News from RDC Promotions
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Latest news items
NEW: Reliant Robins added to Mildenhall June 9 in place of BriSCA F2 Stockcars
NEW: Important announcement re Mildenhall June 9 meeting
NEW: Pre 70 National Banger bookings break 100 barrier
NEW: Amazing response to Steamer Memorial sponsorship call
NEW: National Banger British Championship points standings
NEW: Ministox grades for May 20
NEW: Change proposed to Saloon Stockcar starts at Mildenhall Stadium
NEW: Change proposed for Super Rod starts at Dover Raceway
NEW: Changes to Bangerstox meeting formats at Dover Raceway
NEW: Latest National Banger Hot Shots and all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada meeting bookings
NEW: Suffolk, Kent and Cambs/Lincs drivers for National Banger Inter Counties team challenge
NEW: Latest entry list for Ministox at Coventry on June 2
NEW: Latest confirmed entries for BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Mildenhall on July 28
NEW: Latest confirmed qualifiers and last chance drivers for Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship
NEW: National Bangers White and Yellow Grade Series Points
NEW: BriSCA F2 Stockcars White and Yellow Grade Series Points
NEW: RDC on tour at King’s Lynn and Hednesford
NEW: End of season National Banger championship qualifiers
Sponsors sought for Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship/Steamer memorial
Saloon Stockcars Mildenhall June 17 meeting dedicated to Eddie James

Important news items
Unlimited Bangers Suffolk Open and Steamer Memorial additional information
Iain ‘the Steamer’ House Memorial confirmed for Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship
First special guest trophy presenter confirmed for Saloon Stockcar British Championship
More sponsorship for Saloon Stockcar British Championship and enhanced prize fund details
RDC confirm extended deal at Dover Raceway until the end of 2014
Discount Fuel Card for all ORCi registered racers
New grade lists for Bangerstox and Super Rods
A tribute to the Steamer
Statement from RDC Promotions concerning legal case at Mildenhall Stadium
National Bangers Martin Seex Memorial confirmed for Mildenhall on May 12
National Bangers 2012 RDC RWD Championship series
BriSCA F2 Stockcars One Wild Weekend booking system
Ministox Diamond Jubilee Series
All Mk1/2 Granada National Banger RDC 20th anniversary information
Saloon Stockcars £1,000 Dash for Cash Series
Bangerstox Suffolk Championship bookings
2012 RDC license forms now available on line via RDC website
ORCi National Bangers and Ministox rules for 2012
His and Her Banger team event added to 2012 Mildenhall fixtures
1400cc Bangers Suffolk Open Team Championship fully booked with reserves
Siamese Bangers coming to Mildenhall Stadium in June 2012
RDC Promotions 20th anniversary all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada National Banger meeting
Revised National Banger racing rules
Extra incentives up for grabs at future BriSCA F2 Stockcar meetings
Important information for all drivers and their teams racing at Mildenhall Stadium
BBA Supreme Championship to go unlimited in 2012
Official statement from RDC Promotions dated March 7 regarding recent legal issues concerning Mildenhall Statement
Appeal for help regarding RDC’s legal case at Mildenhall Stadium
Message to all who have supported appeal for Mildenhall Stadium

Reliant Robins added to Mildenhall June 9 in place of BriSCA F2 Stockcars (added May 17)
Following our previous announcement over the fixture problems regarding the forthcoming June 9 meeting at Mildenhall we can now confirm that Reliant Robins have been added to the bill in place of the BriSCA F2 Stockcar meeting we had hoped to run. 

We are fully aware that adding Reliant Robins to this meeting with less than a months notice would be a big ask normally but it is asking even more of our Reliant drivers because this will now result in no less than three meetings for the formula in as many weekends at Mildenhall owing to the traditional fixture alongside the Pre 70 Banger meeting on May 26 and the 'one off' Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday Tuesday event on June 5.

However, unfortunately we are out of options for a third formula for this meeting. We had hoped that when the mistake over the BriSCA F2 Stockcar fixture list had been spotted it may have been possible for RDC to have been allowed to run the meeting despite the National Championship being staged in Ireland. Not only was it greatly disappointing that this was refused by BriSCA F2 but furthermore it was equally disappointing as well that our request to run a Saloon Stockcar meeting that night was also turned down for similar reasons (the UK Masters takes place at Nutts Corner also that night).

Therefore it left us little option but to add Reliant Robins to the programme alongside the final National Banger British Championship qualifying round and Ministox even though we understand it is adding more pressure to our Reliant Robin driver base during their busiest time of the season. 

With that in mind it has been decided that while the June 9 meeting will count towards the Mildenhall Track and RDC Drivers Points Championship this meeting will NOT be a World Championship qualifying round and the World Qualifying series will be concluded on June 5 as already detailed. RDC does not feel it would be fair to the drivers to add another qualifying round to the series at this late stage, especially as some drivers may now have other plans for June 9 and will be unable to attend the meeting. However we do intend to offer some extra incentives to drivers who are able to support this meeting and this may include some link to the World Final on June 30 but this will be announced in due course. 

A statement from RDC said: "We are extremely disappointed by this situation and are deeply sorry for any disappointment and inconvenience caused.

"While the blame lies just as much in our hands as anyone's, in fact probably more so, we are extremely disappointed that it took so long for the mistakes in the fixtures to be spotted and had it not been for a very innocent comment from an outside party it is unlikely that the mistake would have been identified until days before the meeting and this is certainly very concerning and an area which we believe needs attention from both ourselves and BriSCA as a whole. 

"We are equally, if not more, disappointed that our request that the BriSCA F2 Stockcar meeting be permitted to go ahead was turned down as was a following request to add a Saloon Stockcar fixture was also turned down. While we fully understand the desire to make all championship events solos dates, it is worth noting that the crossover between Stockcar drivers who race at Mildenhall and would have competed in the championship events in Ireland would have been minimal at very best and therefore it is a great shame that under these most unusual circumstances that an exception could not have been made. 

"It is especially disappointing for us with regard the loss of a BriSCA F2 Stockcar fixture. It is no secret how impressed we have been with our F2 Stockcar action in recent seasons and this was instrumental in our plans to run an additional F2 meeting in 2012 when compared to 2011. This was something which had been met with a very favourable response from our regular F2 Stockcar drivers, especially those who only race on shale and even more so with those who only compete at Mildenhall. Ultimately it is these drivers, and the fans who enjoy F2s at Mildenhall, who have lost out the most and for our part in that, we are deeply sorry.

"We hope our dedicated Reliant Robin drivers will be able to support this extra date as well as they have supported our recent fixtures even though it marks the busiest run of dates for the formula that we have ever had at Mildenhall. We fully understand that some drivers will not be able to support this meeting, especially at such short notice, hence our decision to not make this meeting a World Championship qualifier which we didn't feel would be fair. However we do hope to offer some added incentives at this meeting to reward those drivers who are able to support the meeting and we thank these drivers in advance for their continued support.

"In the meantime we very much look forward to the return of BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Mildenhall on Sunday, June 17 for the BriSCA F2 Challenge Trophy, one of the formula's longest running events with around 40 years of history which will be run for the first time at Mildenhall this year and also the first time the event has been staged in England since 1991."

Important announcement re Mildenhall June 9 meeting (added May 16)
It is with much regret that we must confirm this week that the BriSCA F2 Stockcar meeting we believed we had scheduled at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, June 9 will not take place as advertised.

We must stress that the June 9 event at Mildenhall will still go ahead featuring the final National Banger British Championship qualifying round plus Ministox and this week we are working to try and arrange for a third formula at the meeting to replace the F2s which will be confirmed as soon as possible. 

RDC Promotions had applied for the June 9 date late last year when the BriSCA F2 Stockcar fixtures were decided among all promoters and believed the date had been confirmed. However recently the oversight was spotted and further examination revealed that June 9 features the National Championship in Ireland which is a solos date and therefore we are unable to run BriSCA F2 Stockcars as we had hoped. 

We are very sorry for any disappointment and inconvenience caused by this and again want to stress that the June 9 at meeting will still take place despite this problem and we hope to confirm a third formula in place of the F2s as soon as possible.

In the meantime we will see the BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Mildenhall again on Sunday, June 17 (1.30pm) for their feature event of the season at the stadium, the F2 Challenge Trophy and again we would remind drivers that we would be grateful if they could book in for this meeting to help our promotion of the event. 

Pre 70 National Banger bookings break 100 barrier (added May 16)
With the 20th annual Pre 70 National Banger meeting at Mildenhall Stadium now just 10 days away on Saturday, May 26 we are delighted this week to report that bookings have passed through the 100 mark. 

It remains to be seen if the event successfully attracts its 11th consecutive triple figure entry but the show of interest from drivers planning to race at the meeting is extremely impressive and this week’s additions includes many long distance visitors and the 2012 event could see a record breaking amount of overseas drivers.

As always RDC does not reveal details of the cars drivers are planning to race but we are equally excited about some of the machinery which is in the pipeline for this year’s event and it looks set to be a great anniversary for one of RDC’s original banger fixtures on May 26.

For all the information on this meeting including current entry list check out our dedicated Pre 70 meeting page of the site. 

Amazing response to Steamer Memorial sponsorship call (added May 16)
RDC is also this week delighted to report an incredible response to last week’s invitation for people to sponsor races at the Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship at Mildenhall on Saturday, August 11 which will play host to the Iain ‘the Steamer’ House Memorial. 

As explained last week, all sponsorship pledges will go to charities chosen by Iain’s family and within a week of the invitation being made no less than 17 pledges of sponsorship have been made which means so far we are looking to raise at least £1,700 for causes which were close to the Steamer. 

While we are truly blown away by this show of kindness and support from the banger racing community we are still open for more sponsorship. In fact there is no limit as all the money raised goes to charity and while it is guaranteed we won’t have 17 banger races on the night we are confident we will find a trophy somewhere to put a sponsor’s name on!

Click here for last week’s announcement on the sponsorship and how to contact us if you would like to get involved. Drivers are again reminded that bookings for the Steamer Memorial and Suffolk Open will open on May 26. 

National Banger British Championship points standings (added May 16)
Following the third round of the National Banger 2012 British Championship qualifying series below is an expanded look at the current standings in the qualifying chart and things are heating up nicely at the top of the table suggesting the final rounds should be keenly contested by those hoping to qualify for the big race this summer. 

As always the top 10 RDC drivers after the five rounds will qualify for the championship final at Mildenhall on June 30. The next five RDC drivers will act as reserves. 

Once again there will be two wildcard places available. These will go to the two highest non RDC drivers proving they outscore the 10th highest RDC driver in the final chart. Should only one of these wildcard places be claimed by a non RDC driver the available space will go to the highest driver in the RDC Drivers Points Championship who has not qualified. If neither wildcard place is claimed the second spot will go to the highest driver in the Mildenhall Track Championship who has not qualified, regardless of their promotion. 

Below is the current standings after the first round. Drivers with a * are eligible for the wildcard places. The next round is at Dover on May 20 with the final round at Mildenhall on June 9. As per usual with RDC, drivers representing RDC at the 2Litre Banger BBA World Final at Hednesford this summer will not only score RDC Drivers Championship points but any points they score will count as though they are racing at Dover and will also count towards the British Championship qualifying series. 

370 John Cobbold 116pts
158 Shane Davies 99*
53 Dave Palmer 95
673 Darren Fendley 86
57 Stu Cumming 85
322 Thomas Fox 82
912 Kieran Greenway 78
349 Lee Saunders 77
837 Martin Wesby 63*
180 Mark Foster 61*
116 Nat Cohn 58
346 Scott Saunders 57
545 Karl Hough 56

570 Jordan Cumming 53
133 Marc Paton 52
20 Andy Burbridge 49
449 Billy Crittenden 45*
303 Wayne Linsdale 44
525 Wes Starmer 44

128 Andy Shipp 43
160 Perry Willings 42
113 Steve Sedgwick 41
64 Barry Lee 38
328 Daniel Lathan 36 
439 Danny Sutton 35*
442 Sean Crittenden 35
101 Ian Norris 34
898 Andy Battle 31
8 Dale Woolnough 28
382 Jack Foster Jnr 27*
4 Sam Nice 26
690 Jack Wilkins 26
32 Ricky Hughes 25
730 Dean Mayes 25*
21 Jason Colbert 23
285 Sean Dyer 22*
188 John Reeves 21
843 Jacob Foster 21*
483 Mark Salisbury 20
15 Lee Weeks 19
604 Ross Cooper 19
82 Wayne Quinn 18
107 Michael Seex 18
830 Lee White 18
400 Kevin Shinn 17
455 Luke Cornish 17
701 Kevin Cooper 17

Ministox grades for May 20 (added May 16)
As promised following last weekend’s Ministox meeting at Mildenhall we have new grades for the formula which come into immediate effect for this weekend’s meeting at Dover Raceway (May 20).

These grades will continue to be used through to Mildenhall on June 9 following which new grades will be issued ahead of the July 7 meeting at Mildenhall. 

As always drivers are subject to be automatically upgraded before June 9 should they excel at any one meeting.

Silver: 355, 382
Red: 344
Blue: 301, 320, 327, 342, 369, 391
Yellow: 316, 341, 394, 397

Change proposed to Saloon Stockcar starts at Mildenhall Stadium (added May 16)
Following many comments from Saloon Stockcar drivers and much thought from RDC we have elected to trial a new approach to rolling starts for the formula at Mildenhall Stadium which will come into effect for our next meeting on June 16, the British Championship. 

For some time drivers have questioned why we don’t use full rolling laps for races at Mildenhall instead of the half rolling starts we have used for some time where there is a very short time between the cars initially moving off and the green flag falling. 

While this subject has been raised for some time, recent events have led us to decide to try and change our rolling starts and on June 16 we will adopt full rolling laps for all races. 

Drivers will of course continue to line up in graded order, however the grades will now move further forward around the raceway. It is anticipated that the white grade will start by the pit gate, the yellow grade at the end of the back straight, the blue grade on the entrance to turn three and the red grade at the end of the back straight.

At the beginning of this process we will use our pace truck to dictate the speed of the rolling lap which we believe will be crucial in this being a success but we hope in the long run that we will eventually be able to do this with a pace car as we currently do with the BriSCA F2 Stockcars. 

Our intention is that when all the drivers and our track staff are ready we will start the rolling lap but will keep our red traffic lights on and these will only go out when the green flag is waved signalling the start of the race. The pace truck will pull from the raceway at some stage along the back straight at which point the pace will be determined by the front row of the white grade and the green flag will be waved at some stage after the pace truck is clear from the track. 

However in order for this to work we are making two stipulations to the drivers.
Obviously there is a great need for drivers to not jump the start and maintain the gaps between the grades before the green flag is waved and the red lights go off. In order to make these starts work and not inflict delays into our meetings with numerous restarts because of false starts we will instead penalise drivers found guilty. While it is likely that the drivers at the front of the grade are most likely to be guilty of jumping the start, drivers behind can also be guilty if they follow those deemed to be blatantly jumping the start. As always in these situations it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure they maintain the gap between the grades until the race officially starts. 

Secondly it is also the responsibility of the drivers to ensure that when they line up they leave sufficient space between the grade in front of them on the track. We appreciate that at first this will be a little tricky as it is new territory but again our intention to help this go as smoothly as possible without costing us time during a meeting is that if the first driver on track in the yellow, blue or red grade has lined up too far along the track they will simply be moved to the back of the grade. This process will be repeated until the front row of the grade is in the position we want it to be. We would in fact urged the first driver of the yellow, blue and red grade to instead line up further down the track than normal and if the gap between the grade in front proves too big, we will simply move the entire grade up. This is obviously a lot easier than trying to move an entire grade backwards, hence why if the front drivers are too far forward we will simply move them to the back of the grade. 

Again it is our intention to use this on the June 16 and 17 weekend but it is a learning process which is likely to be tweaked and changed along the way but we hope it will be an improvement to the racing at Mildenhall. 

Change proposed for Super Rod starts at Dover Raceway (added May 16)
Similarly we have also proposed a change to how we start Super Rod races at Dover Raceway which will come into effect this Sunday (May 20).

While it is clear we are continuing to experience small grids in this formula it is also clear that the formula is very competitive between the regular drivers which is making it a little difficult to grade the drivers fairly to produce fair and exciting racing.

Therefore on Sunday (May 20) we are going to try something slightly different and instead of lining drivers up in graded order we will instead line them up in reverse points championship order so the driver at the bottom of the points chart will start at the front and the driver at the top of the chart will start at the back. 

This order will be used throughout the May 20 meeting and then the final points scores from May 20 will determine the grid positions for the Allcomer races on June 4 (the Kent Championship will as always see the points championship leader start at the front).

It is likely that as the season develops the grid positions will be determined by drivers’ average scores rather than their overall scores as at this stage missing a single meeting is likely to see a driver lose several points. 

New or returning drivers who have yet to race this season will slotted in where we feel it is appropriate during the season. 

Again this is a trial run to try and make the Super Rod racing more exciting and it is likely changes will be made along the way.

Changes to Bangerstox meeting formats at Dover Raceway (added May 16)
We are also this week making some small changes to our Bangerstox meeting formats at Dover Raceway for this weekend’s meeting in order to try and make things better for our existing races.

While car counts remain very healthy they are not as large as this time last season and therefore we have decided that as of this weekend’s meeting (May 20) meetings with 30 or less cars will see non qualifiers be allowed to contest the Grand Final but they must start from the back of the grid behind the red grade and champions.

Previously Bangerstox Finals at Dover have been qualifier only affairs because running them ‘all in’ would have seen too many cars on the track from one race. However based on our existing turnouts we feel we could open the finals to all drivers and therefore guarantee all drivers three races at meetings with less than 30 cars which we feel is beneficial for all concerned.

However we must stress that the continuation of this process is very much on the shoulders of the drivers who do not qualify for a final but still race in the main event. It is your responsibility to ensure you start the final from the back of the grid and not from your normal grade. If it becomes an issue where we are forced to move a large number of drivers from their grade to the back of the grid then we will revert back to making the finals qualifiers only affairs. 

Red grade drivers and Championship holders are reminded that they automatically qualify for all Grand Final as a reward for holding that grade and therefore should always start behind the blue grade qualifiers in the final. 

Latest National Banger Hot Shots and all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada meeting bookings (added May 16)
Bookings have continued to be made for the forthcoming National Banger under 25 Hot Shot Championship at Mildenhall on Sunday, June 17 and RDC’s 20th anniversary all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada meeting on September 8 and the latest entry lists can be found below. 

Looking at the Hot Shot Championship on June 17 first where this week the latest entries take the current total up to the 50 driver mark and drivers are reminded that places are limited to 70 which obviously means just 20 places remain available. This event is open to any driver under the age of 25 and young guns who are racing in the Inter Counties Team Challenge the previous evening but cannot commit to having two cars prepared for the weekend are reminded that they will be extended an invite to compete in the Hot Shots Championship if their car survives the night before. Furthermore the June 17 meeting remains open to all drivers, of all ages, and drivers not competing in the Hot Shot Championship will have the opportunity of three races. However only drivers looking to race in the Hot Shot event need to book in. 

The second meeting is our official 20th anniversary celebration meeting which will be our all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada National Banger meeting on Saturday, September 8 and a sudden surge of bookings this week has taken our current total to the 90 mark which given how far away the event is and coupled with car availability, is quite incredible. As with last year V6 engines are allowed but in according to the anniversary theme of the evening this meeting, much like the pre 70, will not allow more modern engines, like Zetecs to be used. We appreciate this will not be to everyone’s liking but we have decided to take this step to help make this meeting, which we intend to be a one off, that little bit more special. Once again we plan to put all the drivers racing Mk1 Granadas in the same race and if there are sufficient numbers we would love nothing more than to run an all Mk1 race. 

Drivers can book in for both of these meetings either by phoning the RDC office on 01268 412299 (ideally between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday), e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com or with Michael Coventry directly.

As always we will continue to update the information on these meetings as and when fresh information is available.

National Bangers under 25 Hot Shots Championship (Mildenhall June 17)
2 Georgie Lee
4 Sam Nice
8 Dale Woolnough
17 Kyle Overy
58 Dan Nichols
68 Olly Wilkins
101 Ian Norris
107 Michael Seex
133 Marc Paton
135 Jamie Batchelor
155 Lloyd Mullins
187 Tom Parker
209 Tom Waller
209 Ben Hayward
247 Lee Clarke
305 Jason Fryett
310 Grant Underhill
313 Craig Osbourn
321 Kieron Fry
322 Thomas Fox
327 Michael Maskall Jnr
328 Daniel Lathan
337 Ashley Garrod
338 Terry Garrod
370 John Cobbold
371 Jason Cobbold
376 Jason Farthing
402 Albie Jenner
415 Scott Cornish
517 Sid Cooper
527 Michael Norman
527 Dan Gardiner
539 Danny Allen
557 Liam Jaggard
570 Jordan Cumming
577 Alfie Lee
659 Stu Bird
674 Luke Childerhouse
688 Steve Collins
690 Jack Wilkins
720 Jake Patterson
730 Dean Mayes
746 Harry Greer
759 Alex Phillips
768 Danny McSweeney
830 Lee White
862 Liam Reach
912 Kieran Greenway
913 Brett Osbourn

All Mk1 and Mk2 Granada National Banger meeting (Mildenhall September 8)
17 Kyle Overy
20 Andy Burbridge
21 Jason Colbert
22 Dave Vincent
41 Dan Steele
64 Barry Lee
76 Terry Mansfield
85 James Ellis
95 Dave Ford 
97 Dave Allen
100 Russell Bull
101 Ian Norris
103 Jack Deacon
104 Mick Siddalls
117 Darryl Gilshenan
117 Karl Dack
123 Rob Smith
129 Dan Chaplin
136 Adrian Court
141 Andy Neal
148 Ian Redden
156 Mick Maskall
158 Shane Davies
160 Perry Willings
162 Rob Wheatley
166 Mark Fletcher
172 Alan O’Neil
173 Steve Reynolds
185 Lenny Smith
188 John Reeves
190 Steve Bailey
192 Terry Nightingale
202 Martin Pennett
203 Darren Nash
204 Charlie King
205 Kieran Briddock
206 Dave King
209 Tom Waller
221 Michael Whitelock
238 Steve Maragh
252 John Wibberly
252 Steve Bugler
262 Rob Bugler
259 Dan Poole
273 Kevin McClagish
277 Des Owen
280 Simon Goodale
292 Sam Betteridge
300 Dan Kirkbride
305 John Kirkbride
309 Andy Oliver
311 Lee Bradbury
313 Craig Osbourn
313 John Cullingford
325 Keith MacMahon
327 Mick Maskall Jnr
328 Daniel Lathan
333 Danny Webb
334 Stephen Court
346 Scott Saunders
349 Lee Saunders
356 Luke Radley
384 John Golden
388 Taylor Sowter
392 Dave Bradbury
415 Scott Cornish
443 Dave Harvey
474 Matt Threlkeld
492 Dean Harper
498 Chris Wilcock
504 Rob Woolgah
507 Danny Brown
508 Steve Ashby
508 Harry Bradbury
514 Marty Eighteen
516 Carl Gould
525 Wes Starmer
542 Paul Unwin
583 Dan Weeks
597 Andy Ashman
617 Jack Overy
661 Shaun Smith
673 Darren Fendley
682 Paul Sparrow
688 Wayne Morphett
784 Liam Conway
810 Alex McBain
862 Liam Reach

Suffolk, Kent and Cambs/Lincs drivers for National Banger Inter Counties team challenge (added May 16)
Following the announcement of the Essex team for the fourth annual National Banger Inter Counties Team Challenge at RDC’s Dirty Weekend on Saturday, June 16, this week we can reveal the full Suffolk team for the meeting as well as the first drivers for the Kent and Cambs/Lincs teams.

The confirmed drivers are shown below and thanks to captains 682 Paul Sparrow (Suffolk), 188 John Reeves (Kent) and 525 Wes Starmer (Cambs/Lincs) for their first confirmed drivers for a meeting which is already starting to shape up nicely.

We will have more details in due course including information on the Norfolk and Shires teams, captained by once again by 117 Karl Dack and 320 Paul Seymour respectively.

CAMBS/LINCS
21 Jason Colbert
525 Wes Starmer
617 Jack Overy
858 James Bruce
998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr 

ESSEX
53 Dave Palmer
64 Barry Lee
107 Michael Seex
207 Billy Randall
331 Jason Jackson
370 John Cobbold
415 Scott Cornish
460 Lewis Barber
545 Karl Hough
912 Kieran Greenway

KENT
101 Ian Norris
188 John Reeves
346 Scott Saunders
349 Lee Saunders

SUFFOLK
17 Kyle Overy
27 Terry King
59 Ben Jackson
82 Wayne Quinn
86 Alec Savage
116 Nat Cohn
160 Perry Willings
313 Craig Osbourn
682 Paul Sparrow
898 Andy Battle

Latest entry list for Ministox at Coventry on June 2 (added May 16)
Bookings have continued to arrive for the second meeting of the season for ORCi Ministox at Coventry on June 2 and drivers hoping to race are encouraged to book in asap as places are set to be limited.

At this meeting the formula shares the bill not only with the BriSCA F1 Stockcars but also with the annual unlimited banger Coventry Masters and this fixture last season was the only time in 2011 where all available places were filled and drivers were unfortunately turned away. 

We are hopeful that this meeting may again be well attended with a cosmopolitan entry of drivers, especially since it was confirmed Incarace had cancelled their planned meeting at Birmingham the same night which we were pleased to learn about and we hope this allows for more strong support from the Incarace racers at the Coventry meetings. 

This meeting not only forms the latest round of the Coventry track championship and the second and penultimate round of the Coventry Masters Championship qualifying points but also the latest round of the RDC Drivers Championship and will also be the first round of RDC’s Diamond Jubilee Series which will continue at Dover on Sunday, June 3 and conclude at Mildenhall on Tuesday, June 5.

Below is the list of drivers currently confirmed and drivers are reminded that can book in by phoning the RDC office on 01268 412299 (ideally between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday), e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com or with Michael Coventry directly while non RDC drivers should book in via their own promoter

121 Marcus Skeels
301 Josh Simpson
316 Sam Dace
320 Charley Streeton
327 Mick Maskall Jnr
342 Ryley Freestone
344 Ross Fisher
368 Dan Santry
369 Liam Santry
383 Shane Harvey
397 Reece Swatman
399 Cole Atkins
591 Reid Murray

Latest confirmed entries for BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Mildenhall on July 28 (added May 16)
Following the third meeting of the season at Mildenhall for the BriSCA F2 Stockcars last weekend we have continued to receive confirmed bookings from drivers making their second appearances of the season at the stadium for the Saturday night fixture of their forthcoming weekend event at Mildenhall on July 28. 

And we are once again delighted to confirm that the majority of drivers offered bookings have accepted them and we now have filled 45 of the 56 available places at this meeting

However once again we missed a couple of people on Saturday so firstly sorry to 150 Mark Thoms and 925 Paul Wilson who were overlooked and if either driver would like to contact us if they would like to accept a booking for this meeting we would be pleased to hear from them. 

Unfortunately due to our need to only run two heats and a consolation on the July 28 meeting, bookings for this event are once again limited to 56 places. Drivers who race at Mildenhall for the second time this season on June 17 will be offered a booking on a first come, first served basis until all the places are filled (again there are now just 11 places available). Any remaining places will then be distributed with preference going to drivers who have raced at Mildenhall in recent memory, shale regulars and long distance travellers. 

In the meantime long distance travellers who have supported our weekend event or Mildenhall in the past are welcome to contact us and a booking may be granted at this stage. Previously H3 Danny van Warmelen had requested and been granted a booking and we can now add Scottish pairing 631 Ron Ferguson and 736 Scott Douglas who raced at this event in 2011. 

Drivers are also reminded that the World of Shale qualifier on Sunday, July 29 is open to all drivers with no need to book in (much like a normal Mildenhall meeting) and that a Grand National will not be programmed on Saturday, July 28 but may be added if time allows.

In the meantime the list of drivers who have been offered and have accepted a booking for July 28 is listed below and will be updated in due course. If any drivers listed below are no longer able to attend we would be grateful if they could let us know please. 

H3 Danny van Warmelen
13 Andy Ford
56 Paul Perkins
70 Brian Shadbolt
77 John Davies
81 Mark Clayton
103 Carl Issit
124 Oliver Skeels
145 Graham Mole
148 Gary Lusher
186 George Turiccki
219 Chris Mitchell
326 Johnny Hall
345 Gary Taylor
366 Mick Kemp
376 Darren Seneschall
377 Daz Shaw
379 Stuart Cayzer
380 Steve Cayzer
416 Dickie Raymond
423 Neil Darby
431 Andy Gibbs
449 Mark Dorrill
495 John Cayzer
498 Derek Cayzer
555 Dave Bale
569 Chris Hands
588 Matt Pettit
595 Jamie Young
597 Barry Clow
606 Andy Palmer
615 Josh Coleman
619 Andrew Clarke
631 Ron Ferguson
662 Steve Wycherly
696 Paul Lemons
710 Brett Townsend
724 Tom Peel
736 Scott Douglas
742 Nick Rogers
744 Tom Smart
798 Mark Sargent
886 Chris Bradbury
905 Rob Mitchel
969 Bart Smeets

Latest confirmed qualifiers and last chance drivers for Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship (added May 16)
In the wake of the Unlimited Banger Thunderbolt at Mendips earlier this month we have another three confirmed qualifiers for the 2013 Unlimited Banger Supreme Championship at Mildenhall next March plus a load more drivers who will now be invited to race in the last chance events. 

Congratulations to title winner 382 Jack Foster Jnr along with fellow podium finishers 298 Sam Wyatt and 446 Jason Burt who book their places in the big event next Spring.

Meanwhile all those who competed in the title race join the list of those eligible for the last chance qualifier at next year’s Supreme Championship which means we already have nearly 125 drivers who will be invited to join us next season for the last chance event. 

The list of qualifiers and drivers already eligible for the last chance races are below and the next event to have a bearing on the 2013 championship is the the 2Litre BBA World Final at Hednesford on May 20 where the first three in the championship (who have yet to qualify) will book their place in the 2013 championship and everyone else on the championship starting grid will join the list of those invited to the last chance qualifiers (remaining events in 2012 to shape the 2013 Supreme Championship grid and last chance entry are the Spedeworth, Autospeed, PRI and TSR World Finals, British, English, European and Masters Championships and Crash Attack UK Open). 

2013 Supreme Championship qualifiers
22 Dave Vincent
67 Mark Whittaker
67 Rickie Beasley
162 Brett Ellacott
209 Tom Waller
298 Sam Wyatt
382 Jack Foster Jnr
446 Jason Burt
998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr

Drivers eligible for last chance qualifier
1 Dave Thomas
2 Luke Dawson
6 Mark Lumsden
11 Steve Matthews
17 Kyle Overy
20 James Avison
21 John Riddell
40 Pete Stanley
51 Simon Heilds
54 Martin Lawton
56 Karel Eeckloo
57 Stu Cumming
58 Martin Dalton
67 Mark Whittaker
67 Rickie Beasley
70 Ant Long
72 Billy Bond
73 Dean Cruickshank
81 Paul McNulty
99 Ritchie Ahern
101 Bob Peat
119 Davey Cox
128 Andrew Shipp
128 Mark Atkins
136 Paddy Conneoly
142 George Box
146 Steve Voss
148 Ian Redden
152 Jim Dillon
157 Tam Gordon
158 Shane Davies
160 Shayn Winsor
160 Perry Willings
170 Darren Teal
173 Steve Reynolds
174 Dave Osbourn
179 Stu Nightingale
180 Mark Foster
188 John Reeves
200 Steve Farrell
203 Darren Nash
204 Charlie King
206 Phil Milner
212 Karl Hodgson
218 Rob Speak
222 Colin Riddell
226 Brian Youngson
247 Lee Clarke
261 Shane Fisher
266 Alan Roskell
269 Dean French
269 Rob Houghton
271 Dean Goodall
279 Andrew Swallow
294 Lee Hughes
303 Jason Oliver
310 Jon Nicholson
313 Craig Osbourn
317 Nick Wakeham
320 Darryl Wall
321 Andy Newton
326 Paul Picton
331 Jason Jackson
346 Scott Saunders
349 Michael Allard
349 Lee Saunders
349 Lewis Price
363 Sam Trim
370 John Cobbold
384 John Golden
390 Dave Gibson
402 Albie Jenner
403 Marcus Sprawling
416 Simon Lawrence
423 Danny Oliver
425 Martin Stopher
432 Mark Munson
439 Danny Sutton
443 Dave Harvey
450 Glyn Platts
451 Nigel Belfield
451 Willy Blackwell
455 Rick Finney
456 Nathan Roberts
456 Steve Allen
460 Lewis Barber
474 Matt Threlkeld
498 Chris Wilcock
502 Hoagy Wallace
508 Harry Bradbury
516 Carl Gould
517 Sid Cooper
517 Scott Weldon
528 Alan Hunt
533 Richard Coe
542 Craig Oliver
549 Phil Smith
555 Ben Williams
570 Jordan Cumming
577 Alfie Lee
583 Dan Weeks
585 Kevin Giles
589 Simon Smih
597 Andy Ashman
617 Danny Everitt
673 Darren Fendley
682 Paul Sparrow
714 Paul Smaldon
715 Mick Prince
717 Jack Tuffen
724 Mark Puddiphat
730 Dean Mayes
731 Shaun Dyer
811 Kieran McIvor
851 Adam Storr
880 Neil Naismith
887 Rob Browning
888 Lloyd Stark
898 Andy Battle
911 Chris Harkess
945 Jeron Hoes
959 Martijn Joes
988 Billy Dennison
989 Dean Arm

National Bangers White and Yellow Grade Series Points (added May 16)
Once again here is an expanded look at the current standings in the National Banger White and Yellow Grade series points following the latest round at Mildenhall on May 12. 

The top 40 drivers in the points chart following the all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada meeting on September 8 will qualify for the final. 

912 Kieran Greenway 113pts
545 Karl Hough 98
322 Thomas Fox 92
133 Marc Paton 89
59 Ben Jackson 80
690 Jack Wilkins 74
585 Kevin Giles 67
8 Dale Woolnough 61
4 Sam Nice 54
324 Mark Lathan 52
517 Sid Cooper 49
746 Harry Greer 46
170 Chris Shipp 45
759 Alex Phillips 45
26 Daniel Holmes 42
841 Phil Jennings 41
674 Luke Childerhouse 40
801 Jack Foster 40
15 Lee Weeks 39
305 Jason Fryett 38
862 Liam Reach 38
76 Terry Mansfield 35
483 Mark Salisbury 35
659 Stu Bird 34
830 Lee White 33
48 Brain Redden 32
527 Michael Norman 32
20 Andy Burbridge 31
36 Ben Hamilton 30
199 Darren Mouser 30
768 Danny McSweeney 30
924 Mark Rook 29
21 Jason Colbert 28
228 Sam Beasley 28
58 Owen Childs 26
278 Tom Hills 26
326 Shane Lynn 26
31 Jack Kingsbury 25
68 Olly Wilkins 25
155 Lloyd Mullins 25
565 Mark Carter 25

97 Jim Maddison 23
323 Steve Leeper 23
122 James Woodley 22
562 Gavin Barnes 22
701 Kevin Cooper 22

BriSCA F2 Stockcars White and Yellow Grade Series Points (added May 16)
Following the third round of the BriSCA F2 Stockcar track championship at Mildenhall last weekend we can now bring you the current scores in the white and yellow grade series.

The next round is on June 17 and all meetings up to and including July 29 count towards the series after which the top 28 cars in the chart will be invited to compete in the series final on September 29 which will double up as heat one on that programme and the race will start in points order.

379 Stuart Cayzer 71pts
81 Mark Clayton 64
77 John Davies 49
416 Dickie Raymond 33
595 Jamie Young 31
449 Mark Dorrill 30
376 Darren Seneschall 29
495 John Cayzer 29
597 Barry Clow 24
798 Mark Sargent 23
498 Derek Cayzer 20
150 Mark Thoms 18
423 Neil Darby 18
366 Mick Kemp 16
148 Gary Lusher 15
396 Dave Johnson 15
569 Chris Hands 15
619 Andrew Clarke 15
696 Paul Lemons 15
291 Craig Tomblin 14
345 Gary Taylor 14
977 Dave Massey 13
259 Simon Farrington 12
881 Graham Morrison 12
56 Paul Perkins 11
431 Andy Gibbs 11
555 Dave Bale 10
588 Matt Pettit 10

198 Paul Nicholson 8
663 Tom Neat 8
158 William Clements 6
654 Tim Neat 6
684 Tim Taylor 6
742 Nick Rogers 6

RDC on tour at King’s Lynn and Hednesford (added May 16)
In addition to the penultimate British and Masters qualifier for National Bangers at Dover Raceway this Sunday (May 20), several RDC Banger drivers are expected in action elsewhere this weekend making for a very busy weekend for some. 

A sizeable RDC presence is expected at King’s Lynn on Saturday, May 19, mostly for the unlimited banger class which features the 2011 White and Yellow Grade Series final for TSR. Helping to make up just over a fifth of the current entry are 17 Kyle Overy, 90 Adrian Harboard, 97 Dave Allen, 116 Nat Cohn, 125 Roy Preece, 148 Ian Redden, 313 Craig Osbourn, 325 Craig Preece, 525 Wes Starmer, 617 Jack Overy, 825 Luke Preece and 925 Aaron Preece while it is set to be an especially busy night for 148 Shorty who also competes in the 2Litre RWD class. 

Onto Sunday (May 20) and the 2Litre Banger BBA World Final at Hednesford where representing RDC in the title race will be 370 John Cobbold, 673 Darren Fendley and 682 Paul Sparrow. Hoping to join them via the last chance qualifier are 17 the Little Chief, 100 Callum White, 159 Darren Scarrow, 384 John Golden, 400 Kevin Shinn and Overy.

Once again the top three finishers in the World Final who have yet to qualify for the 2013 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship will qualify for that race at Mildenhall in March while all drivers contest the World Final race will be eligible for a last chance qualifier place at the Supreme Championship.

End of season National Banger championship qualifiers (added May 16)
With the 2012 season now underway we have made a start on our regular lists of drivers who have qualified for the various end of season championships for National Bangers which drivers qualify for throughout the season. As is customary these lists will be updated in a regular basis and the lists include qualifiers from Mildenhall on May 12.

Trophy Winners Dash
Dover Sunday September 16
Drivers qualify by winning a trophy in any National Banger race at Dover Raceway prior to the Trophy Winners Dash including race winners, top three in the final and entertainer awards. Please note drivers in the top three teams in Kent Team Championship do not qualify. 

32 Ricky Hughes
53 Dave Palmer
158 Shane Davies
346 Scott Saunders
349 Lee Saunders
449 Billy Crittenden

Accumulator Championship
Mildenhall Saturday October 20
Drivers qualify by winning an Accumulator qualifier, a Destruction Derby or an entertainer award in an Accumulator qualifier or Destruction Derby. In a straight DD, the runner up also qualifies. Drivers who finish second in an Accumulator qualifier will form a reserve list and should less than 40 qualifiers attend the championship reserves will be used to ‘top up’ the grid to 40 cars. However should 41 or more qualifiers attend they will all compete

4 Sam Nice
8 Dale Woolnough
45 Lee Sutton (Skegness)
57 Max Stott
57 Stu Cumming
59 Ben Jackson
61 Karl Totham (Spedeworth)
67 Mark Whittaker (Barford)
119 Davey Cox (TSR)
155 Lloyd Mullins
170 Chris Shipp
180 Mark Foster (Skegness)
271 Dean Goodall (Startrax)
278 Tom Hills
303 Wayne Linsdale
321 Kieron Fry (TSR)
328 Daniel Lathan
338 Terry Garrod (TSR)
370 John Cobbold
382 Jack Foster Jnr (Skegness)
384 John Golden
498 Chris Wilcock (Spedeworth)
525 Wes Starmer
538 Jake Swann
542 Darren Parratt (Spedeworth)
585 Kevin Giles
673 Darren Fendley
682 Paul Sparrow
730 Dean Mayes (TSR)
912 Kieran Greenway

Reserves (in order)
15 Lee Weeks
898 Andy Battle
717 Ben Wood (Warton)

Allstar Dash for Cash
Mildenhall Sunday October 28
Drivers qualify by finishing in the top three in any Grand Final or Championship race at Mildenhall starting with the 2011 Allstar Dash for Cash. 

22 Dave Vincent (TSR)
48 Brian Redden
86 Alec Savage (Spedeworth)
107 Michael Seex
124 Carl Korsweski (Incarace)
128 Andy Shipp
150 Andrew Parrin
160 Perry Willings
162 Brett Ellacott (Autospeed)
180 Mark Foster (Skegness)
209 Tom Waller
322 Thomas Fox
328 Daniel Lathan
370 John Cobbold
370 Mark French
371 Jason Cobbold
527 Michael Norman
673 Darren Fendley
682 Paul Sparrow
746 Harry Greer
801 Jack Foster
837 Martin Wesby (TSR)
841 Phil Jennings
898 Andy Battle
912 Kieran Greenway
998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr (Startrax)

Sponsors sought for Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship/Steamer memorial (added May 8)
As we continue to develop details for the forthcoming Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship at Mildenhall Stadium on August 11 which will this year play host to the Iain ‘the Steamer’ House memorial we are pleased to confirm this week that there is now an opportunity for people to sponsor this event and help raise money for charities which were important to the Steamer. 

Races are available for sponsorship and each race is available for a minimum donation of £100. The idea is that each race at the meeting carries £100 in prize money (£200 on the final) so we are proposing that each sponsor matches the prize fund but rather than the sponsorship going towards the prize fund it will instead go 100 per cent to the charities chosen by Iain’s family. 

Donations which were made at Steamer’s funeral were split between the OCD foundation and Help for Heroes and we fully expect the money raised from this to go to either one of these charities or be split between the two and we hope to have confirmation on this very soon once a decision has been made by Iain’s family. 

In return for sponsoring a race, the sponsors will have their names engraved on the trophies for that race and will be invited to present the trophies for the race. 

The Suffolk Open Championship has a minimum prize fund of £1,000 and we would love nothing more than to match that in sponsorship which again will all go to charities which were important to Steamer. 

Sponsorship is available for anyone or any group of people who wishes to donate £100 to the cause. It can be in the name of a business, individuals, groups of friends, drivers, members of a team etc. 

We are pleased to confirm as well that we already have two sponsors confirmed and invite anyone who is interested to either contact Michael Coventry direct or e mail wastedmc@btopenworld.com or phone RDC on 01268 412299 between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday.

For the full announcement about the Steamer memorial and details of the meeting click here and drivers are reminded that bookings for the event will open at the Mildenhall pre 70 meeting on May 26. 

Saloon Stockcars Mildenhall June 17 meeting dedicated to Eddie James (added May 8)
RDC Promotions is pleased to confirm this week that the forthcoming Saloon Stockcar meeting at Mildenhall Stadium on Sunday, June 17, the night after the 45th staging of the British Championship, will be dedicated to a legendary name in the formula, Eddie James, the maiden winner of the British Championship in 1967. 

Eddie sadly passed away in 2007 but his name became a topic of conversation again when plans started to develop for this year’s British Championship which again will be the 45th staging of Saloon Stockcars longest running championship and one of the sports longest running title races. 

When the anniversary of the event was realised it was decided to try and invite all past champions to attend the event. Of course it would not be possible to invite the first ever winner so instead we decided to see if it would be possible to in some way dedicate part of the weekend to Eddie James.

Last week we contacted Eddie’s family and we are delighted to report they have happily accepted our proposals and we are pleased to confirm the Sunday, June 17 meeting for Saloon Stockcars will be dedicated to the late Eddie James, not only the first Saloon Stockcar British Champion but also Saloon Stockcars first ever champion. 

With significant sponsorship for the entire Saloon Stockcar British Championship weekend (again the British Championship will be decided on Saturday, June 16) and with a strong showing of cars expected in action we hope this meeting will be a fitting tribute to one of the formula’s founding fathers and a name which helped pave the way for future generations making today’s formula what it is today.

Again we would like to sincerely thank Eddie James’ family for giving us their blessing to dedicate their meeting to him.

For full details on the sponsorship and proposed enhanced prize money for this meeting click here and for our story about contacting past champions to invite to the championship click here. 

Bangerstox Grade Changes for Dover May 20 (added May 8)
Following the second meeting of the season at Dover Raceway for the Bangerstox last weekend a couple of drivers have moved up grades ahead of the next meeting on May 20.

20 Andy Burbridge and 99 Mark Sweeney both scored over 30 points and receive an automatic upgrade to blue
40 Joe Taylor have moved into the top 20 in points and therefore moves up to the yellow grade

A new grade chart will be issued after the May 20 meeting which will come into effect for the June 4 meeting

First bookings for Bangerstox Suffolk Championship (added May 8)
As promised bookings opened last weekend for the forthcoming Bangerstox Suffolk Championship weekend at Mildenhall on June 16 and 17 and below is the early list of confirmed drivers for the event. 

As well as a list of drivers who have been offered and accepted a booking for the meeting we also have a list of drivers who are now eligible for a booking but have not confirmed their place yet. These drivers are welcome to confirm their place by contacting RDC through the usual channels. Finally there is a list of drivers who will become eligible for a booking should they race at Dover on May 20 in which case they will be offered a booking at that point. 

The way in which drivers would become eligible for a booking was explained back in February (for details click here).

Drivers are reminded that this year’s Suffolk Championship has a 30 car limit as an ‘all in’ format will be used but drivers will still have the chance of five races across the weekend with three qualifying heats on Saturday followed by the championship and an Allcomers race on Sunday. 

Confirmed Drivers for Bangerstox Suffolk Championship
4 Chris Craft
5 Rob Craft
15 Jay Powell
20 Andy Burbridge
23 Darren Young
25 Andy Harmer
52 Richard Randall
58 Owen Childs
65 Chris Bull
88 Nick Dash
222 Dick Tracey

Drivers who are eligible for booking but have yet to confirm
9 Chris Young
35 Cyndi Bradley
40 Joe Taylor
49 Pete Back
77 Gareth Poile
99 Mark Sweeney

Drivers who will become eligible for a booking should they race at Dover on May 20
8 Graham Hedger
13 Tracey Gilbert
16 Chas Goldup
17 Dave Hamson
22 James Spriggs
26 Olly Evans
28 Mark Robinson
34 Lisa Fagg
37 Alex Slade
51 Colin Boswell
55 Clint Millen
56 Fred Childs
60 Nathan Port
68 Dave Sharp
72 Dean Worriner
661 Aaron Harris

RDC on tour at King’s Lynn (added May 8)
In the absence of a National Banger meeting at RDC over the bank holiday weekend a handful of RDC drivers were in action at King’s Lynn on May 5 where the 2litre banger entry included 148 Ian Redden, 400 Kevin Shin, 602 Shaun, 604 Ross and 701 Kevin Cooper and 898 Andy Battle. 

A white and yellow grade race began the evening with 400 Shinny burying 8 James Jackson while 602 Mr Moody landed a hard hit on the spun 32 Alan Wombwell while Ross Cooper raced to third place. Mr Moody picked up where he left off in heat one as he followed in 542 Darren Parrat before Shinny produced one of the hits of the night when he thundered 460 Lewis Barber head-on into 519 Lee Middleton. A back straight melee saw Ross Cooper bury father 701 the Hitman before the former was run in by 382 Jack Foster Jnr as Battle raced to fourth with 148 Shorty fifth.

No RDC action in heat two but Shorty motored to third ahead of the Hitman with Battle in eighth. An early head-on between Cooper and 370 Craig Gray in the final with the former going on to follow-in 32 Asbo before the Hitman fenced Barber. Battle was RDC’s best finisher this time taking sixth, one place ahead of Shorty.

Shinny (piloting 176 Ady Gibbs’ car) delivered another big hit in the DD with a colossal shot in the rear wheel of Asbo before he was hammered by 67 Rickie Beasley with 72 Billy Bond then stuffing Barber into him. Cooper meanwhile was hammered by 779 Munch the latter then blitzing Shinny on the Power Station bend before trashing Cooper on turn two after the latter had met 349 Michael Allard in a solid head-on. 

Mildenhall April 28 round up message and thanks from RDC Promotions (added May 2)
This week RDC Promotions would like to extend a huge message of thanks to all the drivers and fans, as well as our staff, who supported last weekend’s meeting at Mildenhall Stadium and made the very best of an extremely raw deal and RDC would also like to address the many issues of the evening. 

For the second week running the raceway faced a testing time with heavy rain throughout the week and more forecast on the evening of the meeting. RDC Promotions has a policy of running our race meetings wherever possible and understands that sometimes you will not be fortunate with kind weather and subsequently ideal racing conditions but this is always a risk of our sport, especially with a shale racetrack. RDC is extremely proud of its record of running race meetings as scheduled and in our 20th season at Mildenhall we have only been forced to cancel a small number of meetings in all those years, and it should be noted that an even smaller number of those were due to weather and track conditions. 

However last Saturday was perhaps the first time this policy has ever been called into question following an alarming amount of cancellations from drivers and teams in the unlimited banger EA team championship which combined with additional no shows meant that almost as many drivers did not honour their places as those who did. 

It would be extremely easy to focus on the negatives of the evening but we would like to begin by talking about the positives. Firstly we want to again express our greatest gratitude to the drivers who braved the elements to compete as scheduled and to the fans who came to watch them as well as our staff whom without the meeting could not have gone ahead. 

While the 48 strong showing of unlimited bangers was significantly down on the number expected it is worth noting that by many other standards in 2012 this would be considered a respectable number for an unlimited banger meeting, especially on a night where the weather conditions were as bad as they were. The same could be said for the young guns in the Ministox where again an 18 car entry in 2012 is considered most decent and even more so on a night as miserable as last Saturday. 

However what is perhaps of even more praise that than just detailing the commitment of those who showed up in spite of the grim forecast was the drivers amazing efforts on the evening. Unfortunately two of the 48 unlimited bangers present never left the pits all evening but of the remaining 46, no less than 38 competed in at least two races and 888 Shane Emmerson and 898 Andy Battle should be included in that list to make it 40 as both drivers fixed their cars from their first heats only to break down on the way to the track for the second heats. Furthermore of the six drivers who only raced once in the bangers we want to stress that not one driver informed us that they were not continuing because of the weather or track conditions. In fact of the six drivers who only raced once, at least two were wrecked and one suffered a seized engine. This effort was matched in the Ministox where all but one driver raced in at least two races (and that driver 311 Jordan Horner was unable to race again after briefly being knocked out in the first heat) and 15 drivers raced in all three races. Even more impressive were banger drivers 370 John Cobbold, 542 Darren Parratt, 673 Darren Fendley and 730 Dean Mayes were raced in four unlimited bangers races Saturday. They would have been joined by 525 Wes Starmer and 837 Martin Wesby but unfortunately their cars let them down before the final race of the night. 

It was due to this tremendous effort by the Unlimited Banger drivers in particular that we were able to run a fourth heat. Having informed the drivers before start time that we would be splitting the entry into two heats rather than three at the start we fully expected to run the remaining races 'all in' but said we would review this after the second heat. Drivers we spoke to at the time gave their commitment to the entire meeting and were good to their word as highlighted above and it is thanks to their efforts that we were able to run a fourth heat as it was felt there was potentially too many cars for an 'all in' third heat. 

There is no denying that nothing less than 100 per cent was given by all the drivers in attendance on Saturday night and they deserve nothing but the highest praise for their efforts. 

With that in mind we pledged before the start of the meeting to try and reward those who supported the meeting as best as we could with added incentives throughout the night with regard to the various areas of the evening where drivers and teams could secure places for events later in the season. It was announced that traditionally the winner of the team championship would secure a place in the Old Skool team championship but on this occasion if the winner had qualified the place would be offered to the highest team that had yet to qualify so a team was guaranteed a place in the Old Skool meeting from this event. This process was repeated with the RDC RWD Championship place available in the final, three places in the Allstar Dash for Cash via the Grand Final and three places in the Accumulator Championship via the Accumulator qualifier and DD. Ultimately and somewhat ironically this pledge didn’t deliver much extra reward as the majority of those who secured qualifying places had not yet done so for the various events. One exception was 673 Darren Fendley whose second place in the Grand Final became sufficient to secure a place in the RDC RWD Championship as race winner 124 Carl Korsewski had already qualified. 

Furthermore in this area, it was decided that despite the final being open to all cars, the top 10 teams after the heats (which was all those who scored points) would receive ‘final qualifiers’ points in the RDC team championship and that the final would still carry double points for track and national points. 

Finally we would also like to thank our track team for doing the best job possible in extremely difficult circumstances. While the track had taken a pounding by the awful weather all week and again on the night we would like to think the conditions were perhaps a little better than what some may have expected. This was also the case on April 21 where with the help of the rain stopping before start time, track conditions were most decent by the end of the evening. While the wet weather greatly restricted the work which could be done to the track between the April 21 and 28 meetings it is a testament to the excellent work done in the weeks and months before that which keeps the raceway in a state where meetings like our last two can still go ahead as scheduled. 

