Report Mark Paulson

 

Almost 100 National Bangers raced in tribute to Michael ‘Bandit’ Bailey at his twelfth annual memorial meeting at the Adrian Flux Arena on Saturday night (16 May). The Unlimited Bangers stole the show with action aplenty, and Great Yarmouth’s 439 Danny Sutton taking the title, while Wisbech-based 51 James Licquorice claimed the Two-Litre version. Also in action were 1300cc Stock Cars, with 780 Simon Sparrow taking his second consecutive final at the track, and the second appearance of MicroStox, where 160 Jacques West was again the pick of the bunch.

 

Unlimited Bangers

Th3 69-strong turnout included a whole host of big names and some impressive machinery. There were a number of Yanks, all used, except for 514 Charlie Taylor’s Cadillac Fleetwood which had previously been present but not raced. It was also good to see a few of the drivers from Bandit’s former Predators team who don’t race regularly anymore. 

An usual two-from-three heat format was adopted, with 30 cars in the first. 579 Gary Beecham (XJS) was lively early on, culminating in him blowing up the visiting 119 Kieran McGhee (Vole), only to be blasted by 32 Alan Wombwell (TX1), which led to a stoppage to help Beecham out. He and Wombwell had both done enough to earn entertainers awards. There was then another stoppage when 421 Nigel Riley blasted 372 Barry Overland in an all-Yank affair. Riley was run in by Taylor on the restart, and then did his best to make a nuisance of himself for the rest of the race, managing to land a t-bone on 898 Andy Battle as he passed. Battle was in second place and managed to hold on, but was unable to challenge 601 Chris Medler who had been in front for most of the race.

Heat two had 38 cars and featured a bit of a pile-up on the scoreboard bend. 377 Zak Street led almost the entire race but was really struggling with a loose wheel in the last few laps. He was reeled in and spun out by 247 Lee Clarke on the final lap, although it transpired Clarke was a lap down, and the win was taken by Michael Bailey’s former Team Black team-mate, 95 Rob Taylor, from 209 Tom Waller, with Nigel Riley given the race entertainers award.

There were 37 in heat three, which saw 196 Ben Harrison (returning his Lincoln Continental from Stoke) blow up 176 Ady Gibbs, with 779 Luke Allen also getting involved. 328 Dan Lathan followed in Medler, while 133 Karly Day gave up the lead of the race to follow in 388 Taylor Sowter. With Day unable to detach himself from Sowter’s wreck, that set up the action of the race, as Harrison blasted the Bear, with 521 Ashley Riley then piling in, followed by Allen and 41 Paul Pentecost. Slightly further round the bend, 791 Nicky Young was blitzed by 137 Jay Chilton who was then done by 180 Mark Foster. All of that led to entertainers awards for Harrison, Foster and Day. Out front, Street took over the lead from Day, with Young in second until he got caught in the bend four action. But while it was Street who took the flag, a check of the lap sheets revealed World of Shale champion 148 Ian Redden to be the true winner, from 160 Shayn Winsor.

The all-in final raised 39 cars, with some big action on the roadside bend between 960 Ross Winsor, 10 Ben Collins and the Team Sowter and Bears cars, earning race entertainers awards for Sowter, Foster and 884 Tom Filmer. Foster was also awarded the trophy for best hit of the night. After red flags to assist 1346 Adrian Court, 439 Danny Sutton pulled clear to take the win from Shayn Winsor and 811 Pete Winter.

 

Two-Litre Bangers

A slightly disappointing field of 25 cars led to three all-in races, with the first being run as the feature for the Bandit Memorial trophy. All but one made it out for that, which saw 390 David Gibson follow in 479 Jason Wood, with 108 Tom Smith then dumped into the latter by 89 Joe Barratt. Out front, 51 James Licquorice overhauled 170 Darren Teal for the win, with Gibson also following through. 

Down to 20 for the first allcomers, where 392 Sam Baines spun 390 Dan Stacey from the lead, with the latter then blasted by 174 Callum Henderson who was later put away by 338 Terry Garrod, earning Garrod the race entertainers award. Licquorice caught and passed Baines for his second win of the night, earning an upgrade to yellow, while Baines spun from second, handing the place to team-mate Gibson.

