Smeatharpe Stadium - Saturday 16th September 2023

The Bright Sparks event for Bangers had attracted much interest and enthusiasm, not to mention of whopping £2000 prize fund.  All the elements combined wonderfully, and duly produced an enthralling evening of fun-filled entertainment, as drivers from across the south west region embraced the very essence of the meeting, beginning with ‘old skool’ style racing at the start, building to heavier action later on.  For good measure, the non-contact Stock Rods added to the night’s entertainment, and not even the drizzle, mist and a few autumn showers could spoil the evening.

Bangers

Impressively, 70 Bangers turned up on a rather drizzly evening to honour the late 248 Jon Sparks, who must have been smiling from above when he saw some of the weird and wonderful cars on display.  The top motors of the day consisted of 246 Ryan Spark’s Ford Cortina Estate, and Austin A50 Cambridge for 247 Richard Sparks, 272 Robert Brokenshire’s Saab 99, 278 Shaun Brokenshire’s Volvo 340, 410 Dan Galley’s Austin A30, 838 Damien Tiley’s Vauxhall Viva, and 991 Ben Hale Nissan Sunny B11 Estate.  There was also a healthy amount of bilge to obsess over, something Jon would have loved!
Heat one was for any pre-90 motors available; the action began immediately when track debutant 816 Jack Weeks got spun across the start finish line and received a clobbering from 247 Richard Sparks, which ended the former’s day early.  788 Darren Morgan muscled his way to the front and never looked back as he claimed a dominant win, right before the red flags came out for 410 Dan Galley, who finally managed to roll the little A30.  Heat two was a quieter affair, aside from 249 Darren Brock battering the Ford Ka of 992 Dan Walsh.  146 Dan Wigman claimed the race victory, celebrating by spinning 262 Buddy James across the line.  Most of the action in heat three was hidden by the smoke screen that 333 Craig Partridge created with his new shape Vauxhall Corsa.  842 Jack Perkins took a fine win in one of many smartly presented Team Dingles Nissans.
Heat four was the first of the all-in full contact races, and it certainly delivered.  The action started immediately once 838 Tilly jacked up 142 Tyler Brownless (the latter in his first adult meeting no less), before Tilly himself copped a brutal shot from 202 Matt Butlin.  A pile-up soon formed on the pits bend, with hard shots coming aplenty, including a superb blast from 278 Bean on 991 International.  Soon after, Richard Sparks went in for a shot on 269 Joe Brooks, leaning others into the pile-up as he did so, but Sparks toppled over, which brought out the reds.  246 Basil put on a sterling display during the restart, dragging his squashed Cortina round in the hope of another shot.  211 Adrian Coles claimed the win.  Heat five started with a car park forming on the pit bend, which featured 146 Wiggy receiving a flat out shot from 166 Connor Charlton, 717 Donna Cottrell joined in with the fun before 989 Dean Arm decided to blow up the 717 machine.  Later, 161 Anton Ferris celebrated wildly after receiving two hard shots from 272 Shaun Ross and Arm, the latter taking a revenge shot from Cottrell.  Wiggy continued to receive punishment, which left him with a very poorly looking Fiesta.  Morgan claimed his second win of the night.
The Bright Sparks Final was all-in, which only meant one thing: more crashing and another huge pile-up!  Having pulled his Cortina out in record time, Ryan Sparks received a hard shot from the lively Arm.  As the pile of cars grew and grew, 360 Jack Reynolds cruised round to claim a comfortable victory in the Bright Sparks final, with 999 John Glover and the lively 743 Jake Bond coming home in second and third respectively, with just six drivers going the distance from an original grid of 40 or so entrants.  The Allcomers was another brutal affair, 272 Tiny being the first victim after receiving Morgan’s wrath.  A hard jacking train formed in due course, which included 912 Simon Rees giving 222 Cletus a stiff head on, right before Brownless thundered into Rees, snapping off the 912 Micra in fine fashion, which brought out the reds.  The restart was understandably tame, however the battle for the lead between 198 Thomas Gumbleton and 452 Anthony Sleeman was superb to watch, with 452 Lurch coming out on top to take the win.
The DD had a good field of cars, which soon depleted as the action got heavier.  360 Jackstar went on an early rampage, blowing up 756 Troy Hooper before going in on the very tender Cortina of Ryan Sparks, who along with his pit crew did a fantastic job to get the Tina’ back out after the punishment it had taken.  Red flags were soon called after 362 Aaron Loader copped a hard follow in from 842 Jack Perkins.  Action in the restart came quick when Mr Blobby’s twin brother 28 Ian Govier turned his poorly Cav around to give 272 Brokenshire a proper head on.  249 Brock was the main target for Sleeman, who absolutely pasted the poorly 249 Almera.  However, try as he might, Sleeman just couldn’t kill the invincible orange and grey Almera.  Having survived a beat down from Sleeman, Brock turned his attention to the flame-spitting Civic of 262 Buddy James, after many a love tap, Brock had managed to defy the odds and claimed the DD win in what was a great display from the Bangers throughout the whole of the night.  It’s safe to say that the meeting lived up to the antics that Jon Sparks was known for on track and proved that you can still have fun in a crispy motor!
* Bangers report by Jamie Waller-Jones/Bangers Down West

Stock Rods

The non-contact Stock Rods again showed up in good numbers, with 25 drivers on duty, including 22 Troy Holley at the wheel of the ex-Kris Woods Toyota Starlet.  However, the RWD car was a handful on the wet track, especially with its new owner appearing to be right-foot-happy as Holley produced a display littered with spins and gyrations.  Heat one looked like bringing 313 Brad Seymour a first ever win, until he encountered issues amongst backmarkers, and 311 Liam Shipway pounced late on to grab the chequered.  Seymour was not to be denied in heat two, however, as he sped to the win.  258 James Griggs ran strong in second, until a customary late charge by 351 Rhys Langdown saw him seal the runner-up place.  Shipway reacquainted himself with the chequered in heat three as he claimed a second win on the night, leading home 131 Stephen Cock.  With Seymour and Shipway setting the pace at the front, it was little surprise that they stormed off into the distance in the final, and that was how it finished, as they filled the top two places, and 231 Simon Bassett rounded out the top three.  The Grand National featured a fine drive by 522 Chris Mikulla, who effected plenty of outside line passes on his way to victory.