VANTASTIC VANDALISM

The Unlimited Big Van Bangers stole the show at King’s Lynn’s BANG Holiday meeting on Monday 27^th August. Their lively performance kept the holiday crowd enthralled while some all action races from the three other formulas on display meant it was an afternoon of wall to wall entertainment. Allen Cooper retained his World of Shale title in the Reliant Robins whilst Norfolk N Good took the spoils in the East Anglian Team Championship for 2-litre bangers. Finally, the ladies upheld their end of the bargain with some terrific racing in the lady bangers.

Twenty vans were in the pits for their traditional bank holiday meeting. It might be getting harder to source and transport these big machines, but the drivers pulled out the stops with a wide array of vehicles. The Transit was unsurprisingly numerically dominant but they were joined by a handful of LDVs/Sherpas and Renault Traffics. Of the more unusual machinery, 22 Dave Vincent turned out a very large Ford doormobile bus while a special mention goes to 7 Chris Jackson who had managed to fit a caravan on his Sherpa... it didn’t last long! Best presented was surely 791 Nicky Young in an immaculate Iveco. But stealing the show was the massive old Bedford of 324 Mark Lathan.

With a few late arrivals, 16 made it out for the first heat. The van/caravan hybrid of 7 “Tex” lasted seconds after snagging the wall on the home straight. The crumpled mess left behind was blasted through by 171 Andy Frost, leaving a mass of debris on track for the rest of the race. It didn’t create much of an obstacle for the big behemoths though, with the two biggest vans on display – those of Lathan and Vincent – certainly not afraid to get well stuck in. The latter in particular was surprisingly quick as he motored to sixth spot. 851 Adam Storr was also in the thick of the action in his very second hand looking Transit, while 562 Gavin Barnes – also Transit-mounted – steered clear of most of the trouble to take the flag from 601 Chris Medler in another Transit.

With numbers swelled to 18, the second encounter provided the race of the day. Young, who hadn’t made it out for the first, set out his stall early on by parking up on the back straight of the rolling lap and lining himself up. His target was to be 730 Deane Mayes, in a Renault Traffic campervan (complete with curtains). Attempting to reverse into his path each lap, he only managed to clip him before taking a big t-bone from Frost. Having eventually made it to bend four, Young took a monster hit from Storr which claimed the latter the race entertainers award. 791 “Spud” wasn’t finished with Mayes though and this time caught him harder as he came past, allowing Lathan to pile in too. With Young immobilised 390 David Gibson (Sherpa minibus) gave him the bone before reversing into the passing 888 Lloyd Stark. Meanwhile 601 “Bling” motored to the win from the rapid Vincent. Mayes added fifth to his earlier third and claimed revenge on his earlier aggressor with a big hit on the run-down lap.

Sixteen survived for the final which was not as lively as the earlier heat but still provided a good race. Many of the big vans were limping by now and simply getting round the track was a mission. Despite very little crumple space in front of him, Lathan piled into the lurking 338 Terry Garrod (Sherpa) as his Bedford held up well. Medler raced to his second victory of the day and celebrated by putting away 674 Luke Childerhouse (Transit) on the run-down lap. Mayes was second ahead of Vincent who did his national points championship prospects no harm at all with an excellent display in such a big motor.

Around a dozen returned for the traditional destruction derby to end proceedings and they put on a great display for the appreciative crowd.

Vincent wasn’t so lucky in the other national banger class in action – the 2-litres, who were contesting their East Anglian Team Championship – as he failed to register a single finish for his own Team 22, although the rest of the squad did fare a little better. Eleven teams were in the pits although several were a man or two down on the maximum of four drivers, including defending champions Team Jackpot who could only muster two of the Garrod brothers, 337 Ashley and 339 Terry. That gave a total of 34 cars and all drivers were Mondeo-mounted except Team Black ‘C’’s 207 Billy Randall who was in the Mondeo-chassised Cougar.