We would like to think this work is reflected in the support of the drivers as despite the weather and despite the cancellations/no shows last weekend, the two meetings on April 21 and 28 saw no less than 98 different National Banger drivers race, 55 BriSCA F2 Stockcar drivers and 25 Ministox compete at the raceway. 

A special thanks again should also go to the 11 National Banger drivers (17 Kyle Overy, 107 Michael Seex, 160 Perry Willings, 328 Daniel Lathan, 370 John Cobbold, 384 John Golden, 525 Wes Starmer, 673 Darren Fendley, 682 Paul Sparrow, 862 Liam Reach and 898 Andy Battle) and the 16 Ministox drivers (everyone on Saturday save 383 Shane Harvey and 521 Jack Cowley raced on April 21 as well) who competed at both of these meetings which were significantly affected by the weather. 

Looking at the other issues of the evening and there was none bigger than the glut of teams and drivers who both withdrew from the meeting in the hours leading up to start time and those who simply did not show. As announced on the evening the first team to confirm they would not attend was the Randoms who contacted us at around 5.30pm on Friday evening by which point the Coventry family was already at the stadium in time for the greyhound meeting at Mildenhall that night. This was closely followed by Team Black who cancelled their B team along with a message that it was unclear how many drivers would be in the Young Ones. These were the only teams to contact us on Friday.

The pattern continued on Saturday morning. By around 11am the Barton Boys, Team Minted and WI Engineering had cancelled and they were joined by 3Litre Magazine shortly after lunch time and finally the Grave Diggers cancelled their place in the early afternoon. It should be noted that not all of these times cancelled because of the weather as other reasons were given. 

The Ant Hill Mob, Midnight Runners and Team DWO did not contact us before hand to inform us they were not attending. 

What made the situation even more frustrating, disappointing and even embarrassing for us was that on Thursday evening we had contacted every team captain and many of the drivers booked in to race via text message giving them details of the meeting format which had only just been confirmed. A number of drivers informed us of withdrawals and changes to various teams but ultimately by lunch time Friday we still had 92 drivers booked in to race which, given the weather and forecast, we felt was most impressive and there decided to again update our website with the latest information to keep fans up to date. To then have so many withdraw so close to the meeting was gut wrenching from our side and obviously massively disappointing for any fans who chose to support the meeting based on the final information which came from us. 

It does leave us with some questions as to where to go in the future. As previously detailed RDC does not have a policy of cancelling meetings because of bad weather or forecasts and believes meetings that our scheduled should go ahead all the time they can do and firmly believes that a change in this policy would be hugely harmful for our sport and RDC in particular. 

We have also had a policy that on occasions such as this, the drivers who do race should not lose out because of the ones who have not attended. This is a key reason why one suggestion that the proposed team championship format should be abandoned and rescheduled another day was quickly dismissed. Although it proved somewhat fruitless we did make attempts to reward the drivers on hand with guaranteed chances to qualify for various events later in the season (as mentioned above) and at least many drivers and teams who did race Saturday did earn places in various events elsewhere in 2012. 

We are also delighted to report an incredible amount of positive feedback from the drivers who raced on Saturday, many saying that in spite of everything they still enjoyed the night, a very positive atmosphere among drivers in the pits was reported by our pit staff and several drivers have in fact complimented us on running the meeting in the first place. We would like to remind them that had it not been for them there would have not been a meeting to run so the gratitude is more than mutual. 

As for the future of this meeting. While the unlimited EA team championship will of course remain a feature of our fixtures, 2013 is likely to be a year for rebuilding for this event (it’s also worth noting that while the 2011 meeting enjoyed a three figure turn out, it too suffered from a number of late cancellations) and our current plan is to downsize the amount of teams we open the meeting too and introduce either a third formula or a different second formula which requires more than a three race format to give us some more options for the overall meeting format. Obviously the teams who raced on Saturday will have first refusal of a booking and we hope that with their continued support we can re-establish the meeting into one of the biggest unlimited events in the sport. 

In the immediate future we are obviously extremely concerned about the drivers who withdrew from the event as such short notice that we were not in a position to inform the fans. In many cases it was the first time we have had the problem with these drivers and teams and we do understand that Saturday night was an extreme case although repeat instances will certainly be monitored. However in the case of the repeat offenders and those who simply no showed we have elected to take extra measures. It is very rare that RDC ever stages any National Banger event with limited bookings, most of our meetings are open to all and all drivers are welcome and this will not change. However on the odd occasions where bookings are restricted these drivers will go to the back of the queue to be offered one. Furthermore on the occasions where we do advertise pre meeting entry lists but all drivers remain welcome on the day of the meeting, these drivers will be free to book in as usual but we will not advertise them on our lists. Again we are not in the business of turning drivers away in any formulas and don’t particularly enjoy the rare occasions where we have to and this will not change so these drivers remain welcome at out events. However it seems somewhat pointless to advertise them to fans if there is a chance they will not show without informing us. Ultimately it could be argued that we stand to lose the most with this set up but we would prefer that than to promote drivers attending an event of ours and have them let us and fans down again.

The second 'problem area' was the length of time in between some of the races, in particular the first Ministox heat and the third unlimited banger heat and between the second Ministox heat and the Unlimited banger final. Even before the issue of teams pulling out we were wary of ensuring drivers and teams had sufficient time for repairs between their races and with the conditions of the night this became even more important. When the new format was explained to the drivers before start time it was added that we would do our best to give the drivers the time they needed in the pits for repairs 'within reason'. This resulted in a decision to give all drivers a minimum of 30 minutes between their races. However with only Ministox on the bill alongside the bangers it did mean that often these 30 minutes were not filled with racing. Nonetheless this time was vital in allowing the drivers to continue racing but again we thank all fans for their patience and hopefully understanding and hope it did not spoil your evening, especially as the nine race programme was completed in around three hours. 

Again we want to thank everyone for their support on Saturday night and hope in spite of the issues you had an enjoyable evening and a safe journey home and we hope to enjoy your company again soon. 

Unlimited Bangers Suffolk Open and Steamer Memorial additional information (added May 2)
Following last week’s announcement that this year’s Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship at Mildenhall on August 11 would also play host to the Iain ‘the Steamer’ House Memorial we have some additional information which we would like to add. 

The most important is with regard to drivers hoping or considering racing a pre70 car. We have already stated that our intention is to group all the pre70 car together in the same heat and that if numbers permit we would love nothing more than to run a pre70 race. However what we perhaps didn’t make clear is that we hope to run a format somewhat similar to what we use at the pre70 meeting where the opening heats are for the smaller cars and as the heats progress the cars in action get larger. This has the knock on effect in that if there is sufficient cars for more than one consolation we again strive to keep the smaller and bigger cars apart again as best as possible. It is our intention to do something similar at the Suffolk Open/Steamer Memorial but instead of using size, the cars will be split by age. The pre 70 stuff will be first on track, then the ‘traditional’ unlimited bangers (Mk1/2/3 Granadas, Jaguars, Volvos etc) and finally the ‘modern stuff’ (Scorpio/Ultimas, Lexus’, Supras etc) and our hope is that again if the numbers allow more than one consolation we will again keep the pre70 stuff separate from the modern cars. Ultimately our goal is to keep the older cars away from the modern cars for as long as possible although this will again completely depend on what we have to work with on the night itself. We hope that helps make things a little clearer.

As a couple of people have asked we would like to confirm that ALL types of unlimited banger are permitted at this meeting and that does include hearses which are often something of a grey area at memorial events. However given Steamer’s affection for this type of cars, hearses are not only permitted but actively encouraged where possible. 

Finally we completely neglected to include in our announcement last weekend that the meeting coincides with another event at the stadium on that weekend with the third annual Mildenhall Classic Car Show on Sunday, August 12 which will once again feature BriSCA Heritage Stockcar racing on the Sunday. The fact that the dates fall together is somewhat fitting as again it was felt that Steamer would have enjoyed the classic cars in the show so it was a nice addition to the weekend but we wanted to remind anyone planning to attending the Suffolk Open/Steamer Memorial on August 11 of the classic car event the following afternoon.

Again we want to remind all drivers that we will start taking bookings for this meeting from May 26 (Pre 70 meeting) and hope to bring you more information on the coming weeks.

For our official announcement of the Steamer memorial at the Suffolk Open Championship click here

First special guest trophy presenter confirmed for Saloon Stockcar British Championship (added May 2)
Much has been said about the forthcoming Saloon Stockcar British Championship at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, June 16 which will be the 45th staging of the prestigious event and we are delighted this week to confirm our first special guest for the big night. 

When we learned we would be holding the 45th staging of the formula’s longest running championship (and one of the sport’s oldest championships) we hoped to make it a fitting occasion and on top of attracting some wonderful sponsorship for the meeting (as already reported we have £2,250 in additional sponsorship for the meeting plus further prizes and awards, click here for full story) we also hoped to invite former British Champions to the meeting to both enjoy the occasion and also to perhaps help with trophy presentations on the night.

And this week we are thrilled to have a provisional confirmation from the record breaking five time British Champion 636 Conrad Self who first won the championship in 1978 and again in 1979, 1986, 1987 and 1991 and Conrad has agreed to both accept our invite and will present the trophies for the big race and with someone with such huge history of this event we couldn’t think of anyone better. 

We are hoping to try and contact more ex winners of this event who are no longer active in the formula and while we have leads for several of these drivers there are some whom we would love to hear from anyone who may have their contact details. These drivers are listed below and if you might be able to help us contact them you can contact us by e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com or calling the RDC office (ideally between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday) on 01268 412299. 

001 Phil Morgan (1999)
46 Keith Jarman (1980, 1983)
120 Jimmy Forrest (1984)
121 John Burns (1982)
137 Terry Thorpe (1975)
184 Chris Gaultry (1971)
195 Gray Davies (1970, 1972)
267 Graham North (1969)
269 Jeff Munn (1974)
305 Graham Kircher (1976)
644 Charlie Brown (1973)

Keep an eye for more information in the coming weeks for what we hope with be a huge event for the Saloon Stockcars this season. 

New National Banger grades for May 12 (added May 2)
For reasons which cannot be explained, while we announce the latest grades for most of our formulas on this page we have never before announced the new National Banger grades here.

While we actually have no logical reason behind this we felt it was time to stop this so with the new T-Bone magazine on its way to drivers this week here are the new RDC National Banger grades which come into effect at Mildenhall on May 12 for the third British Championship qualifier and Martin Seex Memorial. 

Silver: 188
National: 328 (Dan Lathan)
Red: 53, 59, 97, 116, 346, 349, 370, 492, 502, 617, 673, 682, 898, 920
Blue: 17, 57, 64, 73, 85, 107, 113, 128, 148, 160, 209 (Tom Waller), 218 (Lee Clelland), 303, 313, 322, 525, 527, 570, 603
Yellow: 8, 15, 20, 31, 32, 35, 37, 39, 48, 58, 82, 101 (Ian Norris), 159, 170, 278, 288, 324, 328 (Mark Hughes), 371, 384, 442, 465, 473, 604, 659, 690, 746, 801, 841, 912 

With the next edition of T-Bone hopefully available from May 26 it is intended that a new grading list will be in place for June 9 and the final National Banger British Championship qualifier. 

National Bangers Old Skool Team Championship information (added May 2)
It may still be several months away but with the conclusion of the unlimited EA team championship last weekend, the 2012 National Banger Old Skool team championship at Mildenhall on September 22 is perhaps a little closer than it may appear.

Once again there will be 12 places for eight man teams at the unique event which will be once again determined in a unique method. All existing RDC team champions will be offered a spot which means the Dover Boys (defending and RDC team champions), Norfolk N Good (Unlimited EA team champions), Team Black (1400cc Suffolk Open team champions) and Team Green (Mildenhall Team Champions) are already locked in. Add to them, as promised Team Eurotrash will again be offered a place in return for their support last season and looking to build on the success of the overseas inclusion in this event, a second place has been offered to the Dutch and Irish racers and they are presently seeing whether that is achievable.

And with the winners of the Kent Team Championship at Dover on August 5 also be offered a place it means there could be as few as five remaining places up for grabs and once again these will be offered to the top teams in a ‘tweaked’ version of the RDC Team Championship points which runs from the 2011 Old Skool team championship to this year’s Kent Team Championship. 

The points chart is shown below (teams which have already secured an Old Skool place are shown in bold). The final meeting to shape the chart is the Kent Team Championship for National Bangers at Dover on August 5 and after that the chart will be used to determine which teams are invited to compete at the Old Skool teams. Teams in contention for an Old Skool place who wish to race at Dover in August will be among those to have first refusal at a booking.

Team Green 65pts
Dover Boys 54
Team Black 49
Damage Inc 41
Midnight Runner 31
Team Kamikaze 29
Motley Krew 26
Kettering Boys 23
Team Lips 23
Rat Pack 21
Barton Boys 20
Norfolk N Good 20
The Hogs 20
Team Bash 17
Bits and Bobs 15
Team Flash 15
Thattadoo 15
WI Engineering 15
Aftermath 11
Bad Newz 11
Cowboys 11
One Shot 11
Team Wilko 10
The Specials 10
Damaged Goods 8
Mad Hatters 8
Predators 8
Team Eurotrash 8
The Raiders 8
Wild Boyz 8

National Bangers RDC RWD Series Championship qualifiers and points standings (added May 2)
Last weekend’s Unlimited Banger EA Team Championship also played host to the second round of this year’s National Banger RDC RWD Series which is starting to already take shape. 

As explained on the night as a small reward to those who supported the event in face of the awful weather conditions, it would not necessarily be the winner of the Grand Final who would claim the seeded entry place in this year’s Championship but the first driver past the post who had yet to qualify and well done to 673 Darren Fendley who won the place.

He joins 162 Brett Ellacott and 998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr who qualified at the Supreme Championship in March plus last weekend’s final winner 124 Carl Korsweski (who qualified when he won the 2Litre RWD final at Northampton on April 1) and now 331 Jason Jackson who won the 2Litre RWD Banger final at Aldershot on Sunday. 

The next round of the series is the pre 70 banger meeting at Mildenhall on May 26 closely followed by the big van meeting at Dover on June 4 but while both meetings count for points in the RWD series neither meeting carry a seeded entry place for the final winner. In the meantime the next wildcard place will be up for grabs at the 2Litre Banger event at King’s Lynn on May 19 where the final winner will be offered a place in our RWD Championship. 

For full details on this year’s RWD series click here.

National Banger RDC RWD Championship seeded entries
124 Carl Korsweski (winner of 2Litre RWD Banger final at Northampton)
162 Brett Ellacott (winner of Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championshp)
331 Jason Jackson (winner of 2Litre RWD Banger final at Aldershot)
673 Darren Fendley (highest placed non qualifier in Unlimited Banger final at Mildenhall on April 28)
998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr (winner of Unlimited Banger final at Mildenhall on March 24)

Current National Banger RDC RWD Series Championship points (top 16 who have yet to qualify to be added to the grid)
673 Darren Fendley 63pts
370 John Cobbold 61
998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr 61
162 Brett Ellacott 57
837 Martin Wesby 44
898 Andy Battle 44
124 Carl Korsewski 39
150 Andrew Parrin 38
328 Daniel Lathan 38
22 Dave Vincent 37
682 Paul Sparrow 35
730 Dean Mayes 33
382 Jack Foster Jnr 32
160 Shayn Windsor 30
542 Darren Parratt 30
294 Lee Hughes 29
17 Kyle Overy 27
57 Stu Cumming 27
257 Timmy Aldridge 25

247 Lee Clarke 24
160 Perry Willings 20
180 Mark Foster 20
204 Charlie King 19
433 Ben Smiuth 19
622 Garry Webb 19
331 Jason Jackson 17
390 David Gibson 17
43 Nicky Bishop 15
432 Mark Munson 15
525 Wes Starmer 15
851 Adam Storr 15
945 Jeron Hoes 15
148 Ian Redden 14
169 James Rushton 14
533 Richard Coe 14
597 Andy Ashman 14
221 Michael Whitelock 13
279 Andrew Swallow 13
585 Kevin Giles 13
61 Stu Holdsworth 12
209 Tom Waller 12
425 Martin Stopher 12
116 Nat Cohn 11
570 Jordan Cumming 11
583 Dan Weeks 11

Congratulations to Dean Harper (added May 2)
All at RDC would like to extend their congratulations and best wishes to RDC National Banger racer 492 Dean Harper and his partner Hannah on the birth of their daughter Daisy who was born on April 26.

Somewhat fittingly Daisy now shares a birthday with granddad Roy, we all hope she doesn’t share his style of haircut. More importantly we are pleased to hear mother and baby are doing fine and wish them all the best for the future. 

Iain ‘the Steamer’ House Memorial confirmed for Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship (added April 25)
This week RDC Promotions is very proud to be able to announce that this seasons Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, August 11 will play host to a memorial event for Iain ‘the Steamer’ House who tragically died a little over one month ago. 

Michael Coventry said: “It is with somewhat mixed emotions that we make this announcement. It goes without saying that it is a memorial event we would rather wasn’t needed but we are somewhat proud and very flattered that Iain’s family have asked us to stage a meeting in Iain’s honour. 

“Iain was not only a great friend of National Banger racing for most of his life but he had become a very good friend of the Coventry family, RDC Promotions and we are extremely flattered to be staging this event which we hope, with the support of drivers, will be fitting send off to one of the sport’s most unique characters.

“Following discussions with Iain’s immediate family we identified our options for a suitable meeting and this was narrowed down by a desire from all concerned to try and run the event in 2012 as it was felt that would be in everybody’s best interests.

“Therefore it has been decided that the Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship will this year be a memorial event for the Steamer. However it has also been decided that a number of ‘tweaks’ will be made to the meeting to try and help both make the evening more special and also an event which Iain would have approved of and enjoyed.

“Given Iain’s love for material and fondness of the more ‘traditional’ types of unlimited bangers we are making adjustments to the meeting format which will be somewhat unique for an unlimited banger meeting and we hope this will encourage drivers, where possible, to race these types of cars.”

The following details and adjustments for this meeting have already been confirmed and are as follows.

The memorial trophy will be awarded to the driver voted the best entertainer of the meeting who traditionally wins the Most Devastating Driver which is a regular feature of the Suffolk Open.

Given Iain’s love for material, we will be racing all pre70 cars in the same heat and if there are sufficient cars we would love nothing more than to run a pre70 only heat race.

Furthermore as Iain had a great fondness of the more ‘traditional’ unlimited banger used typically in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Mk1/2/3 Granadas, XJs, Volvos, early Japs etc) we are hoping to encourage drivers to, where possible, race cars from this era. However given the expense and difficulty in sourcing and preparing unlimited bangers in 2012 combined with the fact the meeting is less than four months away we will not be restricting the meeting from any types of unlimited cars. Instead our intention is to group all ‘modern’ types of unlimited bangers (Granada Scorpios/Ultimas, Lexus’, Supras etc) together in the heat races and again if the numbers allow the more modern cars will have their own heat. It is our hope that we will be able to create a format similar to what we use at the pre 70 but instead of basing it on size it will instead be based on age, starting with the older cars and finishing with the more modern cars. Hopefully this will continue in the consolations (providing there is sufficient cars for more than one consolation) meaning drivers who bring a pre70 car may have two races before racing against more modern cars while drivers racing ‘traditional’ unlimited cars will have at least one race (hopefully some at least may have the opportunity for two) before racing against the modern machines. Again this is all dependent on numbers on the day and what cars drivers decide to race but again we hope those who do race will support the theme of racing ‘traditional’ unlimited cars at this event. 

Turning round and attacking on opposite will be outlawed until the DD. While Iain accepted the practise at tracks where it was allowed by the rules (i.e. RDC and Mildenhall) it was always something he preferred to see kept until the DD so in memory of the Steamer, turning round will not be allowed at this meeting until the DD. 

On the subject of the DD, our intention is to run the Accumulator qualifier and DD as standalone races rather than the Accumulator going into the DD. Again this was a pet peeve of Steamer and so in his memory we will be looking to run the DD as a standalone event which does not happen at all RDC meetings and furthermore it will not be an American style start, another of his personal pet peeves.

Finally we would ask kindly that all drivers please do their best to ensure their cars are painted for the meeting. Unpainted cars, especially unlimited ones, was another of Iain’s personal bugbears and so we ask drivers to try and ensure their car isn’t unpainted for the night. Again drivers will not fail scrutineering if for whatever reason they do race an unpainted car on the night and we are not expecting everyone to have fully signwritten cars either, we just ask that cars be painted please. 

Once again the Unlimited Suffolk Open Championship carries the traditionally enhanced prize fund of at least £1,000 which, as always has the potential to grow on the night depending on the amount of cars and races.

The prize schedule for the meeting is as follows
All heat, consolation and Accumulator races: £40, £20, £10, £5
Suffolk Open Championship: £80, £40, £20, £10
Destruction Derby: £50, £25
Most Devastating Driver: £50
Hardest Trier of the Meeting: £50
There will also be a £25 entertainer award on every race
There will also be at least eight £25 awards for the top cars based on material and/or paint
There will be a £25 bonus to the first driver racing a ‘traditional’ car to place in the Suffolk Open Championship
Furthermore all race winners, entertainer award winners, the top three in the final, the Most Devastating Driver and Hardest Trier will also receive special commemorative Steamer Memorial trophies.
The driver named Most Devastating Driver of the night will also win the Steamer Memorial Trophy.
Each of the eight top car cash winners will also receive commemorative trophies but there will be additional trophies (at least 12 more) for drivers who excel with their cars and paint for the meeting
The £1,000 prize fund is based on a two heat, consolation, final, Accumulator qualifier, DD format and it should be noted that for every additional race added to the programme a further £100 will be added to the prize fund. 

In typical RDC fashion, all drivers will be welcome at this meeting, however we will be looking to establish an entry list for this meeting and will start taking bookings from the forthcoming Pre 70 Banger meeting at Mildenhall on May 26. Drivers can book in from this point either by contacting the RDC office on 01268 412299 (ideally between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday), e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com or with Michael Coventry direct. For this meeting we would also be grateful if drivers could let us know what car they intend to race at the meeting. This information will not be made public by RDC but it will help us with our planning for the event in the coming weeks. 

Click here for our tribute to Iain ‘the Steamer’ House. 

Message from RDC to all drivers and fans who attended Mildenhall on April 21 (added April 25)
RDC would like to send a special message of thanks to all those who supported last weekend’s meeting at Mildenhall Stadium in spite of some pretty rotten weather both in the lead up to and on the night of the event.

With widespread rain across the country, a pretty bleak forecast for Saturday afternoon and early evening combined with the announcement on Friday that Startrax had postponed their scheduled event at Coventry Stadium, the 36 hours leading up the meeting at Mildenhall were packed with inquiries as to whether our meeting would even go ahead as planned.

As commented on before, RDC Promotions has in its 20 year history enjoyed a very good record in running our meetings as planned with only a small number of planned meetings at Mildenhall ever being cancelled due to weather or track conditions and the only time we have been forced to cancel a Mildenhall meeting in the ‘main’ season was due to the Foot and Mouth crisis several years ago. 

Nonetheless, all things considered, we had very modest expectations heading into Saturday’s meeting and were simply blown away by the show of support from both drivers and fans. The final count of almost 140 race cars (61 1400cc/Small Van Bangers, 55 BriSCA F2 Stockcars and 23 Ministox) was far higher than we had ever expected and we were also delighted that so many fans chose to brave the elements to enjoy the meeting.

We hope your decision was made worthwhile as despite the opening races being, as expected, hampered by the weather (in particular the shower which bordered on monsoon minutes before start time) the track conditions soon improved and we enjoyed some great racing during the course of the evening, the BriSCA F2 Stockcar final and Banger consolation being the highlights for many. 

The standard of the track conditions was highlighted in the last BriSCA F2 Stockcar race of the night, the Grand National where 103 Carl Issit set the fastest lap time of the night in 13.668 second which was only around half a second slower than the fastest lap posted at the season opener on March 24 where track conditions were near perfect.

Again our thanks to all the drivers and fans for both their support and faith in each other for this meeting and also to our track team who worked very hard during the week. 

Siamese Banger meeting fully booked once again (added April 25)
Following last week’s news item to say we had some places available for RDC’s maiden Siamese Banger meeting at Mildenhall on Tuesday, June 5, we are pleased to report that these vacancies have again been filled and once again the meeting is fully booked with 24 entries. 

Furthermore we have also heard back from the few teams who had yet to reconfirm their intention to race when last week’s news piece was written and so not only are we again fully booked but every entry has reconfirmed their place in the last 10 days. This process will be repeated again in a couple of weeks.

As it is almost inevitable that someone will have an issue between now and June 5 we welcome any other drivers interested in taking part to contact us and if any places become available they will be offered. At present we have no-one on a waiting list so there is currently still the opportunity to be first reserves. Drivers looking to be on a waiting list should phone the RDC office on 01268 412299 (ideally between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday), e mail wastedmc@btopenworld.com or contact Michael Coventry directly. 

As is tradition for this kind of events, the drivers will construct and compete in perhaps the most unusual type of National Banger racing we have ever seen at RDC and Mildenhall. Any National Banger can be used as the bottom car and any Micro Banger can be used as the top, each car having a driver with the bottom driver in charge of the pedals and gears and the top driver controlling the steering. 

Below is the list of drivers currently booked in and again we would like to thank the drivers for their wonderful support for this event, not only helping it get off the ground but now making it look like a potential success and hopefully another popular addition to the fixtures. 

17 Kyle Overy and 384 John Golden
26 Daniel Holmes and 76 Terry Mansfield
101 Richard Rayner and 510 Keith Rayner
107 Michael Seex and 746 Harry Greer
133 Marc Paton and 278 Tom Hills
138 Jason Smy and 542 Darren Parratt
156 Mick Maskall and 327 Mick Maskall Jnr
160 Perry Willings and 370 John Cobbold
177 Dwayne Street and 377 Zack Street
188 John Reeves and 294 Lee Hughes
209 Ben Hayward and 210 Steve Hayward
256 Chris Filby and 356 Anthony Filby 
305 Jason Fryett and 545 Karl Hough
275 Chris Cooper and Aimee Gunson
315 Graham Jones and 701 Ryan Atkins
321 Ian Rumph and Adam Masters
324 Mark Lathan and 326 Shane Lynn
328 Daniel Lathan and 924 Mark Rook
346 Scott Saunders and 349 Lee Saunders
452 Sean Parratt and 543 Gavin Ward
500 John Atkinson and 585 Kevin Giles
561 Jason Pooley and 862 Liam Reach
673 Darren Fendley and 674 Luke Childerhouse
851 Adam Storr and 852 Richard Bray

National Banger Small Car Series and reserved places on November 11 (added April 25)
After being absent from the schedule at RDC last season, the once annual National Banger Small Car Series has made a welcome return in 2012 and last weekend’s 1400cc and Small Van Banger meeting marked the penultimate round of the series although the final round will not place for several months. 

The final round takes place on Sunday, November 11 which will be RDC’s first ever 1400cc Banger His and Her Team Challenge. However given the some uniqueness of the event and the fact it also forms part of the final round of the Small Car Series we have made some adjustments to ensure those in contention for the top positions in the series have a chance to compete at the meeting.

The His and Her Challenge is open to 30 teams of two with the women competing in three races and the men in three races and the combined scores between the drivers will determine the overall winners. However the top 10 in the Small Car Series will be granted a booking for the meeting and will be able to race in the three male races regardless of whether they have a team mate and are taking part in the His and Her Challenge.

The top 10 drivers who will be granted these places are as follows (see the points page for the current standings)
86 Alec Savage
107 Michael Seex
160 Perry Willings
322 Thomas Fox
324 Mark Lathan 
328 Daniel Lathan
525 Wes Starmer
673 Darren Fendley
682 Paul Sparrow
730 Dean Mayes

RDC on tour at Arena Essex (added April 25)
Looking back to last weekend and the latest National Banger meeting at Arena Essex on April 22 attracted a strong field of just over 55 cars including a decent amount of RDC interest in the shape of 53 Dave Palmer, 205 Kieran Briddock, 209 Tom Waller, 508 Harry Bradbury, 768 Danny McSweeney and 912 Kieran Greenway. 508 Led Head found himself quickly embroiled in the Cream Team and Gladiator battle in heat one where he nailed 549 Phil Smith only to be fenced by 542 Craig Oliver but he shrugged it off to spin 54 Martin Lawton into the fence and then T-bone Smith although this left him open to a big hit from 54 Splat. McSweeney tasted the wall at the hands of 135 Jamie Batchelor in heat two where Waller finished second before 205 Koonta came under fire from 449 Bill Crittenden in the consolation. Joining Waller in the qualifiers only final were Greenway, Koonta and McSweeney, the latter again finding the wall, this time at the hands of 347 Dave Bull. Led Head worked all afternoon to get out for the Allcomers and made it count with a shot and burial on 349 Lewis Price before he was nailed by 403 Marcus Sprawling while Waller came under fire from 61 Darryl Theedom. Into the demo where Greenway starred blasting 331 Jason Jackson only to be trashed in turn by 998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr which allowed 331 Boxer to land a revenge hit. Greenway battled on but was silenced by another shot from 998 Cotty Jnr to end our involvement in the day. 

Congratulations to 209 Tom Waller (added April 18)
While we are without a full report from the event, all at RDC would like to congratulate young gun 209 Tom Waller on a fine third place finish in the Unlimited Banger BBA World Cup at Cowdenbeath last weekend.

Not only did it mark Tom’s best result to date in a major event but it also secures him a place in the Supreme Championship for the first time next season and he is the first RDC driver to qualify for the big race in 2013. 

Elsewhere on the programme at Cowdenbeath on April 14, 583 Dan Weeks picked up a sixth place finish in the first last chance race and followed it up with a third in the first consolation and a fourth in the Open Scottish Final for a fine evenings work.

Also racing for RDC in the championship race were defending champion 148 Ian Redden, 17 Kyle Overy and 508 Hrry Bradbury. 

More sponsorship for Saloon Stockcar British Championship and enhanced prize fund details (added April 18)
Following our announcement several weeks ago that this season’s 45th staging of the Saloon Stockcar British Championship over the weekend of June 16 and 17 at Mildenhall was set to receive some excellent sponsorship we are pleased to announce that even more sponsorship has been added to the weekend’s prize fund. 

This week we are delighted to confirm additional cash sponsorship from Newman Fabrication which alongside the existing sponsorship from DK Salvage, S Venni Transport, Parker Skip Hire, Ray Goudy Trailer Repairs and Lyndale Engines brings the total of additional prize money to £2,250. 

Furthermore the Welding Centre in Wisbech has also joined the sponsorship team and has pledged three goody bags to be up for grabs in each Saloon Stockcar race on the weekend. It has been provisionally agreed that the goody bags will be awarded to both the top finishers in each race across the weekend as well as the top white or yellow graded driver in each race. 

Additional prizes have also been confirmed as well in the shape of eight new tyres which are partly sponsored by Gordon Alexander. These will be up for grabs for the white and yellow grade drivers and the top white or yellow grade driver in each race on the weekend will win a tyre. However once a driver has won one tyre they will not be eligible for another and if they are the top white or yellow grade driver in a second race, the tyre will go to the next highest white or yellow grade racer. Furthermore if the programme over the weekend is changed and there is more than four Saloon Stockcar races across the two days (our current plan is a three heat and final format on both days) then this will be amended. 

Returning to the theme of the additional prize money and based on our current plan to run three heats and a final on each day of the weekend our existing plan between ourselves and the sponsors to distribute the prize money is as follows.

1.To raise the British Championship prize fund from the standard British Championship prize schedule to that of a World Final. This is an increase from £585 to £1,000 and means the top three alone will win £500, £250 and £125 respectively rather than the standard £250, £150 and £75

2. Prize money on all races across the weekend will be extended from eighth to 10th place. This will be £10 in the British Championship (standard prize fund for 8th place in a World and British Championship is £10) and £15 in all remaining heat races and Grand Final on Sunday (standard prize fund for 8th place in a regulation heat and final is £5 and this is being tripled by sponsorship money as explained below).

3. There is sufficient funding available to triple the standard prize money on all heat races on Saturday and Sunday (presuming there is a three heat format on each day) and the Grand Final on Sunday. This means the prize money on each heat race will be increased from £75 to £255 (including the additional money for ninth and 10th place) with the winner receiving £60 rather than the standard £20 and the Grand Final on Sunday will carry £435 in prize money with the winner receiving £120.

4. The remainder of the prize money will be used to fund cash awards for the top white or yellow grade driver in each heat race over the weekend and the Grand Final on Sunday. Working on the current format these grade awards would be £25 each and unlike the aforementioned tyres for grade awards, drivers in the white and yellow grade can win multiple cash awards.

This accounts for £1,990 of the additional £2,250 in sponsorship and we will wait until nearer the time of the meeting when we know how many cars to expect and what format will be used before making a final decision on how to use this final part of the sponsorship money. It should be noted that should there be sufficient cars to run more than three heat races and a format on either day of the weekend, adjustments may be made to the prize schedule so at the moment it should be treated as a guide only. RDC would also like to stress that at present if either day of the weekend has 48 cars or less a three heat and final format will be used and if there is 49 or more cars on either day an alternative format will be used. This is likely to be a five heat (with each driver racing in three of them) format for the British Championship on the Saturday and a two heat, consolation, final, Allcomers format on the Sunday. 

RDC seeded entries confirmed for 2Litre Banger BBA World Final (added April 18)
With the cut off to determine the RDC seeded entries for the 2Litre Banger BBA World Final at Hednesford on May 20 coming after the Easter weekend we are pleased to confirm our three representatives for the first World Championship of the season for National Bangers.

Flying the flag for RDC in this race will be 370 John Cobbold, 673 Darren Fendley and 682 Paul Sparrow and it is extra special that these three are the current top three in the RDC Drivers Points Championship. 

Additional RDC drivers are welcome to book in for the last chance qualifiers at this meeting and should do so by contacting RDC through the usual channels. 

On the subject of BBA Championship events, the next event on the calendar is the 2Litre Banger English Championship at Buxton on June 24. Seeded places on the grid will be offered to the top drivers in the RDC Drivers Points Championship following May 20. 

Invitation from Nutts Corner to Reliant Robin drivers (added April 18)
Our colleagues in Northern Ireland at NuttsCorner Oval have sent us details of a special event they have planned this summer for Reliant Robins and an open invitation has been made to all RDC drivers. 

The Reliant Robin Irish Open Championship will take place over two days at Aghadowey Stadium on Saturday, August 11 and then on Sunday, August 12 at Tullyroan Oval. NuttsCorner Oval has confirmed that there will be start money available to assist with travelling costs and wish to stress that they run the formula to limited contact rules rather than full contact. If any drivers are interested in making the trip we encourage them to let us (RDC) know and we can put you in touch with NuttsCorner Oval. 

RDC confirm extended deal at Dover Raceway until the end of 2014 (added April 11)
As announced at the 2012 season opener at Dover Raceway on Easter Monday, RDC Promotions is very pleased to confirm a new deal has been signed between RDC and the landowners of the raceway safe guarding the sport at the long running venue until the end of the 2014 season. 

Ownership of the land changed prior to the start of the 2009 season which was the last of our original deal at the venue and at one point is looked likely that the 2009 season would be our last at the season. However due to the ongoing popularity of the track among drivers and fans the landowner had a welcome change of heart and a two year deal was struck for 2010 and 2011, albeit with less fixtures per season. 

We are now extremely delighted to confirm that another new deal has been put in place for the next three seasons and we hope to be in a position to extend it further at the end of the 2014 season. 

A massive reason why our sport continues at this venue is because of the ongoing support from drivers and fans, which was abundantly clear at the season opener which a good amount of both gathered despite the truly awful wet weather, so our thanks to everyone who continues to support the raceway and helps ensure it has a safe future in our sport and we hope you all enjoy the remainder of the 2012 season. 

Discount Fuel Card for all ORCi registered racers (added April 11)
In a deal between Paul Brown of 4FS Marketing and Mike Brain of UK Card Services Ltd the ORC has secured a deal for their drivers to be able to apply for a discount fuel card with UK Card Services Ltd. The card will enable all drivers to pay the same price all over the UK. The discount should be in the region of 5p* a litre of the average UK pump price and higher at the prime motorway sites.

Key benefits of the card include:

Save on diesel and get stability in your fuel costs.
Eliminates regional price fluctuation.
28 days interest free credit (subject to status).
Personalise cards to you vehicle or driver
Convenient on-line management tools,
Easy VAT reclaim with HMRC approved invoices,
No fixed term contract or set up fees,
Velocity - Our online card management system. (www.velocitycardmanagement.com)

The card has access to over 2,000 sites including all major truckstops, selected motorway service areas, Morrison’s and Tesco supermarkets, many independent sites, as well as Esso or Shell service stations offering you excellent coverage across the UK.

Details of how drivers can apply for the cards will be made available in the next couple of weeks. Plans are also being discussed for drivers who have businesses that already have fuel cards to receive the discounted ORC prices.

More info is available from Paul Brown on 07971 565059 or paul@4fsmarketing.co.uk

*With Fuel Prices changing on an almost daily basic, the discount may vary from week to week.
Discount will apply to both Transporter and Race Car Fuel.

Impressive National Banger stats for the start of season at Mildenhall (added April 11)
Following the Good Friday meeting at Mildenhall we have some very interesting and somewhat impressive stats for the start of the season for National Bangers at the Suffolk shaleway.

After the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open team championship we have now had a whopping 418 different drivers race in the National Bangers at Mildenhall in 2012 and the first four meetings of the regular season (the National Banger British qualifier, Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship, National Banger Best Pairs and the aforementioned Suffolk Open team championship) saw no less than 307 different drivers race at the track. 

Special mention should go to the 12 drivers who raced at all four of these meetings in the space of five weeks who have should fantastic dedication in recent weeks and they are 
107 Michael Seex
160 Perry Willings
313 Craig Osbourn
328 Dan Lathan
370 John Cobbold
382 Jack Foster Jnr
585 Kevin Giles
682 Paul Sparrow
690 Jack Wilkins
730 Dean Mayes
768 Danny McSweeney
898 Andy Battle

Not to be outdone 22 drivers raced at three of the four meetings and likewise are worthy of credit here and they are
8 Dale Woolnough
26 Daniel Holmes
53 Dave Palmer
64 Barry Lee
68 Olly Wikins
82 Wayne Quinn
116 Nat Cohn
128 Andy Shipp
133 Marc Paton
141 Andy Neale
170 Darren Teal
180 Mark Foster
188 John Reeves
303 Wayne Linsdale
384 John Golden
483 Mark Saisbury
517 Sid Cooper
525 Wes Starmer
837 Martin Wesby
862 Liam Reach
998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr

New grade lists for Bangerstox and Super Rods (added April 11)
Following the Easter weekend we have new grades for the Bangerstox and Super Rods which all come into effect for the next meetings for the formula at RDC. 

Bangerstox (effective from May 7)
Masters: 55
Silver, Southern and Kent: 9
Red: 52
Blue: 5, 15, 58, 65, 77, 83, 661
Yellow: 4, 17, 20, 22, 23, 84, 99, 222
All other drivers who have raced in 2012 are white, drivers who have yet to race in 2012 should start with their last grade. Red grade drivers and existing champions (not including the Suffolk champion who does not have to start at the back of the grid) are reminded that they automatically qualify for Grand Finals at domestic/non championship meetings at Dover if they do not qualify for the final via the heat races.

Super Rods
Masters: 28
Silver: 41
Southern: 6
Kent: 28
Red: 27, 121
All other drivers who have raced in 2012 are white, drivers who have yet to race in 2012 should start with their last grade.

Reliant Robins World Championship Qualifying points (added April 11)
Following round five of the 2012 Reliant Robin World Qualifying points championship at Doverlast weekend we also have an expanded look at the current qualifying series.

Drivers who scored points at the rounds held in 2011 are reminded that they must compete in at least one Reliant Robin World qualifying round held in 2012 to be eligible for a World Final starting place. Remaining rounds are Saturday, May 26 and Tuesday, June 5 at Mildenhall Stadium. 

The top 20 drivers in the final chart (who have raced in a 2012 qualifier and are eligible to race, i.e. not suspended) will qualify for the World Final and this year we are reserving four places for overseas drivers (who will draw for grid positions on the day but will not be eligible for the front row of the grid which will be filled by the top two drivers in the 2012 qualifying points. Defending champion 905 Rob Mitchell will be eligible to start at the back of the grid should he not qualify in his own right. 

The current qualifying points are as follows. Drivers who have yet to race in a world qualifier in 2012 and are therefore not yet eligible for a World Final place are shown with a *

553 Daniel Douglas 135pts
16 Ray Layton 92
103 Paul Foreman 84
28 David Donavan 73
30 James Donavan 64
857 Dan Hill 59
66 Steve Willis 56
215 Michael Croxon 54
385 Roy Gedge 53
551 Brett Jackson 53
150 Andrew Parrin 47*
554 Chalky Douglas 43
576 Colin Aldred 40
96 Ian Robins 36
197 Tom Tatham 33
562 Terry Scruton 31
702 Allen Cooper 28
709 Ben Hollis 28
363 Brian Jarvis 27*
275 Phil Rowbottom 26

510 Harry Balchin 25
664 Ryan Sutcliffe 24
9 Dale Russell 22*
195 Pete Bowley 20
51 Les Jackson 19*
663 Steve Ryan 19
598 John Mills 16
484 Gary Harvey 14
54 Nick Douglas 13*
434 Mark Gardiner 13
186 George Turiccki 12
704 Stu Henderson 12*
3 Graham Clay 9
761 Sharon Ashworth 7*
119 Dean Andrews 6

Masters Championship qualifying points for National Bangers, Bangerstox and Super Rods (added April 11)
Easter Monday at Dover Raceway marked the start of this years Masters Championship qualifying series for 2012 for the National Bangers, Bangerstox and Super Rods and below is an extended look at the early points charts along with details on how the qualifying system works. The next round for all formulas is on Sunday, May 20

National Bangers
The top 12 in points will qualify along with seeded drivers. The grid will be determined by random (Incarace) draw. 
349 Lee Saunders 41pts
53 Dave Palmer 32
346 Scott Saunders 31
158 Shane Davies 26
449 Billy Crittenden 25
113 Steve Sedgwick 23
442 Sean Crittenden 20
57 Stu Cumming 19
570 Jordan Cumming 16
32 Ricky Hughes 15
101 Ian Norris 13
188 John Reeves 13
20 Andy Burbridge 9
473 Mark Nicholls 9
164 Barry Segwick 7
377 Gareth Brett 7

Bangerstox
The top 24 in the points will qualify and will line up in points order. 
58 Owen Childs 35pts
65 Chris Bull 32
77 Gareth Poile 31
52 Richard Randall 30
84 Nathan Higbin 30
15 Jay Powell 27
23 Darren Young 23
4 Chris Craft 19
22 James Spriggs 16
17 David Hampson 15
5 Rob Craft 14
9 Chris Young 13
49 Pete Back 13
83 Paul Apps 13
16 Chaz Goldup 11
11 Lee Jell 10
55 Clint Millen 10
35 Cyndi Bradley 9
34 Lisa Fagg 8
50 Ray Walker 7
222 Dick Tracey 7

Super Rods
The final points will determine the starting grid for the championship
27 Michael Godfrey 36pts
121 Nigel Goodwin 36
41 Pete Emson 35
29 Steve Donavan 28
30 Wayne Powell 26
6 Anthony Emson 25
71 Jason Fagg 9

Message of thanks following Mildenhall March 31 and amended Saloon Stockcar results (added April 4)
All at RDC would like to thank all the drivers for their support and understanding under some rather strange circumstances at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend. 

Firstly we would like to thank all the drivers, and fans as well, who were able to make it to the stadium despite the problems with obtaining fuel which was causing many people great difficulty all across the country. Despite these issues the entry on the night for the National Bangers and Saloon Stockcars (which both had an entry list) were very close to what we expected. Taking into consideration those who cancelled their bookings in the days before the meeting just six National Banger drivers (of which one had engine problems the afternoon of the meeting) and three Saloon Stockcar drivers (two of which sent their apologies on the night) did not honour their bookings which was far fewer than we expected given the circumstances and over 110 drivers raced on the night which was most impressive. 

Secondly we want to again thank all the drivers who raced Saturday night for their understanding and patience with some somewhat unusual circumstances which were going on behind the scenes. Unfortunately we were hit with some staff shortages for the meeting, the most significant being the lack of our regular lap scorer which left us implementing a plan B which would have been far more worthy of the title of plan Z. Drivers were informed of the situation prior to the meeting and were most understanding of the situation for which we are very grateful. In the case of the Saloon Stockcars and Ministox we used the electronic lap scoring system in all races rather than attempting to chart the races manually. Unfortunately there were a couple of problems which have since been resolved with the aid of the static camera in race control. The changes to the results announced on the night were all in the Saloon Stockcars and the correct results are shown below. The changes are 428 Lee Sampson inserted as seventh in heat one and 499 Dave Aldous and 116 Diggy Smith inserted as fourth and fifth respectively in the final. 

White and Yellow Grade Heat: 6 Simon Welton, 420, 115, 22, 912, 377, 164, 80, 2, 538
Heat One: 728 Kris Woods, 131, 499, 156, 115, 311, 428, 130, 184, 641, 26
Heat Two: 6 Simon Welton, 698, 428, 912, 26, 115, 616, 499, 116, 51
Grand Final: 731 Barry Wade, 698, 428, 499, 116, 570, 728, 2, 156, 131
Dash for Cash: 131 Timmy Barnes, 616, 698, 420, 428, 499, 22

Furthermore these problems meant in turn that several members of our team had to cover other jobs which resulted in their being far less communication in the pits with the drivers as usual. Again this was explained to as many drivers as possible before the meeting and again we are very grateful to all the drivers for their assistance in taking extra measures to ensure they were ready to race when needed. Unfortunately these problems did mean a few short delays during the night in between races. As always we would like to thank the fans for their patience and hope these problems did not take away any of your enjoyment of the meeting. 

Message from the family of Iain House-the Steamer (added April 4)
In the wake of the funeral of Iain ‘the Steamer’ House last week, which was superbly attended by his friends from the sport, his family have asked to pass on the following message to all those who were able to attend. 

"Sarita, Kath and Dick would like to thank everyone most sincerely for coming to Iain (The Steamer)'s funeral last Friday, and for all your support to us, and in particular your love for Iain, which was shown. All of your donations are much appreciated, and they will be put to very good use. We still have some service sheets left over, so if anyone wants one, please ask."

For our tribute to the Steamer please click here. 

Saloon Stockcars White and Yellow Grade Series (added April 4)
Here is also an expanded list of the Saloon Stockcar White and Yellow series points following the first round last weekend.

Once again the top 28 scorers will qualify for October’s Grand Final where they will start the race in points order. 

6 Simon Welton 66pts
130 Joe Gladden 33
728 Kris Woods 28
731 Barry Wade 25
115 Scott Aldridge 24
420 Ivan Street 23
22 Karl Petters 21
912 Andi Newman 18
377 Mick Osler 15
2 Paul Tuppen 13
80 Lee Boyd 13
538 Jake Swann 13
266 Matthew Canham 10
350 Thomas Parrin 10
164 Neil Kent 9
233 Rob Aldridge 7
40 Lester Freestone 5
131 Timmy Barnes 5
192 Robert Haines 5
318 Fred Kinsella 5
356 Anthony Filby 5
442 Simon Berry 5
637 Mick Bulldeath 5
800 Scott Greenslade 5

RDC’s One Wild Night round up and thank you (added March 28)
In the wake of last weekend’s historic unlimited banger BBA Supreme Championship at Mildenhall Stadium, all at RDC would like to extend a massive message of thanks to everyone who helped make One Wild Night such a massive success. 

First and foremost we must thank all of the drivers in both the unlimited banger and BriSCA F2 Stockcars who turned out in big numbers and served up some tremendous action on the raceway but we must also thank all the fans who not only supported the evening and helped generate such a wonderful atmosphere in the stadium. 

Of course there were issues on the night. Perhaps the biggest was the amount of drivers who failed to honour their bookings in the unlimited bangers which meant the final entry of just under 110 cars was somewhat short of what had been advertised on this website. It should be noted that we did have eight drivers (including championship finalists 239 Steve Carter and 800 Tom Hannah) contact us in the 36 hours before the meeting to cancel their bookings due to a variety of issues but still we had a further 28 drivers who had booked in for the meting (including a further four finalists) who simply failed to show and the majority have still yet to offer any explanation which is of course very disappointing and is an area we are keen to work on in the future as we feel this is very important in the long term future of the event.

The amount of no shows did leave us somewhat short in the last chance qualifiers but having stated if we had over 40 drivers we would run two qualifiers we stuck to this and we hope you will agree the drivers rewarded us with that decision with two races which were far livelier than the grid count suggested they would be. 

The other area of disappointment was the delay during the unlimited banger BBA Supreme Championship to repair damage to the Armco on the back straight. Unfortunately this was a most unusual incident which broke one of the top wires in a place which was most unusual to the normal type of damage we experience and meant the repair job took a little longer than we would have hoped. Again we would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while this work took place. 

Moving onto more positive notes, here are some other random thoughts and points from the meeting. 

Thanks to all the Supreme Championship finalists for supporting the meeting especially all the long distance travellers who we hope enjoyed their visit to the stadium. Despite the unfortunate no shows, the inclusion of last chance qualifiers for the first time meant this year’s Supreme Championship was still one of the biggest to date despite the switch to unlimited bangers and the qualification process being stricter than ever which is a great start to this event as an unlimited fixture at Mildenhall. 

Well done to 162 Brett Ellacott on a fantastic drive from almost the very back of the grid to win another of the sports major titles. He alongside fellow podium finishers 998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr and 22 Dave Vincent, who also started at the tail end of the field on the restart, are the first qualifiers for the 2013 championship. 

In accordance to the criteria for drivers to be eligible for the last chance qualifier all those who competed in this years Supreme Championship are already on the list of drivers who will be invited to race in next year’s last chance qualifier unless they qualify for the championship in the meantime. However in return for the support by those drivers who did honour their booking for this year’s last chance races we are also going to put them immediately onto the list of drivers who will be invited again in 12 months time.

We are also grateful to the near 30 ‘support’ drivers who turned out despite knowing they would not be on track until after the championship and were only guaranteed two races. These drivers will be the first to be offered a support booking for next year’s meeting (unless of course they qualify for the championship or are eligible for the last chance qualifier) and we are fully committed to ensuring that next year the support drivers are guaranteed the opportunity of three races, another thing we feel is important in the long term success of this event. Again we want to extend an extra thank you to the support drivers whose contribution was very important to the night. 

Congratulations to Jack Wilkins and his fiancé Hayley on their engagement Saturday night which was a lovely way to start the Unlimited Banger programme.

Similarly thanks to everyone who observed the minute’s silence for The Steamer so well prior to the start of the Supreme Championship. 

Our thanks also go to the BriSCA F2 Stockcars who were superb in so many respects Saturday night. While the unlimited banger entry unfortunately fell a little short of what was hoped for, the stockcar entry was the opposite and in fact exceeded the advertised entry list and also featured several of the sports finest. This show of support came in spite of us making it as clear as possible that there would be lengthy gaps between the stockcar races in the second half of the evening due to the meeting format. Despite this the drivers supported the meeting and offered no complaints and instead served up some tremendous racing which was a brilliant way to begin the F2 season at Mildenhall in 2012. It should also be noted that it was especially impressive that so many drivers stayed until the end of the evening and that the Grand National was very well subscribed. 

Congratulations to John Cayzer (added March 28)
Congratulations are in order for veteran BriSCA F2 Stockcar racer 495 John Cayzer who won RDC’s Breaking the Streak award last weekend in the opening meeting of the season for the formula at Mildenhall.

The trophy had been up for grabs since the tail end of the 2011 when it was noted of an incredible run of different final winners at Mildenhall which meant that in the 15 finals at the raceway in 2010 and 2011 there had been a quite incredible 15 different winners and the extra trophy was put up to the driver who could finally end the streak. 

And John did that in convincing fashion last weekend with a flawless drive to win the 31 car, 20 lap main event taking the chequered flag by a comfortable distance from his nearest rivals. 

However the second additional place of silverware made available last season, the Fastest Man on (the Mildenhall) Dirt award is still up for grabs for the first driver to post a lap of the raceway in under 13 seconds. 377 Daz Shaw came the closest on Saturday night with a lap time of 13.109 seconds.

That trophy will again be there for the taking when the BriSCA F2 Stockcars return on April 21 for the first World of Shale qualifying round of the season at Mildenhall. With that meeting in mind all F2 drivers are reminded that RDC’s informal booking system will again be in place and all drivers will be welcome on the night with no need to book in advance. Furthermore drivers who raced last weekend and again on April 21 will also be offered a booking for the Saturday (July 28) night part of our summer two day event for the formula where bookings unfortunately are limited and drivers who race at Mildenhall twice in 2012 will be offered first refusal of a place. 

