the Smurfs pairing as both of them went out.
322 Tom Fox then took the lead and was going well but was wound out by 495 Aston Gibbons with 633 Leeroy Haywood weighing in with a stiff shot on Fox.
566 Tony Pallett went in with a good hit on 248 Jamie Blything whilst 452 Paul Sweet nailed 241 Beau Southgate. 830 Lee White had by now hit the front although his progress was not revealed until the end of the race when the charts were checked and the lead was being given to 175 Corsby/
Action in the latter part of the race saw 315 Webb being nailed on the back straight by 452 Sweet with Webb then being blown up again by 350 Nathan Tupper and 321 Fry weighed in on 495 Gibbons as 830 White took a good win.
The first All Comers saw 792 Steve Greenhalgh the early leader as 517 Sid Cooper and 147 Mickey Clarke took part in an early head on.
Good progress by 452 Sweet saw him hit the front soon after with 171 Holly Nash doing well in second place. Sweet was delated by a backmarker a few laps later which allowed 887 Liam Stark to make a successful challenge for the lead.
174 Dave Osbourne turned it round and met 171 Nash on the nose who was still in second at the time. 79 Ricky Twell and 452 Paul Sweet then got involved in some argy bargy with the leading Stark throwing away his premier position to join the fun!
174 Osbourne then met 517 Sid Cooper on the nose whilst 792 Greenhalgh exchanged hits with 79 Twelly. 747 Liam Hard and 910 Jack Rookard were involved in a big head on whilst 174 Osbourne, 79 Twell and 792 Greenhalgh entertained the crowd exchanging hits. 517 Cooper took the chequered flag leading home only four finishers.
The second All Comers saw 799 Tim Rees on the attack from the off as he took in the first few rows of whites whilst 370 Craig Gray took the lead. A Pile up took place further back which saw 483 Lee Neve take plenty of punishment.
110 Bertt Judge went in with big shot on 13 Hexton.
Judge went on to rattle several more cars in a few laps later with 460 Luke Tongue then arriving to blow up Judge in style.
800 Liam Halls went in on hard on 172 Chris Nash on the home straight which set up the former for a blitzing from 79 Twell who was then bundled into the tyres by 830 Lee White.
370 Gray went on to win as 79 Twelly blitzed 419 Quadling in the latter stages.
The destruction derby saw 241 Beau Southgate go in with an early shot on 800 Liam Halls.
903 Leon de Silva turned it round and exchanged a head on with 171 Holly Nash with 622 Stuart Davies blowing up Nash and 511 Jack Licquorice arriving to do Davies. Southgate tried to blitz Licquorice but got caught on a stranded car.
Davies then turned it round and enjoyed a head on with Halls with both backing off and repeating before Licquorice weighed in with a big hit on Halls which finished of the latter.
Licquorice was looking by far the stronger and he blitzed a limping Davies with the latter turning it round and enjoying a couple of head ons with Licquorice before giving up the ghost and seeing Licquorice take the DD win.
2L Bangers
The first race for the 2L Bangers was the Wild Card Final where the race winner got an automatic place in the 2L Banger Shale World Final in June. There were several smart cars with a quartet of very smart Predators with 178 Kieran Bowman, 179 Brad Bowman, 219 Robert Betts and 227 Chris Horton with smart cars whilst long distance traveller 298 Bryoni Gilfoy and 551 Brett Jackson also had very smart machines.
138 Jason Smy was the early race leader and built up big lead as 319 Shaun Clarke pulled off a big follow in on 136 Adrian Court. 188 John Reeves thundered 319 Clarke into 519 Lee Middleton as 138 Smy continued to build his advantage. However this was all wiped out with a stop age with a handful of laps remaining for 136 Adrian Court. This allowed 830 Lee White to sweep his way to the front and he duly took the chequered from 219 Robert Betts and the unfortunate 138 Smy.
The first All Comers saw 43 Luke Maynard take a lead he was never going to relinquish. The early stages of the race saw 210 Callum McKee run in 219 Robert Betts hard with 170 Darren Teale then dishing out a big shot to Betts.
A number of drivers got involved in a mini pile up coming out of turn two where 337 Ashley Garrod took the chance to nail 399 Jonny Atkin. 347 Red Nelson – part of the welcome Dahmbusters team who had travelled many miles to be with us - turned it round but he was done hard through the passenger doors by 179 Brad Bowman who was making his National Bagner debut before being able to launch an attack.
212 Jack Maryon turned it round and dished out a stiff head on to 179 Bowman with the young gun being attacked by 201 Phil Milner. 210 McKee then went in hard on Milner with Bowman receiving further punishment from a shot from the lively 170 Teale which brought out the red and chequered.