All but three made it out for the first heat which was a fairly quiet affair. World of Shale champion (a title he will defend next weekend) 450 Glyn Platts, guesting for Team Black ‘A’, thundered 401 Steve “Psycho” Hemmings into the pit gate to liven things up. Meanwhile the Midnight Runners faction of Team Black – namely 180 Mark Foster and the aforementioned Randall were receiving plenty of attention from MNR nemesis 349 Michael Allard, guesting for Norfolk N Good today. 382 Jack Foster Jr of Team Black ‘A’ took the win from 119 Davey Cox (Team 22) and 328 Daniel Lathan (Norfolk N Good), as the latter’s team built an early points lead.

A similar number took to the track for the second race which started with 285 Sean Dyer (Aftermath) delivering a big back wheel hit to the turned-around 399 Jonny Atkin (Mad Hatters ‘A’). Atkin’s team-mate 393 Pete Annells was hitting anything that moved but was blitzed by 67 Ricky Beasley (Team Black ‘A’), a late arrival. Cox spun everything in his path to take the win ahead of Mayes (Norfolk N Good) and Lathan.

Moving into the final, the three leading teams were Norfolk N Good, Team 22 and Team Black ‘A’, all well ahead of the rest. And that is how it would stay as a win for Lathan clinched the title for Mayes’s Norfolk team. Not before a lively race though, involving a multi-car wrecking train. 779 Luke Allen (Predators ‘A’) put away 465 Andy Scarlett (Team Black ‘C’) leaving the former open to a revenge shot from 180 Foster. Predator revenge duly came from 89 Joe Barrett and he was swiftly followed by 60 Kyle Stevenson (Black ‘B’), 515 Gareth Flatters (Aftermath) and 998 Wayne Cottrill Jr (Black ‘B’). The latter two reversed out, leaving Stevenson open to a big shot from Allard. 392 Sam Baines (Mad Hatters ‘A’), Platts and Dyer all piled in as the red flags came out for a fire on board Foster’s machine. With the race declared, 525 Wes Starmer (Black ‘B’) followed Lathan home while third for 382 “Chubby” clinched second place overall for Team Black ‘A’ ahead of Team 22.

A 19-car destruction derby rounded things off for the 2-litres. A very lively start saw huge hits piling in all over the place as the field rapidly diminished. Down to three Team Black runners (Beasley, Starmer and Jack Foster Jr), the event started to fizzle out a little before an early halt was called when Starmer exited his car and removed his overalls whilst on track.

Nearly twenty Reliant Robins gathered for their biggest race of the season at the Norfolk Arena, the World of Shale. Defending champion (and World Champion to boot) Allen Cooper, racing under number 1, had turned out a stylish new gold-painted car for the occasion, whilst there were also very smart efforts from 385 Roy Gedge, 551 Brett Jackson and 576 Colin Aldred, amongst others. The big race was first up and was led from start to finish by Cooper to retain his crown. His path was left clear when fellow front row starter Aldred spun on the opening lap allowing Cooper to build up a big lead he never relinquished. The Cambridgeshire-based former Brisca F2 star celebrated his success with some crowd-pleasing donuts on the startline.  512 Chris Barnett and Jackson filled the podium positions whilst “Porky” Aldred recovered to fourth.

The remaining allcomers races saw the Robins provide their usual brand of laughs with multiple rollovers. Rollover king Gedge lived up to his reputation with a double and a triple barrel roll in the same race as the wins went first to 351 Martin Evans before Cooper claimed his second success of the day.

A very big field of 24 lady bangers ensured some action-packed races and made it difficult for the stars and superstars to come through from the back, especially when they tangled over each other, as in heat one. 4 Stephanie Street appeared to be making a mockery of her lowly white grade as she looked set for victory in the first race before being spun on the last lap by 257 Anna Piggot. The “Little Piglet” went on to claim the win from another white grader, 85 Kate Calver, and the experienced 213 Trudy Gowler.

A fairly destructive race saw some pretty big damage sustained by Street’s sister 444 Natasha and 477 Amy Brown but both repaired in time for race two. That was won by 345 Karen Lown from 924 Toni Murchie and 432 Cassie Smith. Most of the other red roofed cars again tangled over each other as Brown was involved in a good scrap with 3 Danielle Hewitt and 730 Marie Mayes.

Stephanie Street made amends in the final as she held on to win on a track made greasy by some light rain. Second was 319 Jodie Grief ahead of 661 Suzie Lamb on a day when not a single top-three place was claimed by a superstar-graded lady.