RDC on tour at  Arena Essex (added March 28)
There was a little RDC interest at Arena Essex as well last Sunday (March 25) where the near 40 strong entry included 107 Michael Seex, 128 Andy Shipp and 912 Kieran Greenway. The latter collected 249 Jim Harding in the driver’s door in the first heat while 128 Shippy smashed 367 Tom Keep into the inner kerb in the final. The RDC drivers saved their best until last with Greenway winning the Allcomers and 107 Seexy taking third before the DD saw both Greenway and Shippy hammer 542 Craig Oliver en route to making it to the final three. Greenway’s afternoon ended when he landed an almighty passenger side hit on 38 John Waite which stopped his own car in the process. Shippy then also blasted the spinning Waite with a meaty hit in the passenger side before silencing his rival with a couple of head-ons to take the DD win. 

A tribute to the Steamer (added March 21)
One week ago the banger racing world and community was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one of its most familiar faces and most recognisable names. 

Iain House, known to many in the sport as The Steamer, has left a lasting impression, contribution and legacy in the world of National Banger racing, one which will never be forgotten and one which is unlikely to be replicated. 

Iain fell into a unique bracket, some would say a league of his own, of how we should remember him. Few have ever contributed to our sport in the way he did and unique is a very fitting word as his gift was just that and the manner in which he shared it with so many will remain with us for generations to come. 

Despite the occasional ‘attempt’ he would be the first to point out you could not call him a racer and neither could you call him a promoter or even a member of a raceway team but it would also be grossly unfair to call him a regular spectator as few have given so much to the sport and, in Steamer’s case, received so little in return, not that reward was ever asked for or expected. 

From his early experiences in the sport when he would ride his bicycle from the family home to watch the action at Braintree Raceway, it was no surprise that as soon as he was able to drive he would expand his horizons to almost every banger raceway in Europe. 

For many years he had been a great friend of RDC Promotions. Although we are unsure of the first time he visited Mildenhall it is a fact that he was not only present for the historic third meeting promoted by RDC at the Suffolk shaleway in February 1993 but he compiled a meeting report which featured in Head-On Magazine. Over the years he would often refer to that meeting as one of the best he had ever attended, a compliment he paid to several of the meetings he visited at Mildenhall over the years that followed. 

Of course Head-On was not the only place where Iain shared his unique gift and talent. His contributions featured in almost every single publication and website (which included meeting reports) covering National Banger racing over the last 20 years.

But his gifts stretched way beyond his ability to make detailed notes from a race he was watching and then compile an accurate blow by blow report of the action for the benefit of those present or elsewhere but with a thirst to know what they had missed. 

His near photographic memory made him a walking wealth of information on the sport and a regular source of facts when they were needed and his knowledge is the quality which perhaps will best be remembered by those who never had the chance to get to know him. 

For those who were fortunate enough to have known him, and especially those lucky enough to call him a friend, we are likely to remember other gifts, such as his sense of humour. The jokes, the one-liners, the quotes, the weekends away, the road trips and the social events.

He also possessed an ability to speak his mind very frequently and while he would always tell you exactly what he thought with no sugar coating, his honesty sparked an amazing amount of respect from those who heard it, including those who were perhaps on the wrong end of the honesty. And regardless of personal opinions, he always had time for those who wanted it and the greatest amount of respect for those who competed, no matter than standard of the racer, because ultimately it was all of them who brought him so much enjoyment and entertainment for over two decades. 

The sport of National Banger racing has lost one of its greatest characters, enthusiasts, contributors and friends but once again by sharing his gifts he will never be forgotten by the hundreds who benefited from them.

All at RDC Promotions and the entire Coventry family wish to join those in extending their deepest sympathies to Iain’s family, in particular his wife of 15 years Sarita, and his closest friends and we hope the incredible outpouring of grief and love can, in time, be of some comfort to them.

A minute’s silence will be held in memory of the Steamer at Mildenhall Stadium this Saturday night prior to the start of the Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship race. 

Mildenhall Saturday night season opener round up and thank you (added March 14)
All at RDC would like to thank everyone who helped contribute to such a positive and entertaining Saturday night season opener at Mildenhall Stadium. 

On the heels of our great news from the court this meeting proved to be a fitting celebration with almost 90 National Bangers and 140 race cars in total and they produced an action packed 13 race programme with not one bad race on the bill and each of the formulas providing some memorable moments during the evening.

After a tense few weeks behind the scenes at RDC it was certainly a welcome sight as was the fine showing of race fans who turned out to enjoy the racing, as always our thanks to each of you and we hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did. 

A special thanks also to the many of you who took the time and trouble to pass on your best wishes with regard the recent appeal case as this was greatly appreciated and also to the family who answered the call for assistance from the St Johns team at the end of the evening which was also greatly appreciated by those involved. 

Finally a thanks as always to the RDC team whose efforts on the night helped ensure the 13 race programme was completed in little over four hours. Thanks as well to all the drivers and their teams for the part they played in this as well as there was almost no waiting for race cars at any stage in the night (only a short wait prior to the National Banger consolation) because of their hard work. 

Enhancements made to Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship (added March 14)
With the countdown to RDC’s One Wild Night headlined by the unlimited banger BBA Supreme Championship at Midenhall Stadium on Saturday, March 24 nearing completion we are delighted to confirm a number of enhancements which have been made to various parts of the meeting.

These improvements have all been made in response to the amazing show of support by drivers for the maiden staging of this meeting as an unlimited event. With this weeks changes to the entry list we currently have a quite incredible entry of over 155 drivers booked in and perhaps even more impressive is that of these drivers over 140 have reconfirmed their intention to race in the last 10 days.

The improvements are as follows. 
Perhaps the biggest and most significant is that we have this week confirmed that the prize money for the Supreme Championship race itself will be increased to £1,000 across the top places with the winner collecting a cool £500 prize. This prize fund is almost double that of recent years and makes this the richest banger race of the season at RDC and one of the richest races in the sport. We hope this reflects the growing stature of the event and significant increase in prize fund is in response to the overwhelming response from this years qualifiers which is set to make this years race potentially the best subscribed to date. 

The second improvement to the championship race is that this week we can confirm we will once again be using transponders in each of the cars and the electronic lap scoring system for the big race. Having been the first, and so far only, promotion to use the system for its major banger events in recent years, we ourselves have not used them for a short while but again with so many drivers anticipated and given the growing stature of what is already one of the biggest races of the year we felt it was a necessary move. This means that, all being well, the final result of the championship will now be 100 per cent accurate and also that the results, and the statistics they provide, will be available on the My Laps website after the event. Drivers will however be required to leave a £20 deposit for their transponder when they collect them prior to the meeting. This will be returned in full when the transponder is returned after the race. 

Moving onto the last chance qualifier entry and again the interest from drivers has been far higher than we ever anticipated and currently we have just over 70 drivers booked in from those invited to try and qualify for the main event in the first ever last chance qualifier events for the Supreme Championship. This means that two last chance qualifiers are pretty much guaranteed and with that in mind we will be taking the first two drivers from each race through to the championship. It was our original intention to only have three last chance qualifiers advance to the main event but again through the fantastic show of support from the drivers this has also been increased meaning one more driver will get to compete in potentially the biggest race of the season. Furthermore the last chance qualifiers will have the added benefit of having their grid position determined by the Incarace draw and will not have to start at the back of the grid. As the last chance entry is an invitational affair we feel those who qualify deserve the opportunity to start the race on a level footing to the seeded entries and will therefore have their grid position determined by the draw. 

Likewise the demand from drivers for support bookings has also blown us away, especially as these drivers are only guaranteed two races on the night of which one is the last race of the evening. Almost all 40 available places have been filled and again in response to this amazing show of interest and support we are going to take some small steps to try and offer a few more of the support drivers the chance of a third race. In the consolation race (very likely to be at least two consolations) the first few drivers past the post (the exact number of qualifiers will be determined on the night) will qualify for the Grand Final. In order to ensure some of the support drivers get the chance to race in the Grand Final the first two support drivers home who do not finish in a qualifying position will be added to the list of qualifiers for the Grand Final. This means that at least some of the support drivers who have the opportunity of a third race for their efforts. Already this is an area which we intend to improve upon in 2013 and ensure that all drivers have the opportunity of three races on the night and we want to state here and now that those support drivers who race this year will be offered first refusal of a support booking next season. 

Finally as one final added incentive to what is shaping up to be a memorable night of racing we can also confirm that each race of the evening will carry an extra trophy for the best entertainer in reward for those whose best intentions are not to chase the top race positions but instead inject as much action as they can into the races. 

Statement from RDC Promotions concerning legal case at Mildenhall Stadium (added March 2)
Upon return from our annual break we are delighted to report fantastic news regarding our long running legal issues at Mildenhall Stadium.

Many of you will be aware that RDC Promotions has been involved in a long running dispute with two residents who moved into a home less than 0.5mile away from Mildenhall Stadium in January 2006 over noise and other complaints which led to a court hearing in early 2011 in which RDC lost the noise case, a defeat which held massive ramifications for RDC Promotions, the stadium and motor racing as a whole.

Our request for an appeal case was granted and was heard in December and the result was announced earlier this week and we are delighted to report that this time the verdict has gone in our favour. 

For a full news story on the appeal case click here. 

At this stage we are now waiting to see if the residents will attempt to appeal the decision or if this is finally the end of the matter and we should know this in a few weeks and will make a further announcement at that time but clearly this is the best possibly news we could have asked for and is hopefully a massive step in the right direction after some very difficult and worrying months.

Once again we want to thank everyone who has continued to support us through the particularly trying times and we hope we may see some of you for the Saturday night season opener at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, March 10 at 6.30pm which will hope will act as some kind of celebration of this news. 

RDC at Unlimited Icebreaker and Raid (added March 7)
The first weekend of March was a busy one for several RDC National banger drivers with RDC well represented at both the 1800cc Raid at Ipswich on Saturday, March 3 and the rescheduled unlimited Icebreaker at King’s Lynn on Sunday, March 4.

Starting with Ipswich and among the 85 strong entry there was 53 Dave Palmer, 91 Steve Roberts, 160 Perry Willings, 220 Tom Pavitt, 384 John Golden, 682 Paul Sparrow, 768 Dan McSweeney and 862 Liam Reach. 

No action for the RDC contingent in heat one where 53 Dave Palmer registered a decent fourth place the second heat seeing Sparrow get dumped out by 32 Ricky Hughes but he recovered for sixth with team mate 160 Pez in tenth. Unfortunately Pez’s night took a turn for the worse in the final with a hard fencing on the scoreboard bend which resulted in a red flag but despite being taken for a check up by the medics we are pleased to confirm Pez suffered no serious injuries from the crash. The restart saw Sparrow bury running mate 86 Alec Savage as 27 Dale Hughes successfully defended the title with no RDC in the top 10. Again no RDC involvement on the action front in the Allcomers although Sparrow registered ninth which concluded our interest in the meeting. 

Onto the unlimited Icebreaker the following day which after two postponements finally went ahead but was cruelly hit by torrential rain throughout the entire afternoon. Among the 120 plus strong entry saw RDC represented by 125 Roy (Chevy Camaro), 325 Craig, 825 Luke and 925 Aaron Preece (used Jaguar 420) in the Black Rats, 122 James Woodley who guested for the Condoms, 114 Adam Jackson in the Grave Diggers, 90 Adrian Harboard (very smart Buick LeSabre) and 97 James Maddison in the Mr Men, 97 Dave Allen (XJ), 920 James Medley (XJ), 384 John Golden (superb looking DS420 limo) and 525 Wes Starmer (smart XJ) were among the Team Black ranks, 148 Ian Redden in the Royals and 209 Ben Hayward, 324 Mark Lathan and 326 Shane Lynn in the Hogs the latter three excelling with a Majestic limo, DS420 hearse and Rover P5 respectively. 

525 Wes was the first RDC driver to make a mark fencing 113 Mark Suttcliffe in heat one before 851 Adam Storr attacked 384 Goldie only to fence himself. The latter went on to nail the spun 122 Wooders with a solid head-on and repeated the move a lap later before he was T-boned by 439 Danny Allen, Craig Preece taking third place. 

Medley came under fire from 791 Nicky Young at the start of heat two before Lathan buried the Lincoln Town Car limo of 280 Simon Goodale and Jackson hit team mate 110 Garrie Mirza on the nose. 176 Ady Gibbs then laid into 326 Ratty before 90 Joe Ninety followed in Lathan after a restart, Ratty guiding his P5 to fourth place. 

No RDC involvement in heat three so onto heat four which featured a superb back straight pile-up in which Roy Preece nailed 512 Dan Jackson before he also stuck it to 579 Gary Beecham before copping it from 879 Reg Reed. 

Another back straight pile-up in heat five saw Joe Ninety flatten 84 Tom Harris before he copped it from Wooders who was collected by team mate 158 Shane Davies. The latter fled the scene allowing Ratty to wreck Wooders before his Rover was jacked nicely by 149 Wayne Bailey. 

No RDC interest in a much quieter heat six before Aaron Preece was buried by 88 Jake Lakin in heat seven and then nailed by 396 Carl Turner and with no RDC action in the final this concluded our interest in the rain soaked event. 

Congratulations to Perry Willings (added March 7)
All at RDC would like to congratulate one of our most underrated and most improved National Banger drivers of recent seasons 160 Perry Willings on the recent birth of his daughter Louise.

We are glad to report that both baby and mum, Carli, are doing fine and again we extend our congratulations to the family. 

National Banger and Reliant Robin Mildenhall Presentation Night (added February 8)
Despite the predicted heavy snow fall over Mildenhall providing to be an accurate forecast we were very impressed and pleased to welcome so many drivers and their guests to Mildenhall Stadium last Saturday night for the National Banger and Reliant Robin presentation night.

It goes without saying that the turnout was lower than we would have hoped for, had conditions been better, and we received a number of apologies from drivers who were unable to make the trip. Nonetheless the turnout was much better than we could have hoped for given the severe weather warnings and we are very grateful to all those who made the effort and we hope you had an enjoyable evening and more importantly, a safe journey home.

Once again in addition to the usual points championship trophy presentations, a number of other drivers collected various merit awards for their efforts during the 2011 season and those who were presented and received their awards are listed below.

Again thanks to everyone who attended and congratulations to all the trophy winners.

National Banger Merit Awards
Breakthrough Driver of the Year 160 Perry Willings
Breakthrough Driver of the Year 328 Daniel Lathan
Consistency Award 370 John Cobbold
Unsung Hero of the Year Award 585 Kevin Giles
Newcomer of the Year 256 Chris Filby
Young Gun of the Year 4 Sam Nice
Improved Driver of the Year 313 Craig Osbourn
Car of the Year 162 Rob Wheatley
Hardest Trier of the Year 305 Jason Fryett
Hardest Trier of the Year 690 Jack Wilkins
Dedication Award 218 John Carr

Reliant Robins Merit Awards
Most Improved Driver of the Year 28 David Donavan
Newcomer of the Year 551 Brett Jackson
Hardest Trier of the Year 9 Dale Russell

Saloon Stockcar British Championship weekend attracts £2,000 in sponsorship (added February 8)
The big event of the season for Saloon Stockcars at Mildenhall will be the 45th staging of the British Championship which will take place over the weekend of June 16 and 17 and we are delighted to report that this prestigious event looks set to be the recipient of some fantastic sponsorship. 

At time of writing at £2,000 has been pledged for the event. Special thanks must go to DK Salvage who helped get the ball rolling on this and pledged £1,000 in sponsorship and this was closely followed by additional input from S Venni Transport, Parker Skip Hire, Ray Goudy Trailer Repairs and Lyndale Engines. 

It should be stressed that RDC will cover all the standard running costs of this weekend and will pay out full start and prize money and therefore all sponsorship money will be in addition to the regular pay out for this event which means there will be in excess of £3,000 in prize money alone up for grabs over the two days. 

Exact details of how the sponsorship money will be distributed will be finalised in the coming weeks but early discussions have included doubling all prize money for all heat races over the weekend and the Grand Final on the Sunday afternoon meeting as well as extending prize money to from 8th to 10th place in all races. 

Again we hope to have much more on this in the coming weeks and will share it with you as soon as it is confirmed but again we want to extend a massive message of thanks to those who are showing such tremendous support to the sport’s longest serving event and we hope it will help make its 45th staging a memorable one.

As previously mentioned, the British Championship qualifying and title race will all be scheduled for Saturday night with a full programme of stockcar racing on Sunday afternoon as well. 

National Bangers Martin Seex Memorial confirmed for Mildenhall on May 12 (added February 8)
Following discussions with the Seex family in recent weeks, RDC Promotions is pleased to announce that Mildenhall Stadium will host the Martin Seex Memorial on Saturday, May 12 which will be held alongside the third British Championship qualifier of the season. 

Martin, who sadly passed away from illness in November, was the father of long serving RDC National Banger racers 107 Michael and 103 John and had long been a familiar face at the raceway, both supporting his sons as well as other drivers over the years and had been an occasional, if infrequent, racer himself. 

RDC Promotions is proud to stage an event in his memory and the National Banger British Qualifying round on May 12 will be dedicated in his memory with the memorial trophies being up for grabs in the Grand Final which will be the official Martin Seex Memorial Race. 

As always, all drivers will be welcome to attend this meeting and no doubt the Seex family will be delighted to see any drivers support the event. However we should note that as this is a British Championship qualifying round, the usual £5 entry fee per driver will still apply. 

National Bangers 2012 RDC RWD Championship series (added February 8)
For the third consecutive year RDC Promotions will run its season long National Banger RDC RWD Championship series which once again we hope to make bigger and better in 2012.

And with the BBA Supreme Championship now an unlimited banger fixture it means this year’s series grows again in size with no less than 10 meetings now featuring in the series making it one of the most important championships of the year at RDC. 

The series was created in 2010 to not only unify the somewhat limited number of events on the RDC calendar where the majority of drivers race RWD type cars but also to create a new type of event where drivers who prefer this kind of racing could put their efforts into and get greater rewards than before. 

In 2011 the nine round series culminated in the second annual RDC RWD Series Championship which was staged at the maiden all RWD National Banger meeting where 617 Jack Overy became the latestwinner of the sublime annual trophy kindly sponsored by Bathside Garage while 382 Jack Foster Jnr won the points chase and with it earned the right to wear a silver roof for the next 12 months. 

With the BBA Supreme Championship becoming an unlimited banger event in 2012 the RWD Series becomes a 10 round event in 2012 and once again the top points scorer after the 10 rounds will join the elite club to paint their roof silver for the next year. 

Once again adding to the importance of the RWD Series we have decided that it will be these points in 2012 which will determine which four drivers represent RDC in the Unlimited Banger World of Shale Championship at King’s Lynn in early September. Previously the RDC seeds were determined, like all major events, by the RDC National Points but in 2011 it was decided that to give the RWD Series added significance it will be these points which determine the four seeds. Therefore the top four RDC drivers in the RWD Series Points following the Unlimited Suffolk Open Championship on August 11 (round 8) will be offered the places in this big event at King’s Lynn. Please note that all remaining championship allocation, including the 2Litre TSR World Final and 1500cc National Championship at King’s Lynn, will still be determined by the RDC National Points Championship as per usual. 

Therefore here is the full run down of the dates and events for the 2012 National Banger RDC RWD Championship series. 

Round One Mildenhall Saturday March 24 6pm Unlimited Bangers BBA Supreme Championship
Round Two Mildenhall Saturday April 28 6.30pm Unlimited Bangers EA Team Championship
Round Three Mildenhall Saturday May 26 6.30pm Pre 70 Bangers
Round Four Dover Monday June 4 1pm Big Van Bangers
Round Five Mildenhall Saturday July 7 6.30pm Unlimited Van Bangers
Round Six Dover Sunday July 15 1pm Unlimited Bangers Kent Championship
Round Seven Mildenhall Saturday July 28 6pm 2Litre RWD Bangers
Round Eight Mildenhall Saturday August 11 6.30pm Unlimited Bangers Suffolk Open Championship
Round Nine: Mildenhall Saturday September 8 6.30pm All Mk1/Mk2 Granada Bangers
Round Ten/Series Final: Mildenhall Saturday September 29 6.30pm All RWD National Bangers

Qualifying for the Championship final on September 29 remains similar to 2011 but we have made some tweaks to again try and improve the season and full details are below. 

Firstly all 10 rounds will carry five attendance points to all drivers who race. Much like the British and Masters Championship qualifying points, these will only count towards the RDC RWD Series and will not have any bearing on the RDC National or track championships. It is hoped that these attendance points will reward those drivers who make the effort to attend as many rounds as possible. 

Qualifying for the 2012 RDC RWD Series Final on September 29 can be achieved by one of the following ways. 

The winner of the finals at the Unlimited BBA Supreme Championship on March 24 (both the Supreme Championship AND the meeting final), Unlimited EA Team Championship on April 28, Unlimited Kent Championship on July 15, 2Litre RWD meeting on July 28 and Unlimited Suffolk Open Championship on August 11.

We have also looked to incorporate other similar styled events which are held elsewhere in the sport. Therefore we are delighted to report that with the blessing of the promotions in question we will be offering seeded places to the winners of the finals at the following RWD style events. The 2Litre RWD events at Northampton (April 1), Aldershot (April 29), King’s Lynn (May 19) and Yarmouth (August 19), the 1800cc pre 76 meeting at Standlake (July 8), the 1400cc Vintage Tin meeting at Taunton (July 10), the pre 85 meeting at Grimley (June 24), British Beef at Mendips (June 23) and the all Cortina meeting at Swaffham (July 22). 

These seeded entries will be joined by the top 16 drivers from the RDC RWD Series points after August 11 (not including the all Mk1/2 Granada meeting) that have failed to qualify by winning one of the above Grand Finals. As always these places will be offered to the top drivers, regardless of which promotion they are licensed too. Please note that if there is any shortfall from the invited seeded entries detailed above, the next four drivers in the RWD points will act as reserves. However only the top 20 (not including any seeded entries) from the points will have a chance of competing in the series final. 

As we are not including the all Mkl/2 Granada meeting in helping to determine the 16 qualifiers via the RDC RWD points (we feel it is so close to the series final it does not give the qualifiers sufficient time to prepare so by not including it, it will allow us to announce the 16 seeds and reserves after August 11 giving drivers an extra three weeks to prepare), all race winners on September 8 who have yet to qualify for the RWD Championship will be extended a place on the grid.

Completing the list of pre meeting qualifiers will be defending champion 617 Jack Overy and the top two drivers (who wish to compete) from both the RDC National Points Championship and the Mildenhall Track Championship (up to and including August 11) who have failed to qualify already. The seeds via the Mildenhall points can include a visiting driver if they are high enough in the points. 

The grid will be completed by qualifiers from the last chance qualifier (which will be open to all drivers) and there will be a minimum of three places available from this race. Ideally we would like around 36 cars in the series final (although under the 2012 qualifying system there is potential for a bigger grid) so if there is any shortfall on the night, extra places may be available via the last chance race.

BriSCA F2 Stockcars One Wild Weekend booking system (added February 8)
Although restricting bookings in any formulas and at any meeting is something we loathe doing, unfortunately this will again be the case for the BriSCA F2 Stockcars on the Saturday night of our July (28 and 29) weekend event where the formula stars on both days.

Having been forced to cancel/postpone a race on the Saturday night part of this weekend meeting in 2009 and 2010 we are eager to run everything as planned this season, much like we did in 2011 which unfortunately again means limiting the BriSCA F2 Stockcar numbers so that a two heat/consolation format can be run. 

We should stress that bookings for the World of Shale qualifier on Sunday, July 29 will remain open to all drivers with no limit on numbers and also that a Grand National will not be scheduled on the Saturday night programme but may be added if time allows. 

Much like last year we will be limiting bookings to 56 for the Saturday night and we will be operating the same booking policy as last season which appeared successful and fair in rewarding those who supported Mildenhall in the early months of the season. 

Drivers will be asked to race at two Mildenhall meetings to become eligible for a booking but as soon as driver has raced at Mildenhall twice this season they will be asked if they would like a place on July 28. This means drivers will become eligible and able to book in for this meeting from April 21. 

However a couple of places will be reserved for the Scottish and overseas drivers who supported the two day event in 2011. 

Should there be any places still available after the June 17 meeting this will be made available to all drivers although we will try and make shale drivers a priority as we realise this is the only two day event for the formula on shale this season. 

With that in mind we are once again sorry that we have to limit numbers on the Saturday, it is not something we enjoy doing but it is perhaps the lesser of two evils when compared to losing races from the programme so we hope that by limiting the number will provide a better weekend for those racing. It is also worth noting that we rarely get 56 or more F2s to Mildenhall (unless it is a championship) so this would still represent a good entry for one of our meetings.

Ministox Diamond Jubilee Series (added February 8)
As part of our biggest ever season of racing for the 11 to 16-year-old stars of the future in the Ministox we are pleased to announce a special series which will be running during a hugely busy time for the formula over the Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend in early June.

The RDC Ministox will enjoy no less than three race meetings in four days at three different raceways during this Bank Holiday which will comprise the Diamond Jubilee Series. The dates and venues are as follows

Round one: Coventry Saturday June 2
Round two: Dover Monday June 4
Round three: Mildenhall Tuesday June 5

All drivers will be welcome at all of these meetings and drivers can race at just one or all three meetings but there will be a special points system to determine the overall winners which is specially designed to reward the drivers who make the maximum effort to attend all three rounds. 

Not only will drivers score five attendance points for each round they attend as well as the usual race points for the top 10 places but at the end of the final round, drivers who have competed at all three rounds will have their final score multiplied by two and drivers who have raced at two of the three rounds will have their final score multiplied by 1.5 to determine the final score chart. 

We hope to have a number of special awards on offer for both the overall series, each of the three rounds and also for the best drivers in the lower grades but more information will follow soon. 

All Mk1/2 Granada National Banger RDC 20th anniversary information (added February 8)
One of the most exciting fixtures during the 20th anniversary season of RDC Promotions at Mildenhall Stadium is our official anniversary meeting on Saturday, September 8 featuring all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada National Bangers.

In recent weeks we have received a few questions about the meeting which we wanted to address here. The first, and probably most important, is that we have not started taking bookings for this meeting yet (and have no intention of doing so for a good few weeks yet) and also that there are no limits on numbers for this meeting and while we will try and establish some kind of entry list, all drivers will be welcome at the meeting.

However we may have to work something out with regard to the drivers planning to race Mk1 Granadas. We have been in contact with an encouraging amount of drivers who either plan to or hope to race a Mk1 Granada at this meeting and we have stated that in the initial races we will put all the Mk1s out together and would love nothing more than to run a Mk1 Granada only race. With that in mind we may start trying to establish if drivers have Mk1s set aside for this meeting at an earlier date in which to guarantee these drivers a place in a Mk1 only race, should it happen. Our concern is that there may be too many Mk1 Granadas to put in a single race (an unlikely scenario we admit) and that if we leave arranging this race until the night some might be disappointed. 

Furthermore we want to remind all drivers looking to compete at this meeting that while V6 engines are allowed, we will not be allowing any modern engines (Zetecs etc) at this event. This is a one night only policy as we are hoping to recreate as best as possible a meeting from our original season at Mildenhall in 1993. 

For our original announcement of this 20th season anniversary meeting click here. 

Saloon Stockcars £1,000 Dash for Cash Series (added February 8)
Once again we will be running our action packed and ever exciting Saloon Stockcar Dash for Cash series throughout 2012 with £1,000 up for grabs across the series.

Provisional dates for the series are as follows
Round one: March 10
Round two: March 31
Round three: July 7
Round four: July 29
Round five: August 25
Series Final: September 8

This year we are making some minor tweaks to the series to try and improve the dash races. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the qualifying at each meeting is to change and now a top eight finish in a heat race or a top 10 finish in a final will qualify a driver for the end of meeting dash for cash.

The prize money for each of the five rounds is £100 winner take all and once again the winner will qualify for all of the remaining dash for cash races that season including the final and should they triumph in the final they will win the £500 jackpot. The series final will also be open to all qualifiers on that night and should they win the dash they will win £100. 

Furthermore the Dash for Cash on July 7 will also feature drivers who secured a qualifying position during the British Championship weekend in June. The July 7 meeting is RDC’s 20th anniversary meeting for Saloon Stockcars at Mildenhall and so we hope this might make this occasion a little more special. 

Similarly the July 29 dash for cash will also feature drivers who earned a qualifying place on July 28. 

The series final is provisional scheduled for September 8. However should circumstances prohibit any of the rounds not taking places as planned we may well have to move the dates. If this is the case then September 8 would be the final round and the final would be held on October 20. 

Mildenhall Winter Series round up and thank you (added February 1)
Following last Sunday’s race meeting at Mildenhall Stadium we want to thank everyone who helped make the 20th annual Mildenhall Winter Series such a wonderful success.

Truly all at RDC were blown away by the entry of 1600cc Bangers for the concluding round of the series, a figure no doubt boosted by those present for the Ruby Sketula memorial race (big thanks to the Sketula family for organising the drivers for that event), but the 105 strong entry was a massive improvement on the final round of the series for the last couple of years and this was with all the winter meetings being run as scheduled, something which we have been unable to do for the last two years. 

No doubt the much more favourable weather conditions this January also played a part in the larger levels of driver support but they also helped our track team produce the best racing strip we have enjoyed for a winter meeting in some time and this not only played a big part in a hugely enjoyable afternoon of racing but it also helped us complete the 14 race programme in little over four hours. 

A special thanks should also go to the near 60 drivers who returned for the 1600cc Banger Accumulator qualifier and DD which was a tremendous entry, especially given that most of the previous races had enjoyed their share of action, and was a fitting conclusion to the anniversary series.

Once again the curse of the Mildenhall Winter Series struck. Not only in the National Bangers this year but in the Ministox as well with the drivers leading the series into the final round coming unstuck and someone else snatching the titles from under their noses. 

In the National Bangers, 160 Perry Willings started the afternoon fourth but had a miserable afternoon failing to score a single point. Meanwhile the initial top three 322 Thomas Fox, 328 Daniel Lathan and 673 Darren Fendley all qualified for the main event and with the latter pair enjoying race wins it seemed the curse might finally be broken. Alas it was not to be and all three fell by the wayside in the final while defending champion 682 Paul Sparrow came from nowhere with third in his heat, third in the final plus second in the DD and the entertainer award to come from nowhere and become the first driver to successfully defend the title since 22 Dave Vincent in 1996/7.

There was a similar story in the Ministox where 518 Jordan Cardy saw his lead slowly worn away during the afternoon but he still led into the final only for disaster to strike and he was an early casualty allowing 342 Ryley Freestone to take second and again snatch the title.

Finally some impressive stats from the Winter Series, the three meetings seeing a whopping 199 different drivers race in the National Bangers (including two 100+ car turn outs), 21 Ministox drivers (in fact 25 drivers raced in their winter series which was held over four round and four drivers only raced at the November meeting) plus 27 Reliant Robin drivers and 12 Bangerstox drivers meaning almost 260 drivers raced at Mildenhall during these three meetings which is a fantastic number, a wonderful result for the 20th running of our Winter Series and a fabulous way to commence our 20th anniversary season. 

While we want to thank each and every driver for competing at some stage during the series we would like to highlight those who went the extra mile and enjoyed a 100 per cent attendance record. In the National Bangers, 15 drivers raced in all three rounds, they were 

26 Daniel Holmes (who also raced in the 1500cc Icebreaker)
59 Ben Jackson
107 Michael Seex
116 Nat Cohn (who also raced in the 1500cc Icebreaker)
133 Marc Paton (who also raced at the Civil War)
160 Perry Willings
209 Tom Waller
322 Thomas Fox
328 Daniel Holmes (who also raced in the 1500cc Icebreaker)
517 Sid Cooper
673 Darren Fendley (who also raced at King’s Lynn on January 2 and 22)
841 Phil Jennings
912 Kieran Greenway
924 Mark Rook
928 Emmerson Prime

It is also worth mentioning 370 John Cobbold who while absent from Mildenhall on January 1 was in action at Birmingham that afternoon. 

There was equally impressive commitment to be found in the Ministox where the following 12 drivers raced in all four rounds of the series

301 Josh Simpson
316 Sam Dace
327 Michael Maskall Jnr
332 Sophie Bright
341 Austin Freestone
342 Ryley Freestone
361 Ashley Byron
369 Liam Santry
383 Shane Harvey
390 Karl Morris
397 Reece Swatman
518 Jordan Cardy

Again thanks to all the drivers for their support this winter and also to the fans who continued to support these meetings, it is all greatly appreciated and we hope to see you all again in March. 

Bangerstox Suffolk Championship bookings (added February 1)
With the 2012 Bangerstox season kicking off last weekend this seemed a good time to explain how bookings will be issued for the third annual Suffolk Championship weekend at Mildenhall on June 9 and 10.

Once again bookings will only be issued to drivers who support the early season meetings at Dover Raceway but this year the bookings will also be limited to 30 drivers. This is because the June weekend this year now features two major Stockcar championship events and therefore we want to run an ‘all in’ format for the Bangerstox across the weekend rather than splitting the cars for the qualifying heats. 

Nonetheless all drivers who compete at this event will have the opportunity of five races across the two days (just like the last two years) with three qualifying heats on Saturday night followed by the championship and an Allcomers race on the Sunday afternoon. 

As with previous years there will be a criteria in order for drivers to be eligible for a booking which will be as follows

Drivers who raced at the 2011 Suffolk Championship meeting or at Mildenhall on January 29 have to race at two of the first four meetings of the season at Dover Racway to be eligible for a booking

Drivers who competed in at least two of the final four meetings of the season at Dover Raceway in 2011 have to race at two of the first meetings of the 2012 season at Dover Raceway to be eligible for a booking

Drivers who did not race at the 2011 Suffolk Championship or at Mildenhall on January 29 or in two or more of the final four Dover meetings in 2011 have to compete in three of the first four meetings of the season at Dover Raceway to be eligible for a booking.

Subsequently bookings for this year’s Suffolk Championship will open on May 7 and bookings will be open to the first 30 drivers to become eligible and then book in. 

The following drivers are on the list of those who only need to race at two of the first four meetings of the year at Dover to be eligible for a booking. All other drivers will need to race at three of the opening Dover meetings to be considered for a place. 

2 John Alder 
3 George Forbes
4 Chris Craft
5 Rob Craft
6 Sarah Cox
8 Graham Hedger
9 Chris Young
12 Dean Blenkinsop
13 Tracey Gilbert
14 Carl Pritchard
15 Jay Powell
19 Aaron O’Connell
20 Andy Burbridge
23 Darren Young
25 Andy Harmer
25 Olly Evans
35 Cyndi Bradley
37 Alex Slade
40 Joe Taylor
44 Matt Sharp
49 Pete Back
51 Colin Boswell
52 Richard Randall
53 Martin Charles
55 Clint Millen
56 Fred Childs
58 Owen Childs
60 Nathan Port
61 Ken Hollamby
64 Aaron Harris
65 Chris Bull
68 Dave Sharp
72 Dean Worriner
73 Andy Wood
77 Gareth Poile
83 Paul Apps 
88 Nick Dash
93 Alfie Hover
95 Paul Chapman
96 Andy Chapman
98 Sean Chapman
99 Mark Sweeney
222 Dick Tracey

Mildenhall Stockcar Presentation Night (added January 25)
This week we would like to thank everyone who helped make last weekend’s Stockcar Presentation Night at Mildenhall Stadium such a great success.

Once again Ministox and Saloon Stockcar drivers were invited and for the first time we also included BriSCA F2 Stockcar drivers in the occasion and it helped lead to perhaps our best attended Stockcar presentation night to date and we are hopeful that this will continue to grow in the future, especially based on the very positive feedback from those who attended last Saturday night. 

As is customary at these events it was not just those who excelled in the points championship who received their trophies but also a number of trophies were presented to drivers who had impressed in various areas during the season and we felt their efforts warranted special attention and a reward. 

Below is the complete list of merit award winners who were presented with special trophies at the weekend and the awards they collected. 

Ministox 
100 per cent attendance 2011 344 Ross Fisher
100 per cent attendance 350 Thomas Parrin
Most Improved Driver of the Year 2011 386 Daniel Petters
Most Improved Driver of the Year 2011 394 Liam Aspin
Most Improved Driver of the Year 2011 397 Reece Swatman
Hardest Trier of the Year 2011 390 Karl Morris
Newcomer of the Year 2011 301 Josh Simpson
Effort Award 2011 375 Alex Hensby
Effort Award 2011 313 Tommy Langley
Carry on Regardless Award 2011 332 Sophie Bright

BriSCA F2 Stockcars
Dedication Award 2011 150 Mark Thoms
White Grade of the Year Award 2011 231 Matt Clayton
Carry of Regardless Award 2011 619 Andrew Clarke

Saloon Stockcars
Breakthrough Driver of the Year 2011 184 Marty Colliver
Newcomer of the Year 2011 442 Simon Berry
Newcomer of the Year 2011 591 Aaron Morris
Finish of the Year 2011 6 Simon Welton
Effort Award 2011 233 Rob Aldridge
Most Improved Driver of the Year 2011 22 Karl Petters
Returnee of the Year 2011 51 Paul Licquorice

Congratulations to all our trophy winners and again thanks for your support last weekend, we hope you all had an enjoyable evening and we look forward to seeing you again very soon.

Don’t forget our National Banger and Reliant Robin presentation night takes place at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, February 4 with the doors at 7pm and the trophy presentation at around 8pm. Everyone is welcome and tickets on the door are just £5 each. 

Les Eaton RIP (added January 25)
All at RDC Promotions would like to join the rest of the short oval racing community in extending their sympathies following the news of the passing of Les Eaton on January 23 at Ipswich Hospital. 

Les, along with his late wife, Mavis, was a pioneer of our sport in this country and instrumental in the foundation of the sport at its earliest age. So much of what we do today can be traced back to men like Les Eaton. 

Les and Mavis promoted their first race meeting on August 18 1960 at Aldershot Stadium as Paramount Promotions and the following year he broke away with his newly formed Formula Two Stockcar Company which would later become Spedeworth Internation. 

Our thoughts go to the entire Eaton family and their friends at this difficult time and a minutes silence in Les’ memory is planned at the start of this weekend’s race meeting at Mildenhall Stadium. 

Bev Greenhalf RIP (added January 18)
All at RDC Promotions would like to join the rest of the short oval racing community in passing on its condolences having heard of the news of the passing of legendary commentator Bev Greenhalf.

Described as many as the voice of BriSCA F1 Stockcar racing, Bev was also the voice of Northampton Raceway, having commentated at the raceway for around 40 years as well as at many other raceways around the country, primarily for BriSCA F1 Stockcars. 

Bev, who had continued to commentate until recently despite his illness, passed away on January 10. 

RDC would like to thank him for his contributions to the sport over the years and while his efforts were not directly linked to RDC, his efforts behind the scenes for BriSCA stockcar racing were appreciated throughout the sport and we remain thankful for his work.

Our thoughts to his family and friends at this time.

Ministox Race Video Trophy added to Mildenhall January 29 (added January 18)
We are delighted to report that the forthcoming Winter Series Finale meeting for Ministox at Mildenhall on Sunday, January 29 will now also boast the maiden staging of the Race Video Trophy. 

Race Video expressed an interest in sponsoring the meeting which also features the Ruby Skutela Memorial for 1600cc (no Mondeo) Bangers. Ruby tragically died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), known more commonly as Cot Death and the Race Video team has been effected by this terrible problem and wanted to get involved in the meeting with the Ministox.

With that in mind it has been agreed that Race Video will sponsor a new trophy and the Race Video Trophy will be presented to the top scoring driver after all three races on January 29 and we intend to make this an annual event for the formula at Mildenhall and our thanks to Race Video for their sponsorship.

2012 RDC license forms now available on line via RDC website (added January 4)
Following repeated calls we are very pleased to report that 2012 license forms for RDC Promotions are now available from the RDC website (we never were the best with modern technology!)

Either use the RDC license form link on the left hand side or click here and then click on the form you need. National Banger, Reliant Robin, Bangerstox and Super Rod licenses are all done with the same form but Ministox have a different one.

We have also included our parental form which needs to be completed by a parent of under driver under the age of 18.

You will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the forms, however most PCs should have this facility and if you don’t we have supplied a link so you can download it for free. We can still send printed license forms by post of course, if you would like one sent then please contact us on 01268 412299 (ideally between 9am and 12noon Monday to Friday) or by e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com

Mildenhall Winter Series Rd2 message from RDC (added January 4)
In the wake of the second meeting in the 20th anniversary Mildenhall Winter Series at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend we would like to quickly send a message of thanks to all the drivers and fans who supported the meeting.

Given it was our first New Year’s Day meeting for several years, combined with the awful weather in the days leading up to the meeting and how busy the racing calendar is at this time of year we had very modest expectations for Sunday and were truly very pleased with the amount of racers who competed with almost 90 drivers in action which we felt was a fine turnout.

It was also a source of personal pride that the track remained in decent condition for the start of the meeting at least, especially when compared to previous January meetings at the track. Many will remember that the first meeting of January in 2010 was cancelled because of the weather and track conditions and the racing surface on Sunday was far superior to that of the January meetings which did take place in 2009 and 2010. Of course we now have much work ahead of us to try and provide a good winter racing strip for the final round of the series on January 29 but we are hopeful that if the weather allows it we will be able to achieve that.

Of course one of the reasons we face so much work in the next few weeks is because of the heavy rain which hit the stadium in the second half of Sunday’s meeting. We had hoped that we would get most, if not all of the meeting, completed before the forecast rain arrived but it was not to be the case. Nonetheless we want to thank all the drivers and their teams who continued to compete in the difficult conditions. Almost all the Ministox drivers raced in each of their races which were hit by the wet weather, there was decent showings in the Reliant Robins and 1400cc Banger Final and the turnout for the 1400cc Banger Accumulator qualifier and DD, of more than half the original field was an excellent effort by all concerned so big thanks to all who took part when the weather took a turn for the worse. 

Happy New Year to all drivers and fans from RDC Promotions (added December 27)
All at RDC would like to wish all our drivers and our visiting drivers, their family and friends, the members of the RDC team and all fans of this sport a very Happy and safe New Year.

Once again we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported RDC in some shape or form during 2011, we hope you all had an enjoyable year and again wish everyone all the best for 2012. 

We hope to see some of you to welcome the New Year at our New Year’s Day meeting, this Sunday (January 1) afternoon at Mildenhall Stadium at 1.30pm. 

Reminder re 2012 licenses for Mildenhall on January 1 and RDC office hours this week (added December 27)
As we look forward to the second round of the National Banger’s 20th anniversary Mildenhall Winter Series, this Sunday (January 1) afternoon we want to again remind all drivers that they will need a 2012 ORC license in order to race and drivers without a 2012 license will require a day license. 

Drivers looking to register with RDC in 2012 are reminded that they can complete their licenses when they arrive at Mildenhall Stadium on New Year’s Day and should they do so they will not need a day license.

Any visiting drivers who are intending to race this Sunday who have registered with their promotion but have not yet received a 2012 ORC log book must get their promotion to contact us prior to the meeting to confirm you are licensed for 2012 otherwise you will need a day license. 

Drivers are also reminded that the RDC office will be open on Thursday and Friday morning this week between 9am and 12noon although there is no need to book in for this meeting in any of the three formulas (1400cc Bangers, Ministox and Reliant Robins) and all drivers will be welcome on the day. 

On the subject of the RDC office, normal opening hours will resume on Tuesday, January 3 where the office will be open every morning between 9am and 12noon on 01268 412299 with a limited service at other times but you can also contact us on 07850 683953 or by e mailing Michael Coventry on wastedmc@btopenworld.com 

National Banger drivers are also reminded that this Sunday’s 1400cc Banger meeting is open to any car 1400cc and under and therefore any ‘survivors’ from the Micro meeting before Christmas can be raced at this fixture. Further RWD cars up to 1600cc can be used as is the norm for our 1400cc meetings.

Once again the New Year’s Day meeting this Sunday features 1400cc Bangers and Ministox in the latest round of their Winter Series and Reliant Robins in a World Championship qualifying round with the first race at 1.30pm.

2011 end of year stats for RDC Promotions and Mildenhall Stadium (added December 27)
As this is the final news update on the RDC website for 2011 we thought we would mark it with some somewhat impressive and encouraging end of year stats for RDC Promotions and Mildenhall Stadium. 

Firstly we have the end of year numbers for the amount of drivers who raced at RDC during the 2011 starting with the National Bangers where the 2011 season (which doesn’t include the Mildenhall Team Championship on November 27 and Micro Banger meeting on December 18 which were not a part of the official 2011 season) saw a whopping 705 drivers compete a Mildenhall Stadium.

Furthermore Mildenhall Stadium in 2011 saw 99 BriSCA F2 Stockcars race at the Suffolk shaleway, 72 Saloon Stockcar drivers and 56 Ministox drivers (with a grand total of 71 Ministox drivers racing at RDC events in total in 2011). Finally at Mildenhall in 2011 we had the company of 63 different drivers in the Reliant Robins during the year. 

Taking into account the Bangerstox and Super Rod drivers who raced at Mildenhall as well in 2011 and this means that over 1,000 different drivers competed at the Suffolk shaleway during the 2011 season which is a tremendous number. 

Our average turnouts for each formula at Mildenhall were also most pleasing during in 2011. The National Banger average entry at Mildenhall was 89 cars and the average entry for RDC Promotions (Mildenhall and Dover) was 76. In BriSCA F2 Stockcars our average entry at Mildenhall was 50 cars and for Saloon Stockcars it was 30 while in the Ministox the average car count at Mildenhall and at RDC overall (Mildenhall, Coventry and Dover) was 22 and finally the average Reliant Robin turnout at Mildenhall in 2011 was 29 cars and at RDC (Mildenhall and Dover) it was 23. 

Just to underline how impressive these averages are we have been provided with some figures to compare them with across the sport for National Bangers, Saloon Stockcars and BriSCA F2 Stockcars. Unfortunately we do not have similar information for Ministox and Reliant Robins but we would suspect the 22 car average for Mildenhall and RDC for Ministox is as good as anywhere during 2011 and likewise the 29 car Mildenhall average for Reliant Robins to perhaps be the best for any track which runs regular racing for 3-wheelers.

It is also worth noting that of the 25 meetings staged at Mildenhall in 2011, 20 of them featured over 100 race cars in total (the lowest being 84 on January 23 and the most being 228 on Good Friday) with an average of 132 race cars per meeting. 

Meanwhile here are Mildenhall and RDC’s averages compared with elsewhere in the sport in 2011.

NATIONAL BANGERS (by track)
Mildenhall 89 car average (25 meetings)
Ipswich 83 (6)
Emmen 74 (6-not including December 30)
King’s Lynn 68 (22)
Northampton 67 (7)
Standlake 65 (11)
Wimbledon 56 (7-not including December 26)
Arlington 53 (8)
Aldershot 52 (7)
Hednesford 50 (10)
Warneton 43 (8)
Birmingham 39 (6)
Arena Essex 38 (28)
Mendips 34 (11)
Taunton 34 (11)
Belle Vue 33 (2)
Ringwood 32 (11)
Dover 32 (7)
Coventry 32 (4)
Stoke 32 (3)
Swaffham 30 (10)
Crimond 29 (15)
Ringwood Cheetas 28 (2)
St Day 27 (5)
Warton 25 (18)
Nutts Corner 23 (11-not including December 27)
Cowdenbeath 23 (7)
Sheffield 22 (2)
Yarmouth 21 (5)
Smallfield 17 (5)
Onchan 16 (12)
Skegness 16 (5)
Upper Eden 15 (9)
Buxton 15 (7)
Grimley 14 (12)
Barford 14 (6)
Scunthorpe 12 (2)
Prestatyn 10 (5)
Trent 9 (9)
Horndean 9 (6)

NATIONAL BANGERS (by promotion)
RDC Promotions 76 (32 meetings)
Emmen 74 (6-not including December 30)
TSR 68 (22)
Standlake 65 (11)
Spedeworth 52 (34)
Incarace 52 (23)
CAMSO 43 (8)
PRI 38 (28)
Mendips 34 (11)
Autospeed 32 (16)
Swaffham 30 (10)
Crimond 29 (15)
Startrax 28 (10)
Ringwood Cheetas 28 (2)
Warton 25 (18)
Nutts Corner 23 (11-not including December 27)
GMP 23 (7)
Smallfield 17 (5)
Onchan 16 (12)
Skegness 16 (5)
Upper Eden 15 (9)
Buxton 15 (7)
Grimley 14 (12)
Barford 14 (6)
Scunthorpe 12 (2)
Prestatyn 10 (5)
Trent 9 (9)
Horndean 9 (6)

Obviously it is most impressive that Mildenhall topped the averages for tracks and RDC the average for promotions but these numbers are even more impressive when compared to tracks and promotions which ran a similar number of meetings (i.e. for tracks Arena Essex and King’s Lynn and for promotions PRI and Spedeworth). It is also worth noting that none of the RDC meetings for National Bangers held in 2011 featured more than one class of National Bangers and double (or even triple) class meetings have only been counted as single meetings on the above stats. 

Another impressive statistic is that of the 21 National Banger meetings in 2011 which raised entries of 100 cars or more, Mildenhall enjoyed seven triple figure entries. Again making this figure even more special is that all of these entries were achieved with a single class of National Bangers while one third of the 100 plus entries in 2011 came from two or three classes on the same day. Therefore of all the 100 plus turnouts in 2011 from single class meetings, Mildenhall produced half of them. Furthermore Mildenhall enjoyed four meetings with 90-99 National Bangers and a further three with between 85 and 89 cars. 

SALOON STOCKCARS (averages by tracks)
King’s Lynn 38 cars (13 meeting)
Skegness 36 (10)
Arena Essex 39 (2)
Coventry 33 (2)
Mildenhall 30 (10)
Taunton 20 (11)
Cowdenbeath 18 (26)
St Day 15 (3)
Knockhill 10 (5)

Again these are hugely impressive figures for the formula with over half of the tracks which enjoyed multiple meetings for Saloon Stockcars boasting an average of 30 or more. It is especially impressive that of the tracks which hold regular racing for the formula, Mildenhall is among the highest and also the averages are very encouraging for racing in the East Anglian region and shale surface meetings in 2011.

BriSCA F2 STOCKCARS (averages by tracks)
King’s Lynn 71 cars (7 meetings)
Coventry 65 (5)
Mildenhall 50 (7)
Hednesford 49 (3)
Belle Vue 48 (9)
Birmingham 47 (12)
Northampton 46 (13)
Stoke 46 (3)
Skegness 38 (23)
Taunton 37 (13)
Sheffield 33 (2)
Barford 30 (19)
Buxton 28 (9)
St Day 27 (6)
Mendips 25 (6)
Knockhill 23 (6)
Cowdenbeath 20 (26)
Arena Essex 16 (7)
Crimond 14 (11)

Again these figures are hugely encouraging, especially as Mildenhall did not stage one of the sports bigger championship events in 2011 and underlines how wonderfully consistent the BriSCA F2 Stockcar entries have been at Mildenhall in recent years which entries have dipped at many other venues for a variety of reasons, not in the least the ever ongoing recession in this country. These averages also further demonstrate the current popularity for shale racing in the sport. 

Once again we want to thank all the drivers and their families and teams for helping to make these figures happen, we are tremendously thankful for everyone’s support at RDC.

Also thanks to Ed Anderson, David Hamar and Crispen Rosevear for their assistance with this article. 

Merry Christmas to all RDC drivers and fans (added December 21)
In our final news update before December 25 we would like to extend our Christmas greetings to those in the world of short oval motor racing.

Of course we would like to send a special message of Merry Christmas to all RDC drivers but also to the visiting drivers who have competed at Mildenhall and Dover in 2011, their teams and families and to all the race fans who have supported us at some stage during 2011.

We hope you all have a wonderful time this Christmas. 

Message of thanks to all following opening round of 20th anniversary Mildenhall Winter Series (added December 21)
In the wake of the opening round of the 20th anniversary Mildenhall Winter Series for National Bangers we would like to thank everyone for their support last weekend.

With unexpected snowfall at the stadium on the morning of the meeting and more significant snowfall in many neighbouring areas it remained to be seen if many would be deterred from making the trip to the stadium and so we were truly blown away by the magnificent entry of 114 Micro Bangers which was not only an improvement on last year’s corresponding fixture but more than what we anticipated on the entry list which was assembled on the website in the weeks leading up to the meeting 

It goes without saying that there were a few no shows from the advertised entry list but despite the unexpected turn in the weather there were much fewer than we feared and we would like to thank those who contacted us before and after the meeting to explain their absences which was greatly appreciated.

We would also like to thank the fans we braved the arctic weather to enjoy the racing the drivers served up and we hope you enjoyed the lively racing they produced.

We would also like to thank Spedeworth for giving us their blessing to use their popular Micro Banger format which they have developed in recent years. It was most likely a combination of the new format, the Best Pairs format and the better weather conditions in the run up the meeting (last year’s event was held after heavy snow hit many parts of the country) that resulted in the improved entry of cars from 12 months ago but nonetheless we are grateful to Spedeworth for their assistance and we can confirm that next years meeting will again run to Micro Banger rules. 