Nineteen returned for the second allcomers race, which Baines again led much of. He found time to put away debutante 07 Jack Redden who was then blasted by Barratt. But 399 Jonny Atkin caught and passed ‘Baino’ to take the win, while 209 Tom Waller was awarded the trophy for best hit of the night in the class.

 

1300cc Stock Cars

With a clashing meeting at Ipswich, the 1300s were slightly down in numbers, but still raised a decent 25 cars, including debutante 610 Steven Roberts. 

Proceedings began with the final of last year’s White & Yellow Grade Series, held over from Coventry earlier this year. The grid was based on 2014 end-of-season grades and points, allowing those who had recently been upgraded one last ‘hurrah’ from a lower grade. 22 Ian Cowern took full advantage as he waltzed to the win from the front row (after overcoming the fast-starting 341 Austen Freestone), before spending the rest of the meeting starting from the yellow grade. The trophy positions were completed by 780 Simon Sparrow and Freestone, with 400 Kevin Shinn coming home fourth.

All three would go on take wins in the remainder of the meeting. Freestone pulled clear to take the victory in heat one from 07 Ady Moden and 273 Kevin McClagish who had pitched Cowern towards the fence at the fastest part of the track earlier in the race. Fortunately for Cowern, 653 Gemma Rainer was in the right place to straighten him up before what would have been a very heavy collision.

Shinn then spun out erstwhile leader 794 Chris Brown to claim the spoils in heat two, in his first meeting from the blue grade. Brown quickly recovered in third place, which became second when he demoted 316 Danny McCluskey. Freestone half-spun Rainer as she challenged him for fourth, as the race saw a swift conclusion after 09 Buster Ketteringham had taken a hefty knock on the home straight.

The 18-car final provided a consummate win for 780 Simon Sparrow, his second in a row at the track and his third overall this season, lifting him to second in the points. The race had begun with McCluskey and 666 Steve Littlejohn pulling well clear, before a smoking 340 Wes Freestone spun Littlejohn whilst he was being lapped. 92 Gavin Nicholls then rolled on the home straight, bringing out the red flags. On the resumption, McCluskey broke clear of a four-abreast squabble for second, which saw 781 Scott Sparrow fired into the fence and 409 Carlos Pears roll on the back straight, leading to another halt. By this time, Simon Sparrow had got into second, from where he spun out McCluskey and then pulled clear to win, followed by 08 Lee Green, with Moden completing the trophy positions.

 

MicroStox

After one broke down en route and another failed scrutineering, we  were left with just three MicroStox for their second appearance at the track. Once again, the experienced Jacques West proved the pick of the bunch, scoring a heat-and-final double. His one defeat came at the hands of 236 Robbie Bruce in heat one when West’s handicap proved a little too large, although he did overhaul 421 Jim Cogger on the final bend for second. After that, it was relatively plain sailing for West, though the three cars did manage to provide surprisingly close racing throughout.

  

Unlimited Bangers	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Heat 1	601	898	328	338	960	128	439	514	196	nof
Heat 2	95	209	821	160	148	247	338	79	433	521
Heat 3	148	160	22	821	247	433	439	128	898	790
Bandit Memorial Final	439	160	811	601	821	382	nof
Destruction Derby	196
Merit Awards	513	514	757	811
Entertainer Awards	32	579	421	133	196	180	388	180	884	328
Entertainer Awards	119	211	266	428

2L Bangers	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Bandit Memorial Final	51	390 (DG)	170	673	128	339	261	399	287	209
All Comers 1	51	390 (DG)	399	128	673	339	337	701	287	261
All Comers 2	399	392	673	128	287	701	338	261	390	803
Destruction Derby	392
Merit Awards	171
Entertainer Awards	209	338	399	479	390 (DS

1300 Stock Cars	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
White & Yellow Final	22	780	341	400	781	444	273	316	838	666
Heat 1	341	07	273	781	653	409	838	340	09	276
Heat 2	400	794	316	341	653	08	92	673	781	409
Final	780	08	07	333	653	838	673	341	666	794

Micra Stox	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Heat 1	236	160	421
Heat 2	160	236	nof
Final	160	421	236