Report: Mark Paulson
The Banger racing world gathered to bid farewell to another of the sport’s legendary drivers at King’s Lynn on Saturday night (3 June), as 811 Pete Winter staged his retirement meeting, Pistol Pete’s One Last Shot. More than 120 Unlimited Bangers were in action, split evenly between the pre-1985 class and the more modern machinery. Drivers travelled from far and wide, including the north of Scotland and a very strong Dutch contingent which ran into double figures. Old faces also returned, headed by 145 Colin ‘Sonic’ Dicken in a typically stunning Rover P5 coupe.
Among the entry was a fantastic array of classics, Yanks, limos and hearses, with Winter himself supplying one of the cars of the meeting, his Russian GAZ Zil limousine. Other stand-out motors were too numerous to list them all, but special mention should go to the matching Daimler DS420s – in limo and hearse variations – raced by Damage Inc duo 547 Ryan and 548 Alex Utting.
The two classes each had their own programme of races before joining for an allcomers and destruction derby. First up was a special race for the pre-1970 machinery, which raised 11 cars. It was a relatively quiet affair won by 100 Callum White in his Studebaker, returned from the Stan Woods Memorial at Stoke. Rover P4-mounted 21 Aaron Colbert followed him home, with 282 Bobby Daniels (Daimler DS420 limo) and Winter third and fourth.
The Pre-‘85s then produced the night’s best action in their heats and final. The first featured 133 Karly Day (Mercedes) being blasted by 885 Morice Katier’s Yank, while 270 Eddie Holland also took a couple of big hits. 617 Jack Overy (Jag) dumped Katier back into the heap before getting blitzed himself by 128 Andrew Shipp’s enormous station wagon which was done in turn by the Chevrolet Caprice of 876 Coen Segers. Winter was also well involved in his Mk1 Granada, while 757 Callum Gill raced to the win in his Mk2 version, before 388 Taylor Sowter (Volvo 240 estate) dumped 322 Tom Fox’s similar car into the pile on the run-down lap, with 439 Danny Sutton using his Toyota Crown to blast Fox’s stricken machine.
The second heat for older cars began with a big push in which pretty much the whole field of 32 cars piled in. Daniels and Sowter went in particularly hard, leaving 34 Warren Burnham’s Mk2 Granada ‘caged’. Patxi Beasley (Rover P5), 312 Tom Reynolds (Volvo 740 estate) and the Dutch Boogiemen team were also well involved, along with Winter, this time back in his Zil after the Granada’s engine blew. Out front, 122 Mark Cooper Jr (XJ Series 3) held off Gill of the win.
Heat 3 for the pre-‘85s had fewer cars and was a little quieter after being interrupted for red flags. The big incident came when 21 Jason Colbert’s Rover P4 was ‘caged’ by Segers after blowing up 276 Adam Rowell. 551 Brett Jackson took his Mk2 Granada to the win.
Winter returned in his Zil once more the final, which by this time was his seventh race of the night. It featured 211 Dennis Vorkink taking himself into the fence after only managing a glancing blow on intended targets Callum White and 170 Chris Shipp. That came after White had blasted Sowter after the latter had blitzed 227 Niels Nijhuis. The rear-end of Andrew Shipp’s car was obliterated, while the Uttings entertained as Ryan hit Alex and pushed him round for a lap or so, inviting more in. It was Cooper who took his second win of the day, again holding off Gill, with 349 James Guppy’s Jaguar XJS completing the top three.
The first race for modern cars was relatively quiet and provided a win for 88 Lyndon Stark. 266 Callum Hall injected some action into the second heat. He was first involved in a wrecking train with 418 Simon Eglen and 51 James Licquorice’s Scorpio limo, and then again with 841 Stewart Carman, which allowed Licquoirce to extract some revenge, with 82 Tom Foster also involved and 399 Jonny Atkin lively too. The race win went to veteran 627 Terry Coke. Heat three was claimed by 22 Dave Vincent, with 851 Adam Storr in the thick of the action. He dished out a head-on to 127 Phil Markham after the latter had been blasted by the late-model Chevrolet Caprice hearse of 1 Maarten Steenbekkers.
Winter’s Scorpio had cried enough by the time of the final, so 43 Nicky Bishop leant him his XJ, giving Pete the chance to race in Wild Boyz colours for one last time. 333 Charlie Randall’s blowing up of 232 Richard Swallow was the highlight of an otherwise quiet race won by 830 Lee White from 673 Darren Fendley and 791 Nicky Young.
The classes combined for a terrific allcomers race. This time Winter got to race in Steam Team colours one last time as 165 Ben Randall leant him his Dodge Aspen for the job. The race was highlighted by a wrecking train kicked off by Pete’s son, 812 Lewis Winter, blowing up 97 Dave Allen, with 67 Rickie Beasley, 93 Lewis Godfrey, 136 Adrian Court, Patxi Beasley, 625 Josh Gooch, Overy and the Boogiemen all joining in. Overy extracted himself and blew up 70 Charlie Cunningham on the home straight as 160 Shayn Winsor raced to the win from Tom Foster and Coke.
The cars then reassembled for a lively 16-car DD to finish the night in style.