It is also worth reminding all drivers who raced whose cars may have lived to fight another day that the next round of the Mildenhall Winter Series, on New Years Day (Sunday January 1) features 1400cc Bangers where any car raced last weekend could be used again. 

The biggest disappointment of the afternoon was the low entry of Ministox, the lowest seen at Mildenhall for several years. With no clashing fixtures we can only assume the bad weather played a part and we hope to see numbers pick up for the next round of the Winter Series on January 1. Nonetheless the young guns once again produced some very competitive racing and well done to 369 Liam Santry on his hard fought hat trick of race wins.

Speaking of winning young guns and we must congratulate 322 Thomas Fox as the long serving Ministox graduate marked his National Banger debut with a race win. Thomas joins a very elite group of National Banger drivers who can say they won their maiden race so big congratulations to him.

Also well done to 48 Brian and 148 Ian Redden on winning the first ever Micro Banger Best Pairs Challenge, Brian marking his first on track outing in a year by winning the Grand Final. 

Finally we are again sorry for the short delay before the National Banger DD. We felt this was necessary as a few drivers who had raced in the Banger Final were eager to compete in the DD but only had the Ministox Grand Final for repair time. In each case the drivers and their teams were reported by our pit team to be working as fast and as hard as possible and were genuinely on track as soon as they possibly could but again we would like to thank the fans on hand for their patience in waiting for these drivers and we hope the action produced in the near 50 car DD was worth the short wait. 

Invitations and complimentary tickets en route for Mildenhall awards nights (added December 21)
We are pleased to report that we have finalised our lists for trophy winners for this years presentation nights at Mildenhall Stadium in January and this week invitations are being sent to all trophy winners alongside complimentary tickets to the event.

First up is the Mildenhall Stockcar Presentation Night which takes place in the Fen Man Bar at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, January 21 and will feature trophy presentations for Ministox, Saloon Stockcars and BriSCA F2 Stockcars.

And then two weeks later it is the National Banger and Reliant Robin presentation night which takes place at the stadium on Sunday, February 4. 

All trophy winners (both points trophy winners and merit trophy winners) will receive two complimentary tickets to their respective events with the exception of the Ministox where all RDC registered Ministox drivers in 2011 will receive three complimentary tickets for January 21. Furthermore this year we have also extended the same invitation to all Ministox drivers who raced at Coventry in 2011. However with non RDC drivers their invitations and tickets will be sent via their own promoter and may take a little longer to arrive. 

Once again we want to stress that these awards night are open to everyone and all are welcome with additional tickets available on the door for just £5.

Congratulations to 328 Daniel Lathan new 1500cc National Champion (added December 14)
All at RDC Promotions would like to congratulate 328 Daniel Lathan on his maiden major National Banger title victory after he lifted the 1500cc National Championship at King’s Lynn last weekend. 

Unfortunately we don’t have a full report from the event but in addition to Lathan taking the title, 382 Jack Foster Jnr added to the RDC success by finishing second for an impressive RDC 1-2 in the championship and 617 Jack Overy cemented his return appearance at the Norfolk Arena by winning the destruction derby in the unlimited bangers.

Lathan’s first title win was a most fitting conclusion to an excellent season for the rising star where he followed up being one of the most improved drivers of 2010 by becoming one of the breakout stars of 2011 and we look forward to his first appearance as champion at this weekend’s Micro Banger Best Pairs meeting at Mildenhall. 

ORCi National Bangers and Ministox rules for 2012 (added December 14)
The ORCi website has added the newly confirmed technical specifications (construction rules) for National Bangers and Ministox which, as always, we would encourage drivers in each formula to take the time to go through ahead of the 2012 season.

The National Bangers rules can be found by clicking here and the Ministox rules by clicking here.

New rules are highlighted in red, however National Banger drivers are reminded that RDC offers a more detailed version of our racing rules which apply at our race meetings by clicking here.

His and Her Banger team event added to 2012 Mildenhall fixtures (added December 7)
This week we have a few additions and confirmations to our draft fixtures for 2012 at RDC and these include a new addition to our plans with a first for RDC at Mildenhall Stadium, a his and her National Banger team event. 

It has been a long time since we have had any form of ladies banger racing at Mildenhall (probably around 15 years) and there has always been calls for some sort of ladies event at the raceway, especially with ladies banger racing becoming an increasingly popular format elsewhere in the sport. 

Therefore we have elected to try an event, albeit one with our own spin on it and the maiden staging of the His and Her Banger team challenge is scheduled for Sunday, November 11 at Mildenhall.

The idea is for drivers to form a two driver team, one woman and one man with two points scoring races for the women and two for the men with the top scoring duo over the four races being the winner. It is our intention for the meeting to be run to a 1400cc limit and team mates will be able to share a car if they are unable to have two cars for the meeting, however teams who are able to have a car for each driver are perfectly allowed to do so, however teams with two cars will not be allowed to swap drivers in their cars after a driver has one raced. 

For the maiden event we have somewhat modest expectations and with the meeting intended to be a three formula affair we are likely to limit the entries to around 30 teams but we hope in time this may develop into another popular meeting on the RDC fixtures. We’ll have more information soon and bookings will open in the summer. 

1400cc Bangers Suffolk Open Team Championship fully booked with reserves (added December 7)
Following news last week of a massive amount of early interest being shown in next year’s 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open Team Championship at Mildenhall on Good Friday, April 6, we are thrilled this week to announce this meeting if fully booked.

In fact it is actually over booked as due to a handful of bookings coming in at the same time we have accepted a whopping 38 teams for the 2012 staging of this event and even more remarkable is the fact we have already turned away four teams who have been added to a reserve list should space present itself in the future.

The full list of confirmed teams is below, keep an eye out for a dedicated Good Friday section of the website in the New Year when we will begin work on detailing the driver line ups for each team.

Aftermath
Bad News
Bad Newz
Barton Boys
Chicken Edz
Cowboys
Cream Team
Damaged Goods
Dover Boys
Grave Diggers
Mad Hatters Young Guns
Midnight Runners
Motley Krew A
Motley Krew B
Mr Men
Old Skool Krew
Rat Pack A
Rat Pack B
Team Black
Team Bull
Team DWO
Team Flash
Team Green A
Team Green B
Team Mint
Team MOT
Team Kamikaze
Team Raiders
Team Wilko
Thattadoo
The Contenders
The Hogs
The Jokers
The Mob
The Specials
Wacky Racers
WI Engineering
A currently unnamed team entered by 209 Ben Hayward

Congratulations to Dan Poole and Michael Norman (added December 7)
All at RDC would like to extend their best wishes and congratulations to National Banger drivers 259 Dan Poole and 527 Michael Norman on the recent new additions to their families. 

Dan’s daughter Louise was born in the early hours of December 2, weighing 6.14lbs and Michael’s daughter, Mia, was born on December 1, weighing 6.06lbs.

We are delighted to say that both Michael and Dan report that mothers and babies are doing fine and again we wish them all the best for the future. 

Christmas gift ideas from TSR (added December 7)
We all know Christmas can be a tricky time finding the right gift for a fan or driver of our sport but our colleagues at TSR may well have the answer with their range of racing related gifts. Full details can be found below. 

Looking for that elusive last minute Christmas Gift?

How about a Paul Harrison Mouse Mat or a Predators T Shirt, a Shane Davies Lunch Box, a Chris Bradbury Sticker, David Aldous Car Hanger or a Tim Warwick Fridge Magnet?

Check out the Trackstar online Trackshop where there are a great selection of items which can be bought and delivered to you in time for Christmas which will make great gifts for all Stock Car and Banger Fans. This year's on line Trackshop has several new items and designs never seen before!!

Selection of items covers Banger Drivers, Banger Teams, F1 and F2 Stock Cars Drivers, 2L Stock Car Drivers, 1300 Stock Car Drivers, Lady Banger Drivers, Ministox drivers and much more.

Keep checking the shop every day for additional new items.

Items ordered by 8pm on Thursday December 16 are guaranteed for Christmas Delivery.

Visit the Trackshop here

November to Remember round up and thank you (added November 30)
This week we would like to extend a big message of thanks to all the drivers and fans who supported the annual November to Remember event at Mildenhall last weekend headlined by the National Banger Mildenhall Team Championship. 

Despite the predicted non-appearance of Team Happy Days we were pleased to not only see all of the remaining teams which were booked in appear at the raceway but the majority boasted full teams of four which left us with a field of almost 100 cars and together they served up a most lively afternoon of racing and again we would like to thank all the drivers and their teams for their contributions to that. 

As always there were some issues during the day which we would like to take the time to address here. The first was that this meeting featured a significant number of National Banger drivers who were loaded up for various rule breaks. The most common was drivers falling foul of the rule which now prevents drivers from travelling from one bend to the other on opposite. This rule was introduced in August when the ORC introduced new racing rules across the sport. These rules were detailed on this page with more detailed explanation of what we expected at RDC and can be found by using the quick links above. Furthermore all drivers who raced at RDC in August received these rules and the details in writing and all RDC registered drivers received them in the post. We would again like to stress to drivers that turning round on the straights is allowed but we want the ‘on opposite’ crashing to be kept on the bends. If a driver is crashing on opposite on the pit bend and then wishes to move to the top bend they must do so in a clockwise (normal) direction. Not on opposite. In short drivers cannot go from one bend to the other on opposite. Five drivers broke this rule on Sunday and all were loaded up as is was their first time offensive which is in keeping with previous breaks of the rule since it was introduced. It should be noted that this rule does not apply in a DD.

Another problem was the small dust levels, particularly at the start of the afternoon. Just to have a dust issue at a race meeting on shale in November is perhaps no bad thing and the dust at the start of the first race in particular did catch us by surprise. However we felt that watering the track could have had an adverse effect on the racing conditions, which we hope you’ll agree were near perfect and the best we have seen at this time of year in many years. We would also like to thank our track team who worked very hard to prepare such a great racing surface for the meeting. 

We are also again sorry that there was a small delay to the start of the meeting. As detailed on the side last week we were eager to have a prompt start and were in communication with the teams which would be in heat one about the importance of being ready for start time. While the meeting did start a few minutes late, a similar amount of time to last year, in contrast to 12 months ago we did have a full grid of 24 cars (2 cars per the 12 teams in groups A and B) which was a massive improvement on last year which had a smaller field of cars and was significantly short on what should have been on track. Obviously the slightly late start means we are not quite ‘there yet’ but this was a big step in the right direction and so our thanks to the drivers and teams for making that happen. 

On a similar subject we would like to thank all the drivers and their teams for the tremendous effort throughout the day which allowed us to get through the programme as smoothly as possible. When the format was finalised we recognised there was a potential issue for the teams in heats two and three and the teams in heats four and five (roughly half in each case) as well as the teams who qualified in the final but had raced in heat six as in each case they would only have one Ministox race for repairs. The potential for a problem was increased later in afternoon when damage tolls started to set in but despite this, some sterling work from those in the pits meant these potential delays were kept to a bare minimum and allowed us to start the final race not long after four hours after the meeting started which with a 12 race (of which eight were National Bangers) programme was a fine effort by all concerned and also thanks to the staff at RDC for their efforts in helping this happen. 

We would also like to congratulate each of the drivers who contested the National Banger DD, the 40 car field was a wonderful effort by all concerned and a great end to the afternoon.

Congratulations are in order to many, first to Team Green B on winning the Mildenhall Team Championship as well as runners up the Dover Boys who with it secured the season long RDC Team Championship as well as 355 Sid Magewick, who despite his absence, secured the RDC and Mildenhall points in the Ministox and also to 397 Reece Swatman and 342 Ryley Freestone who enjoyed maiden race wins in the Ministox and 746 Harry Greer in the National Bangers. 

RDC on tour at Champion of Champions (added November 30)
Last Saturday night (November 26) saw RDC well represented at the annual Champion of Champions event for unlimited bangers at Birmingham with 53 Dave Palmer, 148 Ian Redden, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 384 John Golden, 456 Nathan Roberts, 617 Jack Overy and 682 Paul Sparrow flying the flag in the title race. 148 Shorty and Sparrow returned their World Final Granadas, 382 Chubby and Roberts had fresh Lexus’ (the latter’s very smart), Palmer debuted a Scorpio and Overy a fresh Jag while 384 Goldie had a used one. Joining them in the support races were 180 Mark Foster, 415 Scott Cornish, 508 Harry Bradbury and 717 Jack Tuffen. 

508 Led Head made a mark in heat one, wrecking the Laurel of Gladiator rival 54 Martin Lawton before he was trashed by the Lincon Town Car limo of 305 John Kirkbride with 180 Sparky picking up seventh place. Cornish delivered a massive hit to the Oldsmobile Toronado of 421 Nigel Riley in the second heat which saw no RDC drivers feature in the results. 

An Incarace draw for the title race left Palmer on pole with Chubby a couple of rows back and the former was among the early front runners. The race started with a bang as Overy picked up arch rival 158 Shane Davies and followed the Condom in flat out on the top bend only to have his night terminated equally early when 47 Andy Davies landed a fierce hit in the driver’s side rear wheel. Shorty was removed by 2 Luke Dawson as the Condom v Team Black feud continued with Goldie and Chubby wrecking 203 Darren Nash. Meanwhile 455 Rick Finney took a flag to flag win with Palmer enjoying his second strong finish in the event in as many years, finishing fourth.

Shorty led the Allcomers until the final stages when he was spun by 218 Rob Speak but he recovered for third and came back for the final as well, the only championship finalist to compete in three consecutive races. The final saw Chubby nail 349 Lewis Price while Shorty was fenced by 552 Karl Douglas as Roberts ran in 22 Elliot Dowds. The leading Shorty then collected 271 Dean Goodall exiting the final bend and was nailed by 811 Kieran McIvor, the World Cup Champion failing to finish and Chubby snatched the win with Sparky third. 

The latter returned for the demo and thundered 521 Ash Riley into the infield banking before Tuffen found himself disqualified after failing to get involved in the action in a most disappointing display. Eventually he traded some hits with 331 Jason Jackson who was declared the winner in light of Tuffen’s disqualification. 

RDC at ORC Championships (added November 23)
The annual ORC Championship meeting was held at Arena Essex for the first time in over a decade on November 20 and the 2Litre Banger team championship returned to the traditional inter promotional format with RDC represented by 313 Craig Osbourn, 400 Kevin Shinn, 570 Jordan Cumming, 188 John Reeves, 328 Craig Lathan, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 180 Mark Foster and 525 Wes Starmer. Also in the pits were 207 Billy Randall and 843 Jacob Foster who were racing for Autospeed and Skegness respectively while the duel licensed 339 Jack Garrod raced with TSR.

188 Victor, 180 Sparky, 382 Chubby and 525 Wes contested heat one as well as Foster who fell foul of an early pile-up on the QE2 bend before Sparky landed a good hit on Incarace’s 101 Keith Roberts and Wes came under fire from Spedeworth’s 158 Shane Davies. The leading Chubby was spun by 192 Jimmy Rice from Incarace but recovered for second to give us some early points while Sparky ended things with a shot on Incarace’s 128 Mark Atkins. 

The remaining RDC drivers contested the second heat with 400 Shinny’s race ending early in another pile-up on turns one and two which also claimed Lathan while 570 Dino Jnr nailed’s TSR’s 597 Andy Ashman only to have Mendips’ 210 Paul Barnes pile PRI’s 61 Darryl Theedom into him with the on opposite 807 Chris Murfin then attacking the Kent young gun. Osbourn was stuffed by TSR’s 730 Dean Mayes leaving the battered Lathan to go the distance and pick up a single point in tenth. 

With all eight cars repaired we repeated our heats for heats three and four and the third heat saw 128 Monty stuff Wes into another QE2 bend pile-up as Victor attacked 730 Deano before he had 207 Blockhead out. Wes came under attack from Foster, the latter going on to stuff 210 Barney which also claimed PRI’s 91 Dave Barwick but we proved pointless in this race despite all but Victor going the distance.

Osbourn found the wall early in heat four and a T-bone from 61 Barrel ended his race. Lathan then stuffed both 91 Bart and TSR’s 388 Emmerson Fairweather with Shinny followed into Bart by Autospeed’s 162 Brett Ellacott. Lathan was then launched into the infield sleepers by Spedeworth’s 247 Lee Clarke and Avison which tore a wheel of Lathan’s car and left him a sitting duck for a shot from Statrax’s 132 Chris Cullum. Dino Jnr then administered a wicked T-bone on Avison and connected with a hit in the front wheel a few laps later but a visit to the fence on turn one ended his race and our chances of points this time. 

Nonetheless some excellent work in the pits saw all eight RDC cars return for the all in final, only Spedeworth also achieving this. Osbourn was the first to show, burying 247 Bro only to be collected by Victor as Startrax’s 99 Jason Jukes nailed Dino Jnr in the rear wheel and TSR’s 337 Ashley Garrod buried Lathan. Shinny then weighed in hard on Jukes and was nailed in turn by PRI’s 527 Dan Gardiner as Cullum stuffed Victor into some dead cars on the pit bend which nearly rolled him. Blockhead meanwhile T-boned Mendips’ 4 Bob Barnes and Davies span Chubby to take second, the former also having Osbourn out but the latter recovered to stuff 337 Pretty Boy into Jukes although this ended his race in the process. Chubby meanwhile raced to third with Victor taking tenth but with the race not counting for double points this year it was only enough to elevate RDC to sixth overall, albeit only a few points behind fourth. 

Sparky was the only member of the RDC team to return for the Allcomers and DD although Blockhead and Foster also raced, the latter landing a big T-bone to 4 Big Bob while Sparky nailed Blockhead. Foster met Rice in a wicked head-on as Sparky raced to the win and battled Incarace duo 299 Dale Locker and 367 Josh Genders in the DD. He traded hits with the former, Sparky landing a shot on the shale, before he returned to the track on opposite, reeled in and followed in Genders hard on the QE2 bend and survived a big T-bone from Locker to take the win, Sparky sealing his victory with a revenge hit on Locker. 

RDC at Dim Tim Memorial (added November 16)
As expected RDC was well represented at the ‘Dim Tim’ Day Memorial meeting at Northampton on November 13 with around 20 drivers in action. The RDC entry was split almost evenly between the unlimited and the 2Litre (non Mondeo/Cougar) class and starting with the unlimited class which, also as expected, featured a massive Motley Krew presence including 46 Wayne Pecker (smart Mk2 Granada), 170 Darren Teal (XJ), 311 Lee Bradbury (smart XJ), 320 Paul Seymour (World Final Scorpio), 321 Ian Rumph (smart XJ) and 384 John Golden who was back in his old team colours with a smart Granada limo. Also on hand was 17 Kyle Overy (smart, late shaped Chevy Caprice), 86 Alec Savage (World Final Scorpio), 125 Roy Preece (used Pontiac Grand Prix), 165 Ritchie Jarrod (Firecracker Chrysler New Yorker), 278 Tom Hills (used Scorpio), 382 Jack Foster Jnr (World Final Scorpio) and 520 Derek Caton (World Final Lexus).

Onto the 2Litre class where 46 Pecker (smart Focus), Teal (Primera), 311 Helm (Bluebird) and 320 Smiler (Primera) were all on double duty and were joined by 20 Andy Burbridge (Primera), 188 John Reeves (Primera), 587 Alex Humphrey (Primera), 220 Tom Pavitt (Cavalier), 925 Aaron Preece (Primera) and 506 Ricky Clarke (Primera).

The afternoon began with a last chance qualifier for the unlimiteds, our only action coming when 520 the Undertaker was fenced by 279 Barry Hennesey as 382 Chubby secured a place in the memorial race finishing third as did 86 the Hairdresser in sixth. 

Up next were two half car heats for the 2Litres, Teal running in 252 Steve Bugler in the first before Pecker stuffed 20 Baldy, Smiler taking fifth with 188 Victor sixth and Pecker ninth. The second heat saw Helm open his account with a shot on 546 Iain Beatie before he was fenced by 96 Ben Harrison and 587 Humps fenced 115 en route to finishing third.

The unlimited memorial race was next and saw 17 the Little Chief land a hard hit on 294 Alan Tarn in the middle of a massive pile-up on the trackshop bend before he took one from 327 Trevor Salvage. Chubby scored on the spun 409 Joey Collins before Smiler fired into 67 Rickie Beasley which in turn buried 64 Mark Dawson as 311 Helm thundered 162 Brett Ellacott into the side of Rumph leaving the latter with a huge XJ wreck to bring the reds out. Chubby survived an attack from 705 Billy Standing on the restart to finish second with Smiler third, Pecker fourth, Teal sixth and Helm the seventh and final finisher.

Our only action in the all in third 2litre heat saw the spun Victor take a big shot in the front wheel from 196 Chip Howland. Smiler remained consistent with another third place before Helm continued to impress in the unlimited Allcomers with a cracking hit on 380 Bradley Evans. Jarrod meanwhile treated 94 Sean Martindale to a fine shot before Helm blitzed 190 Steve Bailey hard. The Little Chief delivered a crushing head-on to 322 James Newland before he came under fire from Pecker as 190 Pikey lunged at and fenced the Undertaker allowing 520 Lee Middleton to nail the latter head-on. Savage finished third this time ahead of Chubby with Undertaker seventh. 

Back to the 2litres and their final saw Smiler clobber team mate Howland head-on before he redeemed himself by following in 96 Ginner not once but twice en route to ninth place. Smiler impressed again in the 2Litre DD, starting with a shot on Pikey on the centre before meeting Ginner on the nose. Smiler then fired into and fenced the Stanley Crew man before he again pounded Pikey. Smiler then survived a shot from Ginner to meet Pikey in a fierce head-on which finished both cars on the spot for a dead heat result. 

Unlimited final and DD to close and the Little Chief took second in the race before opening the DD with a shot on Middleton as 343 Lee Edwards blasted Roy Preece. 64 Roar meanwhile T-boned Jarrod as Pecker trashed Pikey with a big hit only to be leathered in turn by 67 Sonny Black as the Little Chief and Jarrod traded hits before they both stuck it to 204 Mick Charlton, Sonny Black eventually silencing the Little Chief for the win.

Congratulations to Ian ‘Bam Bam’ Norris (added November 16)
All at RDC would like to extend their congratulations to dedicated banger racer 101 Ian ‘Bam Bam’ Norris on the birth of his daughter Amelia over the weekend.

We are pleased to report that both mother and baby are doing very well and after an incredibly busy season we would imagine Bam Bam will enjoy the winter break with his family although he has once again underlined his commitment to the cause by confirming himself as one of RDC’s seeded entries in the 1500cc Banger National Championship at King’s Lynn on December 11. 

Unlimited Banger 2012 BBA Supreme Championship latest (added November 16)
This week sees some more developments unfold for the 2012 BBA Supreme Championship for Unlimited Bangers at Mildenhall on March 24 with the initial picture for the big race nearly completed. 

With confirmation of the final points standings for 2011 at Incarace and CAMSO we know that provisionally at least 800 Tom Hannah and 56 Karel Eeckloo will be the seeded entries for each promotion while the final top six adds a couple more eligible drivers to those who will be invited to compete in the last chance race.

Furthermore the confirmed final standings in the 2011 points championships at Warton and Standlake has also added some more drivers to the list of those invited to the last chance race as we look to try and include some non ORC raceways in this prestigious event for the first time. 

Almost all of the pieces are now in place for next year’s BBA Supreme Championship which will be, for the first time at Mildenhall, an unlimited event in 2012. We have almost all the provisional seeded entries from the various ORC promotions. The TSR points conclude on December 11 although with 119 Davey Cox already a qualifier, the smart money would suggest 22 Dave Vincent will have first refusal of TSR’s seeded place on the grid. Beyond that we are waiting to hear from Buxton, GMP, Startrax and Skegness on the top six in their 2011 points charts which will determine their seeded entry (the top driver in the chart who has yet to qualify) while the remainder of the top six will be added to those invited to compete in the last chance race. Furthermore we are still waiting to hear from Emmen on the top six in their points who will also be invited to compete in the last chance race. 

In quite possibly the most ambitious meeting RDC has staged to date no less than 300 drivers will receive invitations to this meeting with over 50 of them being qualifiers for the championship race. Invitations will be sent out in the New Year at which points bookings will also open for the ‘support’ races although at first this will be limited to 40 places and drivers not in either the last chance or Supreme Championship are pre warned that depending on the numbers on the night they may only be guaranteed the opportunity of two races on the night,

While we are realistic to realise that far from all those invited will accept the offer we are hopeful that we will have sufficient for both the championship race and the last chance event to have decent grids and any ‘support’ cars who join them will be a bonus. Furthermore as the 2012 event will see at least three drivers qualify on the night it has been decided that, provisionally at least, this year’s race will return to the original qualifying format where there will be no reserves taken from each of the 13 championship races from 2011. As always the first three in each of these races secures a spot but in years gone by if a driver has been unable to compete their place has been offered to the next driver in that result. 

Last year the reserve system was reduced to just one driver per race but this year we are hoping to do away with it completely (again this depends on the amount of qualifiers who accept their invitations) and again while this might reduce the amount of drivers in the race from previous years we hope it will again increase the quality of the qualifiers and significance of qualifying for what we believe is one of the biggest races of the year. For even more information on the event check out the dedicated One Wild Night section of the site.

Ministox end of 2011 Coventry season round up and thank you (added November 9)
Following the final ORC Ministox meeting of the season at Coventry Stadium last weekend we would like to extend a massive message of thanks to all the racers, their teams and families for their tremendous support of the maiden full season of racing at the Brandon shaleway.

After the 23 car entry for the first meeting of the year back in April, turnouts improved for the remainder of the season and somewhat fittingly the season finale, headlined by the maiden Coventry Masters, raised the biggest entry of the year with 32 cars. This was not only one of the biggest entries for any ORC Ministox meeting in 2011 but it bumped the seasons average car count at Coventry up to a very impressive 27. 

In total 43 different drivers raced at Coventry this season and what is especially impressive is that no less than 40 of them scored at least one track championship point which underlined how incredibly open the racing was at the raceway, this point further proved by the fact that from the 19 races held there this season there were no less than 11 different winners. 

It is somewhat fitting that 121 Marcus Skeels’ victory in the Coventry Masters made him the winningest driver of the year at the track which four race wins in 2011, but he never managed more than one race win at any one meeting. 

His fine form at the last meeting saw him snatch second in the track championship, just getting the better of 161 Jacques West who was arguably the success story of the season at Brandon but congratulations to 355 Sid Magewick, who despite having to settle for second place in the Coventry Masters still emerged the winner of the track championship. 

Unfortunately the season did end on something of a low note with the incident involving 229 Katie Cooper which resulted in the third Allcomers being stopped and after initial plans to restart the race it was elected to declare the result with six laps left to run as it became clear it was going to take longer to assist Katie that originally thought. We are pleased to confirm this week that having been kept in hospital overnight, Katie has now returned home and hopes to be back in action by the end of the month. 

Furthermore we would like to thank all the drivers in the third Allcomers for their co-operation which the race was under suspension and their understanding in the reasoning why the race did not complete its full distance. 

Continuing the special thanks and we want to congratulation and especially thank the 10 drivers who completed a 100 per cent attendance record at Coventry this season, namely 121 Marcus Skeels, 161 Jacques West, 205 Courtney Finnikin, 236 Ryan Polley, 327 Mick Maskall Jnr, 344 Ross Fisher, 350 Thomas Parrin (both Fisher and Parrin maintaining their 100 per cent attendance records at RDC this year), 355 Sid Magewick, 383 Shane Harvey (especially impressive given his Kent base made him one of the furtherst travelled drivers to any Coventry meeting this season) and 390 Karl Morris. 

The standard of racing has been of an equally high standard as the car entries and a combination of this means we are provisionally scheduled to see the ORC Ministox back at Coventry in 2012 under the RDC banner with four dates currently planned. These are (Easter) Saturday, April 7, Saturday June 2, Saturday, September and Saturday, November 3. Once again all these meetings will be alongside BriSCA F1 Stockcars and bookings for the first date will open in the new year. 

Thanks once again to all those who supported the ORC Ministox dates at Coventry this season and we hope to see you again in 2012. 

RDC at Firecracker XX (added November 9)
As expected RDC was represented at the 20th annual Unlimited Banger Firecracker at Arena Essex last Sunday (November 6) with several of our drivers parading some very impressive machinery. 

In action were 39 Steve Moore, in a trademark Daimler DS420 (this time a hearse), 165 Ritchie Jarrod in a superb Chrysler New Yorker, 205 Kieran Briddock (Scorpio), 222 Karl Kelly (Volvo 740 estate), 333 Danny Webb, in a cool sounding V8 powered Oldsmobile Toranado, 402 Albie Jenner (Volvo 240 estate) and 768 Danny McSweeney (Volvo 960).

Our only action in the first heat saw 39 Peanut fire into and spin the Supra of 203 Darren Nash en route to eighth place before Jarrod treated the spun Daimler Majestic of 126 Roy Bramley a head-on in the second heat. McSweeney landed a shot on the Chevy Caprice of 701 Marcus Dunn in the final heat only to cop it from the Mk10 Jaguar of 268 Glenn Seago.

Webb copped a length of the straight head-on from 681 James Hutchings’ XJ in the consolation before Peanut met the Carlton hearse of 25 Paul Ring in similar fashion in the final. McSweeney returned to nail the well smart Rolls Royce Silver Shadow of 347 Dave Bull in an early push in the DD before he copped a head-on from the Caddy of 146 Allan Trickett, 402 Albert’s shot on the Lexus of 158 Shane Davies ending our involvement in the afternoon. 

Halloween Havoc round up and a message of thanks from all at RDC (added November 2)
Everyone at RDC Promotions would like to extend a massive message of thanks to everyone, on both sides of the fence, who helped make last weekend’s Halloween Havoc event at Mildenhall Stadium such a great success.

It was no secret that we had taken a gamble this year by moving the meeting, traditionally one of the most popular events of the year for fans, from its typical Saturday night fixture to a Sunday afternoon. While we knew the move was a gamble we believed the potential benefits (mainly being a less busy day in the sport, especially locally, and easing the pressure of meeting our curfew) made it worthwhile and the great showing of drivers and fans on Sunday proved the gamble was well worth taking. 

While it was especially pleasing to see the stadium packed with perhaps the biggest crowd we have seen this season it was also extremely pleasing to see the pit area packed full of race cars and drivers as well. The final driver and car count saw 76 National Banger drivers with 87 cars between them plus 24 cars in both the Reliant Robins and Ministox. It is even more pleasing to report that numbers in all three classes were marginally up on last year’s Halloween meeting which again supports the move to the Sunday afternoon (certainly in the Reliant Robins as the formula was at Mildenhall and King’s Lynn on the same night in 2010). What makes the figures in the National Bangers so impressive is that a close examination of many of the other events around the country in October show small drops in turnouts compared to 12 months previously. There are certainly many reasons for this, the continued financial recession being a large part, but again it emphasises the wonderful support shown by the drivers for this meeting which in fact made it the third best attended National Banger meeting anywhere in the country in October (and it’s worth pointing out that the King’s Lynn meeting on October 8 which had a few more cars featured two classes) while the October 22 meeting had the fourth best entry this month. 

We made it no secret on the afternoon that the National Banger entry was far more than what we expected and actually caused one or two difficult decisions and problems. With over 40 cars in attendance which were specifically for the crazy races we elected to run two spin and start heats at the start of the afternoon. Given the support shown by the drivers we didn’t want to deny anyone the opportunity of as much racing as possible and so didn’t want to limit the numbers on the first crazy race and believed that given the nature of a spin and start race, a field of up to 40 cars was probably not the best of ideas. 

Unfortunately this led to some confusion and a short delay. The decision to run a second spin and start race was made just minutes before start time and when the first race was completed only a few drivers were ready for the second and the rest required chasing from the pits and ultimately when the second race started just 33 drivers took part in one of the spin and start races. We believe the confusion was drivers not in the first race were (understandably) unaware there wasn’t a second and therefore were preparing for the Le Mans race instead. Nonetheless we are sorry for this delay of a few minutes at an early stage in the programme. 

There was a similar problem when it came to the next Crazy Race, the Le Mans start race where over 40 drivers were lined up on pit road eager to take part. Again we felt this was too many for one race, especially as we were hopeful of good grids for the three destruction derbies and so elected to split the field in half. Understandably some would have perhaps preferred one 30 car race to two 20 car races but again we wanted to reward all the drivers for their support of the meeting and didn’t want to turn any away from the event. Furthermore the decision to spilt the grids for both the programmed crazy races helped us get through the first half of the programme in great time. Even with the aforementioned delay to the second spin and start race, the final crazy race (race seven of the programme and the fifth National Banger race) was completed within two hours of start time. Of course the second half of the programme (which included three destruction derbies which needed clearing afterwards and the fireworks) took longer but ultimately the 15 race programme was finished within five hours which we were pleased with and we would like to thank all of the RDC team for their help in making that happen. 

While the National Banger ‘support’ entry was far greater than anticipated the entry for Allstar Dash for Cash was marginally down on previous years which was a little disappointing given the healthy prize fund (although it should be noted this had no bearing on the quality of the race which was one of the better Allstar Dashes in recent years). The 21 car starting grid was the lowest since 2006 (which also had 21 cars) but it did continue a pattern of comparable entries for this race as every event since the first one (with the exception of just 14 cars in 2005) has had a 20-something car entry, the highest being 29 in 2008 and last year’s 25 car field was only slightly bigger than this year.

What however was especially pleasing was that the starting grid was almost identical to what was promised on the driver entry list on the website with just one of the confirmed drivers not arriving and one additional driver taking his place. Equally pleasing was that every driver booked in for the National Banger caravan race honoured their place and combined with a handful of drivers granted bookings late last week we had a bigger field than anticipated and again the massive 24 car and caravan grid was again slightly bigger than that of 12 months ago. 

We have already discussed the issues which led to the short delay before the second National Banger Spin and Start Crazy race but we would also like to thank all the drivers from that point onwards whose co-operation in the pits helped us get through the remainder of the programme as quickly as possible.

On a similar note we want to thank all the fans who enjoyed the action from turns one and two who quickly adhered to our request to move to the back and home straight for the fireworks display in accordance to the recommendation of White Lightning Pyrotechnics. This greatly assisted us in starting the display without any delay so a big thanks to everyone who co-operated and again to White Lightning for a great display which was well received. 

We would also like to extend a speedy recovery to National Banger rookie 75 Rod Phillips who suffered some rib injuries in the first National Banger DD but he has expressed his enjoyment of the day nonetheless and we are pleased to report than 141 Andy Neal and 328 Daniel Lathan have confirmed no serious injuries from their incidents in the second and third DDs which is great news and both plan to be back in action at Mildenhall at this month’s National Banger team championship.

Another source of disappointment was the outcome of the Reliant Robin Grand Final. This is addressed in more detail in the next news item but again we are sorry, especially to the fans, for the ending of the Reliant racing. 

Once again a massive thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of the afternoon, we hope you enjoyed the event and we hope to see you again very soon.

Reliant Robin Mildenhall October 30 Grand Final result (added November 2)
There was disappointment at the end of the Reliant Robin Grand Final at Mildenhall last Sunday (October 30) when the Grand Final was stopped a few laps from the conclusion and no result was declared.

This followed the decision by the meeting stewards to halt the race after it was felt drivers were not showing sufficient regard to the yellow caution flags. There had been a little confusion with the yellow flags being shown for an upturned car and no sooner did racing conditions resume the yellow flags flew again with a loose wheel spotted on the raceway. 

Unfortunately at this point the remaining drivers in the race continued pretty much at race speed leading to the race being terminated and the result being suspended until video footage of the race could be looked at more closely.

The video footage confirms that the yellow flags were being waved for almost three laps during which time it would judged no driver still in the event slowed down sufficiently for marshals to be on the raceway and therefore a void result has been given to the race.

The constant need to enforce the ruling of driving slowing down when waved yellow flags are shown in Reliant Robin races has been a regular issue this season and was so again on Sunday, with a handful of drivers dropped places for this in the heats and RDC will continue to clamp down on the problem in 2012 and repeat offenders run the risk of being banned from racing.

Drivers are again reminded of the importance to obey the yellow caution flags for the safety of themselves, fellow drivers and the marshals. 

Stock Karts confirmed for guest appearance at Mildenhall in 2012 and latest fixture news (added November 2)
In the latest of our news regarding the 2012 fixtures we can confirm the increasingly popular Stock Karts formula is to make a guest appearance at Mildenhall Stadium next year at our unique Jubilee Bank Holiday Tuesday meeting on June 5.

The formula has raced at Mildenhall before, but during a ‘closed doors’ event which took place in the afternoon prior to a Saturday night meeting and unfortunately the most recent one was ruined by awful weather which resulted in their event being cancelled early.

Despite this the formula, which has grown in numbers since and now averages grids of mid to high 20s, has remained eager to return to the raceway and we are delighted to offer them a place at our bank holiday Tuesday meeting which we are billing as a fun afternoon.

Alongside the now confirmed first ever Siamese banger meeting at Mildenhall we also intend for this meeting to feature Stock Karts, Ministox and Reliant Robins. 

In further fixture news the dates of the National Banger Old Skool team championship at Mildenhall and Masters Championship meeting at Dover may swap over from their originally scheduled weekends. Traditionally the Old Skool team championship takes place the night before the National Banger PRI World Final at Arena Essex (to assist travelling drivers and fans) which would normally be the third weekend of September. However PRI have confirmed they plan to run fortnightly race meetings at Arena Essex in 2012 rather than weekly and we understand the World Final is likely to September 23, rather than the 16th as we originally anticipated. Should this be the case we will move our fixtures accordingly but wanted to keep everyone informed regarding the situation. 

Furthermore following the success of this year’s Halloween Havoc event on a Sunday afternoon, we can confirm the 2012 Halloween meeting will also take place on a Sunday afternoon, October 28.

We are also hoping to have our confirmed BriSCA F2 and Saloon Stockcar dates very soon which will in turn allow us to complete our Ministox and Reliant Robin fixtures very soon. For the current provisional 2012 fixtures click here. 

BriSCA F2 and Saloon Stockcar Championship fixtures confirmed for 2011 (added October 26)
BriSCA and the SSCA have confirmed the championship fixtures for BriSCA F2 and Saloon Stockcars in 2012 and we are delighted that we will be staging two of sports longest running championship races during the course of our now annual weekend event in June. 

Next season is RDC’s turn to stage the Saloon Stockcar British Championship and it will be an historic event with the 45th staging of the formulas longest running title race. 

Meanwhile next season will see RDC and Mildenhall Stadium host for the first time ever, the BriSCA F2 Stockcar Challenge Trophy, another long running event with over 40 years of history. Somewhat remarkably next year will be the first time the race has been held on English soil in 20 years, the last time being in 1991 at Taunton, Since then the event has been held either in Scotland or Ireland and more recently it has been the latter, being held on Irish soil since 2002. 

Both events are scheduled for our weekend event in June on Saturday June 16 and Sunday June 17. The Saloon Stockcars will be racing on both days but we intend to run the qualifying races and the British Championship on the Saturday night with a domestic meeting on the Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile the BriSCA F2 Stockcars will join us on the Sunday afternoon for the Challenge Trophy. 

It promises to be an action packed weekend with the National Bangers in action on both days (the Inter Counties team challenge is on the Saturday and the under 25 Hot Shot Championship on the Sunday) as well as the Bangerstox who will contest their Suffolk Championship. 

We have added the two stockcar championships to our provisional 2012 fixtures which can be found by clicking here. We hope to confirm more information on this in the near future.

In the meantime here is the full list of the confirmed major championship fixtures for the BriSCA F2 and Saloon Stockcars in 2012. 

BriSCA F2 Stockcars
World Championship Barford September 8/9
World Championship Semi Finals: Buxton August 5
European Championship: Northampton July 14/15
British Championship: Cowdenbeath May 26/27
National Championship: Ballymena/Nutts Corner June 8/9/10
English Open: Taunton August 11
World of Shale: King’s Lynn September 22
Challenge: Mildenhall June 17

Saloon Stockcars
World Championship: Taunton August 11/12
European Championship: King’s Lynn September 22/23
British Championship: Mildenhall June 16
National Championship: Cowdenbeath May 26/27
English Championship: St Day May 6
Scottish Championship: Cowdenbeath October 13

RDC on tour at  Wimbledon (added October 26)
RDC was well represented at the 2Litre Banger London Open Championship at Wimbledon on Sunday, October 23 with the 44 strong entry including 180 Mark Foster, 207 Billy Randall, 342 Carl Davies, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 427 Dave Johnson, 456 Nathan Roberts, 617 Jack Overy and 843 Jacob Foster. Full credit as well to 382 Chubby, Overy and Jacob Foster who had all raced at Mildenhall the previous night. 

Heat one ended badly for 180 Sparky was smashed heavily into the fence by 204 Charlie King to bring the race to an early end although mercifully he was just winded, Overy taking third, Foster fifth, 207 Blockhead sixth and Johnson ninth. Roberts crashed out in a big push into the first bend but rallied back for a hard hit to 243 Kieran Jordan. No RDC in the top 10 so onto the title race with Chubby butting heads with the spun Johnson as Roberts claimed fourth with Sparky fifth, Chubby seventh and Blockhead in 10th. Overy nailed Condom rival 204 Charlie King head-on in the Allcomers, Roberts also hitting the latter before he trashed the fenced 240 Rob Setters with a big hit and Foster hit the spun 101 Bob Peat on the nose before Roberts was belted by 331 Jason Jackson. Chubby took second this time with Blockhead fourth, Sparky fifth and Johnson eighth. Overy dished out a big hit to 204 Charlie Boy in the DD before he ran in Peat while Roberts buried 525 Terry Boxall into Charlie Boy. Roberts went head to head with 225 Reece Priestly with Sparky then nailing the latter before Overy landed hits on 525 Ginge and 662 Jamie Harding. Overy finished team mate 67 Ricky Beasley before helping 998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr to silence Sparky with Overy then surviving an attack from 998 Cotty Jnr to take the spoils. 

Dan Wheldon RIP (added October 19)
All at RDC Promotions would like to join the rest of the motor racing world this week in paying tribute to British born Indy Car Racing star Dan Wheldon who was killed in a tragic racing accident in Las Vegas, America at the weekend.

The 33-year-old married father of two was the 2005 Indy Car Champion and a two time winner of the Indy 500, considered by many to be the most prestigious motor race in the world. 

While he was far from a household name in this country, the Emberton born racer, was rated by some as one of England’s hottest motor racing imports.

All at RDC would like to extend their deepest sympathies to all of Dan’s family and friends. We would also like to pay tribute to this amazing racer by dedicating this Saturday’s meeting at Mildenhall Stadium to his memory.

RIP Dan Wheldon. 

RDC at Spedeworth World Final (added October 19)
As expected RDC was well represented at the Unlimited Banger Spedeworth World Final with almost 40 RDC registered drivers among the record breaking field of 220 cars at Ipswich on October 15.

Flying the flag in the main event were 188 John Reeves, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 617 Jack Overy and 682 Paul Sparrow meaning there was massive RDC interest among the supporting entry. Hoping to join them were 17 Kyle Overy, 86 Alec Savage, 100 Callum White, 128 (728 on the night) Andy Ship, 148 Ian Redden, 160 Perry Willings, 170 Darren Teal, 180 Mark Foster, 209 Tom Waller, 209 (709) Ben Hayward, 220 Tom Pavitt, 260 Keith Reynolds, 262 (853) Jason Barnard, 320 Paul Seymour, 326 Shane Lynn, 328 Dan Lathan, 360 Jack Reynolds, 384 John Golden, 401 Steve Hemmings, 415 Scott Cornish, 456 Nathan Roberts, 466 Steve Hackett, 508 Harry Bradbury, 520 Derek Caton, 527 Michael Norman, 538 Jake Swann, 570 Jordan Cumming, 585 Kevin Giles, 623 Ricky Hutton, 717 Jack Tuffen, 862 (62) Liam Reach, 898 Andy Battle, 920 James Medley and 928 Emmerson Prime.

While most were at the wheel of Granadas including smart Mk1s for Teal and Waller and a lush Mk2 Minster for 209 Minge, 128 Shippy, 260 Keefy, 262 the Verger, 326 Ratty, 384 Goldie, 401 Psycho, Hackett, Medley and 928 Tyrone opted for XJs with Ratty in an XJ-S. 180 Sparky, Roberts and 520 the Undertaker paraded Lexus’, 360 Jackstar a Supra, 538 Swanny Jnr and Battle had Omegas and Lathan dared to be different with a BMW 525 while Norman and 862 Reachy were Volvo powered and it was good to see many of the RDC contingent in super smart motors for the occasion. 

A home straight pile-up early on in heat one claimed Ratty and saw him flattened by the Chevy Caprice of 890 Pavaroti while Swanny Jnr ended 271 Dean Goodall’s night with a roof bending hit, the latter then sent out by 528 Alan Hunt before Undertaker was removed by 28 Neill Osbourn. Sparky was our best and only top 10 finisher in seventh.

Savage made the early running in the second last chance race until he was spun by 257 Timmy Aldridge as they both tried to avoid a massive blockage on the scoreboard bend. 401 Psycho span 777 Arjan Vorkink but was dumped out by 267 Martin French and sadly the Predator suffered a wrist injury in the process for which we wish him a full and speedy recovery. Jackstar meanwhile rattled Cornish off the wall on turn three before he crashed into the growing carnage on the top bend. Savage rallied back for second to just miss a place in the main event while Shippy was fifth and 570 Dino Jnr seventh.

585 Big Ears’ smart Granada took a solid hit from 321 Kieron Fry early in the final heat before Hackett was clobbered in the rear wheel by 315 Jack Holmes. The Cream Team young gun then earned a black mark when he attacked 206 Phil Milner on the dirt only to take a similar hit from 403 Marcus Sprawling. These illegal hits however were eclipsed by 623 Ricky Hutton who cut part of the grass to assault Sprawling. With the reds out for a stray wheel 623 Tricky continued to go off the head attacking Sprawling twice more with marshals nearby before he relented. The race resumed with 220 Lurch fencing the Oldsmobile of 600 Davey Paton as the battle for second saw Roberts spun by 162 Brett Ellacott which in turn fenced 210 Paul Barnes as Lathan was fenced by 460 Lewis Barber and Goldie span Lurch into the wall. Roberts took third with team mate Tuffen fifth and Goldie sixth.

Onto the main event with none of our four faring too well in the draw, Overy having the best luck with 26, Sparrow on 30, 382 Chubby 41 and 188 Victor 43. The early stages saw Overy clash with 455 Rick Finney which looked to greatly affect his hopes before the reds came out to assist 196 Ben Harrison and a complete restart was ordered with all four RDC drivers still in the running. Overy was again quick on the restart and into the top 10 in the opening few laps as Victor removed 880 Neil Naismith as Overy came under pressure from 331 Jason Jackson in the race for sixth. Overy then tangled with 204 Charlie King and spilled onto the shale with 203 Darren Nash, his race ended when the big Caddy hearse of 44 Richard Steeghs was spun into him. Chubby meanwhile had steadily climbed to sixth as Victor butted heads with the spinning 753 Billy Cunningham. Chubby eased past Condom rival 264 Mark Welland for third in the closing stages and held on from a last bend attack from the latter to take third and become the first RDC driver to finisher on the podium of this event since 2006 and only the third RDC driver to finish in the top three. 158 Shane Davies registered his second win in the race from 294 Lee Hughes. Sparrow and Victor both went the full distance, the former recording a maiden World Final top 10 in 10th place. 

Onto the first Allcomers with Minge, Ratty, Savage, Dino Jnr, the Undertaker, the Verger, Lurch, 100 Captain Cock, Reachy, Shippy and 17 the Little Chief all back out. Captain Cock had a rough start, spinning and T-boned by 28 Ozzie before 16 Mike Flaherty also laid in before the Verger crashed out in a home straight pile-up. Goldie stuffed the awesome 50s Cadillac of 513 Shaun Harvey before Ratty piled his battered XJ-S in for a big hit on the Lincoln limo of 549 Phil Smith. Goldie continued his good night with third and Lurch took fifth.

Big Ears, Roberts, Tyrone, Medley, Tuffen, Sparky, Chubby and Overy were among the starters for the second Allcomers, Roberts finding Gladiator rival 842 Craig Oliver for a big head-on while Medley was run in by 156 Karel Eecloo. Medley also hit Oliver on the nose as Tyrone fenced Big Ears. The Mk10 Jaguar of 851 Nigel Belfield was buried into Medley by 210 Paul Barnes trashing the 920 XJ triggering a wrecking train in which Big Ears blasted 597 Shane Lines only to be leathered by the Rolls Royce of 791 Nicky Young as Davies celebrated his win with a big hit on Overy. Tyrone latter had 185 Lenny Smith out before Tuffen did the same to 837 Martin Wesby ultimately no RDC went the distance this time.

Keefy, Captain Cock and Minge returned for the 22 car DD with the former followed in by 14 Paul Russell from the start but he rallied back for a revenge hit, the Gladiator having the final laugh with a solid T-bone. Minge meanwhile met 521 Ash Riley in a hard head-on and was duly slaughtered by 221 Justin Riley to conclude our interest for the evening. 

Congratulations to 830 Stretch-new under 25 GB Champion (added October 12)
Unfortunately the dismal wet conditions have reduced our ability to bring you a full report from the night but congratulations to 830 Lee White for re-capturing the under 25 GB Championship for unlimited bangers at King’s Lynn last Saturday night (October 8).

830 Stretch led from pole and built up a sufficient lead so he was able to recover from a spin to take the title, one he has now won twice in its three year history. Adding to the celebrations was 382 Jack Foster Jnr who came from the back of the 18 car grid to finish second despite also suffering a spin.

Elsewhere on the night and 401 Steve Hemmings was involved in one of the highlights of the night, a wrecking train in the unlimited King of the Fens when he leathered 789 Rob Taylor only to be decimated in turn by 282 Bobby Daniel. 843 Jacob Foster meanwhile recovered from plenty of stick from the Predators in the under 25 race to enjoy some lively hits with 43 Nicky Bishop in the first Allcomers.

In the non Mondeo/Cougar 2litre bangers, the Aftermath trio of 400 Kevin Shinn, 602 Shaun and 604 Ross Cooper were well involved, especially the former who delivered massive hits to 392 Sam Baines, team mate 602 Mr Moody and RDC’s 793 Jamie Johns during the night. 

RDC’s Sideways and Serious round up and thank you (added October 5)
All at RDC would like to thank everyone for their support for last weekend’s Sideways and Serious event at Mildenhall Stadium which produced some first class stockcar and banger racing where the emphasis, as expected, was heavily on racing. 

As well as thanking the drivers and fans who supported the meeting we would like to address a few points from the evening and would also like to congratulate the various winners from the evening. Well done to 742 Nick Rogers on winning the thrilling BriSCA F2 Stockcar English Open Championship while 645 James Waters claimed the white and yellow grade series final and 606 Andy Palmer completed a hat trick of Mildenhall track championship titles. In the National Bangers, congratulations to 617 Jack Overy on winning the RDC RWD Championship and to 382 Jack Foster Jnr who continued to extend his CV by taking the RDC RWD Series points earning him a silver roof a little earlier than he may have expected. 

For many the highlight of the night was the breathtaking finish to the Stockcar English Open Championship which saw Rogers make the most of the misfortune of those in front to swoop from fourth to first in the final bend and snatch the win by 0.02 of a second in one of the closest and most exciting finishes we have ever seen at Mildenhall. Not to be outdone the National Bangers also produced some highlights, the 10 car wrecking train in the DD producing some of the best action we have seen this season. 

We would also like to thank everyone inside the stadium who observed the minute’s silence in memory of David Weare, who was tragically killed at the Hednesford pre 68 banger meeting, so fantastically well. It is never easy doing a minutes silence in the middle of a meeting but we felt it would be appropriate to have the silence prior to the main event for the bangers and all concerned made it a moving moment and very fitting tribute. We would also like to thank all the banger drivers who gathered on the track for the silence in honour of a fellow driver, something we know and appreciate was difficult for them. 

Onto the other matters we would like to address. We know and understand some stockcar drivers were disappointed by the night’s meeting format which meant the majority of those not in the white and yellow grade series final only had the opportunity of two races on the night. However we are very grateful for the understanding of the vast majority of drivers who were sympathetic to the reasons why the decision was made and we hope all will agree the decision was vindicated with all of the night’s F2 races being of a high standard and the English Open being the perfect end to their season at West Row. 

The biggest disappointment of the night was certainly the turn out for the maiden all RWD National Banger meeting. Nonetheless having completed the first staging of this meeting we firmly believe there is a place on our fixtures for a RWD event where the car eligibility is determined on weight rather than engine cc and it is a meeting we will continue to work on in the future and we hope to see it grow in the coming seasons into another of our established fixtures.

