On a dry day, where a bitterly cold wind was best avoided, a decent crowd assembled for this year’s Banger Bonanza.  The meeting began with a Crash 4 Cancer parade of pink Bangers, as part of a fund-raising initiative organised by Oscar Berry.

2 Litre National Bangers

A slightly modest showing of 16 drivers in the 2 Litre National Bangers class proved to be a fine recipe for action as everyone seemed up for a crash all day.  The Winter Open was first, and 648 Jamie Smith drew pole, which encouraged him to go for the win whilst most of the interest centred around siblings 186 Lewis Fasey and 286 Sophie Fasey.  Lewis got the first shot in on 662 Jared Roe with 166 Luke Gilbard piling in on the hapless Roe.  286 Sophie Fasey got a couple of shots in on Roe as well, unfortunately one was off the middle which saw her day end early.  Roe did manage a big shot on 01 Gary Moule as 205 Alex Ganter and 775 Callum Congden filled the podium behind Smith.  The first Allcomers was dominated by a nine-car jacking train with the shot by 10 Chay Moule on 206 Morgan Hoskin particularly savage.  That presented Smith with the opportunity to wreck 10 Moule.  Ganter and 362 Johnny James kept out of trouble to fill the first two places with Fasey and Roe the only other finishers.  Nine cars managed to repair for the second Allcomers including a limping Roe who just made the gate.  He immediately went for Fasey but put himself in allowing 01 Moule, Smith and Fasey to all hit him leading to a stoppage to allow Roe to climb out of his wreck.  40 Ben Reeder led until the last bend when Gilbard attempted to hold up 362 James to allow his team mate a clear run.  That didn’t work as Gilbard hit the tyres and span with James winning the drag to the line from Reeder.  Eight cars managed to make it on track for a savage DD with 222 Ricky Walters having a big head on with Smith and 462 Nico James producing two big shots on 01 Moule and Gilbard.  Somehow the latter crawled round to win as the last car running after a superb show from all the drivers.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

A stunning entry of 64 Back 2 Basics Bangers included 85 Jade and 385 Danielle Ellis all the way from Wisbech as well as some truly strange material.  328 Mike Parry produced a rare Citroen Xanti, 728 Stuart Hooper a hardcore Polo and 79 Brian Edmund a Matiz.  In the dragged-out-of-a-hedge category, where it had clearly seen better days, 6 Troy Jones’s Mondeo and 101 Matt Irish in a Fiat Panda were suitably in the end of life stage.  The three heats on a two thirds split all produced plenty of action and pile-ups with heat one turning into an Ellis masterclass.  85 Jade beat 385 Danielle to the win though the latter wasn’t that keen to bury her daughter to disrupt the result!  Heat two had a great four -way lead battle between 938 Ashley Rice, 6 Jones, 162 Harry Ellacott and 788 Darren Morgan.  After numerous lead changes Jones’s attempt to spin Rice on the last lap delayed both of them with teenager Ellacott just beating Morgan to the flag for a win on his debut.  Heat three included 282 James Rowe and 18 Corey Karkeek both getting the black flag for excessive crashing as the crowded 41-car field went everywhere!  Rowe unfortunately ignored the black flag on a number of occasions and scandalously span the leading 919 Oscar Berry on the last bend.  It would have been an emotional win for Berry as the organiser of the ‘Crash 4 Cancer’ fund raiser.  A win for ‘Specs’ would have been fitting but he did recover for second behind running mate Edmond – Berry firing his car in reverse to cross the line backwards.  38 cars were left for the final where most of the field were in and out of a Honiton bend pile-up with the track blocked on one occasion.  Somehow Hooper kept finding a way through and won by a clear lap, leading home 383 Rory Adams and 890 Pavarotti as just five cars finished.  Most of the field were more interested in crashing in a chaotic but brilliant race.  23 cars returned for a great DD which began with a crunching head on between 632 Aaron Bennett and 67 Cameron Wakley-Boros.  Highlights included 841 Tom Perkins on a wrecking spree with two big T-bones on 632 Ryan Karkeek and plenty of other hits.  Hooper followed in 96 Harley Carr-Flamank and somehow reversed out.  Irish treated the Panda to a head on with Hooper’s Polo.  Eventually 756 Troy Hooper outlasted the rest and celebrated with shots to Hooper, 881 Caitlyn Emery and 421 Brandon Williams.

JBA Junior Bangers

On the occasion of their first ever Autospeed meeting, Junior Bangers ran a two thirds format.  320 Bear Weir-Tebbs unfortunately never managed to start a race as a result of gearbox issues leaving 29 cars.  All were in Nissan Micras with the 222 Ollie Gould and 591 Murray and 691 Joby Hall cars beautifully turned out.  As it’s a nudge and spin formula on road tyres it was a greasy and slippery track all day making it hard work for the red tops from the back.  Heat one saw 290 Bailey Holmes lead most of the way until he slid on and wide under braking on the Honiton bend on the last bend.  382 Nathan Joyce took advantage to get past for the win with 475 Mason Sealy quick from the back for third.  The other races belonged to 77 Dylan Perry who used his generous white grading for three good wins.   The other talking point was the feud between 591 Murray Hall and 618 Stanley Gill which was evident in the battles whenever they were on track together.  Holmes chased Perry in heat two but never got near enough for a hit with 295 Todd Wallace impressive in fourth from the red grade.  Gill and Hall clashed early in this one with Gill recovering for tenth.  Heat three saw Perry win again from 198 Lucas Wyatt and Wallace as Hall put Gill away near the pit gate but went in as well.  718 Alfie Brown couldn’t resist the dead car shot on Hall which led to a load-up for Brown.  Perry beat Holmes and Joyce in the final to complete an impressive hat-trick.  Elsewhere, there was a head-on from 340 Bobby Brewster on Gill before Hall blotted his copybook with a dead car shot on Gill as a mini pile up developed on the Honiton bend.  138 Brayden Rice impressed in this one as he progressed to fourth as the leading red top (of 15 drivers on track graded red or above).  Barring the two daft and needless incidents, the drivers seemed to love the track, offering hope for a couple more dates for the class at Autospeed in 2026.