The second All Comers saw 212 Maryon spin out on the rolling lap and a lap later he was nailed by 178 Kieran Bowman.347 Nelson was launched into the fence hard by 551 Jackson and did well to keep going but Nelson was then nailed by 43 Maynard.
347 Nelson turned round and made a few futile attempts to nail 43 Maynard before the latter nailed the former with a stiff head on
303 Wayne Linsdale took the lead on the seventh lap and went on to win whilst 227 Chris Horton spun out of second place in the latter part of the race and was attacked by 551 Jackson with 188 Reeves then weighing in!
The Destruction Derby saw 303 Lindale get hit by 179 Bowman. 551 Jackson and 188 Reeves met on the nose with 136 Court going in the back of 188 Reeves.
551 Jackson then hit Reeves on the front wheel before both exchanged a hit on the nose. 136 Court hit 551 Jackson on the nose with 188 Reeves steaming into the back of the latter.
210 Callum McKee then joined proceedings after being inactive in the early part of the dd and did 188 Reeves over the front wheel. 136 Court and 551 Jackson then exchanged a hit on the nose before Jackson went in over the front corner of McKee.
136 Court then went in on back of 210 McKee before they both exchanged big head on which finished both cars. Court was declared the winner of the dd due to McKee being stationary too long at the start.
Junior Bangers
The first race was the White & Yellow Final. 70 Tiff Unwin missed the start when the green flag went down and 214 Connor Osbourne was the leader entering first bend. At end of first lap it was 555 Harry Gelsthorpe who had taken a lead he was never going to lose. 77 Lewis Ivatt has moved up to second place by the third lap with 159 Eron Denney driving well in third place. Ivatt was delayed spinning the backmarking 340 Samuel Bennett which allowed Denney to challenge for second but Ivatt regained composure and pulled away. A couple of laps later Denney was attacked for third place by 229 Harry Cobb for third place but Cobb went wide in process but a lap later Cobb made the move stick. Gelsthorpe did well going past backmarkers and the win never looked in doubt. With two laps to go Denney crashed out of fourth place and pulled leg and had nothing to show for an excellent drive. Gelsthorpe won by half a lap but failed post race scrutineering which saw 77 Ivatt take the win.
The first heat proper got going at the second time of asking after an early caution for 702 Ben Kaleta. 331 Archie Fryatt was early leader as 833 Robbie Dillon was collected by 188 Codie Reeves as several white tops clashed. 08 Finlay Damon took the lead at end of the second lap and spun the returning 101 Cieran Harmer. 77 Ivatt was soon involved in the battle for the lead which saw 603 Kieran Clarke being moved out of the way with Clarke hitting the fence hard unaided.
By the fifth lap Ivatt had hit the front with a fast moving 328 Ben Nicholls looking a big danger as he moved up to third place. A big tangle between 114 Luke Spinks and 214 Connor Osbourne saw both lose time. Nicholls got past Damon for second place a lap later and set about chasing Ivatt. He was delayed though getting past the backmarking Harmer which gave 77 Ivatt the breathing space he needed up front. The last few laps saw a good battle for third between 90 Joey Holmes Jnr and 132 Archie Cullem with Holmes getting the advantage. A big pile up happened on the last lap which claimed Ivatt amongst other but luckily for him he sailed in just after taking flag.
340 Bennett was the early leader of the second heat but he was taken out by 555 Gelsthorpe. 159 Denney enjoyed short spell in lead before being spun out and 45 Aiden Harrold was fired into her by the pack hard which brought out the yellow flags. The restart saw drivers having to take wide line with stranded cars going into turn one and 328 Nicholls and 555 Gelsthorpe both enjoyed spells in the lead before 90 Holmes hit the front and pulled away to take a comfortable win whilst a war of attrition took place behind.
622 Harvey Webb was the early leader of the final before 08 Damon made attack on the second lap which spun Webb out of lead. 77 Ivatt made good progress from the blues and was up to third after a few laps. As the race went on Damon had built up a good lead but was being reeled in by 340 Bennett and 77 Ivatt with 90 Holmes starting to close rapidly as the laps counted down.
With four laps to go 90 Holmes made his move for second and spun 77 Ivatt out – Ivatt made a good recovery in fourth
2 laps to go saw 90 Holmes take the lead from 08 Damon whilst the leader was baulked by a backmarking 258 Owen Hunt and the ensuing fracas saw the hapless Damon end up being spun. The last lap saw 328 Nicholls put a lot of pressure on 77 Ivatt for third place delivered a good hit but Ivatt held onto third by width of a bumper.
All in all a great domestic meeting with great turnouts and every race producing action and talking points.