We were never in any doubt that the meeting would not attract a massive field of cars although we had hoped on a handful more and we ultimately ended up somewhat short of the expected entry list. While we always stress our entry lists should be treated only as a guide it is always disappointing when not as many cars race as the entry list suggests there may have been. Several drivers contacted us shortly before the meeting as did some during the meeting and one or two since to offer their reasons for not racing and extend their apologies with a variety of reasons and problems being raised. While on one hand had these few drivers been able to race as planned it would have made quite the difference, we do appreciate that plans can and often do go wrong. 

What however was disappointing was the few drivers who failed to race and have offered no explanation as to the reasons why. This is especially frustrating considering the majority of these were seeded entries into the championship with five of the confirmed starters failing to materialise. Again we appreciate October is a busy time for many drivers and things can go wrong at the last minute and we will be looking to try and prevent a repeat of this in the future. 

Owing to the final car count it left only a small field for the last chance race. Many wondered why the decision wasn’t made to make the championship race an all in affair. The main reason for this was that we hope in time to make the RDC RWD Championship another significant event on the RDC calendar with a qualifying series and championship race. We strongly felt that opening the race to all drivers would have de-valued the achievements of those who had qualified and also effected the creditability of the event in the long run and so we decided to stick to the format and keep the championship a qualifiers only affair. Secondly we were also concerned that by running an all in format would have resulted in smaller grids towards the end of the night and to that extent the move to keep the last chance race was a success because it resulted in a decent grid for the Allcomers and a better turn out for the Accumulator qualifier/DD that we saw for the all Granada meeting last month which had a significantly better entry of cars. 

Furthermore it has also been most pleasing to hear a great amount of positive feedback from the drivers who competed who (much like the Granada meeting in September) enjoyed the different style of racing where the emphasis was more on racing that full bore wrecking from the off and each meeting certainly had an old school feel about them. We hope to build on this popularity among drivers in 2012 and beyond. 

Siamese Bangers coming to Mildenhall Stadium in June 2012 (added October 5)
Over the last few seasons we have sought to introduce something new to the RDC fixture list at Mildenhall Stadium for National Bangers and that trend is set to continue in 2012 with our first attempt at a Siamese Banger meeting.

Thanks to a great show of support for the event by National Banger drivers we have decided to go ahead with the unique format and the date of next year’s Bank Holiday Tuesday (as part of the Jubilee bank holiday weekend) on June 4 has been agreed. 

Siamese Banger racing became very popular a few years ago, Spedeworth being the first to try the idea at Wimbledon Stadium where it became a massive hit and the success and popularity resulted in similar events at other Spedeworth venues and other promotions. However in recent years the sport has not seen such an event, despite the concept receiving major media coverage thanks especially to the BBC’s Top Gear programme which has seen its presenters take part in similar events. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, the idea sees two cars positioned on top of one another, with a driver in each car. The driver in the bottom car controls the pedals and gears and the driver on top controls the steering. 

However for our maiden attempt at this event we are going to be doing it slightly differently. Traditionally the bottom car has always been a RWD type car. We are however going to allow any type of National Banger to be allowed, FWD or RWD. While some may be disappointed by this there are three main reasons behind our decision. They are

1. The greater availability of FWD cars than RWD cars for drivers to use in such an event
2. Modern FWD cars (Mondeos etc) tend to be more durable than RWD type cars and therefore are more likely to last the meeting without being wrecked by one hit in the first race
3. If the weather is not favourable, FWD cars will give us a much better chance of running an entertaining event than RWD powered cars might.

While any National Banger is permitted on the bottom, any Micro Banger (which fits/works) can be used on the top. 

Prior to the format being agreed we sounded the idea out to our drivers and were blown away with the response. Our initial list of interested drivers and teams already has over 20 potential teams interested in taking part and should this interest be sustained until the meeting it is likely we would have to restrict entries. Therefore if there are any drivers interested in taking part who have not expressed it so far we would encourage you to let us know asap as these drivers will be given first refusal of a booking if places are indeed limited. All drivers who have so far shown interest and are therefore instrumental in this meeting being added to our fixtures will be guaranteed a booking when they are officially opened next year. 

It should also be noted that at present we have no intention to make this an annual event, although of course the success of the meeting on June 4 could change that, and it is currently intended as a one off event for the Jubilee weekend in 2012. Support formulas at present are pencilled in for Ministox and Reliant Robins.

For our first draft of the 2011 RDC fixtures which was announced last week click here. 

David Weare (added September 28)
RDC Promotions would like to join the rest of the short oval racing community in paying our respects to Banger driver 78 David Weare who was tragically killed in an accident at the annual pre 68 Banger meeting at Hednesford Hills Raceway, last Sunday (September 25).

While David was not a household name in the sport on a national scale, he was a long serving racer with a career of around 20 years, racing largely limited contact formulas at his local raceways in the west country. 

While his death has been reported as a complete racing accident it once again offers a timely, if unwanted, reminder of the dangers all drivers face when they compete in a sport which they do for a hobby and so many of us enjoy as entertainment. 

RDC would like to extend its deepest sympathies to all of David’s family and friends at this difficult time and we would also like to extend our best wishes to our colleagues at Incarace and Spedeworth and all the fans and drivers who have been effected by this awful tragedy. 

RDC will pay its respects to David Weare with a minutes silence at Mildenhall Stadium this Saturday night. As the opening race of the programme is for BriSCA F2 Stockcars we have yet to conclude when the silence will be conducted. As this meeting will be the first National Banger event in England since the accident we feel it may be more appropriate to hold the silence prior to a banger race although this obviously would have drawbacks as it would come during the meeting but we will announce our intentions on Saturday and hope everyone present at the meeting will be able to take part and show their respects. 

Nothing Else Matters round up and thanks and 2011 season round up at Dover Raceway (added September 28)
All at RDC would like to thank all the drivers and fans for helping to make the season finale at Dover raceway at the weekend such a fitting conclusion to another excellent season at RDC’s Kent venue.

It was most pleasing to such a good entry for the Masters Championship meeting and save some controversy in the Bangerstox and Super Rods there was some excellent racing to be enjoyed, especially in the National Bangers who had one of their best meetings of the season at the track, and all played out in front of yet another very good audience of race fans. 

Our congratulations to 349 Lee Saunders, 55 Clint Millen and 29 Steve Donavan on winning the Masters Championships in the National Bangers, Bangerstox and Super Rods respectively and to 188 John Reeves, 9 Chris Young and 41 Pete Emson who won the points championships in the respective formulas. 

As last weekend marked the end of the season at the raceway we have some stats to share with you from the season. No less than 96 drivers raced in the seven National Banger events (not including the Rookie Banger meeting in May), 53 Bangerstox drivers and 13 Super Rod drivers which added to the 12 Ministox and 10 Reliant Robin drivers means 184 different drivers raced in these formulas. We don’t have the number of additional drivers who would be added to this by the aforementioned Rookie Banger event but we suspect it would mean over 200 different drivers raced at Dover this season. 

The average car count per meeting was 81 cars, the highest being the season opener on April 3 with 101 race cars and the lowest being both June 26 and July 24 with 65 cars. The average National Banger entry was 32 cars and the average Bangerstox entry was 31 (34 if you don’t count the invitational only championship events).

We should also highlight and congratulate those with a 100 per cent attendance record at the track this season. In the National Bangers, 188 John Reeves, 349 Lee Saunders, 346 Scott Saunders and 492 Dean Harper attended every meeting while in the Super Rods 28 Andrew Donavan and 41 Pete Emson not only did all eight Dover meetings but at the Mildenhall weekend event as well.

Unsurprisingly there were more with a full attendance record at Dover in the Bangerstox. 3 George Forbes, 9 Chris Young, 15 Jay Powell, 19 Aaron O’Connell, 40 Joe Taylor, 49 Pete Back, 52 Richard Randall, 73 Andy Wood, 95 Paul and 98 Sean Chapman and 99 Mark Sweeney raced at all eight Dover meetings. Furthermore Powell, O’Connell, Randall and Paul Chapman attended all the points scoring events at Mildenhall as well. 

Once again we would like to thank all the drivers and fans for their continued support of the raceway which makes it possible for our sport to continue at this long serving raceway and we look forward to seeing you again at Dover Raceway in 2012 with the season open scheduled for the traditional Easter Monday on April 9.

No Hype Needed round up and thank you (added September 21)
This week all at RDC would like to thank all the drivers and fans who helped make last weekend’s No Hype Needed event at Mildenhall Stadium, headlined by the National Banger Old Skool team championship such a great success. 

Despite something of a turbulent run into the meeting with several of the banger team captains having to make last minute changes and additions to their teams it was very pleasing to see no less than 93 of a possible 96 cars turn out for the annual event with just three of the 12 teams being one driver down. 

It was especially pleasing to see the highest ever international presence at the meeting with five drivers from both Ireland and Holland, the bulk coming from Old Skool newcomers, Team Eurotrash and a special thanks to them, and non racing captain Greg O’Connor, for stepping in at somewhat short notice (after two years of expressing an interest in competing at the event) and as announced on Saturday, their efforts will be rewarded with a guaranteed place in next years Old Skool event should they wish to return. 

Also our congratulations to the Dover Boys on their first ever team championship victory at Mildenhall after numerous attempts and also well done to 363 Brian Jarvis for winning a superb Reliant Robin British Championship which was arguably one of the best Reliant races seen this season. 

But a special thanks should go to all the drivers who competed at the weekend with only the Reliant Robin Allcomers suffering from a shortage of action (which was surely down to the damage rate from the title race). Each of the banger head to head heats were action packed and competitive affairs with no team having an easy run into the final which underlined the high standard of teams competing this year. Traditionally the quietest race of the night, even the Allcomers was a decent affair, once again the Old Skool final was a cracker and the final race was yet another hard hitting DD seen at Mildenhall this season. 

Unfortunately the levels of action did have a negative effect with one or two injuries reported. The first was 53 Dave Palmer who suffered a hand injury. It remains to be seen the full extent of the injury but it prevented him from racing as intended at the PRI World Final the following day. We understand 88 Randy Mulder has suffered a shoulder injury and there was also concern for 326 Shane Lynn but after a check up he has been given the all clear but we would like to wish all those feeling the effects of Saturday a full and speedy recovery. 

During the course of the night there were a couple of short delays. It was disappointing that during the head to head heats we suffered some delays when waiting for teams to line up. It is always our intention at this meeting to get through the heats as quickly as possible in order to offer the teams additional time prior to the Allcomers, Final and Accumulator qualifier/DD when it is needed the most. However our ability to do this was limited with some times not lining up for their heats as early as we would have liked which is something we will try and improve on in the future. However the teams more than redeemed themselves later in the night, especially before the final where all six teams where ready for action in good time which allowed us to start the race promptly. 

It also allowed us to offer drivers some much needed repair time for the Accumulator qualifier and DD. With the Reliant Robin Allcomers completed very quickly, drivers who raced in the National Banger final had little time to prepare their cars for the final event. When the final Reliant race was completed, shortly after 10pm we had next to no cars ready for the final National Banger event but had many teams working frantically in the pits and therefore the decision was made to give the drivers the time they needed. They more than made this worth while with an excellent 32 drivers coming back up and fans who patiently waited for the last race were treated to fine finale. We hope all fans who suffered the wait can understand the reasons behind it and again we hope the turnout and action provided made it worthwhile. 

Congratulations to Mark Simpson-new BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Champion (added September 21)
All at RDC would like to extend their congratulations to 871 Mark Simpson on his victory in a dramatic BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship which was hit with a heavy rainstorm at King’s Lynn last Saturday night. 

While we, at Mildenhall, were most fortunate to only suffer a small shower in the middle of the National Banger head to head heats, the biggest race of the season for the open wheeled stockcar formula was badly effected by a huge downpour which hit the race just as the rolling lap was underway and as expected the weather conditions turned the race on its head. 

So much so that Simpson, who only qualified in the consolation semi final race earlier in the night, was able to not only battle his way through the field but go the full distance (something only five other drivers managed) to take the win and become World Champion for the first time in his career.

Many still remember how close he came to winning the title at the still talked about Mildenhall F2 World Final in 2006 when he lost out to 79 Gordon Moodie in an amazing last lap sort out. 

We look forward to seeing Simpson in action at Mildenhall with his prized gold roof, hopefully in the not too distance future and hopefully for the English Championship on October 1, a title somewhat fittingly won by Simpson the last time it was held at Mildenhall in 2003. 

RDC at PRI World Final (added September 21)
As expected RDC was heavily represented at the 2011 National Banger PRI World Final at Arena Essex on September 18 with seeded entries 188 John Reeves and 382 Jack Foster Jnr joined by a big RDC contingent in the last chance races. 

On hand for the support were 2 Georgie Lee, 8 Dale Woolnough, 53 Dave Palmer (who was unable to race due to a hand injury suffered the previous night), 57 Stu Cumming, 91 Steve Roberts, 100 Callum White, 101 Ian Norris, 180 Mark Foster, 207 Billy Randall, 219 Rob Beavis, 362 Liam Friel, 384 John Golden, 401 Steve Hemmings, 415 Scott Cornish, 427 Dave Johnson, 428 Richard Klein, 456 Nathan Roberts, 466 Steve Hackett, 465 Andy Scarlett, 508 Harry Bradbury, 539 Danny Allen, 570 Jordan Cumming, 585 Kevin Giles, 602 Shaun, 603 Jon and 604 Ross Cooper, 623 Ricky Hutton, 717 Jack Tuffen and 843 Jacob Foster.

It was also good to see so many of the RDC contingent making the effort with smart cars for the afternoon, Lee, 100 Captain Cock, 101 Bam Bam, 207 Blockhead, Beavis, 362 Tilly, 401 Psycho, Nathan Roberts, Hackett and Tuffen.

Our first action came early in heat one as 384 Goldie came under immediate fire from Condom rival 264 Mark Welland before Blockhead was stuffed by 176 Ady Gibbs and Allen by 589 Simon Smith. 570 Dino Jnr was then span into the wall by 130 Dan Cooke before 57 Dino hit the spun 3 Terry Peacock in the rear wheel while 508 Led Head stuffed 363 Sam Keep, the former then thundered into the wall by 604 Ross Cooper. Nathan Roberts was lying second but was taken out by the on opposite Keep with Captain Cock homing in for a wicked head-on before he was belted in the rear wheel by Peacock. 519 Lee Middleton then laid into Led Head before Keep also nailed Roberts on the nose and Led Head hit Cooper in similar fashion before 123 Tony Hutton gave Ross Cooper a stiff hit only to take one in turn from Block Head who ended the race with a hard head-on to 519 Knuckles. 585 Big Ears was our best finisher in fourth with Block Head eighth. 

Steve Roberts piled 498 Jay Curtis into 560 Andrew Milner early in heat two before Jacob Foster thundered in Klein and 8 Dale Woolnough hit the luckless Milner before Hackett was followed in by 392 Sam Baines. 602 Shaun Cooper caught Milner in the drivers door while 180 Sparky destroyed 392 Baino with a roof bending hit and 602 Mr Moody bounced back to follow-in 460 Lewis Barber a treat on the pit bend. Woolnough clobbered 405 Shane Tilley and after a race stoppage he stuffed 843 Pete Osbourn. Cornish then turned round and nailed 423 Danny Oliver launching him off the infield kerbing as 465 Nine Inch raced to second and Steve Roberts took eighth. 

603 the Younger Hitman was followed straight in by 331 Jason Jackson as heat three began and later on Tilly blasted 367 Tom Keep with a head-on while Bam Bam buried both 24 Mark de Laat and 383 Jeff Smith in one go and 623 Tricky landed a shot on 24 Devastator. Bam Bam featured again at the end when he fired 556 Chris Whiteman Jnr into 174 Dave Osbourn’s wreck. Tuffen claimed second this time with Tricky in eighth. 

Onto the main event with 382 Chubby drawing grid position nine and 188 Victor 23 and the former raced into an early lead which he maintain until he was stuffed by the back marking 306 Mitchell Hawkins. Victor meanwhile stuffed 887 Rob Browning into some dead cars but the latter was able to deliver a pair of hard revenge hits to end our involvement in the race as 294 Lee Hughes successfully defended the title. 

Mr Moody shone again in the first Allcomers as he followed in 741 Charlie Daniels and just behind Sparky did the same to the Younger Hitman as Tilly blasted 542 Craig Oliver in the front wheel. Captain Cock then nailed the spun Klein on the nose as 51 Simon Heilds followed Beavis in hard with 73 Dean Cruickshank then blasting the latter. Foster turned 393 Dan Chiddle into the wall before Cornish nailed Captain Cock on opposite, the latter turning round for a big head-on only to take an equally solid hit in the front wheel from Tilly. Foster took fourth with Tuffen fifth, Sparky eighth and Tricky ninth. 

With a massive field of nearly 70 cars for the second Allcomers a track blockage was no surprise but the dust storm kicked up by driving using the shale to avoid the pile meant visibility was near impossible. In the confusion Nathan Roberts picked out Psycho for a good hit while Victor nailed 572 Paul Scully only to take one in turn from 397 Andrew Cullen before Steve Roberts caught 379 Ade Clifton in the door and was subsequently nailed by Psycho who was blasted by 399 Phil Culle. Victor landed a revenge hit on 397 the Chav but was trashed by 414 Lee Busby as Psycho and 271 Dean Goodall enjoyed a head-on. Blockhead took 10th this time. 

Johnson delivered our first action in the DD when he nailed 206 Phil Milner as Tuffen hit Baino on the nose only to be fenced by 549 Phil Smith while Sparky hammered Hawkins and Mr Moody met 347 Dave Bull on the nose. 331 Boxer then landed a big T-bone on Mr Moody with 49 Billy King turning round to blast the latter as 227 Dale Hughes followed in Lee. Tuffen now set about Peacock and Sparky also turned round and hammered Mr Moody as Lee rallied back to T-bone Smith as 158 Shane Davies based Sparky in the front wheel. Dino Jnr copped a wicked hit from 60 Kyle Stevenson and with Tuffen expiring in the final stages thus concluded our involvement in the afternoon. 

RDC Promotions 20th anniversary all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada National Banger meeting (added September 14)
It is now official, as announced last Saturday night at Mildenhall Stadium, RDC Promotions will stage its official 20th anniversary meeting in 2012 with an all Mk1 and Mk2 Granada National Banger meeting with a provisional date of Saturday, September 8.

With the 2012 being a landmark in the history of RDC Promotions and Mildenhall Stadium, we had always intended on trying to hold something which had the potential to be a little special and we hope that this meeting will be just that. 

Both of the all Granada National Banger meetings held at Mildenhall so far have attracted decent entries of cars and while not delivering the same style and standards of action that National Banger racing is known for in this day and age, they have acted as something of a reminder of the style of racing we used to see on a regular basis when RDC was first formed in 1993, an era where most of the cars were rear wheel drive and for many the focus was on winning with much of the action come from full contact racing plus the odd big hit here and there. 

Certainly the fine gathering of just over 30 Mk1 and Mk2 Granadas at Mildenhall last weekend was a great indication that next year’s meeting has the potential to be a success and the sight of 31 Mk1/2 Granadas in full flight on the Suffolk shale last Saturday was one of the best seen this season. 

Back when RDC first re-opened Mildenhall Stadium in 1993, many of the initial meetings held after the legendary first Winter Series, came with a weight limit which excluded Ford Granadas. Therefore for many one of the highlights of the first season where the PRI World Qualifying round where V6 powered Granadas were not only allowed, but made up the bulk of the entry, and it is the spirit of those meetings which we hope to re-crate on September 8 2012. 

Although more details will come in the following months we have already stated that in keeping with the tradition of 1993 we will only be allowing engines of the time, like the Ford Pinto and V6 and not more modern machinery like Ford Zetec. Other transplants will be considered for those who cannot find a Ford original but permission must be sought before hand. Furthermore we have also pledged to put all the Mk1 Granadas together in the same heat and if numbers allow, we would love nothing more than to run a Mk1 Granada only race on the night. 

Drivers are also reminded that it is only UK model Mk1 and Mk2 Granadas which are allowed, saloons, estates, coupes, Minsters, limos, hearses etc, no US or Australian Granada models. 

While on the subject of next season, we hope to celebrate our 20th anniversary throughout the year with all the events which will be staged for the 20th time in 2012 such as the Mildenhall Winter Series, National Banger British and Accumulator Championships and Pre 70 meetings, Reliant Robin Grand Prix and the 20th anniversary of Saloon Stockcar and Ministox racing at RDC which will come in July 2012 and March 2013 respectively. 

We are still working on our full 2012 fixtures and hope to bring you more information very soon, starting with a list of major National Banger dates at Mildenhall which should be on the website by the end of the month. 

Ministox RDC and ORC Championships (added September 7)
All RDC Ministox drivers are reminded that this Saturday’s meeting at Mildenhall (September 10) is the final meeting to determine the qualifiers for the 2011 RDC Drivers Championship at Mildenhall on October 30 and the RDC representatives for the 2011 ORC Championship at Arena Essex on November 20. 

Following this weekends meeting we will announce the qualifiers and starting order for the RDC Drivers Championship in next week’s news update and invitations will be sent to drivers as soon as possible. 

Meanwhile the top six drivers in the RDC Drivers Points Championship will be extended an invitation to represent RDC in the ORC Championship in November. Should any of the top six be unable to take part then we will continue down the points chart until all six places are filled. 

BriSCA F2 Stockcars English Open Championship format (added September 7)
With the 2011 staging of the BriSCA F2 Stockcars English Championship now just a little under one month away at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, October 1 we have now confirmed the proposed meeting format for the final F2 meeting of the season at the Suffolk shaleway.

As the meeting also plays host to the 2011 White and Yellow Grade Series Final we have somewhat disappointingly agreed that our best option for a meeting format is one, which does not feature a programmed Grand National.

The English Championship has a somewhat traditional format in that the qualifiers are determined by a regular heat and consolation format (the championship grid is somewhat unusual though as the drivers line up in reverse national points average order) which essentially left us with two options. 

The first was to have the white and yellow grade series double up as heat one (which would usually be the case with this race when not held as part of a championship meeting) with the top drivers qualifying for the English Championship. While this would allow us to programme a Grand National it would have come with many disadvantages. Firstly it would mean almost all the red and star grade drivers competing would be racing in heat two (we don’t expect sufficient cars to run three heats although of course will run three if required) as well as many of the evenings blue grades and so the qualifying heats would also be very uneven between the grades. Furthermore as the white and yellow grade series final is a points order grid it would mean many white grade drivers would start towards the back of the grid. 

Put simply we felt that having the white and yellow grade heat as the first qualifying heat for the English Championship would have proved very unfair for the majority of racers on October 1.

Therefore the confirmed programme will instead be the white and yellow grade series (which will this year not count for track or National points as it is not an ‘official’ part of the meeting format) followed by (at least) two qualifying heats and a consolation for the English Championship and the title race itself. 

While we believe this is a much fairer format for all racers it does mean that we cannot guarantee a Grand National race and therefore while all white and yellow grade series finalists will have the chance of three races on the night, the majority of those not in the race will only have the chance of two. 

Of course if time permits we will add a Grand National to the programme. However this would not only require additional time for another stockcar race but also for an additional National Banger race as well and with three trophy presentations (the meeting also features the National Banger RDC RWD Series Final although we hope to do the majority of the F2 White and Yellow Grade Series Final (which is race one) presentation before start time) there is a lot more to get through than five stockcar and four National Banger races which are originally programmed. 

Also this format will allow us to conclude the BriSCA F2 Stockcar programme and their 2011 season at Mildenhall with the biggest race of the season at the raceway this year, the English Championship which we feel will be a fitting end to the season for the formula at Mildenhall. 

We are sorry for any disappointment this format may cause drivers and fans and hope that you can understand the reasons why with the details we have given. Drivers are reminded that while they are welcome to book in either by phoning RDC on 01268 412299 or 07850 683953 or e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com all drivers will be welcome to race on the night. 

FORDS weekend round up and thank you (added August 31)
On the back of our August Bank Holiday weekend at RDC Promotions we want to send a special message of thanks to all those who so tremendously helped the recently founded ORC Ben Fund, FORDS.

It was well documented in the lead up to the weekend that both the bank holiday events at Mildenhall and Dover would double up as the raceways fundraising events for FORDS in 2011 and we are delighted to report back this week that we believe that between the two meetings we have raised a four figure sum for the cause which is a great achievement. 

FORDS secretary Manuela Stento was present at both meetings at following the Dover meeting on Monday was able to confirm that the raffle and collection held at Mildenhall raised just over £370 while the collection held at Dover raised just over £220. 

It should be stressed that this does not include the mandatory £1s collected by every driver who raced at each of these meetings. Traditionally these £1s go towards the various health and safety projects funded by the ORC but at a FORDS designated meeting the money instead goes to FORDS.

Better yet was RDC’s pledge that for every driver who gave an additional £1 donation to FORDS, we would match it and while the final number is yet to be finalised we believe the vast majority of drivers who raced at Mildenhall or Dover this weekend happily contributed another £1 to the fund meaning that in all we are very confident the final total from the two RDC meetings this weekend will add up to just over £1,000. 

All at RDC would like to send a further message of thanks to everyone who contributed to the fund this weekend and would also like to send an extra thank you to the drivers who offered prizes for the raffle at Mildenhall which proved a great success. 

RDC on tour at Aldershot, King’s Lynn and Swaffham (added August 31)
Once again despite their being no meetings at RDC this weekend, several of our banger drivers will be busy in action with the main points of interest being the Unlimited Banger World of Shale Championship and the Ally Cox memorial event.

Starting with the World of Shale at King’s Lynn on Saturday, September 3 and RDC are well represented in the main event with seeded entries 17 Kyle Overy, 20 Andy Burbridge, 382 Jack Foster Jnr and 384 John Golden. They will be joined by the duel licensed 148 Ian Redden, who qualified via the TSR points, and 145 Chris Abbott who won a wildcard place in August. Hoping to join them via the last chance race will be 101 Ian Norris and 401 Steve Hemmings. 

Meanwhile among those booked in for action at Swaffham on Sunday, September 4 for the Ally ‘Banacek’ Cox memorial are 35 Pete and 37 Dave Lewis, 116 Nat Cohn, 209 Tom Waller, 427 Dave Johnson and 538 Jake Swann. 

Last weekend saw several RDC Banger drivers in action elsewhere. As expected 617 Jack Overy was well involved in the Team Black v Condom war at Aldershot’s 2Litre meeting on August 28, trading hits with his rivals in both heats and the final and in more than one case was the last man standing for his team and still finding the time to register a ninth in heat one. 17 Kyle Overy meanwhile was flattened by 158 Shane Davies in the final while Team Black guest 525 Wes Starmer was trashed in heat one by 204 Charlie King. Also in action were 188 John Reeves, 260 Keith Reynolds and 898 Andy Battle, the former enjoying a fifth, sixth and fifth in the three races while Battle took a fourth in heat one and a seventh in the final. 

Although we don’t have much details we understand 148 Shorty was a heat winner in the 2Litre RWD Bangers at King’s Lynn on Saturday, August 27. 

Congratulations to new Saloon Stockcar World Champion 677 Eddie Darby (added August 24)
All at RDC would like to congratulate west country ace 677 Eddie Darby on his victory in the Saloon Stockcar World Championship at Skegness Stadium last Saturday night. 

Winning the last chance qualifier, despite starting on the third row from the back, Darby showed enough speed in the first race to establish himself as a contender for the main event.

Defending champion 499 Dave Aldous made a great start from pole while an early sort claimed pre race favourites 120 Shane Brown and 156 Darren Goudy it saw 658 Chris Lattka motor to the front to enjoy an early battle with Aldous. The pair survived one yellow flag restart but the second saw them both get buried into the fence hard which also delayed Darby who had climbed to fourth. This shot 511 Craig Barnett to the front but Darby was soon back in the hunt and after a close battle with Barnett took the lead and pulled away. 48 Shaun Webster recovered from an early spin to overhaul Barnett for second and despite closing the gap was unable to catch Darby who took the title. Last chance qualifier 71 Gordon Alexander was fourth. 

RDC on tour (added August 24)
It’s been a busy week or so for several RDC National Banger drivers on the road starting at Eastbourne last week on August 17 for the tracks annual A60 Amble ad pre 75 meeting. 

On hand were 260 Keith and 360 Jack Reynolds in a FSO 125P estate and A55 bubble Cambridge respectively, 587 Alex Humphrey in a Fintail Oxford while 456 Nathan Roberts, 73 Tony Sims and 347 Simon Wheeler all returned A60s from the Mildenhall pre 70 as did 163 Rob O’Connell with his Morris Cowley. 

No RDC action in heat one where 73 Slaphead, Roberts and 587 Humps finished sixth, eighth and ninth respectively. 360 Jackstar made a mark in heat two with a solid hit on the Morris Cowley of Midnight Runner rival 242 Ricky Korpiela while father 260 Keefy finished ninth.

163 Bert span and copped a head-on from 388 Taylor Sowter in heat three before Roberts landed a big hit on 252 Steve Bugler before he was nailed in turn by Jackstar while Keefy went in hard on 190 Steve Bailey and Slaphead jacked 347 the Stick a treat. Keefy them met 439 Danny Sutton on the nose and was T-boned by 25 Mark Thomas before Slaphead rolled to bring the reds out. The restart saw Keefy hit in the front wheel by 373 Rob Wilkinson and jacked hard by 380 Bradley Evans to end our interest in the race. 

Roberts enjoyed hits with Sowter and 884 Tom Filmer in the final before he blasted 259 Geert Roubroeks in the demo and Humps copped a hard T-bone from 7 Colin Farley. Roberts concluded our interest in the night with hits on 183 Mick Strudwick and 322 James Newland.

Moving onto last weekend and there was plenty of RDC interest in the 2Litre Banger Volcano at Ipswich on August 20 with 898 Andy Battle having the pick of the success with a third and second in the heats, followed by a fifth in the final while 370 John Cobbold also featured with a fourth in heat one and an eighth in the final. 

However the evening was tarnished for the RDC contingent by a nasty accident in the DD which resulted in a broken foot for 690 Jack Wilkins and all at RDC wish him a full and speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action very soon. 

Elsewhere this weekend and RDC were also represented at the unlimited banger Euro 2011 at Sheffield where 148 Ian Redden finished second. There was controversy elsewhere as the Team Black contingent, including 617 Jack Overy retired from heat one and shortly after loaded up and left the raceway, disappointing many fans who hoped to see them continue their rivalry with the Condoms. 

Completing our recent activities on the road and congratulations to the largely RDC based Motley Krew who finished second in the 1600cc team meeting at Arena on Sunday. 

Ministox for sale (added August 24)
RDC Ministox driver 369 Liam Santry has been in touch to say his car is up for sale. Described as a good starter car, the car, which has won races at Mildenhall is available but without a transponder. For more information please call 07584086369 or 07584469242.

Another Wild Night round up and thank you (added August 17)
This week all at RDC would like to extend another big message of thanks to all those who supported last weekend’s Another Wild Night event which was tremendously well supported on both side of the fence.

Once again we were blessed with a tremendous turn out of race cars and drivers. Nearly 130 cars for the National Banger BBA British Championship once again shows the popularity and stature of this event and we hope that with the BBA Supreme Championship becoming an unlimited banger event in 2012 it will in turn help maintain and even boost the popularity of the British Championship as the premier National Banger event of the season at the raceway. 

And the strong car numbers were also evident in the Reliant Robins where once again we had a sensational entry of just over 30 cars for the World Final meeting which included every World Finalist who was expected in action and this is the first time we can report that this has happened in the last few years. 

Sticking with the theme of pre meeting entry lists and following the unfortunate blip over our entry list for the unlimited banger Suffolk Open last month, the entry list for last weekend continued a return to the trademark RDC entry lists (much like the lists for National Bangers at One Wild Weekend). Not including a few very late cancellations for the British Championship we were delighted to note that only six of the drivers listed for the support races were noted by the absence and were more than replaced by almost 50 additional drivers which made for almost 100 cars in the last chance races alone. 

On track and we enjoyed an action packed night which also featured two hugely competitive championship races, the Reliant Robin World Final having the added bonus of a thrilling finish. 

Meanwhile the stewards were kept busy throughout the night, enforcing the newly spread across the entire ORC racing rules for National Bangers, which saw a high number (for an RDC meeting at least) of drivers loaded up on the night and a handful of them being issued additional punishments this week. Drivers facing additional punishments came from a variety of promotions and not just RDC and we would like to this week thank our partner promoters for upholding our requests for these racing bans and we hope this will send a message to all racers that we intend to do our best to enforce these rules in the fairness of all concerned.

A very large area of concern and disappointment for us on the evening came during the two National Banger Allcomers. In a bid to provide two even grids for the Allcomer races we put 29 cars in the first only for a massive surge of cars to come from the pits afterwards. This meant that even with the race fully subscribed with 40 cars there were still more than a dozen drivers were not given the opportunity to race in an Allcomers race. This was down 100 per cent to a major miscalculation on our part and we are deeply sorry for any disappointment caused and promise valuable lessons were learned. 

On a similar note it was also disappointing that a handful of National Banger drivers missed the gate for the Accumulator qualifier and DD. However in this case the pit gate was held open for as long as our curfew would allow. With extra races added to the programme because of the big car turnout, several big clear up operations and two championship presentations, we came closer to our 11pm curfew than we original had had hoped for but again it is no secret the importance of meeting this curfew hence why the pit gate had to be closed for the final event at 10.40pm.

Despite these disappointments we hope everyone had an enjoyable time in our company Saturday and our congratulations to new National Banger BBA British Champion Cruncher 119 Davey Cox and Reliant Robin World Champion 905 Rob Mitchell. 

Mildenhall Classic Car Show thank you message (added August 10)
This week, all at RDC would like to thank everyone who supported the second annual Mildenhall Classic Car Show last weekend and made it such a great success. 

Over 100 classic vehicles attended to make the show area very full and also an impressive sight with a superb variety of cars, bikes and even a van, on display.

Once again the show was set apart from similar events by the race cars with over 20 historic race cars on display which once again attracted much attention from the classic car owners and we were delighted to see such a great crowd assemble to enjoy the initial Historic BriSCA F1 and F2 Stockcar races and despite the races being spread out during the afternoon, there was a very good number of people who stayed to watch the remaining events. 

Plans are already afoot for the show again in 2012 where we again hope to make the event even bigger and better and as soon as a date has been confirmed we will announce it here. 

Revised National Banger racing rules (added August 10)
Following a meeting of the ORCi National Banger promoters last week, revised racing rules have been issued for the formula which will be used across the sport and come into immediate effect. 

RDC drivers and regular visitors at RDC will no doubt recognise that many of the racing rules have already been in effect at RDC, some for as long as two and a half years, however there are one or two changes. 

Therefore below we have the full ORCi press release but we have also added our own comments to various points to detail how we will interpret the rules to try and clear up any grey areas or confusion. 

2011 National Banger Revised Racing Rules – Aug 2011

National Banger racing is a full contact sport – drivers can race to win or attempt to win by stopping the opposition. 

The Steward’s interpretations and decisions on these rules are FINAL.

All heats, consolations and finals must be in one direction only. Certain Promotions allow turning around on the bends, however this does not allow a driver to drive the wrong way down the straights. It is the driver’s responsibility to check with the staging Promoter exactly what rules apply at any particular meeting.
RDC will continue to allow turning around in all National Banger events but drivers are reminded that all attacks must be from the ‘outside, in’ and any attacking ‘inside, out’ is not allowed and drivers may face punishment for this, even if they do not strike another car.

However in accordance to the new rules we will now be outlawing driver’s going the wrong way and attacking other cars on the straights. Drivers can still turn round on the straights but once committed to a bend they must remain on that bend. For example at Mildenhall if you turn round on the home straight you are committed to the pit bend and if you turn round on the back straight you are committed to the road bend. It should also be noted that if a driver turns round on the straight and attacks a car before reaching the bend, this may be punishable by the steward. If thereafter you travel down the opposite straight on ‘opposite’ you will be in breach of the rules. At Dover, attacking in the opposite direction in events other than the DD must be kept on the bends and not past where the figure of 8 course starts or ends on the exits and entrances to each bends. Also given that the straights at Dover are significantly longer than Mildenhall we expect driver’s to turn round as close to the bend as possible and again refrain from any ‘on opposite’ racing on the straights. Please note this ruling applies in all events other than DDs and also applies in Accumulator qualifier and turning round must be kept to the bends until the DD begins. 

Drivers must not attack any car on the infield/safety area, or attack from the infield/safety area. An infield hit is defined when the whole car being hit is on the infield, i.e. if one wheel is still on the track, then hitting this car would be a legal hit. Again, the Stewards decision is final on this. Any serious breaches of the infield safety area rule will carry an automatic 3 month ORCi ban.
This rule is not new to RDC however the new definition of what makes a car on the infield/safety area is new. However at Mildenhall we have the advantage of the infield wall which makes things simpler. In short if the car is inside the wall it is on the infield and if not it is fair game, another way to look at it is if a driver can hit a car without leaving the track either to deliver the hit or as a direct consequence of the hit then the target is legal. The latter definition will be applied at Dover. 

Using the infield or safety area in any way so as to gain an advantage is also an offence and can be punished as so by the Steward.
This includes waiting on the infield for a significant period of time for any reason and then rejoining or hiding on the safety area. Unless spun onto the infield, in which case a driver should attempt to rejoin as quickly and safely as possible, the only time a driver should be on the infield is if they are retiring from the race. Drivers are also reminded that at RDC in races (Accumulator qualifiers) which go into DDs drivers must complete the race in order to take part in the DD. Drivers who attempt to wait on the infield for the DD will be automatically excluded. 

Drivers must not attack any cars after the red flag or if the stationary yellow is displayed above a car. Drivers must not attack an empty or overturned car.
This is somewhat self explanatory.

Any damaging collision on the driver’s side between the centre of the front wheel and centre of the rear wheel will result in a penalty.
Again this rule is nothing new to RDC as RDC were the first to introduce this rule, back at the start of 2009. Drivers however should also attempt to avoid any contact with the drivers side of a car as the slightest mistake has the potential to result in disaster. If a driver does intend to hit a drivers side of a car they must do everything possible to hit as far away from the drivers door as possible, and not the other way around. Furthermore we will also consider taking action if a driver spins in front of another and is hit in-between the wheels in the drivers side but we feel the driver could have done more to avoid the crash. Put bluntly drivers should do everything possible to avoid hitting the drivers side of a car and intentional hits to this area will also carry a risk of penalty especially if they are ill-timed or ill-judged. Additionally the practise of burying a car into the fence or another car where the attacking car is positioned on the secondary cars driver’s door area is also illegal under this ruling and counts as avoidable contact with the driver’s door area. 

T-boning cars which are against or close to the barrier with excessive force is not allowed. It is also not permitted to T-bone a car which is close enough to the barrier to mean that significant impact with the barrier is inevitable from the hit. Even where cars are not against or near the barrier, the Steward may still consider a hard T-bone anywhere on the circuit to be excessive, and may take the appropriate action to discipline the driver. The penalty for a T-boning offence as detailed above will be 3 months.
Again this rule is not new to RDC who were the first to introduce it back in 2009. However as we have said since then, hits directed to the front or rear passenger wheels are fine as are T-bones at what the stewards deem ‘reasonable speed or force’. Put bluntly if we feel the hit is designed to stop the car then it is ok but if the stewards conclude otherwise then action will be taken. Drivers are again warned of the continued clamp down on ‘excessive T-bones’ which can be deemed OTT anywhere on the raceway. Again drivers are urged that front and rear wheels on the passenger side should be the target and not exclusively the passenger doors in a bid to stop the car. 

Dangerous and/or irresponsible driving as deemed by the Steward will incur a minimum of three months ORCi ban. For avoidance of doubt, length of the straight T-bones is considered dangerous and/or irresponsible driving. 

For further guidance, the following examples may also be considered as dangerous and/or irresponsible driving at the discretion of the Steward:

1. Attacking a car which has been stationary for what the Steward determines to be a significant length of time.
2. Attacking a car which is clearly already crippled.
Unfortunately the practise of repeatedly hitting a long time stationary/crippled car has become a frequent problem this season and is one we are eager to stamp out. We have also issued several black flags and loads ups for those guilty of this offence and intend to issue more severe punishment to repeat offenders. A crippled car is a matter of common sense and the excuse of “I didn’t know” when the car is clearly wrecked and has not moved for some time carries no weight. RDC have for a couple of years now regarded a car which has been stationary for two or more laps to be out of bounds at Mildenhall and one lap at Dover. This remains the case but also remains the case for a driver who has been out of the race for a short while and may not have passed the car in question twice. If you do re-join a way after a short while it is recommended to be wary of hitting stationary cars immediately as it would be easy to somewhat innocently fall foul of this ruling in this instance. 

Please note that repeat offences will carry additional penalties where the current ban will be double the previous ban. This means that a 2nd offence of a 3 month ban as noted above will be 6 months and then a further offence would double again to 12 months.

Congratulations to Chris Abbott and Jack Foster Jnr (added August 10)
This week we want to extend a big message of congratulations to RDC banger drivers 145 Chris ‘the Mad Monk’ Abbott and 382 Jack Foster Jnr on their successes on the road.

Firstly Chris won the wildcard place in this year’s Unlimited Banger World of Shale Championship at King’s Lynn in September by triumphing in the wildcard qualifier at Lynn last weekend. He will be joined on the big grid by RDC seeds 20 Andy Burbridge, 382 Chubby and 384 John Golden (plus one final seed who is yet to be determined) and also duel licensed 148 Ian Redden who has qualified via the TSR rounds. 

And then more success came just as this weeks news page was being written when we heard Chubby had triumphed in the annual 2Litre Crash Attack UK Open at Skegess last night (August 9). The victory adds Chubby to the list of confirmed qualifiers for the 2012 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship and we hope to have the latest qualifiers and drivers for the last chance race from this event and this weekends British Championship, in next weeks news update. 

Saloon Stockcars £1,000 Dash for Cash Jackpot final confirmation (added August 10)
RDC would like to confirm that despite some consideration that after discussion with the relevant drivers the Saloon Stockcar £1,000 Dash for Cash Jackpot Final will still take place on Saturday, October 22 as originally intended. 

With the fourth (and essentially fifth) qualifying round taking place as scheduled on July 31, some consideration was made to moving the jackpot final to the Saloon Stockcar meeting at Mildenhall in September believing this carried some advantages to hosting the big money final over the October fixture.

However while consulting with the jackpot contenders we were clear that we would only move the date if we had full support from all five drivers in contention for the £500 jackpot. Unfortunately this was not the case as not all these drivers could commit to the September 10 fixture because of other commitments so in fairness to these drivers the Dash for Cash Jackpot Final will remain on October 22. This meeting also plays host to the Wayne Osler Memorial, the Mildenhall White and Yellow Grade Series and this year will be the concluding round of the Mildenhall Track Championship. 

Well done to 6 Simon Welton, 219 Luke Grief, 420 Ivan Street, 499 Dave Aldous and 641 Willie Skoyles Jnr who have established themselves as the jackpot contenders this year. They are locked into the jackpot final grid where if victorious they will claim the £500 jackpot. Once again they will be joined in the race by any driver who registers a top six finish in the heats and final (please note the white and yellow grade series final will not count for qualifiers unless it doubles up a heat one) who will be chasing a £100 winner take all prize should they be victorious.

We would also like to thank all the jackpot contender for their time, thoughts, input and understanding into this matter. 

 One Wild Weekend round up and thank you (added August 3)
All at RDC would like to extend a massive message of thanks to all those who helped make last weekend’s One Wild Weekend event at Mildenhall Stadium such a huge success.

Once again we were blessed with a tremendous entry of race cars and drivers with no less than 141 National Banger drivers (and 178 National Bangers in total), 68 BriSCA F2 Stockcars and 38 Saloon Stockcars for a stunning total of 247 drivers and 280 race cars with drivers from all over England plus Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Holland competing. 

On the subject of car numbers while neither National Banger meeting this year reached triple figures we were still very pleased with the entries. With the Ford Granada excluded from the 2Litre RWD meeting the numbers of cars this year were very consistent with the amount of non Granadas last year and the amount of variety on the car front was absolutely second to none and we are confident that the exclusion of the late shaped Granadas played a big part in that. Further on the Sunday last year we had a much higher amount of RWD survivors race again because of the loss of the DD on the Saturday night. In actual fact we had more ‘fresh’ 1800cc Bangers race this year than in 2010 which again was very pleasing. 

The only disappointment on the car count front was the slightly lower than expected entry of BriSCA F2 Stockcars on the Saturday although running two better subscribed heats rather than three arguably did produce a better quality of racing. It was especially disappointing that so few of the long distance travellers made the trip as planned as several of those who did not show gave no warning or have since given no explanation and this is something we will be looking at when we weigh up our options for the 2012 event. 

We were also delighted that after the last two years has seen a race postponed or cancelled on the Saturday night that this year with slightly more comfortable numbers in all classes we were able to complete all 13 races on Saturday well inside our 11pm curfew and in fact across the weekend we ran 29, well subscribed full contact races (of which 12 were bangers) in little over nine hours. 

With that in mind our thanks go to the entire RDC team for their hard work throughout the weekend to keep things going as smoothly as possible and to all the drivers for their co-operation which as always played a huge part. 

We are however sorry for the slight delay to the start of Saturday night’s meeting which was 100 per cent down to our part with a miscommunication behind the scenes and also for the track clearance taking a little longer than usual, especially on Sunday. With so many race cars in the pits as well as caravans and tents, the pits were extremely congested to say the least which meant each trip for the tractors too and from the pits took a few seconds longer than usual and off course over the afternoon this added up.

We also want to thank our track team for the superb work on the raceway, both in the lead up to the weekend and after the Saturday night meeting and into the small hours which provided a superb racing surface and despite the wonderful weather we were able to keep the dust at a reasonable level all weekend so we are tremendously thankful to them.

And we also want to thank everyone who stayed on site over the weekend for their fantastic behaviour. Aside from one or two very minor incidents, there was absolutely no trouble reported anywhere on the site with the Saturday night party in the Fenman bar lasting until 5am.

We hope that everyone who joined us during the weekend enjoyed themselves and we hope to see you again very soon. 

 BriSCA F2 Stockcars White and Yellow Grade Series qualifiers and grid (added August 3) 
Following the penultimate meeting of the season at Mildenhall for the BriSCA F2 Stockcars last weekend we can now confirm the qualifiers and starting order for the 2011 White and Yellow Grade Series Final which takes place at Mildenhall on October 1. 

Congratulations to the top 30 drivers who have qualified for this years race and to 260 Anthony Winters who has topped the chart and will start on pole position. 

Invitations will be sent to the qualifiers in due course but this year’s series final has a significant change to previous events at Mildenhall. Because the race is being held on the same night as the 2011 English Open Championship at Mildenhall we feel it would not be fair to the majority to have the white and yellow grade series final double up as heat one which has been the norm in previous years.

Therefore the White and Yellow Grade Series will be the first race of the night on October 1 but will not offer an places in the evenings Grand Final, or for that matter carry track or national points, and all drivers will then compete in one of the qualifying heats later on to try and qualify for the English Open.

Also, due to the somewhat complicated format, we will disappointingly not be able to guarantee a Grand National will be run at this meeting. However if time and other factors allow it, one may be added, but a Grand National will not be programmed.

We plan to release a more detailed statement behind our decision process in the coming weeks but in the meantime here are the qualifiers and their final scores which determine grid positions for the white and yellow grade series final. 

260 Anthony Winters 79pts
81 Mark Clayton 65
599 Jon Lawrence 59
595 Jamie Young 57
742 Nick Rogers 57
498 Derek Cayzer 52
77 John Davies 46
645 James Waters 43
326 Johnny Hall 40
765 Richie Kemp 39
495 John Cayzer 39
70 Brian Shadbolt 39
376 Darren Senechall 37
650 Gary Stirk 37
449 Mark Dorrill 36
925 Paul Wilson 36
623 Rob Dobie 34
431 Andy Gibbs 34
231 Matt Clayton 34
611 Jason Horner 33
423 Neil Darby 32
366 Mick Kemp 32
619 Andrew Clarke 30
225 Tony Blackburn 30
198 Paul Nicholson 27
466 Jamie Start 26
345 Gary Taylor 26
434 Mark Gardiner 25
396 Dave Johnson 24
588 Matt Pettit 24

Reserves
659 Jacob Downey 23
330 Jack Thompson 21

Extra incentives up for grabs at future BriSCA F2 Stockcar meetings (added August 3)
Due to a couple of very impressive statistics taking shape in the BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Mildenhall in the last few meetings, RDC have announced that two special trophies will be up for grabs starting on October 1 for the first driver to win one of the following challenges.

In recent months we have been describing the BriSCA F2 Stockcars as ‘the fastest show on dirt’ at Mildenhall Stadium with lap times sometimes faster than speedway racing at the track. On Sunday, July 31 823 Sam Wagner set the fastest lap time of the year so far with a 13.176second lap in the Grand Final and we have now set the challenge for the first driver to break the 13 second barrier and a trophy awaits the first F2 Stockcar driver to complete a lap of Mildenhall in under 13 seconds. This challenge starts on October 1.

Furthermore we have made a few references to the amazing run of different final winners at Mildenhall in the formula since April 2010 as now the last 14 Grand Finals (not including the 2010 White and Yellow Grade Series Final or World of Shale championship which each doubled up as heat one on the night) having produced 14 different winners. 

With that in mind we have a trophy ready and waiting for the first driver to snap the streak. Heading into the English Open Championship on October 1 there are of course 14 drivers in contention for this award and should any of them win the title race they will also receive this trophy. If it is someone who doesn’t appear on the list then we will have 15 contenders when we kick off the 2012 season and this trophy will go to the first driver to win two Grand Finals at Mildenhall since April 2010. 

The current contenders for this award are
52 Pete Robertson (July 25 2010 final winner)
77 John Davies (July 31 2011 final winner)
150 Mark Thomas (May 22 2010 final winner)
186 George Turiccki (April 10 2010 final winner)
326 Johnny Hall (June 12 2011 final winner)
377 Daz Shaw (April 9 2011 final winner)
379 Stu Cayzer (July 24 2010 final winner)
495 John Cayzer (May 21 2011 final winner)
599 Jon Lawrence (July 30 2011 final winner)
606 Andy Palmer (May 1 2010 final winner)
645 James Waters (June 19 2010 final winner)
662 Steve Wycherly (August 28 2010 final winner)
702 Allen Cooper (October 2 2010 final winner)
977 Dave Massey (June 18 2011 final winner)

Bangerstox and Super Rod grades for remainder of 2011 (added August 3)
Following the most recent Bangestox and Super Rod meeting of the season at Dover on July 24 we have the new and final grading list of the season which will be used at both the Masters qualifier on August 29 and the Masters Championship meeting in September. 

While no drivers will be downgraded in this time we may upgrade drivers for the last meeting of the season following the August 29 should they score well or move up the points chart significantly. 

The grades for August 29 are as follows
BANGERSTOX
Masters and Points Champion: 64
Kent and Southern Champion: 9
Red: 5, 19, 49, 99
Blue: 15, 20, 36, 44, 52, 55, 95
Yellow: 2, 8, 13, 14, 25, 51, 63, 65, 77, 93, 98

SUPER RODS
Points Champion: 88
Masters Champion: 121
Kent Champion: 28
Southern Champion: 6
Blue: 14, 27, 41
Yellow: 03, 29

RDC at all Westy meeting and TSR World Final (added July 27)
Last weekend was a busy one for several RDC drivers away from home with a big RDC turnout at the 2Litre Banger TSR World Final at King’s Lynn on Sunday, We don’t have a detailed account of the afternoon but well done to 160 Perry Willings and 370 John Cobbold for finishing fifth and eighth respectively and to 928 Emmerson Prime on his last chance qualifier win. 

Meanwhile the previous night (July 23) RDC was well represented at Eastbourne for the early awaited all Westy Night with 73 Tony Sims, 192 Stu Warby, 260 Keith and 360 Jack Reynolds, 346 Scott Saunders, 347 Simon Wheeler, 401 Steve Hemmings, 473 Mark Nicholls and 500 Bill Wenham, only the latter’s being a used car. The rest were all smartly turned out and 260 Keefy had one of the rarest on display with a Vanden Plas 105 bubble.

192 Fat Head was in the wars in heat one taking hits from 173 Steve Reynolds and 71 Ciran Carton but rallied back to finish eight. Heat two saw 360 Jackstar butt heads with 304 Alan Tibbs while 346 Muttley fenced 515 Willie Irvine before he buried 517 Scott Weldon into 4 Phil Brooks en route to finishing fifth. 500 Wild Bill’s night was ended early in heat three by a meaty hit from 32 Mark Rowland before Keefy jacked 363 Sam Trim only to take a massive hit from 670 Richard Flockton but not before 401 Psycho was buried by the lively 32 Rolly.

347 the Stick took a load of punishment in heat four with hits from 148 Mark Hughes, Carton, 280 Simon Goodale, 16 Mike Flaherty and a big T-bone from Carton to leave the Management 6/110 a warped mess. Psycho treated 794 Simon Foreman to a big hit in heat five but was trashed when 379 Ade Clifton was thundered into him before 136 Clyde Williams buried Muttley into the broken Predator Westy. The repaired Keefy was fenced by 727 Simon Young in heat six which saw Rolly fire into Fat Head, A manic start to the last heat saw Jackstar blast 404 Rob Mills while Keefy butted heads with 819 Pokey. Jackstar continued to fence 439 Danny Sutton and with Muttley’s involvement in the DD being short lived thus ended our action on the night. 

Places being accepted for next Ovalsport race day at Mildenhall (added July 12)
Following our latest Ovalsport race day at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend we are now accepting drivers for our next event which takes place on Sunday, September 11.

RDC Promotions’ Ovalsport race days offers a chance to experience short oval motor racing on the unique Mildenhall shaleway and is an ideal opportunity for anyone who has always wanted to have a go at this type of racing and perhaps does not have the means or budget to do so.

It is also a great way for former racers to have another go on track and for current drivers to experience a unique race day with friends and family. 

The main bulk of an Ovalsport Race Day centres on the Ovalsport Stockcars which is strictly non contact racing with drivers enjoying practice laps before racing in three qualifying heats to determine their Grand Final. Every driver receives a grand final and will be pitted against drivers with similar scores to their own from the heats. 

Further activities come in the shape of our new Lawn Mower powered Go Kart challenge and a time trial event. 

All drivers receive lunch and a trophy to remember their day and all safety equipment is provided. The usual cost of these days is £160 per person (including VAT) but we are offering the day to all RDC drivers and fans for the special price of £140 (including VAT), just mention the RDC website when you book your place. 

We do offer further discount for group bookings, please phone for more information and we can also offer private events if you are looking to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, stag or hen parties etc. For more information call Sian Coventry on 07979 374489.

Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship round up and thank you (added July 12)
This week we would like to extend a big message of thanks to all the drivers who competed in last weekends action packed Unlimited Banger and Ministox Suffolk Open Championship and also thank all the fans for the supporting the event. 

While many agreed it was an action packed session and for the Unlimited Bangers a marked improvement on the 2011 fixture and indeed one of the better banger meetings at RDC this year there are still a few things we would like to discuss.

The first was that we were disappointed that there were a number of drivers on the entry list who did not race as expected. While we always stress that our lists should be treated very much as just a guide rather than a 100 per cent accurate list of who will and won’t be racing it was disappointing that so many of those listed did not arrive. In fact this is the second year running that this meeting has suffered this problem and clearly something we need to try and address in the future. Our final entry list given on the website had just over 95 names and ultimately just shy of 90 drivers gathered at the meeting which on the surface may not seem so bad. However there were over 20 drivers in attendance last weekend who were not on the list who were outnumbered by those who did not show. We would like to stress that not all the drivers listed that did not race simply did not just ‘no show’. A handful of drivers contacted us to cancel their places late in the week and we also received a handful of messages on the day of the meeting from drivers who experienced last minute problems. However, again there were a significant number of drivers who informed us of their intention to race but did not arrive or inform us of any problems. While we understand that things do go wrong, it was still somewhat disappointing and we are sorry for any disappointment caused. 

This brings us nicely to the meeting format. With just 90 cars expected in action our hope was always to run three qualifying heats with around 30-32 cars in each. However with start time looming it became apparent we would not have sufficient cars for this but at the same time with around 80 cars on hand we knew we also had far too many cars to run just two heats. Therefore we made the unusual decision to run the three heats but allow drivers from heat one (and even heat two) who did not qualify and could prepare their cars for another race in time, to join us again for heat three to help make the numbers back up to around 30 cars. Despite only making this decision just before the grand parade, the drivers reacted well to the idea, although some late arrivals meant only a few extra cars were needed for the final heat, but ultimately we were able to get 30 cars for each of the heats which appeared a good number for racing and wrecking.

Our next concern then moved to the remainder of the meeting format. In 2010 we made a big change to the programme following the heats. With only enough cars to run one consolation and the drivers in the last heat needed extra time to repair we split the Accumulator qualifier and DD into separate events (this also required an additional Ministox race to be added) so we could run the consolation without waiting and offer drivers who missed the consolation a stand alone Accumulator qualifier instead. Serious thought was given to doing this again this year but when the opening Ministox race caused damage to the fence it in turn gave the Unlimited Banger drivers in heat three the extra time to repair for the consolation and subsequently we enjoyed a fine 34 car grid for that race. 

With the next few races running very smoothly thought was again given after the banger final to splitting the Accumulator and DD (and again adding a fourth Ministox race). However information from our pit road staff pointed that while cars were being called for the title race they believed there were few cars other than those doing the final that were still ready and able for action. Fearing we would not have enough cars to run a separate Accumulator and DD we instead elected to stick to the format and attempt to end the evening on a high note. 

Subsequently we were left with little option other than to give the banger drivers the time they needed to five their cars prior to the last event which did result in a short delay. We trust the wait was worth it as ultimately 46 drivers, over half the original entry, returned including many who had put in some amazing effort to repair and others who wrecked cars which could easily have been used at another meeting. Despite the delay here and the one earlier to fix the fence, the DD was still completed at 10pm. 

We again want to extend a massive message of thanks to the drivers and their teams for their brilliant efforts throughout the night, especially in repairing the cars in good time for their next race which meant all six banger races featured good grids despite the action levels and a bumper grid for the final race. Similar praise should also go to the young guns in the Ministox who not only produced some great racing during the night but also had almost full grids for all three races. 

Much has been said about the drop in numbers for the Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship compared to the 2008 and 2009 events. As said this time last year, we believe a big part of that is down to the introduction of the unlimited banger EA team championship last season, a meeting of which the rapid popularity off certainly took us by surprise. Although we did run an unlimited domestic meeting in 2009 it was no where near the size or scale of the unlimited meetings we have run at Mildenhall in 2010 and 2011. For further proof it is interesting to note that only around 30 of the drivers who raced Saturday night also raced at the team meeting in May leaving around 55 drivers who raced unlimited bangers for the first time at Mildenhall this season last weekend. That means that between the two unlimited meetings at Mildenhall this season we have seen over 160 different drivers race, a comparable number (in fact slightly more) to the Suffolk Opens of 2008 and 2009. 

Of course next years sees the Supreme Championship switch to unlimited bangers and for the first time ever we plan to stage three big car meetings at Mildenhall in a single season and it remains to be seen what kind of impact this has on the existing fixtures. Nonetheless the switch for the Supreme Championship is part of our long term future for RDC and Mildenhall of which the EA team and Suffolk Open championships is also an important part of and we hope we now have the building blocks with the support of the drivers to make all these meetings a success in 2012. 

Big RDC Promotions website updated last weekend (added July 13)
Those of you who have visited the website since the weekend will have hopefully noticed some large updates in various areas with relation to our next three events at RDC, all significant ones on the fixtures.

First up is RDC’s At Our Best, one of our feature events of the season at Dover Raceway with the National Banger Kent Team Championship alongside the Kent and Southern Championships for Bangerstox and Super Rods. Traditionally we would have a dedicated section on the site to this meeting but this year time has gotten the better of us. So instead with next week being a week off for RDC we have made good use of our previews page. 

Already the previews page boasts a much more detailed meeting preview to our normal one and you can also find on the page everything else you need to know about the meeting including drivers listings for the National Bangers and Bangerstox, the championship rolls of honour and more. 

In the meantime we have also added special sections to the site dedicated to RDC’s One Wild Weekend (Mildenhall July 30 and 31) and Another Wild Night (National Banger BBA British and Reliant Robin World Championships at Mildenhall on August 13). Again these sections have all the information about these potentially great meetings at the West Row stadium this summer including the current driver listings which will continue to be updated in the coming weeks as and when more information is known.

Congratulations to 499 Dave Aldous (added July 6)
All at RDC would like to congratulate Saloon Stockcar World Champion 499 Dave Aldous on his historic defence of the European Championship at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend. 

Aldous’ calm and flawless drive against 35 rivals in an action packed race makes him only the third driver in the 29 year history of the championship to successfully defend the title and the first to do so since Scottish legend 68 Harry Burgoyne did so in 1996 and 1997. Aldous now has a chance of matching 636 Conrad Self’s unmatched hat trick of European Championship victories in the early 1990s. 

We would also like to thank and congratulate all 46 Saloon Stockcar drivers who raced last weekend and treated fans to a stunning night of full contact and full bloodied stockcar action, the likes of which only seen by this amazing formula which continues to go from strength to strength and we hope to see more of the same when they return to Mildenhall for One Wild Weekend on July 30 and 31. 

Success for Jack Overy and Shorty at Birmingham and King’s Lynn (added June 29)
Last weekend was a busy one around the country for several RDC Bangers drivers and they enjoyed plenty of success on their travels.

The biggest achievements came on Saturday (June 25) night where 617 Jack Overy won the re-launched National Banger National Championship as part of a flawless hat trick of wins at Birmingham while 148 Ian Redden added another big shale unlimited banger win to his CV when he won the annual Bandit Memorial final at King’s Lynn.

Elsewhere this weekend and 180 Mark Foster helped the Midnight Runners B win the four-a-side team event at Arena Essex on Sunday while 384 John Golden placed eighth in the 2Litre BBA English Championship at Mendips. 

We hope to have more detailed accounts of how our drivers fared at the weekend in the future and we would also like to wish RDC registered 54 Martin Lawton who suffered an injury at Arena on Sunday. 

Mildenhall June 18 round up and thank you (added June 22)
We want to kick off this weeks news update by extending a massive message of thanks to everyone who supported last weekend’s meeting at Mildenhall Stadium despite a bleak weather forecast which in reality didn’t come close to how awful the conditions would actually be on the night.

Fresh from the equally wet second day of the Dirty Weekend event on June 12, we were fortunate enough that a few dry days at the stadium allowed our track team to carry out some great work on the track after the first wet meeting at the raceway in six days and this work at the start of the week proved crucial in last weekend’s meeting going ahead.

Sadly things took a turn for the worse when the rain returned on Thursday and was followed by heavy rain all night on Friday followed by some horrendous showers throughout Saturday, including a near monsoon of hailstorms around four hours before start time.

The upshot was it left the raceway in a very wet and difficult state. But despite the rain being no secret and far from exclusive to Mildenhall, almost 100 race drivers still attended and everyone of them competed in the meeting, a handful even managing to race four times in the awful conditions. 

Furthermore we were once again joined by a very good sized audience, especially so given the weather and we hope they enjoyed the action the drivers were able to serve up. Certainly given the conditions it’s hard to say the drivers could have given any more and everyone, along with their teams in the pits, deserve much praise for working so hard during the night to keep the meeting running.

We are especially pleased that there was sufficient enthusiasm from drivers in all classes that every race was able to run as programmed, which is a testament to the dedication of the drivers who raced last weekend. 

Furthermore we would also like to thank our staff for working throughout the night in the poor weather which ensured the meeting was able to run as smoothly as we were able. 

We are however sorry that we had to cut short the Unlimited Van Banger DD. Even with 25 minutes passing there were still five drivers battling for the win, not to mention many fans still watching the hits. However our officials on the track noted that where all drivers were struggling for grip it was starting to badly effect the track which had already taken a hammering during the night. Believing it was in the best interest of our forthcoming events we elected to declare the event as a five-way tie. We are sorry for any disappointment this may have caused but are pleased to report that the decision has already reaped rewards with work on the track progressing excellently this week ahead of the latest speedway fixture this Sunday and our next event on July 2. 

Great news from 209 Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward (added June 22)
We have received excellent news this week from RDC National Banger racer 209 Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward who was seriously injured at the season opener at Mildenhall in March.

After months of treatment, Ben has this week been cleared to return to work and has also received the all clear to return to racing when he feels able. 

While Minge has not yet decided on a return date, perhaps sensibly electing to wait until he is fully ready, all at RDC are delighted to hear his great news and look forward to hopefully seeing him back on track in the near future.

RDC’s Dirty Weekend round up and thank you (added June 15)
All at RDC would like to extend a big message of thanks to everyone who helped contribute to making last weekend’s Dirty Weekend such a great success. 

As expected it was a truly massive weekend of racing, quite possibly the biggest we will see this season. In total no less than 230 drivers raced during the course of the weekend and between them 240 different race cars competed on the shale during the monster 42 race schedule over the two days. 

We would also like to thank everyone who contributed to the event running so smoothly with the gigantic race programme completed in a total of nine hours of racing, four hours on Saturday and a further five on Sunday. We were especially pleased that we were able to complete Sunday’s meeting in good time, despite the horrendous weather conditions which made for a very wet afternoon. 

On that note we again want to send a huge message of thanks to the drivers in all four formulas on Sunday who continued to fix and race their cars in the awful conditions. It was nothing short of amazing to see the final races of Sunday afternoon so well subscribed and the standard of racing was a testament to the efforts of all concerned. 

Finally we are glad to report that save one minor incident on Saturday night which was quickly resolved, there were no issues or incidents overnight on Saturday with a great atmosphere being reported both inside and outside the stadium which resulted in the disco in the Fenman bar continuing long past the original scheduled 2am conclusion. 

We would also like to thank the fans who supported the weekend, especially those who braved the weather on Sunday afternoon and we hope you enjoyed the racing on offer.

We hope for more of the same at One Wild Weekend on July 30 and 31.

Message to all Ministox drivers from Coventry on June 4 and RDC grade changes (added June 8)
The following is a statement from Michael Coventry to each of the Ministox drivers who raced at Coventry Stadium last weekend (June 4).

I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate each of the Ministox drivers who raced at Coventry Stadium last weekend for putting on a tremendous performance in front of a massive audience of race fans.

As I was asked by the promotion to cover their ‘presenter’ duties I wasn’t able to be work as closely with the formula as I had done at the April meeting and the drivers and their teams were very much left to their own devices during the night.

Despite this I would like to thank everyone for their excellent co-operation and hard work throughout the night. This started with everyone’s co-operation and understanding in a very tight pit area and continued with drivers following instructions on when to line up for their races and with this being followed as asked it greatly assisted the promotion in getting through their massive 15 race schedule in four and a half hours. 

Furthermore, for the second meeting in a row, the standard of racing was second to none for junior stockcar racing and has been met with much positive response from the promotion at Coventry Stadium. Once again they were especially impressed at the toughness of the young racers as for the second meeting in a row (and hopefully this will not jinx it), every race went flag to flag without any stoppages or caution periods despite some great full contact stockcar racing. 

What is also pleasing to note is how competitive the racing has been. Despite the fact that all seven races held at the track have so far been won by lower graded drivers the track championship standings prove just how close the racing truly is. 

Just 14 points separates the current top 10 and to make matters more interesting these 10 are made up of three white grade drivers (one of which would have been red had they raced last weekend), two yellow grade drivers, two blue tops, a red top and two silver grade drivers. 

However due to my added role at the weekend as ‘presenter’, not only was I not able to thank each driver personally at the end of the meeting but I wasn’t able to confirm early bookings for the next Coventry meeting on August 6.

Once again the drivers from the last meeting have first refusal of a place at the next one but as ORCi Ministox will only share the bill with BriSCA F1 Stockcars in August (much like the April date) we will go back to a 36 car limit. Drivers from the June 4 meeting have until July 2 to confirm their place while in the meantime there are currently nine places available for drivers who did not race on June 4. If we receive additional demand from new drivers I’ll wait until after July 2 to confirm if a place is available or not, after the drivers from last weekend have had amble time to confirm if they wish to race at the August meeting.

As always drivers should book in via their own promotion.

Once again can I thank all the drivers and their teams for their efforts last weekend, once again they were a credit to themselves and the entire formula.

Regards Michael Coventry

Furthermore following the recent meetings at Mildenhall and Coventry we have a couple of drivers to receive early upgrades for the next meeting at Mildenhall on June 18. There will be a new grading list for the Ministox following this meeting in time for the Kent Championship at Dover on June 26.

Up to red grade: 382 Tom Foster
Up to blue grade: 350 Thomas Parrin
Up to Yellow grade: 316 Sam Dace and 339 Jake Futter

RDC on tour at Coventry and Aldershot (added June 8)
As expected RDC were well represented at the Unlimited Banger Coventry Masters and the Trigger Memorial at Coventry and Aldershot last weekend. 

Starting at Coventry and heat one featured 27 Terry King (in a stunning looking Mk2 Granada), 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 384 John Golden and 617 Jack Overy with 384 Goldie providing our only action when he rode over a stray wheel leaving team mates 382 Chubby and Overy to qualify in third and fifth respectively.

Heat two featured 148 Ian Redden, 221 Mick Whitelock and 456 Nathan Roberts. 221 Mad Mike led for several laps but a clash with 143 Dan Rose and 218 Lee Clelland allowed Roberts to spin him for the lead and he survived an attack from 474 Matty Threlkeld to take the win with 148 Shorty in second.

Mad Mick bounced back to finish fifth in the consolation to make it to the title race where he was hammered by 67 Rickie Beasley in the midst of an early pile-up. Overy eased past 474 Matty for the lead with Chubby hot on his heels as he nailed the spinning 128 Mark Atkins only to then spin out of contention as Overy expired with a blown engine. This promoted Roberts to the front with Shorty third, the back markers briefly allowing Shorty to close before the Cream Team man pulled away again and notched up his second title win of the season, a last bend melee causing Shorty steering damage and he had to settle for third, Chubby recovering for fourth and Goldie sixth.

Shorty’s night ended with a clash with 117 Steve Ellis in the Allcomers while Chubby was removed by 101 Keith Roberts while Nathan Roberts completed a great night with a third and Chubby recovered for ninth. 

Onto Aldershot the following afternoon with Chubby one of a few to take in both meetings and on this occasion he was joined by 180 Mark Foster and 260 Keith and 360 Jack Reynolds. 

360 Jackstar made a mark in heat one, which was also the Trigger memorial race with a shot on 470 Steve Nelson in a pit bend wrecking train before he was nailed by 528 Alan Hunt and 598 John Mills while 260 Keefy guided his Jag to second place. 

Onto heat three where Chubby came under fire from Condom rival 203 Darren Nash who fenced himself in the process. Chubby continued to power into the waiting Mk10 Jaguar of 264 Mark Welland who held the former in place for 203 Gnasher to again weigh in. Chubby and Welland battled along the back straight to turn four where Gnasher came off the centre to nail the Team Black young gun and held him in place for Welland to land a big hit. 

The 3Litre duo were involved in a superb fourth heat, Jackstar following 627 Terry Coke Jnr into the pit bend carnage a treat before Keefy suffered a similar fate at the hands of 45 Anthony Croshaw. 180 Sparky landed a hit on former team mate 341 Any Jones in the last heat while Keefy was hammered by 480 Kane Caple, Jackstar meanwhile delivering one of the hits of the day when he leathered 70 Ant Long with a flat out hit. 

Sparky returned in the final with a pair of destructive hits to 421 Nigel Riley before he came under fire from 702 James Dodge and the Midnight Runner also contested the DD trading infield blows with 702 Jimbo, 521 Ashley and 221 Justin Riley and Jackstar, the latter ending Sparky’s day with a solid follow-in after he hit 341 Jonesey on the centre. 

Pre 70 Bangers Odd Job Memorial round up and thank you (added June 1)
This week we want to extend a massive message of thanks to everyone who helped make last weekend’s 19th annual pre 70 banger and Odd Job memorial meeting such a tremendous success.

The final car count of pre 70 bangers was a simply mind blowing 143 cars which while ever so slightly down on the record number for this event was still nothing short of staggering and also the 10th consecutive triple figure entry for this meeting which is a fantastic achievement.

With drivers from all across the banger racing world, the standard of machinery and presentation was not only second to none but also perhaps the greatest we have ever seen at RDC and it remains to be seen if it will ever be topped.

Among the many making a tremendous effort were the WI Engineering team who pulled out all the stops to give their team mate a great send off and their efforts were rewarded with an emotional heat win for 587 Alex Humphrey, entertainer awards for 520 Derek Caton (who raced under Dan’s number of 503) and 278 Tom Hills and 164 Jack Turner lifted the Odd Job memorial trophy.

We were delighted to be joined by so many of Odd Job’s friends and family including his fiancé, daughter and step daughter who helped with some of the trophy presentations and we are also delighted to report the wonderfully positive feedback they gave of the meeting and those who made the effort to support it. 

Once again a huge thank you to every driver, and their teams and families, for making the effort to support the meeting and also to the great turn out of fans who we hope all enjoyed the occasion

Vital stats for May (added June 1)
May 2011 has been yet another tremendous month for RDC Promotions with some incredible National Banger stats to report on. 

May is traditionally one of the busiest months of the season for National Bangers and this was again the case in 2011 with well over 60 meetings for the formula around the country and mainland Europe.

Of all these meetings, just two managed to break the 100 car barrier and they were both at Mildenhall, last weekend’s pre 70 Odd Job Memorial and the unlimited EA Team meeting on May 7, making them the best attending meetings in the sport this month.

Furthermore with 70 cars in action the British Qualifier on May 21 was the fourth best attended meeting of the month, only topped by the entry for the 2Litre BBA World Final at Hednesford on May 15.

In all no less than 194 drivers raced at Mildenhall in National Bangers in May, including seven who raced at all three meetings and deserve a special mention for their superb commitment. They are
17 Kyle Overy
20 Andy Burbridge
101 Ian Norris
148 Ian Redden
160 Perry Willings
382 Jack Foster Jnr
617 Jack Overy

We should also extend further congratulations to 20 Baldy, 160 Pez and 382 Chubby who have raced at all Mildenhall meetings in 2011 (although Chubby missed the Best Pairs event on April 9, he was racing at Cowdenbeath representing RDC in the BBA World Cup) and Baldy has also competed at ever Dover meeting in 2011. He along with 101 Bam Bam were the only drivers to race at both Mildenhall and Dover this weekend although we should not forget 188 John Reeves, 259 Dan Poole, 349 Lee Saunders, 570 Jordan Cumming and 898 Andy Battle who all raced at Mildenhall and Eastbhourne this weekend.

Others worth of a mention are 303 Wayne Linsdale, 328 Daniel Lathan and 682 Paul Sparrow who have so far so missed just one Mildenhall meeting this season and also Baldy again who, alongside 492 Dean Harper, are the only drivers to have raced at all three of the RDC RWD series rounds held so far.

Problems with .com address of RDC Promotions website (added May 25)
Over the weekend the RDC Promotions website was affected by some technical problems which appeared exclusive to the www.rdcpromotions.com address.

While these problems appear to have resolved themselves this week we want to remind all visitors to the site that there are alternative web addresses you can use to try and access the site if there is ever a problem with the main address.

These are www.rdcpromotions.net or www.steamin.in/RDC/index.htm and these addresses were unaffected over the weekend. 

Invitation for limited number of visiting drivers to ‘RDC only’ Ministox meetings (added May 25)
Following much thought in recent weeks we have decided to extend a limited number of bookings for non RDC Ministox drivers to our forthcoming RDC only meetings at Mildenhall Stadium. 

While Ministox numbers have remained most healthy at RDC in 2011, they have dipped off slightly from the tremendous turnouts we were receiving a few years ago when the RDC only meetings were first introduced at Mildenhall at meetings where we could not afford to run more than three ‘all in race’.

At present we currently have just over 30 active RDC drivers and the six Mildenhall meetings so far this season have raised fields of between 17 and 25 cars with an average car count of 21. 

Therefore following the request of some drivers, combined with our on-going desire to present the best junior racing possible we are going to open our forthcoming RDC only meetings up to a limited number of visiting drivers.

Given our current numbers we intend to offer no more than four visiting bookings per meeting (we should stress that so far there has been no call for such demand anyway) at the following Ministox meetings at Mildenhall.

Saturday June 18
Saturday July 2
Saturday August 27 (FORDS fundraiser)
Saturday September 10

We should stress that the Suffolk Open Championship on July 9 at Mildenhall is open to all visiting drivers (graded yellow, blue and red) and that the RDC Drivers Championship on October 30 will remain an invitational only event. Furthermore visiting drivers may be interested to know the Kent Championship at Dover on June 26 is open to all drivers but those without qualifying points will start with a handicap on those with points and will not receive a qualifiers trophy. 

Most importantly we must stress that any non RDC driver looking to race at one of the four dates listed above must book in with their own promoter and receive confirmation ahead of the meeting. Drivers who simply just turn up will not be allowed to race.

Things remain unchanged for RDC drivers who are free to turn up and race at all Mildenhall meetings (except the RDC Drivers Championship on October 30 which again is a qualifiers only affair) without the need to book in prior to the meeting. 

Amendment to National Banger Grand Final at Mildenhall on May 21 (added May 25)
Following a request and a subsequent investigation into the result of the National Banger Grand Final at the fourth British Qualifying round at Mildenhall last weekend (May 21) we would like to report on a minor change to the Grand Final result. 

57 Stu Cumming has been judged as finishing in 10th place which in turn knocks 53 Dave Palmer out of the top 10. The remainder of the top nine remains unchanged. 

Congratulations to the Aftermath-Brampton team champions (added May 25)
This week we congratulate the Aftermath who triumphed in a hard hitting 2Litre Banger team event at Brampton Raceway last Sunday (May 22) afternoon.

While we don’t have a full report we understand the team lifted the title despite being heavily involved in the action as usual, their ranks including RDC registered 100 Callum White, 602 Shaun, 603 John and 604 Ross Cooper, the former and latter both taking home big wrecks.

There was further RDC interest in the event with 180 Mark Foster racing with the Midnight Runners while 88 Ash Burton, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 525 Wes Starmer and 843 Jacob Foster made up the Boys. 

Tony Roots (added May 25)
All at RDC would like to extend their sympathies to the friends and families of one of stockcar racing’s longest serving stars, Tony Roots who passed away last week aged 62.

Best known as an open wheeled stockcar specialist Tony started his racing career in Saloon Stockcars at Wimbledon Stadium in the late 1960s before progressing into Super Rods and then Superstox where he was one the formulas leading stars for many years, winning the World, British and European Championship in 1997.

In the late 1990s he moved into BriSCA F2 Stockcars for a few seasons before moving into the Oval Racing Legends and finally into the CAMSO V8s (now known as European Late Models). 

RDC would also like to thank everyone who superbly observed the minutes silence for Tony ahead of the first stockcar race of the night last weekend at Mildenhall Stadium. 

Impressive statistics from Mildenhall on May 21 (added May 25)
The electronic lap scoring system used at Mildenhall Stadium threw up some mightily impressive stats last Saturday (May 21) night in the BriSCA F2 Stockcars and Ministox. 

662 Steve Wycherly had the honour of posting the fastest time of the night with a 13.203 second lap time on lap 14 of the BriSCA F2 Stockcar final. Should he have managed four laps in a row in this time it would have been 52.812 seconds which is again faster than a National League speedway race at the stadium. Admittedly speedway races are from a standing start but bearing mind Steve was racing against a full field of other stockcars it is a mightily impressive statistic which further underlines the F2 Stockcars as the fastest show on dirt at Mildenhall Stadium. 

Not to be outdone, the junior Ministox posted some impressive times as well. 391 Jake Banwell had the fastest time of the night with 15.078 on (ironically enough) lap 14 of the final which was less than two seconds slower than Steve’s fast lap in the F2 which shows just how quick the junior formula at Mildenhall can be. 

Extra meeting added to Mildenhall fixture list (added May 18)
This week we are pleased to announce an additional meeting to the RDC fixtures in 2011 which will take place at Mildenhall Stadium on Sunday, September 18 and will be held in association with our neighbours at Swaffham Raceway and feature a combination of their formulas and our own which are not regulars at the Suffolk Shaleway.

The formulas at this somewhat unusual RDC meeting will be 1800 Rookie Bangers, Street Stocks, Junior Bangers and a combined formula of RDC Super Rods/Swaffham Lightning Rods.

The Street Stocks, Junior Bangers and 1800 Rookie Bangers will all follow the traditional rules used by the formulas at Swaffham Raceway. In the Rookie Bangers it is any car under 1800cc, steam tanks/bonnet bolts etc allowed. 

The meeting is however a pay to race event with all Swaffham licensed drivers £15 paying to race, day licences £20 in rookies, £25 in other formula's. RDC registered Super Rod drivers will have to also pay £15. 

All Rookie Banger, Junior Banger, Street Stocks and Swaffham Lightning Rod enquiries and bookings should be made to Shawn Mason on 07816 469582. RDC Super Rod drivers can book in through the usual channels. It is hoped that this meeting may be a round of the RDC Points Championship for the Super Rods but further consultation will be made with the drivers before a decision is made on this. 

RDC at 2Litre Banger BBA World Final (added May 18)
RDC were well represented at the 2011 staging of the 2Litre BBA World Final at Hednesford Hills Raceway last Sunday (May 15) where they gave a great account of themselves and RDC.

Seeded directly into the main event were 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 525 Wes Starmer and 682 Paul Sparrow who all made the effort with their paint work for the day and they were joined on the grid by 898 Andy Battle who secured a wildcard spot at Northampton earlier in the month. 

Hoping to join them on the grid in the first last chance heat were 86 Alec Savage, 88 Ash Burton, 2(2) Georgie Lee, 617 Jack Overy, 843 Jacob Foster and 466 Steve Hackett. After a race stoppage 466 Big Job recovered from a fencing at the hands of 20 Phil Brooks to deliver a fierce shot on Gladiator rival 349 Lewis Price which was also a controversial hit given how close to the drivers door it was. The RDC young gun was shown the black flag but later continued in the meeting while Overy’s hopes ended when he was clipped and spun by the recovered 349 Squaddie which led to him being T-boned and fenced by 199 Jacob Foster. Elsewhere and Savage raced to the win followed home by the ultra smartly turned out Lee with 88 Ace Ash completing an RDC 1-2-3 and Foster joined them in the big race finishing fifth. 

A slightly smaller field for heat two but still RDC representation with 801 Jack Foster, 456 Nathan Roberts, 717 Jack Tuffen, 180 Mark Foster and 384 John Golden all on track. Tuffen’s day ended when he span early on turn one and took a monster head-on from 106 Phil Pratchett before 206 Phil Milner weighed in for a hard T-bone which was delivered against the wall. This left Roberts alone for the Cream Team in his very smart Cougar and he entered a fine one man show, twice disposing of a lurking 206 Turkish before he also removed 174 Dave Osbourn and 363 Sam Keep en route to second and a place in the World Final. 180 Sparky made it two RDC wins out of two by taking the flag while 384 Goldie made it seven RDC last chance qualifiers by taking fourth, Foster just missing out in eighth. 

Onto the main event with all 11 RDC qualifiers out among the 53 car grid, the Incarace draw proving kind with Battle on pole, Sparrow on row three and 382 Chubby on row five while Savage and Lee were on the second row of the last chance qualifiers at the rear of the field. Battle made the break at the start but a lunge from 433 Ben Smith at the end of lap one relegated him to fourth as Sparrow and Chubby made early progress and were fifth and third respectively when the race was stopped and restarted in the early stages, Battle still in the top 10 and Sparky making the best progress of our last chance qualifiers. The latter span ex team mate 05 Carlos Perez in the restart as Sparrow climbed to fourth before a big turn two blockage mixed the race up with Battle and Ace Ash both caught in the mayhem, the former then ramming 239 Steve Carter in the front wheel on the next lap. Sparrow now moved ahead of Chubby and into second before both were passed by 516 Carl Gould, a struggling Chubby retiring soon after while Sparrow battled on but lost his early pace. 67 Rickie Beasley held off 516 Gouldy in the closing laps to take the title, Sparrow registering an excellent third while Savage, Ace Ash and Battle all featured in the top 10 in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. 

Onto the meeting final where Ace Ash nailed 01 Bob Peat on the East Bend while Roberts and Turkish traded hits briefly after the reds were shown in the initial stages. Keep lunged at the Cream Team skipper on the restart while Big Job took a hard T-bone from 174 Whipper and a second T-bone from 549 Phil Smith while Roberts hit back for the Creams with a mental head-on to the spun 349 Squaddie on the back straight. This left him open to a payback hit from Smith and a subsequent T-bone from 119 Davey Cox, the latter then stuffing 199 Jacob Ruff into the luckless Big Job. Overy then attacked 552 Karl Douglas which in turn fenced 589 Simon Smith as Chubby was declared the winner after a second stoppage, Overy placed in fourth. 

DD to finish with Sparky nailing 287 Dean Quinsee before entering a fine one man stand against 589 Smiffy Jnr and brother 549 Phil, the numbers eventually making their mark as the Gladiators landed some big hits on the Midnight Runner but Sparky gamely battled on in his wrecked Mondeo before finally expiring.

Ministox Coventry meeting news (added May 18)
We can confirm this week that we are currently finalising details of a title race to be held at the final Coventry meeting of the season on November 5. The name of the title and the exact details are yet to be confirmed but the event will be run in similar fashion to the Kent Championship at Dover and RDC Drivers Championship at Mildenhall with drivers scoring both attendance and race points to determine the starting grid. 

Furthermore we have also begun plans with Incarace this week to come up with some way to unify the November Coventry date and the Ministox meeting at Hednesford the following afternoon. Again the exact details are yet to be confirmed but both RDC and Incarace are keen to encourage drivers racing in the Midlands that weekend to make the most of their journey by racing at both meetings. 

Steve ‘Trigger’ Martindale (added May 11)
RDC Promotions and the rest of the National Banger racing community was shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news of the death of 21-year-old young gun 294 Steve ‘Trigger’ Martindale who was found dead on Friday morning.

Steve, who had raced as recently as the previous Sunday afternoon at Mendips, was set to race at Mildenhall on Saturday night as part of the 3Litre Magazine team in the Unlimited Banger EA Team Championship. 

It would have marked Steve’s first appearance at the raceway and at RDC since the 2007 Unlimited Banger Suffolk Open Championship where he piloted a Rover P5. Many fans may remember the heavy rain which hit the stadium after the banger consolation but in trademark Trigger fashion he braved the elements to compete in the DD where he shared a big head-on with the Lincoln Town Car limo of 400 Kevin Shinn.

While Triggers was never a regular at RDC, he was in fact registered with the promotion during the 2007 season. 

Always an entertainer, he quickly established a reputation as one to watch on the wrecking front and he will be missed by many. Our thoughts go to his family and friends at this time. 

Spedeworth have this week confirmed they will stage a memorial meeting for Steve at Aldershot Raceway for Unlimited Bangers on June 5. 

Unlimited Bangers EA Team Championship round up and thank you (added May 11)
This week RDC Promotions would like to extend a massive message of thanks to all those who helped make last weekend’s Unlimited Banger EA Team Championship such a great success.

Despite a glut of teams cancelling within 48 hours of the meeting we were still graced with out first triple figure entry of unlimited bangers since July 2009 and together they served up a great mix of banger racing and wrecking throughout the night.

However while there were many areas which went well, there were some which did not and we would like to take the time to address them here. 

The biggest issue of the night was the significant change to the programme which came as a result of the amount of teams who withdrew from the event in the final few days before the meeting. 

Realising we were going to fall someway short of the initially expected entry of teams and cars we felt sticking with the original format was not an option as the smaller entry would have resulted in a great lack of cars on track in some races which would not have produced the best possible racing. This did prove the case as had the original format been used with the cars and teams which did arrive heats three and four would have had little over and under 20 cars in each of them had every car made the track. 

However with this meeting being advertised as a seven heat unlimited banger meeting and also being made one of our few meetings this season to carry a £13 adult admission price tag we did not want to short change any fan who had been promised nine unlimited banger races. 

Therefore we devised a new format which still offered fans the same amount of races although there was a huge risk that it may not have produced the same standard of racing we had originally hoped for.

Under the original format each team raced in two of the seven heats with all four cars permitted in each but each team and group had amble repair time, of at least two banger heats, for repairs before their second heat. 

However under the new format the teams were offered far less repair time and a team which failed to get any cars out in their second heat ran the risk of one driver in a full team not having the opportunity to race in two heats. 

Our hope was that while the first three heats had the potential to field grids of between 36 and 40 and the final four heats grids of 42 to 45, we hoped each of the races would see around 30 cars in action and were therefore delighted that in all the seven heats had an average of just over 30 cars per race. 

What was especially pleasing was that the drivers really embraced the new format and in many cases took full advantage of it. Under the old format each driver would have had the opportunity to race in only two of the heats. Under the new format a team of four who kept their cars running all night could have had two drivers race in three heats while those in teams which were short or had drivers wrecked had a greater chance to do more racing.

And this was certainly the case with over a third (35) of the total entry managing to race in three of the heat races. Furthermore 23 drivers in all raced four times by the time the meeting was finished a special congratulations should go to 247 Lee Clarke, 541 Ryan Preston, 920 James Medley and 998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr who raced in three heats, the final and the Accumulator/DD which was a superb effort.

However we should congratulate all the drivers for their great efforts in the pits to fix their cars and to get them back out for more. In all just 14 drivers only raced once and the majority of them picked up plenty of damage in their first race. 

Furthermore the 30 car entry for the Accumulator qualifier/DD was also a superb effort, especially given the limited time between the final and the last race. However we do understand there were a small number of drivers who missed the gate. As always this is unfortunate but the gate was held as long as possible and with our 11pm curfew the gate had to be closed at 10.45pm so the final race could go ahead and be completed within the curfew. 

However despite coming close to our curfew we want to once again thank all the RDC team for their hard work on the night which ensured we got through the programme in time with nine unlimited banger races and three Ministox races (not including the pre meeting race) completed within four and a half hours. 

While on the subject of the changed format we want to also apologise to any fans who would have been left somewhat in the dark by the changes, unless they heard the various announcements, and we hope that any confusion didn’t spoil your enjoyment. We also want to thank the drivers and their teams for taking the time to adapt to the new format which meant there was as little confusion as possible among the teams as to what races they were in and this saved us a great amount of time on the night. 

Furthermore we would to also thank the drivers and their teams for arriving in good time at the stadium which meant scrutineering, which we are pleased to report went without any major drama, was completed in good time meaning that a near full field of 38 cars were ready to go in heat one at 6.30pm sharp. 

Also thanks to all those who were ready when required for the grand parade at 5.30pm. 

Finally we also want to extend a big message of thanks to the Ministox drivers. With a pre meeting racing it was great to report than all but one of Saturday night’s Ministox entry arrived in sufficient time for this race to start on time at 6pm. Furthermore an extra thank you to all the Ministox drivers for being ready at short notice for the re-scheduled second heat which allowed for an extra Ministox race to be added and offer the banger drivers some much needed extra repair time. Given the work going on in the pits it is unlikely that Unlimited Bangers heat six would have gone on track any earlier with or without the re-scheduled Ministox race but the swift response from the Ministox drivers meant fans could enjoy more on track entertainment rather than an unofficial interval while we waited for drivers for the final heats. 

Another area of concern was the small entry for the qualifiers only final which raised the smallest field of the night with 23 unlimited bangers. It should be noted that despite last years final having a tie for 10th place, and therefore 11 teams contesting the final, this year’s final grid was actually slightly bigger than in 2010 and this was with several drivers having raced in three heats rather than two. However it is still an area which we would like to improve on in the future. The easiest option would be to make the final an ‘all in’ affair and run it as the last race of the evening with it concluding in a DD. However it should be noted that with only a few finalists repairing for the last event, nearly 50 drivers raced in one of the final two races of the night so had it been an ‘all in’ affair it could be argued the grid would have been too large. 

Another area of encouragement was that field of 30 something unlimited bangers appeared a good number for a good mix of racing and crashing depending on the mood and intentions of the drivers in each race. Given that our target for the maiden Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship in 2012 is a grid of 30 something cars, this bodes well that this will be sufficient for a competitive and exciting race. 

Finally we would like to extend our congratulations to The Kettering Boys, 136 Adrian and 334 Stephen Court, 148 Ian Redden and 221 Michael Whitelock on winning the championship, their first team title win. 

Impressive National Banger and Ministox stats from last three weekends (added May 11)
This week is a welcome week off of action for RDC following a gruelling schedule of five meetings in three weekends between Mildenhall Stadium and Dover Raceway which has seen some of our National Banger and Ministox drivers and their teams working exceptional hard

In the National Bangers a whopping 286 different drivers raced at Mildenhall in one of the three meetings in a 21 day period between April 21 and May 7 which is a remarkable figure.

Of them 14 raced at all three meetings and each deserve credit for their dedication. They are
17 Kyle Overy
20 Andy Burbridge (who also did both Dover meetings)
86 Alex Savage
101 Ian Norris 
116 Nat Cohn
160 Perry Willings
303 Wayne Linsdale
328 Dan Lathan
331 Jason Jackson
382 Jack Foster Jnr (who also raced at Dover and Skegness)
425 Martin Stopher
433 Ben Smith
456 Nathan Roberts
525 Wes Starmer

Extra credit is also deserving to 101 Bam Bam, 116 No Luck Nat, 160 Pez, Lathan and 382 Chubby who raced three fresh cars at the three Mildenhall meetings.

In the meantime the Ministox raced at all three Mildenhall meetings in the same time frame as well as a further meeting at Dover on May 2.

Congratulations to six drivers who raced at all four of these meetings, they were
306 Daniel Parker
320 Charley Streeton
327 Michael Maskall Jnr
344 Ross Fisher
350 Thomas Parrin
382 Tom Foster

And not to be outdone credit also goes to the following drivers who did three of the four meetings
309 Ray Petty
316 Sam Dace
322 Thomas Fox
339 Jake Futter
341 Austen Freestone
375 Alex Hensby
383 Shane Harvey
386 Daniel Petters
390 Karl Morris

We should also add extra praise to Parker, Fisher, Parrin and Foster who maintain a 100 per cent attendance record at RDC in 2011, racing at all meetings at Mildenhall, Dover and Coventry this season. 

Congratulations to Triston Claydon and Darren Goudy (added May 11)
This week we want to pass on our congratulations once again to retiring RDC Ministox star 315 Triston Claydon who continued to wrap up his Ministox career in excellent fashion by winning the East Anglian Championship at Ipswich on Saturday night (May 7).

He was joined on the podium by fellow RDC registered driver 355 Sid Magewick while 349 Todd Payne was a top 10 finisher. 

Meanwhile in Scotland at Cowdenbeath Raceway, 156 Darren Goudy added a second major Saloon Stockcar title to his CV by winning the British Championship in a history making achievement. 

Not only did his win match the achievement of his father, 156 Ray, in 1985 where he remarkable won the title, the longest running, and in some people’s opinions the most coveted, title in the sport also at Cowdenbeath. 

This makes the Goudy’s not only the first father and son combination to win the British Championship but we also believe the first father and duo to win any of the major Saloon Stockcar championships in the sports history which is a superb achievement. 

We look forward to welcoming Darren back to Mildenhall with the black and white chequered roof when the Saloon Stockcars return to the West Row shaleway on June 11. 

Congratulations to Jack Foster Jnr, Andy Battle and Triston Claydon (added May 4)
We’d like to extend a special message of thanks to a couple of RDC drivers who enjoyed some success away from home over the course of the bank holiday weekend.

Firstly well done to 382 Jack Foster Jnr who triumphed in the 2Litre Banger East of England Championship at Skegness on May 1. 382 Chubby went on to surely make a small piece of banger racing history at the end of the afternoon when the final banger race was made up completely of Foster family members, Chubby being joined by 180 Mark and 843 Jacob Foster, perhaps the only time one family has made an entire grid in the National Banger race.

The success continued 24hours later when 898 Andy Battle was a heat winner at Northampton in the 2Litre Bangers on May 2, the victory earning him a wild card place in the 2Litre BBA World Final at Hednesford on May 15 where he will represent our seeded entries in the big race. 

Finally 315 Triston Claydon continued his magnificent end to his Ministox career by winning the Midlands Championship at Birmingham on April 29 in what has been regarded a superb race for the formula with RDC’s 355 Sid Magewick finishing third. Claydon, for the second weekend running, managed four meetings in four days this bank holiday following up appearances at Birmingham and Mildenhall by racing at St Day (where he won the final) and Northampton. 

Important information for all drivers and their teams racing at Mildenhall Stadium (added April 27)
This week we have an important message for all drivers who race at Mildenhall Stadium which is perhaps of more importance to their family, friends and mechanics regarding a clamp down on the problem of people going onto the raceway without permission which will begin this Saturday night, April 30.

In recent weeks and months we have seen an increasing problem of mechanics and family members going onto the raceway without permission and then causing further problems by refusing instructions to leave the track when requested.

This causes many problems. The few moments lost while we are dealing with these people is time we can never afford to lose during Mildenhall meetings and also it goes without saying that the confines of any raceway are a dangerous place and should be reserved only for those who should be there which is primarily drivers and raceway officials. 

Therefore in order to get the problem back under control we feel we have little option but to introduce a zero tolerance policy on this issue which will come into immediate effect from Saturday night, April 30.

This will apply to all formulas at all meetings. First time offenders will be excluded from the remainder of the meeting and repeat offenders, those who refuse instructions to leave the raceway when requested and especially anyone who is verbally abusive to our staff will receive longer bans.

We understand that in the majority of cases this problem is not down to the driver themselves as they are already on the track and sometime do not request their team or family member come onto the raceway to assist them in whatever problem them have. However the rules of racing state that you are responsible for all those in your party so it is your responsibility to stress the importance of staying off the track to all your team and family members as the driver will suffer if they do not adhere to this ruling. 

Please note that at Mildenhall this includes people coming onto the greyhound track. Everyone must stay behind the concrete wall for spectators.

This also applies when a driver is injured and in fact is especially important if a driver is being treated by our medical teams as the presence of family members or team mates can in fact interfere with their work and so this rule also applies in these situations. 

In extreme cases, a family member or mechanic may be allowed on track, but they MUST go onto the track via the pit gate and they MUST get permission from the pit gate staff before going onto the raceway. This also applies to mechanics who take a race winners car back to the pits while they are on the lap of honour to begin work on the car for the next race. 

Easter at RDC thank you message and round up (added April 27)
Following another massive Easter weekend at RDC with big meetings at both Mildenhall Stadium and Dover Raceway we would again like to thank everyone who helped contribute to a very entertaining and successful weekend.

Once again Good Friday became one of the highlights of the season at RDC with a huge entry of over 200 National Bangers who produced an action packed Suffolk Open team championship which featured some spectacular and big hits and also an early contender for race of the year in the second Accumulator qualifier. Furthermore there was some highly entertaining racing from the Ministox which was great to report.

This trend continued at Dover at the end of the weekend where despite the prospect of the third meeting of the season at the raceway being just seven days later there was another packed pit area with just under 100 race cars and a great turnout of fans to enjoy the afternoon.

It was also especially pleasing to see the marked improvement in Super Rod numbers and the few more cars made a great difference to the quality of racing and we hope this will mark a trend for the remainder of the season. 

As always there are a few things we would like to address. The first and most important was the dust which was a factor at both meetings. This was caused by the warm temperatures during the weekend which while of course welcome do cause their own issues when it comes to shale and dirt raceways and this was evident at both Mildenhall and Dover where despite constant watering the dust was still an issue at times and also led to short delays throughout both meetings.

This was especially the case at Mildenhall where our watering plans were interrupted more than once by mechanical problems with the tractor used to carry out this work. The first sign of problems led us to take a gamble and not water prior to the third banger heat which in turn led to the worst dust of the afternoon. After that we knew we would have to water whenever needed (which was after most races) but this did lead to some delays for which we are sorry for.

Which brings us nicely to the length of the afternoon. With over 200 banger plus a full programme of Ministox, the afternoon was always going to be a long one and while the six and a half hour length of the meeting was slightly longer than we would have hoped it was a much needed improvement on the 2010 event. With a 11 banger race programme of which all but the 39 car final had over 40 cars in them (the average car count for the banger races was 44) and plenty of damage in the majority of them it was never going to be much shorter than it was and our thanks to our tractor teams for their hard work throughout the afternoon. 

On the subject of the length of the afternoon we would like to extend a special thank you to all the Ministox drivers and their teams. We made no secret to any of the drivers of what they raced if they wished to race at this meeting and the length of time between their races and this proved the case with their final starting almost six hours after their first heat. However despite this, we still enjoyed a fine entry of cars which remained throughout the day which was fantastic to see so our thanks to all these drivers for their patience on the day. 

We should also note the efforts of all the National Banger drivers who raced at both Mildenhall and Dover this weekend with 13 drivers racing at both meeting. Our thanks and congratulations to the following for their efforts. 20 Andy Burbridge, 53 Dave Palmer, 57 Stu Cumming, 64 Barry Lee, 101 Ian Norris, 188 John Reeves, 259 Dan Poole, 346 Scott Saunders, 349 Lee Saunders, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 384 John Golden, 570 Jordan Cumming and 585 Kevin Giles.

Congratulations to Tristan Claydon on his amazing Easter weekend (added April 27)
This week we would like to send a special message to RDC Ministox driver 315 Tristan Claydon who completed an incredible weekend of racing which literally saw him travel the entire length of the country…twice!

With only a few weeks remaining before the reigning Incarace points and ORC champion reaches the formula’s retirement age he and his team completed a very special, and successful, weekend of racing.

His journey began at their Shropshire home and they headed to Mildenhall on Good Friday. After that meeting they headed north of the border to race at Cowdenbeath on Easter Saturday and following that headed to the opposite end of the country to race at St Day on Easter Sunday. Not finished they completed their weekend by racing at Hednesford on Easter Monday and were probably grateful that their shortage trip of the weekend was between Hednesford and home on Monday night by which point they had completed around 1,800 miles. 

And he enjoyed plenty of success on the way, finishing Mildenhall on a high with a third in the final be enjoyed a win in the final at Cowdenbeath followed by a set of top three finishes at St Day including victory in heat two. While he failed to take a win at Hednesford, four top three finishes completed an amazing weekend’s work. 

National Banger Pre 70 and Hot Shot Championship bookings open (added April 27)
With plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks at RDC we have started taking bookings for two of our more popular National Banger events at Mildenhall Stadium, the 19th annual pre 70 and Odd Job Memorial on May 28 and the third annual under 25 Hot Shot Championship on Sunday, June 12.

We started assembling a list for the pre 70 meeting in the middle of last weekend by the end of the Easter weekend we are delighted to report that we already have around 80 drivers who have confirmed their intention to compete. However with such a massive news update this week we elected not to unveil what we have here, fearing it may get lost in the shuffle so to speak. Instead we hope to have our dedication section of the site for this meeting on the site later this week and will have the current list there for the first time. We are also delighted to report that while we will not reveal any details on the cars which are being prepared for the meeting on this site, a number of drivers have shared with us their cars for the day and we already know of six very, very impressive cars which will be fighting for the coveted car of the meeting award. Three of these have never been seen before at a Mildenhall pre 70 and have not been seen in the sport for many years and are likely to be contenders for car of the year nationwide in 2011. 

Furthermore this week we have started taking bookings for the under 25 Hot Shot Championship which takes place at Mildenhall on Sunday, June 12. With a bigger programme scheduled for the Sunday part of our June weekend event than last year we are returning to an 80 car limit for this championship as we did in 2009. This event is open to all drivers and day licenses are available for non ORC drivers, the only criteria is you need to be 25-years-old or under. Drivers are encouraged to book in asap through the usual channels. We should also note that any Hot Shot candidate who is scheduled to race in the Inter Counties team challenge the previous night and would like to race again on the Sunday but cannot commit to having two cars prepared for the weekend is invited to register their interest. Should your Inter Counties car survive and you be able to race again on the Sunday you will be afforded a place in the Hot Shot Championship. We are doing this so not to dis-courage on penalise young guns from doing the Inter Counties team race and also to not offer other drivers a Hot Shot booking which may go to a driver doing the Saturday night who cannot guarantee they will be able to race the following day.

Drivers over the age of 25 are reminded that the meeting is open to drivers not taking part in the Hot Shots Championship and they will receive three races on the afternoon, a heat, final (which will be open to Hot Shots who have not qualified for their championship) and Accumulator/DD (which will be open to all drivers). There is no need to book in for the support races, only the Hot Shots Championship. 

Ally ‘Banacek’ Cox (added April 27)
This week RDC was saddened to hear news of the passing of long serving East Anglian based banger star 9 Ally ‘Banacek’ Cox.

For many years in the 1970s and 1980s Ally was one of the leading names in the sport in the region, especially at Swaffham Raceway where he was one of the track’s biggest stars.

In more recent years he supported the career of son 119 Davey ‘Cruncher’ Cox who was one of RDC’s biggest banger names over the years and remains one of the sports leading stars.

Our thoughts go to Ally’s friends and family at this time and a minutes silence is planned in his memory at Mildenhall this Saturday night (April 30). 

Technical problems with RDC Promotions website (added April 20)
Although hopefully many of you will not have noticed anything different or unusual we have been experiencing some problems with the RDC Promotions website since the weekend which has effected and restricted our ability to update the website as quickly as we would have liked.

We are very, very grateful to the website’s creator Neil Fox who, not for the first time, has come to our rescue and is continuing to help things go as smoothly as possible but please note that until this issue is resolved our forthcoming updates may not be as quick as they sometimes are.

In this case we hope we have your understanding and patience and hope to get things back to normal as soon as we can. 

Congratulations to Ian ‘Shorty’ Redden-new BBA World Cup Champion (added April 13)
All at RDC this week would like to extend a big message of congratulations to long serving RDC Banger racer 148 Ian ‘Shorty’ Redden on perhaps his biggest win to date when he became the first RDC winner in several years of the unlimited banger BBA World Cup Championship. 

The former Masters, unlimited Suffolk Open and Nutcracker champion added the title to his collection following a dramatic and action packed race where he survived an on opposite attack from 341 Andy Jones which span him in the final stages. He managed to recover and despite blowing a diff in the last bend his lead he was such that he was able to coast over the line and take the title. 

We hope to mark his achievement with a well deserved lap of honour during the Good Friday meeting at Mildenhall and look forward to seeing him in action for the first time at RDC with the official World Cup title roof of a white roof with a blue cross. Furthermore the victory secures Shorty a guaranteed place in the first ever unlimited banger BBA Supreme Championship at Mildenhall next March. 

Adding to the RDC success in Scotland this year was 382 Jack Foster Jnr who had a fine night finishing fourth in the title race followed by a second in the meeting final and second in the DD which earned him a shed load of points and launched him to the top of the RDC Drivers Points Championship. Finishing third in the meeting final behind 382 Chubby was 456 Nathan Roberts who was at the wheel of a superbly turned out Mk2 Granada.

Also on the championship grid were 180 Mark Foster who used his smart Volvo 240 estate to destroy 279 Andrew Swallow with a big hit before he was leathered in turn by the Mk10 Jaguar of 152 Jim Dillon.

Mildenhall April 9 round up and thanks (added April 13)
RDC would like to extend a message of thanks to all those who supported and contributed to such an entertaining meeting at Mildenhall last Saturday night (April 9).

The maiden staging of a National Banger Best Pairs championship proved very successful and despite a couple of last minute drop outs all 37 expected teams turned out and produced some lively action, highlighted by a savage DD. Sadly there was a little confusion in some ranks over the former which resulted in disappointing grids in the third and fourth heat and this will be looked at for the future as we fully intend to run this meeting again in 2012 and tweaks will no doubt be made to try and make the meeting even better.

Congratulations go to 88 Josh Fuller and 209 Tom Waller, the Magnificent Two on their victory and they also scooped the top team without a ‘top’ driver bonus adding to their success. Unfortunately a big downside of including the Accumulator and DD into the overall championship meant that many had left the stadium before the final results were confirmed. Therefore the final standings were as follows

Overall Championship
First Place 88 Josh Fuller and 209 Tom Waller (The Magnificient Two) 71pts
Second Place 82 Wayne Quinn and 682 Paul Sparrow (Team Spinn) 41pts
Third Place 256 Chris Filby and 898 Andy Battle (Team One Night Stand) 33pts
Fourth Place 86 Alec Savage and 160 Perry Willings (Team Hairdresser) 27pts
Fifth Place 88 Ash Burton and 525 Wes Starmer (Team Flatcap) 26pts
Sixth Place 51 Paul Licquorice and 212 Richard Marion (Super Mario Bros) 25pts
Sixth Place 417 Dan Davey and 545 Karl Hough (Aftermath Braintree Division) 25pts

Top Team Without a ‘Top Driver’ 88 Josh Fuller and 209 Tom Waller (The Magnificent Two)
Most Entertaining Team 417 Dan Davey and 545 Karl Hough (Aftermath Braintree Division)
Top Team in Accumulator/DD 88 Ash Burton and 525 Wes Starmer (Team Flatcap)

Of course the night was not just about the National Bangers and the BriSCA F2 Stockcars and Reliant Robin drivers both supported the evening with tremendous number and some fabulous racing. For the last two seasons the first Mildenhall F2 meeting of the year has not seen sufficient numbers for a two heat/consolation format. Although this year’s opener had the added bonus of being a World of Shale qualifier the 50+ entry was nearly 20 cars up on the same meeting in both 2009 and 2010. Not only this but the standard of racing picked up exactly where they left off in 2010 with some brilliant open wheeled stockcar action highlighted by a thrilling Grand Final. If this is a sign of things to come then it looks like we are in for another great season from the F2s at Mildenhall and are already looking forward to their world qualifying round on May 21. 

And the same could be said for the Reliant Robins whose 34 strong entry was a massive surprise to all concerned and led to the pre meeting heat being switched to two pre meeting heats. Our thanks to all the drivers for being ready at 6pm sharp so both these races could be completed ahead of the official start of the meeting at 6.30pm as this proved crucial in us completing all 15 races on the programme within the curfew. 

Finally we want to again thank all the fans for supporting the meeting. It was a busy night and a busy weekend in the sport with the aforementioned banger World Cup in Scotland, a big Hot Rod championship at Ipswich and a big open wheeled stockcar double header at Birmingham on Saturday alone so we are very grateful that so many fans elected to support the meeting at Mildenhall and we hope you were rewarded with a good evening of entertainment.

Impressive National Banger stats at start of 2011 season (added April 13)
With a few meetings under our belt now in the 2011 season at RDC we once again have some fantastic National Banger stats we would like to share with you and also a number of drivers whose dedication to the season so far deserves highlighting and congratulating.

Firstly we have already had a fantastic 314 different National Banger drivers race at RDC this season and the first three Mildenhall meetings of the regular season (March 12-April 9) have seen no less than 204 different drivers in action which are tremendous figures and we hope are a good sign of the year to come. Our thanks as always to all the drivers who have helped contribute to these impressive figures. 

Furthermore we have a number of drivers whose early season dedication deserves some extra praise. 

Firstly we have five drivers who not only raced at all three Mildenhall meetings since March 12 but also raced at the Dover season opener on April 3. These are

17 Kyle Overy
20 Andy Burbridge
188 John Reeves
200 Wayne Holton
465 Andy Scarlett

382 Jack Foster Jnr should also be placed in this bracket having raced at both March meetings at Mildenhall and the Dover season opener but he represented RDC in the World Cup at Cowdenbeath on April 9 rather than race at Mildenhall. He and 200 Skippy also deserve extra praise as they both raced at both Mildenhall Winter Series dates as well. 

Furthermore we have another 17 drivers who raced at all three Mildenhall meetings between March 12 and April 9 who we would like to point out and congratulate. They are

44 Roy Elbourn
51 Paul Licquorice
88 Ash Burton
100 Callum White
101 Richard Rayner
107 Michael Seex
160 Perry Willings
256 Chris Filby
303 Wayne Linsdale
313 Craig Osbourn
324 Mark Lathan
328 Daniel Lathan
370 John Cobbold
525 Wes Starmer
682 Paul Sparrow
690 Jack Wilkins
898 Andy Battle.

Much like 382 Chubby, 148 Ian Redden and 456 Nathan Roberts should be included in this list as having raced at both Mildenhall meetings in March they raced at Cowdenbeath on April 9 representing RDC in the World Cup. 

Furthermore 160 Pez, Linsdale, Cobbold and 682 Sparra Boy also deserve extra praise having raced at both Mildenhall Winter Series fixtures as well. 

Season opener at Dover Raceway round up and thank you (added April 6)
All at RDC would like to extend a big thank you to all those who helped make last weekend’s season open at Dover Raceway such a tremendous success. 

Just over 100 race cars packed the pits to bursting point which is always a great thing to report on for a season opener and there was a very healthy showing on the spectator bank for one of our non Bank Holiday/Championship meetings which was just as pleasing to see, especially as for only the second time in history at RDC the Dover season began prior to the Easter weekend which is the tradition.

And it was also pleasing to say that good racing was reported in all classes, even the Super Rods who suffered a very disappointing entry which we hope will improve in the coming weeks. Despite the small grid they still managed some competitive racing, the second heat in particular being a decent affair. 

Further congratulations are deserving to the Ministox drivers who raced at both Coventry and Dover this weekend, showing tremendous commitment and dedication so well done to them all. 

Sadly there were some problems during the day, the main one being the condition of the raceway in places. While Dover Raceway is never likely to offer the greatest of racing conditions, which is part of the appeal of the track, we were disappointed with some parts of the track. This was caused by the extremely wet and snowy winter and with the season starting earlier than usual time escaped us on doing as much work on the track as we would have liked. In fact given the wet state of the raceway just a couple of weeks ago it is no mean feat that last weekends meeting went ahead as planned. Nonetheless we are sorry that standards were not better and aim to improve them for the Easter meeting and would again like to thank the drivers for making the best of what they had to work with. 

Extra Masters Championship qualifier added for Bangerstox and Super Rods (added April 6)
As many of you may be aware we had to make some changes to our original fixture list for Dover Raceway to accommodate some non race meetings at Mildenhall Stadium in the summer.

This in turn resulted in the season starting earlier than usual last Sunday with a four formula meeting which was essentially the meeting originally intended for late June. 

As a result the Bangerstox, Super Rods and National Bangers have Masters qualifying rounds at the first two meetings of the season with only one more qualifying round prior to the championship. 

In a bid to try and spread the rounds out a little more evenly during the year a fourth Masters qualifying round has been added for Bangerstox and Super Rods on the June fixture on Sunday, June 25.

Please note that as this is the Unlimited Banger Kent Championship this will not be a Masters qualifier for Bangers and they will remain with their traditional three round qualifying series. 

‘Dim Tim’ Day memorial raffle tickets available (added April 6)
As many of you will know a special memorial event is being planed for Motley Krew banger racer Tim ‘Dim Tim’ Day at Northampton on November 13 where it is hoped a great amount of money will be raised for charities chosen by Tim’s family.

As part of the fundraisers a raffle is being held with an impressive array of prizes on offer, the top prize being a fully built Nissan Bluebird to be raced by the winner at the memorial meeting.

Tickets are now on sale and full information on the prizes and how to buy a ticket can be found on the news page of the Incarace website but we are assured if you would like to buy a ticket and help these worthy causes you do so by seeing the Motley Krew at upcoming Mildenhall meetings including the Best Pairs and 1400cc Suffolk Open team championships this month. 

As Tim’s final years as a National Banger driver were spent registered with RDC, RDC will dedicate this season’s Suffolk Open team championship at Mildenhall on Good Friday to him in a special tribute event.

Notice re greyhound racing at Mildenhall Stadium the night before Good Friday (added April 6)
RDC Promotions would like to point out that despite originally being advertised on the Good Friday section of the website that there will be no greyhound meeting at Mildenhall Stadium on Thursday, April 21.

In the past some drivers and fans heading for Mildenhall for Good Friday have joined us at the stadium the previous night for the greyhound meeting but with the stadium hosting a greyhound event on Easter Sunday this year there will be no racing on the Thursday as has been the case for the last few years. 

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. 

BBA Supreme Championship to go unlimited in 2012 (added March 30)
As hinted on the RDC website last week we had some important announcements to make last weekend at Mildenhall Stadium and the first was that in 2012 massive changes will be made to the annual BBA Supreme Championship which will be run to an unlimited banger format for the first time at Mildenhall next season. 

While the switch to unlimited bangers in 2012 was announced at Mildenhall last weekend, we didn’t announce the second big change which is that next year the meeting will also have a last chance qualifier race introduced to the programme. However, like the main event this will also be an invitational only affair and is explained further after we detail our move to unlimited bangers in 2012.

This change to unlimited bangers is something we have been considering for many weeks and months at RDC and while we admit it is something of a gamble, we believe it is a necessary step for this prestigious event to continuing growing in importance and popularity in the sport.

When the Supreme Championship was first conceived in the 1999 season (the maiden event was run in 2000 at Hednesford) the intention was always for the meeting to become one of, if not the most important race of the season in National Bangers.

This goal was certainly not achieved at first and after three somewhat disappointing years where the event was held at Hednesford in 2000, Mildenhall in 2001 and Northampton in 2002, the event came very close to being scrapped all together from the fixtures.

The history of the event has been documented before but for those unfamiliar with the story the Supreme was originally meant to be shared between RDC, Northampton and Incarace (this was prior to Incarace running Northampton) as these were the three original and main members of the BBA who did not run their own World Final. When discussions were held about the future of the Supreme and other BBA events in the closed season of 2002/3 Incarace opted to trade in both the National Championship at Hednesford, the European Championship at Northampton and their share of the Supreme Championship in return for the BBA 2Litre World Final which they now run at Hednesford.

As a result of this the Supreme Championship found a full time home at RDC and Mildenhall Stadium and with that in mind RDC set about working to raise the profile of the race and the whole event to the heights originally intended. 

It didn’t happen overnight. The 2003 championship was no more popular than the 2001 event at Mildenhall but from then on the meeting grew and grew and grew and last weekend’s Supreme Championship was the eighth event in a row to attract a triple figure entry of cars. Furthermore recent Supreme Finals have seen in excess of 40 of the sports finest do battle for the coveted championship, which is now regarded by many as one of the most elite races of the season. Certainly the 2008 championship is still regarded by many as the best banger championship race ever seen at Mildenhall and one of the best in the sport in the last decade. 

Over the years many changes have been made in order to try and improve the quality of the event. First we introduced a reserve system to boost the number of cars on the grid. We introduced and tweaked the previous champion qualifying allocation which ensured victory in the big race would result in a return appearance for several years at least. The race was moved to the start of the programme to give the seeded entries a greater opportunity to make the most of their trip to Mildenhall and this year we tightened the qualifying system further which while producing a smaller field of 32 cars resulted in an even higher quality of qualifiers.

Now it is time for the biggest change of all. 

Again when the Supreme Championship concept was first conceived the intention was always to make the race one of the most important in the sport. We believe the event has gone as far as it can go under the current format of National Bangers and essentially FWD cars.

Our goal is now to try and take the Supreme Championship to the next level and this means making the meeting an unlimited banger event. It goes without saying that this is a massive gamble. The Supreme Championship is now a very much established fixture and there is a saying that you shouldn’t try to fix something which isn’t broken but we are trying to make it even better. 

Many would argue that unlimited cc racing is, in the modern day, the pinnacle of National Banger racing and that big races run to an unlimited format carry more prestige and honour than those for National (FWD) style events. This is underlined in the fact that over the years more and more of the big races which help shape the starting grid for the Supreme Championship have been run to unlimited rules, another influence in our decision. 

It is our hope that by making the Supreme an unlimited affair will generate even more importance to this race, the meeting and of course the winner. 

But again it is a massive gamble. We do not expect this to be an over night success. For us this is almost like going back to 2003 and starting all over again from square one and trying to build the meeting up as we have done from 2003 to 2011. And of course there is a high chance that introducing another unlimited fixture to the RDC calendar could have an impact on our existing big car fixtures. But this is a risk we are willing to take and again we must stress this is a long term project and it will take some time for us to achieve our ultimate goal.

Switching the Supreme Championship to unlimited bangers in 2012 isn’t the only big change being made to the meeting as for the first time ever the meeting will feature a last chance qualifier. Over the years the Supreme has prided itself on being the only major banger championship in the sport to not have a last chance race but this will chance in 2012. 

However the last chance race will carry some similarities to the main event itself in that it will be an invitational only affair. While the meeting will remain open to all drivers from all promotions (in 2012 at least) the last chance race will only be open to drivers who may have qualified for the championship. 

The 2011 Supreme Championship was the first of 13 races this year which will shape the 2012 event. The following races all count towards next year’s championship

Supreme Championship at Mildenhall on March 26
World Cup at Cowdenbeath on April 9
2Litre World Final at Hednesford on May 15
English Championship at Mendips on June 26
King of the Peak at Buxton on July 10
TSR World Final at King’s Lynn on July 16
UK Open at Skegness on August
British Championship at Mildenhall on August 14
European Championship at Warneton on September 4
World Final at Taunton on September 11
PRI World Final at Arena Essex on September 18
Masters Championship at Dover on September 26
World Final at Ipswich on October 15

The first three finishers in each event which have not already qualified will be seeded directly to the Supreme Championship but in 2012 any driver who competes in any of the races above but does not qualify will be eligible to compete in the last chance race.

Joining the qualifiers in 2012 will once again be one seeded entry from every ORC promotion. This should be the highest finisher in their 2011 points championship who has failed to qualify in their own right but in accordance to the tightened qualifying rules in 2011 this driver MUST have finished at least sixth in the points to be eligible (unless all of the top six have qualified in which the place will be offered to the highest non qualifier). Any additional top six drivers who do not qualify will be invited to the last chance race.

Finally the three most recent Supreme Champions who fail to qualify in their own right for the 2012 event will also be added to the grid. Any further former champions may contest the last chance race as well.

The top three drivers (at least) in the last chance race will be seeded into the main event. 

While on one hand it is a shame that the Supreme will no longer be the only championship in the sport to not have a last chance event the introduction of this last chance qualifier under these stipulations we believe will be crucial to the continued success of the meeting and very important in our long term goals for the meeting.

However again we want to stress that next year’s Supreme Championship meeting will be open to all drivers but only invited drivers will be able to compete in the last chance race.

This is the dawn of a new era for the Supreme Championship. We have more ideas bubbling away at the moment which we intend to share in the coming weeks and months but in the meantime we would like to thank all the drivers and fans who over the last decade have helped make this meeting what it is and we hope you will support our plans to make the event even bigger in the future. 

One Wild Night round up and thank you (added March 30)
In the wake of last weekend’s One Wild Night event at Mildenhall Stadium, headlined by the National Banger BBA Supreme Championship, we would like to extend our thanks to all those who helped contribute to the success of the evening.

Firstly and most importantly we want to thank the near 150 racers and the hundreds of fans who turned out to support the event and enjoy the action. Once again this meeting went on without hardly any hype and media attention outside of the RDC website and once again you all once again proved the No Hype Needed motto with another wonderful showing on both sides of the fence. Much like the opener, this level of support in the wake of such a difficult winter behind the scenes at RDC is perhaps even more appreciated than ever so thanks to everyone who attended the meeting. 

Our congratulations go to 247 Lee ‘Bro’ Clarke on the biggest win of his National Banger career thus far which goes some way to compensating for his near miss in the 2008 event and we are sure he will be a proud Supreme Champion for the next 12 months. 

We are also very pleased to say that 54 Martin ‘Splat’ Lawton has been in contact to say that despite initial fears he has not suffered any serious injuries following his nasty, and completely accidental, driver’s door hit on Saturday night. With Martin showing signs of a rib injury every precaution was taken to getting him out of the car safely which unfortunately led to a short delay but we hope you can all understand the need for this.

Thankfully, we were still able to get through the entire programme as planned despite this delay. A big reason we were able to do this was because of the great co-operation from the drivers and their teams which meant there was minimal waiting time between races. Also our thanks to the Supreme Championship finalists who were lined up for the pre race presentation in good time allowing the meeting to start much earlier than in did in 2010. 

In fact so good was the turnaround from the drivers that we were able to afford some extra repair time ahead of the National Banger Accumulator qualifier and DD. We hope that no fans minded the short wait too much but given the levels of action prior to that some drivers desperately needed those vital extra minutes to get their cars back out for the last race. We trust the turnout and action delivered in the final event was worth the wait which came before it.

Another thing we would like to address and apologise for was the dust levels at the start of the Supreme Championship. With rain forecast in Mildenhall originally at 12noon and then 3pm we held off watering the track fearing Mother Nature would do it for us. Despite the rain not coming at 3pm several racers arrived reporting of rain in their local area so again we feared it was on the way but fortunately it never did. The downside was the track was not watered as it would have been had their been a different forecast which led to some dusty conditions in the first few laps of the big race. Thankfully this soon settled but again we are sorry for any disappointment this caused. 

Finally we have one amended result from Saturday’s meeting with regard to the first National Banger Allcomers. Following an inquiry the result has been adjusted with 328 Dan Lathan named as the race winner and 51 Paul Licquorice in third. The full result of the race now reads as follows
328, 313, 51, 382, 682, 998, 331, 119, 239, 162

Update on Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward (added March 30)
Following the trend of the last couple of weeks we’d like to once again update you on the ongoing recovery of RDC National Banger driver 209 Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward who suffered a broken pelvis at the Mildenhall season opener on March 12.

We are delighted to report that not only was Ben released from hospital late last week but that he also felt well enough to join us at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend to enjoy the action at the BBA Supreme Championship.

It was great to see Ben back, even if it was on the safe side of the fence and he soon admitted that watching the action has made him even more determined to get back behind the wheel in the future and again all at RDC hope to see this happen and wish him a full and speedy recovery.

On a similar note it was also pleasing to see 730 Dean Mayes in attendance at Mildenhall last weekend after he too was released from hospital late last week following his injury at Hednesford on March 20. 

Top dedication from Saloon Stockcar drivers (added March 30)
It is so easy in this sport to discuss high levels of commitment and dedication among drivers and often overlook the superb efforts made by the sport’s stockcar drivers.

Since the season opener for the Saloon Stockcars at King’s Lynn earlier this month the hard hitting formula has enjoyed four shale meetings in East Anglia in as many weeks, two apiece at Lynn and Mildenhall and thanks to the tremendous efforts of many drivers each of these meetings have been well supported and action packed affairs.

A number of drivers have raced at both Mildenhall and both King’s Lynn meetings this month which we at RDC feel is a great achievement, especially with the English Championship this coming weekend at Lynn (Saturday, April 2), so with that in mind we have listed all the drivers who have raced at all four shale meetings in the region in March and extend our thanks and congratulations to them all.

18 Jamie Clayton
115 Scott Aldridge
156 Darren Goudy
164 Neil Kent
184 Marty Colliver
191 Shaun McMillan
219 Luke Grief
318 Fred Kinsella
360 Carl Waterfield
389 Ryan Santry
420 Ivan Street
442 Simon berry
499 Dave Aldous
570 Simon Venni
641 Willie Skoyles Jnr
698 Danny Colliver
728 Kris Woods
731 Barry Wade

Update on Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward (added March 23)
As promised last week we have an update on popular RDC National Banger driver, 209 Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward who suffered a broken pelvis in a nasty accident at the season opener at the Mildenhall opener earlier this month. 

In the last week Ben has been moved to Norwich Hospital following a successful operation last week to plate and pin his injured pelvis. He is expected to spend the next couple of weeks in hospital as he begins the long road to recovery.

However Ben did raise a smile at RDC HQ this week with a text which was so typical of his excellent attitude towards life and the sport. In the message he revealed that his mum had brought him his new T-Bone magazine which revealed he had gone up to the yellow grade. After telling us how ‘chuffed’ he was he ended the text by saying ‘Can’t wait to get back with new roof’. And he is certainly not alone as all at RDC once again wish Ben a full and speedy recovery and hope to see him back at the tracks very soon. 

RDC on tour at Unlimited Banger East Anglian Championship (added March 23)
As expected RDC was well represented at the annual East Anglian Championship for unlimited bangers at King’s Lynn on March 19 with a double figure entry among the near 90 strong turnout.

On hand from RDC were 148 Ian Redden, 324 Mark and 328 Daniel Lathan, 325 Craig and 925 Aaron Preece, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 384 John Golden, 401 Steve Hemmings, 527 Michael Norman, 782 Glen Boyce and 830 Lee White. No note worthy cars among the RDC ranks which were all Volvo powered save the Team Black duo but Norman and 830 Stretch turned heads with their smart paint work. 

The night was short lived for Dan Lathan who was followed in from the word go by 851 Adam Storr in heat one while 401 Psycho’s evening was also over inside a lap when he was blasted by the 300C of 294 Steve Martindale in heat two. This race also saw 421 Nigel Riley deliver a meaty head-on to Stretch before 384 Goldie came under fire from 726 Kalin Dawe while 382 Chubby booked a place in the main event with a sixth. No RDC involvement in the final heat so onto the consolation with Craig Preece getting fenced by the Lincoln Town Car of 622 Garry Webb, the former recovering only to be fenced again when 266 Callum Hall attacked 98 Matt Harrison. Goldie meanwhile raced to a fine second place. 

Sadly the final was marred by a nasty crash in which 237 Lee Millhouse was struck heavily in the driver’s door in an unavoidable incident with 280 Simon Goodale. The accident resulted in a near 90 minute delay while Lee was helped from the wreck although thankfully he escaped any serious injury. Nonetheless the delay left TSR with little option but to clear the track of cars and re-run the title race at the end of the night and this time it would be open to all cars. Chubby made an early mark with a shot on 207 Michael Woodward en route to a fine second place behind winner 133 Karl Day with 148 Shorty joining him on the podium with third, both RDC drivers starting from near the back of the near 40 car grid. Craig Preece contested the demo and buried 555 Sam Gelsthorpe into some wrecked cars before enjoying a shot on 176 Ady Gibs before he expired. 

Update on Ben ‘Minge’ Hayward (added March 16)
The biggest downside of last weekend’s season opener at Mildenhall was the unfortunate and very nasty injury to ever entertaining and highly popular National Banger racer 209 Ben Hayward, known more commonly as Minge.

Ben has suffered a broken pelvis in the crash which happened in the evening’s second consolation. We are however pleased to report that initial reports that he may have been suffering with internal bleeding have proved unfounded. 

We were informed this morning (Wednesday) that Ben has now been moved to Norwich Hospital and is due an operation either today or tomorrow and it is likely to be another couple of weeks before he can return home. 

Should we receive any more information we will keep you all up to date on his progress but it goes without saying that we would like to wish Ben, another example of ‘the good ones’ we often refer too, a very fast and full recovery. 

Mildenhall season opener and thanks (added March 16)
This week all at RDC would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make last weekend’s season opener at Mildenhall Stadium such a success.

It is no secret that this winter has been, for several reasons, a very trying and difficult one for everyone at RDC and the level of support shown by both drivers and fans combined with the action levels was a much needed ‘shot in the arm’ which everyone behind the scenes dearly needed. 

We hope everyone enjoyed the evening, regardless of which side of the fence they were on and we hope to see you all again, many more times this season. 

One thing we would like to say sorry for is cutting the second National Banger consolation short following the aforementioned injury to 209 Ben Hayward. Wary of time and realising it could be a lengthy delay to assist Ben the decision was taken to declare the result even though only a handful of laps had been completed. That way while Ben was being helped in the background our team started clearing the track and once Ben was safely off the raceway we were able to move onto the next race. The decision proved key to completing the entire 14 race programme inside our curfew despite the delay as it is highly likely that had we restarted the consolation after tending to Ben we may have lost a race later in the programme. Nonetheless we are sorry for cutting the race short and our thanks to the drivers for their understanding on the matter. 

National Banger March 12 amended Grand Final result (added March 16)
Continuing with issues stemming from the Mildenhall season opener last weekend we would like to official announce the amended result of the National Banger Grand Final. 

Following the race a couple of drivers asked to have their positions checked which we were happy to do so following the meeting with our static camera and following the investigation we have a change to the result. Normally we would just update the result on the reports page but given the significance of a Grand Final result at a National Banger British Championship qualifying round we felt it appropriate to highlight the full result here.

1st 313 Craig Osbourn
2nd 603 Jon Cooper
3rd 128 Andy Shipp
4th 205 Kieran Briddock
5th 433 Ben Smith
6th 382 Jack Foster Jnr
7th 324 Mark Lathan
8th 53 Dave Palmer
9th 567 Gary Brown
10th 160 Perry Willings

RDC at the Raid (added March 9)
While we are without a full report from the 2011 staging of the 1600cc Banger Raid event at Ipswich on March 5 we do have some results which reflect another successful night for some of the RDC banger contingent. 

53 Dave Palmer began his night with a third in heat one ahead of 456 Nathan Roberts in fifth and 682 Paul Sparrow in sixth. Palmer continued this form with a fine third in the title race before Sparrow rallied back with another sixth in the Allcomers while 382 Jack Foster Jnr claimed seventh, the latter ending the night on a high by winning the DD. 

Official statement from RDC Promotions dated March 7 regarding recent legal issues concerning Mildenhall Statement (added March 7)
Joint statement from Terry and James Waters, Cliff Bastick on behalf of Moto-land UK Ltd, and Dave Coventry trading as RDC Promotions.

The Judgement was handed down on Friday in the High Court regarding the alleged noise nuisance from Mildenhall Stadium and the adjacent Motocross track at West Row. Whilst we are naturally disappointed that the Judge found the activities at the Stadium and Track to be a noise nuisance, there is no immediate threat to the future of either the Stadium or Track as the terms of the injunction are still to be finalised, and in any case will not come into effect until the Claimant’s property is habitable, or the 1 January 2012, whichever happens sooner. 

The Judge has totally dismissed all claims against all of the Defendants in relation to the alleged campaign of harassment and intimidation, including the most serious claims regarding the forklift attack and the fire at the property, and stated that the alleged circumstantial evidence amounted to little more than the coincidence of the attacks upon Fenland during the period in which this action was pending.
Damages were granted to Ms Lawrence and Mr Shields jointly in the sum of £10,425 against Moto-land UK Ltd, £10,325 against Dave Coventry, and £100 against James Waters. The Claimants’ insurers will however have to reimburse Terry Waters, Tony Morley and James Waters’ full costs as the case against them failed. 

The Claimants’ legal advisors asked the Judge for the right to appeal against this decision, which he refused, as he believes there is no realistic chance of success. However, there is still the option open for them to approach the Court of Appeal, so we must wait for now to see what course of action they are going to take. Meanwhile, activities at the Stadium and Track will continue.

We would like to thank everyone for all of their support throughout this action, particularly those who wrote letters of support and appeared in court as witnesses on our behalf.

Dan ‘Odd Job’ Hollinsworth (added March 2)
The RDC and Banger racing community was rocked last weekend by the tragic news that long serving racer and member of the WI Engineering team, 503 Dan Hollingsworth, known more commonly as Odd Job, had been killed in a car accident. 

The 33-year-old from Great Dunmow leaves behind two daughters, aged 12 and one, a 13-year-old step daughter and his fiancé Kerry (the daughter of team mate John ‘the Professor’ Fogg). The pair were due to marry in August where team mate Alex Humphrey was to be his best man. 

He started racing at Henham Raceway when he was 17 and would later become an RDC driver in 2002 and was among the first to complete his 2011 license application underlining his enthusiasm for the coming season. His most recent outing was at the Heartbreaker at Northampton on February 13 where he competed in the 2litre class alongside a handful of WI team mates competing that afternoon.

In a tribute piece made for local media his fiancee Kerry said: "Daniel was a wonderful fiancé and a proud and dedicated father to his two daughters and stepdaughter. His main interest in his life was his family and children. He was great friend to everyone who knew him and he loved banger racing. All the family members are going to miss Daniel greatly.”

In an e-mail from Alex and David Humphrey they said: “He was a welder and fabricator by trade and always helped the team and Del (Derek ‘the Undertaker’ Caton) on the farm, hence the name Odd Job. Always a good laugh with a continual smile and an appetite for life, the W I team will miss him dearly.”

Michael Coventry from RDC Promotions added: “All at RDC are deeply saddened by this terrible news. While Dan was rarely mentioned among the superstars of the sport he was a valued member of the RDC banger racing family and someone who regularly helped make up the backbone of the sport both at RDC and beyond. Although he was never among the champions of years gone by his passion and love for the sport spoke volumes and it was rare, if ever, that you saw him without a smile when he was at the tracks, regardless of whether he was racing or just watching and helping his team mates.

“RDC and the sport of banger racing has once again lost another of the ‘good ones’ and another of the invaluable characters who help make our sport such a wonderful one.”

Discussions are already being made with regard to staging a memorial event this season for Odd Job which will be confirmed in due course when his family and team mates are able. In the meantime a minutes silence will be held in memory of Dan prior to the start of the 2011 season opener at Mildenhall Stadium next weekend. We aim to confirm the funeral details here when they are available. 

Congratulations to Amber and Bobby Daniels (added March 2)
Onto some more positive news and all at RDC would like to congratulate RDC lady banger racer 90 Amber Daniels and her husband, TSR banger pilot 282 Bobby ‘Mr Mad’ Daniels on the birth of their son Brendon Joe.

Young Brendon Joe arrived just after our last news update so belated congratulations to the couple on their new addition from everyone at RDC. 

Unlimited Banger EA Team Championship bookings open (added March 2)
Following our news piece regarding the forthcoming unlimited banger EA team championship at Mildenhall on May 7 we are delighted to report that the early enthusiasm shown for this event has continued with bookings opening this week. 

This week we have began the process of confirming entries by contacting the teams which all made last year’s event such a success and offer them first refusal at a place at this season’s event and we are pleased to report that already 20 teams (of 4) are confirmed for the meeting. 

In the meantime we have attracted a list of over a dozen teams who did not race last year at this meeting who have shown interest in taking part this year. However at the moment we have not made a final decision on how many teams we will be accepting this season but we will do our best to squeeze in as many teams as possible and hope to make this one of the highlights of the year at RDC.

We hope to bring you more news, including the confirmed teams as soon as possible. 

RDC at  3Litre Magazine Domestic, Shale Slaughter, London Open and Heartbreaker (added March 2)
As predicted our drivers have been well involved on the National Banger scene since our last news update starting with the annual Heartbreaker event at Northampton on February 13 which featured the biggest RDC presence of recent meetings. 

Starting with the 2litre class and the first heat saw 100 Callum White make his intentions clear with a big hit on Blue Crew pilot 557 John Small before 604 Ross Cooper stuffed 433 Ben Smith into his team mate while new RDC addition 170 Darren Teal blasted the spun 189 Josh Cooke. 512 Lewis Harvey then planted 99 Jason Jukes into the spun 148 Ian Redden while lone Team Black pilot 382 Jack Foster Jnr reeled in and followed in Condom rival 203 Darren Nash which left him open to big hits from 173 Steve Reynolds and 158 Shane Davies. 

Onto heat two and 401 Steve Hemmings was under early fire from 193 Nick North before 46 Wayne Pecker had his ultra smart Mondeo followed in by 299 Dale Locker tearing the front leg from the Motley Krew man’s motor. 299 Little Nocka continued to pound 400 Kevin Shinn only to take one in turn from 401 Paycho but the Scrapyard Screamer bounced back to again stick it to the Aftermath man as did race winner 208 Jimmy Randell while 603 Jon Cooper made his mark by running in 107 Jack Barton en route to finishing ninth. 

525 Wes Starmer ran in fellow RDC pilot 101 Richard Rayner in the last heat, the latter bouncing back to fence new RDC addition 315 Graham Jones while 21 Jason Colbert took a hard follow-in from 60 Kyle Stevenson. 585 Kevin Giles then came under attack from 662 Jamie Harding before 508 Harry Bradbury buried 816 Dean Manning before 525 Wes continued to putting away 611 Joe Geeves. 221 Michael Whitelock was run in by the victorious 730 Dean Mayes but recovered for ninth while 456 Nathan Roberts registered a second. 

The consolation started in style as Ross Cooper followed in RDC stable mate 793 Jamie Johns full chat bringing the reds out to allow the latter a safe exit from his broken Mondeo. Smith buried 100 Captain Cock into 285 Sean Dyer on the restart, the latter also coming under attack from RDC’s 503 Dan Hollingsworth before Cooper dished out a meaty hit on the now TSR licensed 352 Ben Mynott. Teal continued to bury fellow RDC man 545 Karl Hough into 176 Ady Gibbs with the former then coming under attack from 105 Billy Standing. 478 Chucksie now added Cooper to the growing blockage as did 508 Led Head to 164 Dan Leight while Harvey gave the spun Wes a head-on. Led Head struck again as he buried 541 Ryan Preston to the carnage before Teal set about 823 James Jewell with a series of hits throughout the remainder of the race. 60 Shakey Jnr landed a big hit on Cooper and Teal ended his race with a hit on 47 Andy Davies. 148 Shorty took second with 88 Ash Burton fourth and Rainer fifth. 

Rayner fenced Shorty early on in the final, the latter coming back to have 603 the Younger Hitman out and he was duly nailed by Rainer. Roberts meanwhile came through to take the title for RDC. 

The spun Psycho took a head-on from 05 Carlos Perez early in the Allcomers with 514 Chas Taylor also laying into the Predator before Shorty was run in hard by a combination of 648 Kyle Guyler and 247 Lee Clarke. 545 Huffy finished seventh and we moved into the death with Psycho under early attack from 136 Adrian Court. 285 Mr Misery also assaulted the Predator although Psycho soon evened the score and followed it up with a hit on Smith as Rayner finished 367 Mark Genders with a big head-on. Psycho duly stopped the WI pilot and then finished team mate 519 Lee Middleton for the win.

Onto the unlimited class and their first heat saw the XJ powered 311 Lee Bradbury fence 294 Alan Tarn before 384 John Golden met Condom rival Davies on the nose only to be wrecked by hits from 13 Pietra Liestra and 173 Hot Socks. 311 Helm went on to finish eighth. 

278 Tom Hills found himself on the wrong end of a follow-in from the massive Merc limo of 382 Alex Edwardson in heat two which saw new RDC recruit 209 Tom Waller take a massive follow-in from 451 Willy Blackwell. 262 Jason Barnard meanwhile was fired into the dead car of 121 Chris North.

617 Jack Overy welcomed new Condom 439 Danny Sutton to their war with a hard follow-in at the start of the final with Helm again in eighth and 17 the Little Chief in ninth.

Controversy in the Allcomers as Overy removed Shane Davies early on and then diverted to the infield a lap later to deliver a big hit on the Condom and earn a suspension from racing in the process ending our involvement in the day.

Onto Wimbledon on February 20 for the 1600cc London Open Championship with no RDC action in the first heat but Roberts qualified in fourth while the Little Chief claimed ninth. Onto heat three where 180 Mark Foster landed a stiff T-bone on 22 Mark Dopson, the former reeling in 349 Michael Allard and burying him into 720 Luke Hardy with spectacular results. 382 Chubby took third this time with Sparky in ninth. 

264 Mark Welland caught and buried Team Black rival the Little Chief in the final before Chubby evened up the war in the Allcomers when he buried 204 Charlie King en route to taking third place with Sparky sixth. Chubby switched his attentions to Shane Davies in the DD while Roberts scored on 241 Liam Cracknell. A hit from 341 Andy Jones finished Chubby while Sparky saw off Roberts with a stiff head-on before he finished 341 Jonesey to take the win. 

Onto last weekend, starting at Coventry on February 26 for the unlimited Shale Slaughter where the Little Chief got the RDC contingent off to a strong start winning heat one with team mates 384 Goldie and Chubby in second and fifth respectively.

Goldie’s night came to an end in heat two where his fencing of 701 Keith Roberts left him open to a stiff hit from the Mk10 Jaguar of 196 Ben Harrison leaving him winded. After a stoppage to allow him a safe exit Shorty held off 218 Rob Speak to take another RDC win but blew his engine as he crossed the line. Chubby was fourth this time and late arrival Roberts was fifth. 

No RDC action in the final with Chubby completing a decent night with a second while Roberts was awarded third. 

Finally we head to Standlake for their 3Litre Magazine sponsored event on February 27. Overy made his mark in the first 2litre heat with a hit on 44 Ricky Pullen before he hammered 2 Jon Bricknell in heat three and then he raced to a fourth in the final. He followed that up with a fifth in the dash before starring the DD where he landed a pair of hits on 380 Lee Hopkins before moving on to attack 730 Dean Mayes only to be finished by a head-on from 714 Paul Smaldon.

Onto the unlimited class which included latte arrival Goldie who armed with his Scorpio hearse from Halloween Havoc was one of precious few to race at both Coventry and Standlake on the weekend. 260 Keith and 360 Jack Reynolds meanwhile had two of the day’s best cars with a very tender Cadillac Fleetwood limo and 300C respectively. Overy (who was one of just two drivers to race in both classes) span 70 Steve Hart into the wall in heat one before 360 Jackstar raced to third in heat two.

260 Keefy traded hits with 142 George Box in the third heat where Jackstar again placed with a fourth. Overy connected with a solid hit on 313 Tom Cattell in the final heat before the 3Litre family were well involved in the final. Jackstar took a fencing from 815 Ian Castle early on before Keefy powered his Yank into 190 Steve Bailey only to take a fierce hit from 341 Andy Jones. Jackstar meanwhile hammered 426 Paul Horwood’s Fleetwood limo before joining the aforementioned wrecking train when he gave 239 Steve Carter a flat out hit only to be destroyed by a revenge hit from 426 Slap as elsewhere Overy span 1 Dave Thomas into the wall while Goldie finished fifth. Overy took second in the dash before he laid into Keefy on opposite and gave Castle a big T-bone before he was finished by hits from 190 Pikey and Jonesey. 

ORC Ben Fund press release and RDC Ben Fund Fundraiser confirmed (added February 9)
News of the ORC setting up a Benevolent Fund for all drivers has been a talking point for several weeks now and following a recent meeting of the ORC we can now share with you the official press release confirming that this is going to happen in 2011. 

The full press release, penned by former Buxton Raceway promoter Dave Pierce who is spearheading the project, can be found below.

As you will see from the release, each ORC promotion is expected to hold at least one meeting each season to help raise money for the fund and we are delighted to announce that RDC Promotions will be holding our Ben Fund Fundraiser at Mildenhall on Saturday, August 27 with a meeting which features 2Litre (no Mondeo or Cougars) National Bangers, Saloon Stockcars and Ministox. Although details are very limited at this stage we have more information on our plans for this meeting later in this week’s news update under the ‘latest information on upcoming meetings’ article. 

Here is the full ORC press release. 

At a recent meeting of the ORCi Promoters the new Benevolent Fund was discussed and the basic format of the Fund agreed. There has been much speculation and rumour on the matter, which I now wish to address by confirming the decisions made, and calm those many unfounded rumours.
General

The ORCi Ben Fund is for track staff and drivers of all ORCi formulae working or racing at ORCi tracks. This will include ORCi day licence drivers. 

All other established driver Ben Funds will remain as they are and run alongside the new ORCi Fund. 

Track staff will be covered for any accident occurring while these formulae are racing on ORCi tracks. 

ORCi Promoters will keep their existing personal accident insurance policy in place certainly for the next three years as a minimum, as this offers an excellent package. To demonstrate their commitment to driver welfare, Promoters agreed that death benefits under this policy will be increased from £5000 to £15,000, and likewise for serious injury, which is a major boost to the cover provided. 

Administration
The ORCi Ben Fund will NOT be run by the ORCi. It has been commissioned by the ORCi and authorised to operate exclusively at ORCi tracks, providing benefits for ORCi drivers and staff. It will be run by a team of five Trustees headed by myself, set up as an independent legal body.

The Fund will be set up as a not-for-profit limited company to protect its Trustees from personal liability should claims exceed revenue. It will also be able to apply for Charity registration immediately, thanks to the starting generous donations from the Promoters, for which I am extremely grateful and once again confirms their commitment to driver welfare. Charitable companies are governed by the same rules as charities under Trust, meaning that Trustees cannot be paid or benefit financially from their position. 

Due to the scale of the work involved, especially in setting this up, I will need the assistance of the Trustees and a secretary. Hence, I am now in the process of recruiting suitable people for these positions and I can confirm I shall be approaching some retired drivers with a view to them being considered as Trustees. 

Benefits
All claims will be paid a weekly amount (figures to be confirmed) on top of the £50 from the Insurers. On top of this, I will be working to set up a Hardship Fund, which will be available for those in difficulties. Payments will be discretionary but the intention is to help those in greater need. 

I intend to put in place an appeals system for claimants in case of disagreements. There will also be a Crisis Assistance facility; this might for example help the family of an injured driver with getting home if he/she is hospitalised, etc. 

Benefits will be reviewed regularly and may be increased as the Fund grows.

Funding
The Promoters have agreed to make a one-off donation to the Fund to help it get started. Each ORCi track will hold a minimum of one meeting each year in aid of the Fund. 

The £1 levy remains unchanged to fund vital health and safety work. At some stage the ORCi may review this to decide whether to use some or part of this revenue for the Ben Fund.

The current restriction on BDBF collections at ORCi tracks will remain in force at present.

I assure you that the ORCi and its member Promoters are fully committed to driver and staff welfare and are indeed putting their own money into the Fund. As for my ongoing connection to the ORCi, I have resigned as Director at Buxton Raceway and as Director on the ORCi. I have no further connection to the ORCi and no financial interest in it. 

PLEASE NOTE Drivers holding a full ORCi licence will be ineligible for a claim to the ORCi Fund, when racing at non ORCi tracks.

More information will be passed on as progress is made.
The anticipated launch event will be Bristol on Easter Monday.
Dave Pierce

Success for RDC at Wasted Magazine Awards Night (added February 9)
The third annual Wasted Magazine Awards Night proved a successful one for several RDC National Banger drivers who walked away with a share of the silverware.

The event was held at the Fenman Bar at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, February 5 and saw the bar packed out with some of the sports leading stars and their friends and family with several covering a great distance to attend including the entire Team Liestra clan from North Holland who were en route to the unlimited banger Icebreaker at King’s Lynn the following afternoon. 

On the results front the stars of the National Banger scene at RDC enjoyed plenty of success in the awards, which are determined by a panel of contributors to the magazine.

RDC hot shot 382 Jack Foster Jnr enjoyed a double dose of success as his amazing achievements in his first full season in the sport netted him the Most Dedicated and Improved Driver of the Year trophies.

In a season where she was arguably the leading lady driver in National Bangers, 511 Helen Licquorice capped an incredible season by winning the Unsung Hero of the Year trophy, an award she shared with Spedeworth’s 522 Tim James as they tied on the votes.

Finally it was also a great night for the Aftermath who narrowly saw off the Posh Wash to win team of the year for the second year running while 100 Callum White was judged to be Newcomer of the Year. 

Elsewhere and Mildenhall regular 673 Darren Fendley won Breakthrough Driver of the Year, having just beaten RDC’s 682 Paul Sparrow in the poll.

In the other awards 349 Michael Allard was named Driver of the Year, 241 Liam Cracknell won Entertainer of the Year, 751 Laurence Wells’ Jaguar XK150 was judged to be Car of the Year, 60 Kyle Stevenson’s wrecking display at the Spedeworth World Final won him Performance of the Year and 13 Pietra Liestra won the new Mr Material award. 

Congratulations to all the winners and our thanks to all those who attended who made this arguably the best Wasted Magazine Awards Night yet and we look forward to hosting the event again in 2012. 

RDC at Unlimited Icebreaker (added February 9)
As predicted there was a strong RDC showing at the unlimited banger Icebreaker at King’s Lynn on February 6 which raised a storming field of almost 160 cars spread between 42 teams featuring drivers from across England plus Scotland, Ireland and even Holland.

Flying the flag for RDC were 260 Keith and 360 Jack Reynolds who piloted Lexus’ for 3Litre Mag, 125 Roy, 325 Craig, 825 Luke and 925 Aaron Preece together formed the Black Rats A while 97 Dave Allen and 382 Jack Foster Jnr raced for Crash Attack although the former failed to race in his Datsun 280C estate. 148 Ian Redden and 525 Wes Starmer were among the Damage Inc ranks while 90 Joe Harboard and 97 Jim Maddisan raced for the Mr Men, the former in a simply epic Caddy Coupe de Ville. 89 Joe Barrett and 401 Steve Hemmings helped represent the Predators while 782 Glen Boyce was a member of Team Dave in an XJ. New RDC signings 114 Alan Jackson and 115 Howard Draper raced for the Grave Diggers with our interest completed by the Hogs whose ranks boasted 324 Mark and 328 Daniel Lathan and 326 Shane Lynn, the former in our second epic car of the day with his rated and rare Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire. Full credit to 382 Chubby, 525 Wes, 97 Sunny Jim, 401 Psycho and all three of the RDC registered Hogs who had raced at the 1500cc Icebreaker seven days earlier. Special mention should also go to Chubby and 328 Mummy’s Boy who also competed at both Mildenhall Winter Series meetings, the former already chalking up his sixth meeting of the season. 

An explosive start to the day with a complete track blockage providing some top action in the first heat with Luke Preece thundering 331 Eelke van de Zwaag (Team Liestra) through the side of the smart Rover P4 of 293 Nick Houghton (Mill Green Mafia) before Craig Preece took a big hit from 390 David Gibson (Mill Green Mafia), the former then also falling foul of 51 Simon Heilds (Stinkbridge). 360 Jackstar opened his account with a full chat hit on 137 Jay Chilton (Predators) before Luke Preece took shots from 33! Simon Reed (Team Dave) and 252 Steve Bugler (3Litre) while Roy Preece stuck it to 31 Eric Weering (Team Liestra). Aaron Preece was then stuffed into the heap at speed by 454 Dan Thompson (The Mob) as Roy Preece went the distance to finish fifth.

90 Joe Ninety’s sublime Yank was introduced to the plating early on in heat two by 421 Nigel Riley (Bears) but he rallied back to land a big hit on 648 Jamie Smith (Team TCM) on the road bend with Jackson then blasting the Mr Men Yank hard which would earn him the entertainer award while 148 Shorty helped get his team off to a strong start with a second place.

A big push into the first bend in heat three saw Lathan bury 776 Ady Groom (Predators) and later in the race 326 Ratty impressed with a big shot on the DS420 limo of 152 Jim Dillon (The Mob) with Chubby racing to fourth. Heat four saw Sunny Jim turn 372 Martin Scully (Team 22) into the infield tyres while Wes fenced the Caddy of 185 Lenny Smith (Barton Boys) before the latter was picked up by 516 Carl Gould (Steam Team) with Sunny Jim latching on to thunder them in full chat and rip apart the 516 Granada in fine fashion. Wes finished fourth this time. 

Into the second round of heats and heat five saw Shorty land a hit on 352 Jim Reade (Candyfloss) before Jackson followed 468 Gary Julian (Team TCM) in hard rolling the latter on impact. The 3Litre young gun continued on the restart as he buried 331 Brett Fry (Bears) into team mate 421 Nigel Riley with 89 Panda blasting the latter head-on. Shorty then span the unusual Chevy pick-up of 303 Brian Cope into the back straight plating which subsequently saw Joe Ninety land a hit on 791 Nicky Young (Bad News). Shorty survived blowing a tyre on the final bend and a subsequent hit from 221 Justin Riley (Bears) to finish third with Jackstar placing fourth. 

No RDC involvement of note in heat six so onto heat seven when Roy Preece nailed 454 Mad Dan before a scramble for the line saw 119 Davey Cox (Team 22) just beat Wes to the flag. However it transpired the former was a lap down and so Wes took the honours with Sunny Jim third, a fine result on his maiden unlimited banger outing. 

Into the final round of heats and heat eight began with 766 Pete Paynes (Surrey Street Squad) burying 260 Keefy before Shorty joined forces with team mate 128 Mark Atkins to bury Lathan, the latter then taking a head-on from 152 Mr Grumpy. Chubby then stuffed 160 Davey Paton (Surrey Street Squad) into Grumpy which allowed Jackstar to trash the former before he took one in turn from 207 Michael Woodward (Bears). Shorty finished tenth this time.

An explosive start to heat nine as 401 Psycho thundered in 331 Wally rolling the Bear young gun on impact as elsewhere Panda treated 51 Sleepy to a head-on. After a restart Draper came under fire from 779 Luke Allen (Predators) but he bounced back only to catch 421 Nutty Nige in the door with a mis-judged attack. 28 Neil Osbourn (Bears) laid into the Grave Digger in turn with Nige then administering a revenge head-on. 

Over 50 cars for the all in final which perhaps unsurprisingly saw a massive pile-up in the opening lap and combined with a rollover and flash fire the reds were out immediately. The restart saw Wes hit the spun 22 Dave Vincent (Team 22) on the nose before he landed a hit on the spinning 450 Simon Brown (Candyfloss). Wes then ran in 33! the Legend hard but it wasn’t enough for Damage Inc to take the title as they had to settle for second behind Team 22. 

As expected RDC was well represented at the 1500cc Icebreaker team event at King’s Lynn last Sunday (January 30). 100 Callum White and 400 Kevin Shinn raced for the Aftermath while 19 Joe Mullarkey, 26 Daniel Holmes and 76 Terry Mansfield made up the bulk of Damaged Goods, the latter in a Cortina estate. 339 Jack Garrod raced for Flat Out, 401 Steve Hemmings guested for the Mad Hatters Young Guns, 180 Mark Foster, 382 Jack Foster Jnr and 415 Scott Cornish raced with the Midnight Runners and new addition 97 Jim Maddison raced with the Mr Men. RDC Ministox graduate 843 Jacob Foster made his National Banger debut with the Outsiders and new RDC addition 409 Carl Pears raced in Stinkbridge. RDC returnee 116 Nat Cohn was a member of Team Cruncher, 711 Luke Wesson guested for Team Starky while the Hogs featured 323 Steve Leeper, 324 Mark and 328 Daniel Lathan and 326 Shane Lynn. 427 Dave Johnson was out with the Welly Tops and 525 Wes Starmer and 911 Pippa Cable completed our interest in the WMS faction. 

401 Psycho was the first to show in heat one as he followed in Skunk 601 Chris Medler before 116 no Luck Nat aided team mate 566 Tony Pallett with a shot on 851 Adam Storr (Team Starky) as 711 Streaky raced to third place and Johnson took sixth. 382 Chubby opened his account in heat two by running in 245 Brad Hudson (Team Wally) as 76 Top Gun took a hiding from Outsiders 73 Dean Cruickshank and 50 Simon West, the former going on to blast 26 Hacker hard. Chubby continued to blitz 621 Scott Goodyear (Green Army) before 19 Dive Toe Joe was run in by 452 Sean Parrett (Walsham Wreckers) which also claimed Jacob Foster. Chubby ended his show with a destructive hit on 517 Andrew Gould (Team Wally) which earned him the entertainer award. 525 Wes took second, Chubby fourth and 180 Sparky seventh.

Heat three saw Garrod lay into Midnight Runner guest 433 Ben Smith only to take one from Stinkbridge's 11 Darren Race and 97 Sunny Jim nailed Demon 353 Sean Mullins. The fourth heat saw 326 Ratty under fire from 392 Sam Baines (Mad Hatters Young Guns) which was our only involvement in the race. 

Psycho was fenced by 562 Gavin Barnes (Team Cruncher) in heat five and then suffered the same fate again from Hudson before No Luck Nat was followed in by 370 Andy Gray (Wreckers). This allowed Top Gun to blast No Luck Nat before he was wrecked in turn by Chubby while Sparky followed in Doe Toe Joe hard and then nailed 7 Chris Lowe (Wacky Racers) to take the entertainer award as well as eighth place with Chubby in ninth. 409 Carlos landed a hit on 399 Jonny Atkin (Mad Hatters Young Guns) in heat six which also saw 100 Captain Cock blast 21 John Riddell (Junkyard Dogs) hard. Carlos then continued with hits on 578 Lee Ranshaw (Mr Men) and the luckless Riddell as 400 Shinny took sixth place.

No RDC action in heat seven but Streaky took fifth and Johnson seventh before heat eight saw Captain Cock nail 715 Mick Prince (Team Starky) head-on before he leathered Gould with a big blitz. The repaired Hacker assaulted 249 William Youngson (The Young Ones) while Shinny treated 367 Barry Beevor (Team Wally) to a head-on, blitzing the latter to earn another RDC entertainer award while Foster finished seventh. 04 Mick Croft (Stinkbridge) buried Chubby at the start of the last heat, the latter having 323 Jim Riddell (Junkyard Dogs) stuffed into him by 43 Nicky Bishop (Outsiders) while Dan Lathan hammered 566 Zippy Jnr. Sparky then put away 279 Andrew Swallow (Junkyard Mongrels) before Dan Lathan blasted 662 Jamie Harding (Midnight Runners) to start a turn two wrecking train. Chubby blasted the Hog but took one in turn from 279 Swall who was then blasted by Sparky. Cornish finished fifth.

A big field for the final with Carlos destroying Shinny with a massive T-bone while Johnson hammered 391 Ben Gibson (Mad Hatter Young Guns) only to take one in turn from 562 Gavo while Sunny Jim came under fire from Smith. A combination of race results and entertainer awards meant the Midnight Runners A, which featured Chubby and Sparky took the title and the C team which included Cornish finished third. The DD was sadly aborted when a driver was injured falling over the safety fence in the early stages of the event. 

Ministox, Saloon Stockcar and Mildenhall Winter Series Presentation Night (added February 2)
All at RDC would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who supported last weekends well attended Ministox, Saloon Stockcar and Mildenhall Winter Series Presentation Night.

This was the third annual Ministox presentation night and to help boost the event this year it included the Saloon Stockcar 2010 presentations and this years Mildenhall Winter Series and all combined there was a great turnout in the Fen Man bar of around 100 people on Saturday night including the vast majority of trophy winners and a very friendly and enjoyable atmosphere was had throughout the night.

As well as the various winners of the 2010 points championships a number of merit awards were presented to drivers in the Ministox and Saloon Stockcars who had impressed at RDC in 2010. The merit award winners which were presented were as follows and well done to all the trophy winners.

Ministox
Mr Consistency 2010: 309 Ray Petty
Most Improved Driver 2010: 320 Charley Streeton and 390 Karl Morris
Newcomer of the Year 2010: 344 Ross Fisher and 394 Liam Aspin
Drive of the Year 2010: 322 Thomas Fox (RDC Drivers Championship)
100% Attendance 2010: 306 Daniel Parker, 316 Sam Dace and 383 Shane Harvey

Saloon Stockcars 
Newcomer of the Year: 389 Ryan Santry and 698 Danny Colliver
Most Improved Driver of the Year: 728 Kris Woods
Most Determined Driver of the Year: 13 Lee Petters and 22 Karl Petters

Winter Series Finale round up and thanks (added January 26)
It will probably come as little surprise that we start this week’s news update with a massive message of thanks to all those who contributed to last weekend’s Winter Series Finale at Mildenhall. 

Following the regrettable but unavoidable cancellation of the planned second round of the series on January 9, every possible step had been taken to ensure last weekends meeting could at least go ahead. The continuation of the wet weather in recent weeks make this a very hard task and on Friday and Saturday it was very much a touch and go situation as to whether the meeting would run. 

24 hours before start time and RDC bit the bullet and elected to go for it and work continued on the raceway throughout Saturday afternoon and early evening and again from early Sunday morning to give the best racing conditions which were possible although it goes without saying that they remained far from ideal.

Unusual measures were taken where as much wet shale was moved to the inside of the raceway and while this made the inside line of the track completely unraceable and something of a death trap for any drivers who got too close in turn it produced a reasonable, for the winter series at least, racing line on the outside half of the track. 

All drivers were advised of the conditions before the start of the meeting and the importance of sticking to the outside of the track was stressed not only for the good of the drivers but also for the good of the track and meeting as a whole. Furthermore, National Banger drivers were requested, for one day only, that the racing should be kept one way only until the DD. This was asked in order to try and keep the racing ‘moving’ and avoid track blockages on the narrow racing line which would have had a negative impact on both the racing and the track itself.

As it transpired these requests proved vitally important and, to a degree, successful because as the afternoon wore on things got progressively better and better. In fact compared to the January meeting in 2010, this years meeting saw drivers in the first race competing in better conditions (on the outside at least) than of 12 months ago. 

Another key to keeping the meeting going was the decision to split the cars so thinly for the qualifying races for the National Bangers. Under normal circumstances we would never run three heats and two consolations for 50 bangers but given the track conditions we felt it best for all concerned and we believe the decision paid off and even the 15 car first consolation resulted in a complete ‘track’ blockage.

The biggest thank you of the afternoon however must go to the drivers. Not only for complying with our rules for the day but also for continuing to race throughout the programme despite the difficult conditions. We honestly never expected to see nearly 90 drivers attend the meeting (especially as we made the conditions no secret to all those who inquired) but to see so many continue racing after their first race was superb.

Few would have blamed any driver for calling it a day after their first race but instead in the National Bangers we had the vast majority of non qualifiers contest a consolation, all but two of the qualifiers raced in the final and almost 30 of the original 50 came back for the last race. To have over half the original entry in a DD at any meeting is good going but on a day like Sunday this was particularly impressive. 

The level of support shown by the drivers of course extended to all three formulas as well. The Bangerstox drivers faced most unusual conditions but still 11 of the 14 drivers on hand raced in the final with all but one driver racing in the two heats. And in the Ministox 18 of the 20 drivers raced in heat two and 17 came back again in the final. This is especially impressive in the Ministox given that the weight and small engines of the cars inevitably meant this formula was likely to struggle the most but despite this the young stars produced some decent racing and gave a great account of themselves.

Finally we want to thank the fans who took a chance on us on Sunday and supported the meeting. We hope that despite the conditions you enjoyed the racing which the drivers were able to provide and we would also like to apologise for the small delays which occurred throughout the afternoon. This were primarily because of the difficulty of clearing the track after each race in the conditions but again our thanks to our tractor team who worked superbly during the afternoon to keep things moving as best as possible. 

This is the second year running where we have been forced to cancel a Winter Series event because of the track conditions and also the second year running where the January meeting has been staged in the most difficult of conditions and thought is already going into making adjustments to the series in 2011/2 which will be the 20th anniversary of the event. 

Congratulations to Winter Series Champions (added January 26)
This week we would like to extend our congratulations to our new Winter Series Champions, 682 Paul Sparrow in the National Bangers and 350 Thomas Parrin the Ministox. 

Sparrow broke the traditional curse of the Banger Winter Series by not becoming the latest early series leader to fall at the final hurdle. In fact having cemented his lead by being the only one of the early front runners to finish the double points scoring final he sealed his victory in fine style by winning the DD alongside 51 Paul Licquorice.

2010 was a breakout season for Sparrow in which he finished second in the Mildenhall points and third in the RDC standings, could this win be the start of even better things in 2011?

Meanwhile in the Ministox the aforementioned Winter Series curse did strike with early leader 390 Karl Morris failing to maintain his advantage and slipping to second while wet weather expert 350 Thomas Parrin once again showed his class in tricky conditions with a faultless hat trick of wins to storm to the top of the chart and another accolade to his collection. 

Trophy presentations to the top four in each series will be made at the Ministox, Saloon Stockcar and Winter Series Presentation Night at Mildenhall Stadium this Saturday, January 29. 

National Banger RDC RWD Series 2011 (added January 19)
Following the success of the maiden National Banger RDC RWD Series at RDC Promotions in 2010 we are delighted to report that not only will the series be returning this season but that it will not only be slightly bigger in 2011 and we have made some tweaks which we hope will add to the stature of the series. 

The series was created to not only unify the somewhat limited number of events on the RDC calendar where the majority of drivers race RWD type cars but also to create a new type of event where drivers who prefer this kind of racing could put their efforts into and get greater rewards than before. 

In 2010 the eight round series culminated in the first ever RDC RWD Series Final which was staged a the maiden all Granada meeting where 384 John Golden became the first winner of the sublime annual trophy kindly sponsored by Bathside Garage while 349 Lee Saunders won the points chase and with it earned the right to wear a silver roof for the next 12 months. 

With the addition of a first ever all RWD National Banger event in October, which will also host the series final, the RWD Series becomes a nine round event in 2011 and once again the top points scorer after the nine rounds will join the elite club to paint their roof silver for the next year. 

Adding to the importance of the RWD Series we have decided that it will be these points in 2011 which will determine which four drivers represent RDC in the Unlimited Banger World of Shale Championship at King’s Lynn in early September. Previously the RDC seeds were determined, like all major events, by the RDC National Points but in 2011 we have decided that to give the RWD Series added significance it will be these points which determine the four seeds. Therefore the top four RDC drivers in the RWD Series Points following the 2Litre RWD meeting on July 30 (round 7) will be offered the places in this big event at King’s Lynn. Please note that all remaining championship allocation, including the 2Litre TSR World Final and 1500cc National Championship at King’s Lynn, will still be determined by the RDC National Points Championship as per usual. 

In the meantime, as already mentioned the addition of the first ever National Banger all RWD event means this years series grows to a nine round event which is as follow

Round One: Dover May 2 1pm Big Van Bangers
Round Two: Mildenhall May 7 6.30pm Unlimited Bangers EA Team Championship
Round Three: Mildenhall May 28 6.30pm Pre 70 Bangers
Round Four: Mildenhall June 18 6.30pm Unlimited Van Bangers
Round Five: Dover June 26 1pm Unlimited Bangers Kent Championship
Round Six: Mildenhall July 9 6.30pm Unlimited Bangers Suffolk Open Championship
Round Seven: Mildenhall July 30 6pm 2Litre RWD Bangers 
Round Eight: Mildenhall September 10 6.30pm All Granada National Bangers (V6 engines allowed)
Round Nine/Series Final: Mildenhall October 1 6.30pm: All RWD National Bangers

We have also made some other tweaks and changes to the points system for this series and also the means of qualifying for the RDC RWD Series Final in October. 

Firstly all nine rounds will carry five attendance points to all drivers who race. Much like the British and Masters Championship qualifying points, these will only count towards the RDC RWD Series and will not have any bearing on the RDC National or track championships. It is hoped that these attendance points will reward those drivers who make the effort to attend as many rounds as possible. 

Qualifying for the 2011 RDC RWD Series Final on October 1 can be achieved by one of the following ways. 

The winner of the finals at the Unlimited EA Team Championship on May 7, Unlimited Kent Championship on June 26, Unlimited Suffolk Open Championship on July 9, 2Litre RWD meeting on July 30 and all Granada National Banger meeting on September 10 will be offered seeded places in the RWD Seris final.

We have also looked to incorporate other similar styled events which are held elsewhere in the sport. Therefore we are delighted to report that with the blessing of the promotions in question we will be offering seeded places to the winners of the finals at the following RWD style events. The 1650cc RWD team meeting at Aldershot on April 17, British Beef at Mendips on June 25, the 1650cc RWD event at Northampton on July 1, Vintage Tin Night at Taunton on July 5, 1800cc Pte 76 Bangers at Standlake and 2Litre RWD Bangers at Grimley on July 17 and 2Litre RWD Bangers at King’s Lynn on August 27. 

These seeded entries will be joined by the top 16 drivers from the RDC RWD Series points after September 10 that have failed to qualify by winning one of the above Grand Finals. Just like in 2010 these places will be offered to the top drivers, regardless of which promotion they are licensed too. Please note that if there is any shortfall from the invited seeded entries detailed above, the next four drivers in the RWD points will act as reserves. However only the top 20 (not including any seeded entries) from the points will have a chance of competing in the series final. 

Completing the list of pre meeting qualifiers will be defending champion 384 Goldie and the top two drivers (who wish to compete) from both the RDC National Points Championship and the Mildenhall Track Championship (up to and including September 10) who have failed to qualify already. The seeds via the Mildenhall points can include a visiting driver if they are high enough in the points. 

The grid will be completed by qualifiers from the last chance qualifier (which will be open to all drivers) and there will be a minimum of three places available from this race. Ideally we would like around 36 cars in the series final so if there is any shortfall on the night, extra places may be available via the last chance race. 

2011 Super Rods rules for Mondeos now available (added January 19)
Although possibly the worst kept secret at RDC this closed season we can now officially confirm that the rules for Super Rods will be changed for 2011 to allow the Ford Mondeo to be used alongside the traditional Ford Sierra.

Despite the quality of racing remaining strong, car numbers have struggled over the last couple of seasons and it is hoped that this change to include a more modern car will be the right one for the long term future of the formula.

Although somewhat later than hoped for, the rules for the Mondeo as a Super Rod are now available and those who would like a copy are encourage to e mail us on wastedmc@btopenworld.com and we can send you the rules as a PDF document.

RDC at Civil War (added January 19)
As expected RDC was well represented at the 12th annual Civil War at Hednesford on January 16 with drivers in both the Northern and Southern Armies. 

The Northern team boasted 382 Jack Foster Jnr and 807 Chris Murfin in the all Nissan Sunny and Almera Light Brigade, 400 Kevin Shinn, 801 Jack Foster, 525 Wes Starmer, 604 Ross Cooper, 180 Mark Foster, 100 Callum White, 86 Alec Savage and 682 Paul Sparrow in the 2Litre Infantry and 148 Ian Redden, 311 Lee Bradbury and 320 Paul Seymour in the unlimited Tanks.

Meanwhile in the Southern Army 17 John Shilleto, 360 Jack Reynolds, 188 John Reeves, 415 Scott Cornish and 278 Tom Hills in the Light Brigade, 456 Nathan Roberts in the Infantry and 133 Karl Day and 726 Kalin Dawe in the Tanks. 

Special mention should go to 311 Helm and 320 Smiler who painted their cars in Motley Krew colours for the day and each were superbly signwriten in a tribute to former team mate Tim ‘Dim Tim’ Day. 

The afternoon began with heat one for the Light Brigade with 223 Brett Harrison tagging the spun 17 Hot Socks over the front wheel before he was stuffed into some dead cars on turn four by 384 Ant Beckerton. 180 Sparky was on the case in the first Infantry heat with a package on 252 Steve Bugler before 400 Shinny was fired into the wall by 190 Steve Bailey. Roberts meanwhile gave the spun 300 Dan Kirkbride a solid T-bone before he was followed in hard on the east bend by Sparky with 525 Wes then laying into Roberts as well. Foster ended the action with a hard hit on 341 Andy Jones on the run down lap. The Supra powered 133 Karly buried 252 Gareth Griffiths in the opening unlimited heat before Helm ran 719 Chris Storey and 256 Stuart Kelly into a growing West Bend blockage only to take one from the Yank estate of 262 Buddy James. Helm rallied back to fence 2 Jon Bricknell before Karly connected on the victorious 185 Lenny Smith on the run down lap having bagged some points for the team in second.

382 Chubby put away Cornish early on in the second Light Brigade heat before he leathered 516 Carl Gould with a big shot which left him open to a revenge hit from Cornish. The latter went on to hammer 295 Graham Heywood as the recovered Chubby struck the spun 184 Matt Nutley over the front wheel, 188 Victor then delivering a big roof bending hit on 223 Bushy which knocked the latter out and brought the race to an early end 3ith 807 Murf being declared the winner. Cooper out away 2 Luke Dawson in the second Infantry heat before Foster crashed into the infield banking while Sparrow ran in 57 John Reeves which allowed Cooper to blast the latter head-on. 100 Captain Cock later scored on 552 Karl Douglas while Foster hit 349 Michael Allard in the front wheel and Captain Cock again stuck it to 552 Blacknuts en route to taking fourth. Helm was again on the case in the second Tank heat with a shot on 127 Pete Wake as 320 Smiler put away 49 Rob Bevan. Helm continued with a head-on to 397 Andrew Cullen as 127 Bungle rallied back to nail Smiler.

With time running short all three of the finals went into DDs and the Light Brigade event saw the reds out early for a shaken 278 Sex Pest who copped a big head-on from 275 Rusty. On the restart 390 David Gibson hammered Cornish as Victor superbly fired both 310 John Nicholson and 252 John Wibberly into the wall to take the lead before Cornish burst into flames to again bring the reds out. The race resumed with 390 Gibbo fencing Victor as Chubby stuffed both 427 Pat McPhilimey and 614 Chris Hide as Victor thundered in 800 Tom Hannah but put a wheel back in the process. Chubby now blasted 311 Danny Allen.

Shinny was hammered by 52 Tyrone Poulter in the Infantry Final but recovered and mistimed an attack on Allard to run into some dead cars. Sparky meanwhile ran in 268 Buster Hutchings as Shinny bounced back to blast 460 Lewis Barber head-on before he took one from 4 Bob Barnes. With Captain Cock at some stage taking the win with Sparky second and Wes fourth the event moved into the demo by which point the majority of the Northern runners were RDC. Captain Cock and Shinny laid into 61 Darryl Theedom and with the latter seemingly finished the North turned on one another. Cooper T-boned Sparky as Captain Cock hammered 455 Rick Finney only to take one from Wes. 61 Barrel got running again and was duly hammered by Wes and Sparky with the latter then taking one from Wes, again thinking Barrel was finished. Wes now hit Finney on the nose as Barrel again got running and was swiftly hammered by Cooper. Unaware that the Southern danger still existed Wes exchanged hits with Shinny and Captain Cock on the east bend leaving Cooper to deliver a big head-on to Barrel which ultimately finished both cars. However despite delivering the final blow and also moving slightly after the hit, Cooper shared the DD honours with Barrel.

Far less RDC interest for the unlimited final with 726 the Chimp using his Caddy Sedan deVille to attack 808 Steven Tyson en route to a fourth place while 207 Michael Woodward laid into 148 Shorty. Karly met 215 Young Bully on the nose to end the RDC involvement in the event.

Mildenhall Winter Series update (added January 12)
As promised, this is a complete statement of all the decisions and developments over the last few days regarding the cancellation of the planned January 9 Winter Series fixture at Mildenhall Stadium and the subsequent tweaks made to the forthcoming January 23 date.

Regrettably we were left with little option but to cancel the January 9 fixture, little more than 24 hours before start time. This is only the second time in RDC’s near 20 year history at Mildenhall that we have had to cancel a meeting because of the track conditions and it is certainly not a decision which was taken lightly. Work had continued at the raceway right up until the decision was made on Saturday (January 8) morning in the hope that the meeting could go ahead as planned but when it became clear this would not be the case we made the decision to cancel. We are sorry for giving everyone so little notice on the cancellation and would like to thank everyone who helped spread the word so quickly which resulted in only a small number of people making a wasted journey to the stadium on Sunday and to those who didn’t get the message we are truly sorry. 

In the wake of the decision to cancel the January 9 meeting work continued over the weekend and so far this week to get the track ready to race for January 23 and while much progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to do. It is because of this that it took longer than we would have liked to have made a final decision on what formulas to run at the scheduled January 23 fixture, because all of our efforts were concentrated on working on the track. 

Ultimately it was decided to leave the January 23 with the three formulas which were programmed, namely Bangers, Ministox and Bangerstox. Thought was given to adding Reliant Robins to the afternoon but it was felt that making the meeting a minimum of 15 races on a January afternoon was probably a step too far and we are pleased to confirm that the Reliant Robins have now been added to the April 9 fixture to replace this date, please see next news item.

However the major change is with regard to the Bangers as we have decided to run the planned 1800cc non Mondeo and Cougar meeting which was scheduled for January 9 on January 23 in place of the scheduled National Banger meeting. 

With no option available to run an additional winter meeting in January or February this means that drivers who were preparing a National Banger which is unsuitable to use under the 1800cc non Mondeo or Cougar format will now be unable to use that car during the Winter Series. To drivers who were building and preparing cars which now cannot be used on January 23 we are truly sorry.

However our primary concern was drivers who had prepared cars for the 1800cc non Mondeo and Cougar meeting as many drivers are now unwilling to use these type of cars in National Banger meetings at Mildenhall. Therefore it was felt that if we ran January 23 as National Bangers as originally intended, drivers who had prepared suitable cars for January 9 would not wish to race them. Furthermore we do not have another non Mondeo fixture scheduled at Mildenhall until July and presently the Nation-wide fixtures currently have far less of these kind of fixtures than 2010 so we felt it was crucial to give those with a car built for January 9 an opportunity to race it under the advertised conditions (i.e. to 1800cc non Mondeo and Cougar rules) even though there is a likelihood that the non Mondeo format will attract fewer cars that the National Banger format.

Also contributing to our decision was that the first three Saturday meetings of the season at Mildenhall are all National Banger fixtures where any car being prepared for the original January 23 format can be used. There are also several meetings elsewhere at neighbouring tracks where Mondeos and similar cars can be used in the coming weeks. We hope that drivers who were building National Bangers for January 23 can understand the reasoning behind the switch in meeting format and are able to use their car at Mildenhall or elsewhere in the near future without too much disruption to their plans. 

We should also point out that we did consider running two classes of Bangers on January 23, 1800cc non Mondeos and Cougars plus National Bangers but for the same reasons detailed above that we elected not to add Reliant Robins to the bill we decided this was not a realistic move and would be detrimental to the event with an unmanageable race programme. 

Again our thanks to everyone for their understanding and patience at this time. 

Tim 'Dim Tim' Day (added January 5)
All at RDC were saddened to hear the news this week of the passing of RDC National Banger driver, Tim Day, known more commonly throughout the sport as Dim Tim. 

Tim was best known as a long serving member of the Motley Krew and was a proud member of the team for many years including arguably their purple patch in the 1990s where they were considered by many to be among the sports leading factions. 

While Tim was for the majority of racing career a Northampton (and later Incarace) based driver, he switched to RDC in 2007 and with it changed his number from his traditional 301 to 310. He remained with RDC for the remainder of his racing days and made his final appearances at RDC (which were most likely his final meetings) in 2008 when he competed at both the 1400cc Suffolk Open and 2Litre Kent team championships, of course in the trademark white, red and orange of the Motley Krew. 

Even after these meetings he remained a familiar face at the meetings, especially when the Motley Krew were in action and his friendship and character will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.

While he would have perhaps been the first to admit he was never the biggest of National Banger stars he was truly one of the many characters whose flawless attitude to the sport helps make the short oval community the amazing place that it is today. 

Tim was just 35 when he passed away on January 2 following a long battle with a rare form of cancer, a battle he fought bravely and courageously and, like almost all of his on track battles, one he fought with a smile whenever possible. He leaves behind wife Gemma who he married recently. 

Our thoughts are with all of Tim's family and friends at this time and while Tim was only with RDC for a fraction of his racing career we would like him to know that we were proud to have him in the RDC family, even if it wasn't for as long as we all would have wanted.

A minutes silence in memory of Dim Tim will be held prior to the start of this Sunday's Winter Series meeting at Mildenhall Stadium and we also hope to arrange a further tribute at a later date when his team mates are present. This may well take place on Good Friday but that will confirmed in the future.

The funeral takes place on Friday, January 14 West Herts Crem, High Elms Lane, Garston, WD25 0JS at 4pm.

RIP Dim Tim

RDC at Heavy Metal Classic (added January 5)
Once again there was a decent showing of RDC drivers at Standlake on January 2 for their annual Heavy Metal Classic bash which was once again superbly attended with almost 190 cars in action. The 1800cc class included 36 Ben Hamilton (Cortina estate), 260 Keith Reynolds (Primera estate) and 310 Chas Lee (Minx) with the latter duo also racing in the unlimiteds with an XJ40 and Daimler 250 V8 respectively. They were joined in the big cars by 33! Simon Reed (Austin 3Litre), 148 Ian Redden (Laurel), 360 Jack Reynolds (Volvo 240 estate), 384 John Golden (XJ) and 782 Glen Boyce (XJ). Completing our interest was 382 Jack Foster Jnr in the Mondeo class. 

The day started with a RWD/Classic heat for the 1800cc class in which Lee stayed out of trouble to pick up a second place before 260 Keefy went one better to win the third heat and duly celebrated by assisting 732 Alex Reynolds in burying 143 Martin Wilkes on the run down lap. 

Lee's luck ran out in the first unlimited heat where he copped a stiff hit in the passenger doors from 425 Pat McPhilimey's ultra smart XJ but 33! the Legend fared better racing his Oztin to second. 360 Jackstar was well on the case in heat two with a solid follow-in on 74 Kewy which he followed up with a shot on 230 Kieran Genge before he ran in 111 Joe Cotton. 382 Chubby made his mark in the second Mondeo heat with a follow-in on 2 Jon Bricknell before he came under fire from 705 Anthony Turner. 

Keefy was again enjoying form in the second round of 1800cc heats with a shot on 452 Anthony Sleeman in heat five before he raced to another win in heat six. 

Lee connected with a hit on Kewy in the third unlimited heat which saw 782 Gladis spin the pretty Rover P4 of 197 Pete Dodge into the wall as Keefy again featured in the results with a third. Jackstar was on form again in the final unlimited heat as he followed in 103 Keith Heron before he nailed the battered Volvo of 989. Chubby meanwhile found himself on the wrong end of a revenge attack from Bricknell in the third Mondeo heat. 

Onto the finals with Lee's Minx getting destroyed in the 1800cc event by a cracking follow-in from 272 Tiny. 384 Goldie landed a hit on 75 Clive Cordery in the unlimited final as Jackstar continued his fine showing with a shot on 842 Jack Perkins only to take one in turn from 147 Matt Randall as Goldie went on to chalk up his second title win in four months. No luck for Chubby in the Mondeo final as he was fenced by 334 Stephen Court and Bricknell with the latter then stuffing 388 Emmerson Fairweather into him.

Hamilton made it count in the 1800cc Allcomers when he trashed the similarly mounted 235 Chris Elkins with a fine hit as Keefy continued his impressive day with another third place. He also featured in the unlimited Allcomers with a hard hit on 112 Robert Shovelle before Jackstar and Chubby starred in the unlimited and Mondeo DDs were there were among the final runners.

Happy New Year to all RDC drivers and fans (added December 30)
In the final news update of 2010, we want to wish all drivers and fans in the world of short oval motor racing a very happy new year and all the very best for 2011.

A special thanks as always goes to all the RDC drivers and those who have raced at Mildenhall Stadium or Dover Raceway in 2010 and to the fans who have supported our meetings as well and we hope to see you all again in 2011.

Happy New Year everyone. 

Mildenhall Winter Series opener round up and thanks (added December 30)
In the wake of the first round of the 19th annual Mildenhall Winter Series we want to send a special thanks to all the drivers who supported the meeting and produced some entertaining racing for the fans who braved the cold to watch the racing.

While the turnout for the annual Metro and Fiesta Banger meeting was down on previous years it was still fantastic to see almost 100 drivers support the event, the vast majority of freshly built cars and given the weather around the country in the weeks leading up to the meeting, respect is worthy of every driver on hand for building and preparing a car to race. 

It was also pleasing to see the tremendous efforts made on the day by the drivers to keep bringing the cars out for more despite the far from ideal conditions. Sufficient non qualifiers repaired for two banger consolations, the majority of the qualifiers contested the final and over a third of the original entry contested the DD. Similar numbers were reported in the Saloon Stockcars where the majority of the most decent Christmas meeting turnout of 21 drivers competed in all three races. 

On the subject of Saloon Stockcars and well done to 641 Willie Skoyles Jnr for lifting the track championship and also full credit to 77 Glen Heaps for making the marathon trek from Scotland to make his track debut.

Changing the topic completely and we would would also like to extend a thank you to everyone who observed the minutes silence for stockcar legend Stu Smith Snr so superbly at the start of the meeting. On that note all at RDC would like to extend their sympathies to the Smith family at this time. 

We would also like to extend a massive message of thanks to our track team for their sterling efforts in recent weeks to produce perhaps the best racing conditions we have had for a Christmas meeting in some time. While we were incredibly lucky that Mildenhall avoided the worst of the winter weather in recent weeks, a great amount of work went into trying to make the shale as good as possible and our thanks to them. 

Finally we want to address the decision to run two banger consolations which each had the smallest grids of the afternoon. With just one Stockcar race between the final banger heat and first consolation, had we decided to run one consolation race we would have had to have waited until around the time that the second consolation started to get all the drivers who raced in a consolation on track. Had we made that decision it would have led to one of two outcomes, either a long delay before the consolation or a shorter delay with some drivers missing the race. Furthermore we felt that the slippery track conditions were not best suited to larger fields of cars which also would have in turn led to lengthy clear up processes which on a December afternoon are never ideal. The decision to run two consolations also meant that the meeting continued to flow and in part meant the meeting was completed in under three and a half hours which was ideal for all concerned. 

Amendment to 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open team championship line up (added December 30)
With regard to the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open team championship entry for the annual Good Friday (April 22) meeting at Mildenhall, which we announced on the website a couple of weeks ago, we have one amendment.

Unfortunately when we compiled the list we omitted one of the teams who had booked in and thus The Jokers have been added to the list so we now have 36 teams on the entry list as well as handful on the waiting list. Click here for the full list of booked in teams and please not we will not consider adding reserves to the list unless at least two of the teams current booked drop out.

Christmas message from RDC Promotions (added December 23)
All at RDC Promotions would like to extend a very merry Christmas wish to everyone connected to RDC Promotions, Mildenhall Stadium, Dover Raceway and the sport of short oval motor racing. 

An extra special message goes to all our registered drivers and their families as well as all the other drivers who have supported our meetings this year as well as each and every fan who has attended our events, whether they be regulars who come week in, week out, or those who only come once a year.

It is no secret that 2010 has been a particular stressful one behind the scenes at RDC and we would again like to thank all those who have supported us and continue to support us through this difficult period in our history. 

Again Merry Christmas to you all and your families, we hope you have a wonderful time and look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

Mildenhall Classic Car Show 2011 date (added December 23)
Following the well received maiden Mildenhall Classic Car Show in 2010 we can confirm that this event will again take place at Mildenhall Stadium in 2011 with the event scheduled to go ahead on Sunday, August 7.

As well as hoping to even more classic road going cars and their owners for the static display we are also keen to expand the on track activity with classic race cars after the three demo races from the BriSCA F2 Heritage Stockcars proved such a success in 2010.

The on track racing from the vintage stockcars proved popular with both the drivers and the classic car owners and the racing was something which set the Mildenhall show apart from any other classic car show and is an area we would love to broaden as we believe it will be of great appeal to classic car owners as well as regular race fans. 

Already we have confirmation from the BriSCA F2 Heritage Stockcars who are set to return, promising greater numbers than 2010, and there are already discussions for the F1 Heritage Stockcars to appear as well. In addition RDC are also looking to try and open the door for other classic race car formulas to appear on the afternoon and we hope to have more information on this soon.

In the meantime if you are a classic car owner then we hope you may pencil in August 7 as a date in your diary and we hope to see you next summer. 

Amendment to Mildenhall August 27 fixture (added December 23)
Following the release of the third, and hopefully final, draft of the RDC 2011 fixtures last week we have one small amendment to make to the August 27 fixture at Mildenhall Stadium.

This meeting will play host to the final non Mondeo and Cougar National Banger meeting of the season at Mildenhall but it will be run to a 2litre limit and not a 1600cc limit as previously stated.

We hope this will not have caused anyone any inconvenience.

Important message regarding RDC office this week (added December 16)
Just a short message to anyone who have been trying contact us this week at the RDC office via 01268 412299 please note the office has been largely closed in the first half of the week owing to various issues which means everyone is everywhere but the office.

Anyone needing to contact RDC urgently is asked to instead use our mobile number which is 07850 683953 or to e mail us on wastedmc@btopenworld.com

Drivers looking to book in for the December 27 meeting are reminded that everyone is welcome on the day and there is no need to book in prior to the meeting as all drivers will be welcome to compete. Anyone still unsure as to which cars can be used in the Metro, Fiesta and 1100cc Banger meeting should consult the article on this news page with relevant information which can be found by clicking here.

Also drivers seeking license forms are reminded that they will be available at each of the Mildenhall Winter meetings and drivers are welcome to bring their license renewals to these meetings, even if they are racing on the day. Given the current, and predicted, state of the postal service at present this may be recommended. 

November to Remember round up and thanks (added December 1)
All at RDC would like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who supported last weekends final meeting of the season, November to Remember, headlined by the National Banger Mildenhall Team Championship. 

It goes without saying that we were incredibly lucky that Mildenhall escaped most of the awful winter weather which was reported elsewhere in the country, including many areas near to the stadium. Despite this and blisteringly cold weather at the stadium Sunday we still saw over 130 drivers compete and entertain the fans who also braved the cold to enjoy the racing. 

A tremendous amount of thanks is deserving to all the drivers who continued to race and repair their cars during the afternoon. All of the banger heats were well subscribed and to have around a quarter of the original field take part in the DD was fantastic. Furthermore this show of dedication was also shown in the Ministox where all but the final race of the afternoon featured all of the cars on hand. 

It is also worth noting that almost 20 National Banger drivers who raced at Mildenhall had also raced at Birmingham Wheels the previous night, the majority of which being RDC registered but regardless of where they are licensed a special thanks should go to all of them for their tremendous dedication to the sport this weekend. Similar praise should also go to fans who attended Birmingham Wheels on Saturday and Mildenhall Sunday as chances are they spent the entire weekend frozen to the bone!

Similarly an equally large amount of thanks is deserving to our track team who have worked tirelessly since the ORC Championship meeting earlier this month to produce the best racing surface possible. This did receive many positive comments from drivers who were very surprised at the condition of the track, which save the light snowfall, which didn’t thaw from Friday night, was not too dissimilar to how it looks in mid season. 

However once again the afternoon had its share of problems, some of which we would like to take the time to address here. The first is once again with regard to the first race of the afternoon which suffered similar problems to that of the first race at the ORC Championship meeting a couple of weeks ago. Once again the start of the meeting was delayed by several minutes due to a number of National Banger drivers and teams not being ready for the race. Following the ORC Championship meeting we were determined to not suffer a repeat of the problem from that meeting and following that meeting made repeated reminders to the teams in group A that they were in heat one which was race one, a point which was underlined when they arrived at the track on Sunday morning. Despite this we still only saw 20 cars in the first heat, despite it starting around 10 minutes after start time. We are truly sorry to the fans who had to suffer this wait for the meeting to start and also that the smaller than intended entry resulted in the quietest race of the afternoon. However we are hopeful that by sticking to our guns and starting the race without the late comers might result in an improvement with this problem at team meetings (again it only seems to be a problem with team meetings) in the future.

On a similar note the second major problem was the lengthy delay to the afternoon following the significant damage to the Armco barrier in the fifth National Banger heat. Put bluntly this was the most damage we have ever seen to the Armco since it was built at Mildenhall with the post in question not only broken but shattered at the bottom as well as tearing a section of concrete out of the wall. It would have been impossible to have continued the meeting without repairing the damage to the best of our ability on the day and faced with the choice of either abandoning the meeting at that point or taking the time to fix it, we felt we only had the latter option although it was inevitable it would take a lengthy period of time. Again we are truly sorry for this delay but there was no way around it, unfortunately it is something which you always run the risk off in our sport but thankfully it is the first time we have faced such a delay since completing the Armco at Mildenhall. 

What was especially frustrating was that the fifth National Banger heat, race six of the programme, started within two hours of the meeting’s start time (not including the aforementioned delay to heat one). This was certainly in some way down to the decision to not have potentially such big grids as the meeting has had in the past. Following the success of the ORC Team Championship format earlier this month we elected to run this meeting on similar lines with the first five heats aiming to have 30-36 cars in them before looking for bigger grids in the final two heats. While we were no doubt lucky to have the weather we did, there was of course fears the conditions could have been much worse and knowing whatever was coming out of the sky the temperature was always going to be freezing and so we wanted a format which would hopefully produce a good standard of racing but also not result in massive clear up periods in between races. We hope that we did achieve that with the exception of the delay to repair the fence and believe that is reflected in that race six started less than two hours after start time and we will look to implement a similar format at next ear’s fixture. 

Finally we would also like to extend a thanks to the RDC team for their hard work during the day.

All Granada National Bangers 2011-V6 engines permitted (added December 1)
Following a couple of weeks consultation with several drivers, we can confirm that the second annual all Granada National Banger meeting at Midenhall Stadium on Saturday, September 10 2011 will allow V6 engines.

After the success of the maiden all Granada meeting a few months ago there were many drivers who expressed a desire to see V6 engines permitted rather than the engines limited to 2litre.

There were two main factors to be considered. 

1.With the National Banger RWD meeting (where Granadas will be allowed but restricted to 2litre) introduced to the 2011 fixtures, drivers who wish to race a 2litre powered Granada but not against V6 powered Granadas would have this meeting as an option to race at as well as the all Granada meeting.

2.And with changes to the 2011 National Banger rules allowing any 2Litre Ford engine to be used as a transplant in RWD cars next season (again remember this does not apply to the Mildenhall pre 70 meeting) it would freely allow Zetecs and more modern engines to be used. It was felt that these may prove more competitive against people using Pinto engines. 

With these points in mind we attempted to consult with as many of the drivers who supported this year’s all Granada meeting about how they felt if V6 engines were permitted this season. We managed to get an opinion from over two thirds of this year’s entry of which the majority were supportive of a switch to include V6 engines. Less than 10 wanted to see the meeting stay 2litre but some of these were quick to point out that they would still try and support the event regardless of the cc limit which is very encouraging.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those drivers for taking the time to give their input into the future of this meeting which we hope will grow into another of the must see fixtures on the RDC fixtures and also an important part of our RWD Series which we also hope to see grow in stature in the future. 

RDC at Champion of Champions (added December 1)
As expected RDC was well represented at the annual unlimited banger Champion of Champions event at Birmingham on November 27 where despite the weather conditions around the country almost all the booked in RDC drivers were on hand as expected which was great to see. 

Not quite 30 cars for the first last chance qualifier which featured 538 Jake Swan, 125 Roy Preece and 27 Terry King, the latter returning his Mk1 Granada from the Granada meeting at Mildenhall and he found the shortest straw when his night was ended by a big follow-in from 179 Shaun Rushton.

Just under 40 for heat two which featured 688 Steve Collins, 97 Dave Allen, 180 Mark Foster and 456 Nathan Roberts, the former returning his Mk1 Granada from the World Final. 97 Alge wasted no time in spinning 196 Ben Harrison’s Granada limo into the banking before a complete track blockage on turn four saw Collins splinter 777 Keith Greenwood’s Volvo hearse before he took one from 43 Nicky Bishop. The XJ powered 180 Sparky then blew up the ultra smart 300C of 110 Iain Mirza before the race was stopped and declared for the pile-up. 

Up next was the main event and with the proposed semi final dropped due to a small shortfall in numbers our semi finalists joined the seeded entries making RDC the most represented promotion on the 47 car grid. Flying the flag were 22 Dave Vincent, 53 Dave Palmer, 148 Ian Redden, 262 Jason Barnard, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 384 John Golden, 492 Dean Harper (who wielded a very smart Mk2 Granada estate), 617 Jack Overy and 807 Chris Murfin, the latter being sidelined though with engine troubles. The Incarace draw placed 148 Shorty on pole while Palmer was at the polar opposite of the grid and was quickly spun on the first bend by 455 Rick Finney allowing Shorty to take the early lead. 492 Mullet and Vincent both suffered spins as Shorty continued to lead the early laps before he span from contention, recovering in fourth by which point Overy was up to third. The recovered Shorty was then flicked out by 190 Steve Bailey in the battle for third as Overy’s challenge was ended when he was fenced by 124 Oris. 49 Rob Bevan had Palmer out, the latter rallying back to hammer 48 Mark Cassidy and subsequently T-boned by 77 Jamie Charles. This prompted Palmer to seek revenge on the Impact Squad and he thundered in 242 Quinnerz full chat on the city bend. 190 Pikey drove a blinder to successfully retain the title, Palmer taking an impressive third and 384 Goldie finished sixth. Despite being originally placed second, the still running Vincent was not named in the top 10. 

34 cars for the first Allcomers which included 97 Alge, 538 Swanny Jnr, 262 the Verger, Roberts and 552 Karl Douglas in his first race of the night. Roberts provided our highlight with a storming hit on 502 Kai May while Alge didn’t put a wheel out of place to take the win with Verger in third.

28 cars for the second Allcomers which included Vincent and Overy, the latter making up for his disappointment in the title race as he motored to the win and with no RDC interest in the DD this concluded our involvement in the evening. 

End of season stats (added December 1)
With the 2010 season at RDC now officially reaching its end we have some more incredibly stats to bring you to underline what a fantastic year it has been at RDC.

In total a massive 811 different drivers raced in National Banger meetings at RDC in 2010. Despite another year into the countrywide financial recession this was just five drivers less than 2009 so to almost match that number is a tremendous achievement.

Furthermore Mildenhall Stadium once again enjoyed more 100 plus turnouts of National Bangers than any other raceway with 11 in total. Currently, to the best of our knowledge, there have been 23 three figure entry meetings in the sport in all this year and while there could very well be at least two more before 2010 is over, for almost half of these to come from meetings at Mildenhall is an amazing feat. 

It is also worth noting that not included in the 100 car turnouts were our two unlimited meetings at Mildenhall which had an average of 93 cars each and once again the unlimited van meeting attracted the best entry for a meeting of its kind in 2010. 

Elsewhere and 2010 saw 61 different Ministox drivers race at RDC meetings (of which 43 were registered to RDC), 111 different BriSCA F2 Stockcar drivers at Mildenhall (which was up on the 93 in 2009) and 77 Saloon Stockcar drivers (again up on 2009 which saw 65) plus 48 different Reliant Robin drivers at RDC.

These are quite amazing stats and numbers and ones we are immensely proud off and once again we would like to extend the biggest message of thanks to all the drivers, their teams and families for making this happen. 

ORC Championships round up and thank you (added November 17)
In the wake of the action packed ORC Championship meeting at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend we would like to thank everyone who contributed to the afternoon and supported the meeting.

Despite truly rotten conditions across the country during the week and a far from position forecast at times for Sunday afternoon we were treated to another fine turn out in the pit area of almost 140 race cars with drivers from all points of the UK in attendance which was great to see.

And thanks to some sterling work from our track team, the raceway was in far better conditions than perhaps anyone could have hoped for. Sadly some rain very early Sunday morning and light rain shortly after start time meant that perhaps the conditions did not improve as quickly as we may have hoped but certainly the surface was far better than it was at the start of the meeting 12 months ago and this led to some fine action from all three formulas. 

However the action came at a price and unfortunately the afternoon ran somewhat longer than we would have hoped, the final race starting just prior to the five and a half hour mark. There were several reasons for the delays but we would like to take a moment to explain the reasons before the main ones and also detail our plans for improvement in the future.

The first was a delay to the first race. This simply was caused because the drivers in the 2Litre Banger team event were not ready and had to be chased up more than usual from the pits. For some reason which we are yet to truly identify we always seem to have this problem at team meetings when the first heat is race one. The simple option would be to start with another formula but this would mean less repair time for the bangers later in the programme so it is not an option we are keen to pursue. Instead we are looking to try and constantly remind the drivers and teams of the importance of a sharp start time and we hope to see an improvement of this at our next team meeting at the end of the month where again heat one is race one. This week we have announced on this site the groups and format for this meeting and already informing teams out first of the importance of being ready on time.

The second significant delay which was spread throughout the afternoon was the high number of race stoppages with 10 stoppages during the 13 race programme which may well be some kind of record for an RDC meeting. Making matters worse was that only one of these stoppages resulted in a race being declared and not restarted (and this race was inside the final lap). While the two stoppages in the 2Litre Banger DD were perhaps not the most time consuming, of the remaining seven restarts, two of them involved lining the cars back in lap sheet order and one of the complete restarts was the Saloon Stockcar ORC Championship where over 30 cars had to be re-assembled in grid order. This was particularly frustrating as the drivers had already been lined up in grid order on pit road in a bid to save time. Nonetheless driver safety always comes first and we are pleased to say that to the best of our knowledge there were no serious injuries during the day.

The third area where time was lost was due to damage suffered to the fence, in particular the pit gate which resulted in some time spent to repair the damage as best as possible on the day and then further time was lost opening and closing the gate afterwards despite the repairs which were carried out. Further repair work is planned in the immediate future but again incidents like this are hard to predict and prevent.

Despite these problems it was good to see the majority of fans stay until the final two races which arguably provided the best action of the afternoon so we trust all those on hand at the weekend enjoyed their day. Congratulations to Team Green, Shane Brown and Triston Claydon on winning their respective ORC Championships with all three events proving extremely competitive. 

On a personal note we would also like to express a big thanks to the RDC team who represented us tremendously well in the banger team event. This years team was largely comprised of the rising stars and hardest working drivers of the 2010 season rather than the biggest names and they performed superbly, not only qualifying for the final but narrowly missing a podium finish. They were a credit to both themselves and RDC and we are very thankful and proud of them. 

RDC at Arlington Gala Night and Firecracker (added November 10)
As expected the first weekend in November was a busy one for many RDC Banger drivers starting at Arlington on November 5 for the annual unlimited banger Gala Night where there were 11 RDC drivers among the near 70 strong field of cars. 

Heat one boasted 133 Karl Day (XJ), 33! Simon Reed (A135 Princess hearse) and 492 Dean Harper (300C estate) with 33! The Legend treating the spun 728 Matthew Parker to a head-on before 133 Karly ran in continental 178 Tipsy, the Legend’s hearse then taking a packed from 711 Alex Elliott on the back straight, Karly delivering our final action with a hit over the rear wheel of 379 Ade Clifton.

A larger RDC presence in heat two with 917 John Millen (XJ), 741 Charlie Daniels (Volvo 240), 726 Kalin Dawe (Volvo 740 estate), 121 Steve Williams (used 300C), 267 James Steel (Oldsmobile Cutlass), 422 Lee (Jaguar XJ-S) and 623 Ricky Hutton (Oldsmobile Cutlass) and 502 Kayligh Dighton (used Mk3 Granada limo). This began with 726 Chimp burying 236 Clyde Williams before 13 Peewee used his Caprice limo to stuff 785 James Taylor’s Plymouth Gran Fury into Steel, 623 Tricky then getting fired into 13 Peewee by 182 Mike Maggs. 61 then fenced 741 German Jnr as the luckless Tricky was hammered by 321 Brett Fry. A turn four wrecking train saw Steel nail 221 Justin Riley before he was leathered by 785 Jambo. Millen meanwhile fired 583 Dan Weeks’ AMC Ambassador into the infield tyres to conclude our involvement this time.

The Legend was under attack from 44 Jamis Ddin early in heat three before 492 Mullet treated 839 Mark Latter to a T-bone. The Chimp later on came under attack from 379 the Worm before Mullet landed a solid hit on 241 Liam Cracknell and 121 Pirate blasted Jambo with a T-bone only to be hammered in turn by 221 Motormouth. The Chimp then powered into Cracknell before Mullet ended the RDC action by stuffing the Worm.

Karly was the first RDC driver to show in the Final with a T-bone on the Granada hearse of 504 Rob Woolgar before he ended the evening trading several hits with 294 Lee Hughes. 

A similar number of RDC drivers competed at the 19th annual unlimited banger Firecracker at Arena on November 7 including the Legend and Steel on their second meetings of the weekend, the former deserving serious praise as he piloted his second fresh A135 hearse of the weekend. 

No RDC drivers for heat one so straight to heat two which featured 205 Kieran Briddock (Volvo 740 estate), 402 Albie Jenner (XJ), 39 Steve Moore (DS420 hearse), Steele (Volvo 240), 641 Rick Williams (XJ) and 710 Sam Topley (Volvo 240 estate). A home straight blockage saw 39 Peanut squeeze 700 Phil Lee into the wreckage while Williams blasted 250 Terry Ratcliffe. Peanut then blasted 466 Cor Kuys in the middle of the aforementioned blockage which ultimately led to the race being declared early with Peanut named the winner.

Onto the final heat which featured 54 Martin Lawton (XJ40), 53 Dave Palmer (Volvo 240 estate), 239 Andy Swift (XJ40), 508 Harry Bradbury (XJ40), the Legend and 367 Tom Keep (Volvo 740 estate). The Legend stuffed the Granada limo of 131 Paul Isles up the kerbing before he nailed the AMC Rebels estate of 611 Joe Geeves and Keep turned round to run in 610 George Geeves on opposite , the former then hammered by 74 Wesley van Humbeeck.

54 Splat was the first of our contingent to show in the consolation when he fenced 393 Dan Chiddle before he jacked the P4 Rover of 44 Rcihard Steeghs nicely, the latter then hitting 402 Albert on the nose as the Legend blasted Chiddle only to take a fine hit from 356 Luke Radley. Splat finished third, Palmer fourth and Williams fifth to advance to the final. 

The final began with Peanut turfing Humbeeck and 22 Paul Dobson into the sleepers before Swifty destroyed the former with a rated hit only to take an equally fierce hit in turn from 78 Lee Macey. 205 Koonta buried himself in the back of 281 Lewis Parry’s rated Pullman limo before Williams was attacked by 331 Jason Jackson, the former blotting his copybook with an attempted revenge attack which was delivered inside out. He rejoined to finish second come flag fall. 

Allcomers and DD to end with Steel leading until he buried himself in 728 Jamie Ddin and was nailed by 247 Chris Trickett but still he did enough to win the race on laps completed while Williams landed hits on 527 Dan Gardiner, 73 the bandit and Trickett to be named best wrecker. 

Halloween Havoc round up and thank you (added November 4)
All at RDC would like to extend everyone who helped make the annual Halloween Havoc event at Mildenhall last weekend such a tremendous success.

There was not only a great turnout of drivers in all three formulas but also one of the biggest crowds of the season who helped generate a tremendous atmosphere inside the stadium, something which many of the drivers have commented on. 

We are also pleased to report that aside from a hand injury suffered by 525 Wes Starmer (which he hopes will not keep him out of action for very long) we don’t believe any drivers suffered any serious injuries despite their being numerous stoppages during the evening. 

These stoppages, combined with a few other minor delays during the evening meant that the caravan race finished just before the 11pm curfew but we were delighted to see so many of the bumper crowd stay until the end and we hope you enjoyed the final race of the night. On this subject we would again like to say sorry for the short delay prior to the caravan race which was caused by technical problems with our teleporter which left it immobile on the raceway for a few minutes. 

Congratulations are in order to 88 Ash Burton for his first big win at RDC, lifting the National Banger Allstar Dash for Cash and 315 Triston Clayden who triumphed in the Ministox RDC Drivers Championship plus 66 Steve Willis who snatched the Reliant Robin RDC Drivers Championship as well as securing the Mildenhall track championship. 

Furthermore we also want to highlight the strength of support shown by the National Banger drivers at this event. After the last three meetings at RDC had seen improved car turnouts compared to the corresponding meetings in 2009, this did see a slight drop in drivers and cars of less than 10 in both cases. However considering last year’s fixture only clashed with a 2litre domestic fixture at Birmingham but this year’s meeting clashed with the annual Halloween Carnival Night at King’s Lynn (which attracted over 60 1500cc bangers) and the 2Litre Banger Brandon Bowl at Coventry, this turnout was a fine achievement so thanks again to all the drivers for their continued support. 

RDC on tour at Spedeworth World Final (added October 27)
As expected there was a very strong RDC presence for the 2010 Unlimited Banger Spedeworth World Final at Ipswich on October 23 and despite a few RDC drivers being among the no shows (715 Mick Prince breaking down en route to the track) there were still more RDC drivers in attendance than any other visiting promotion which was most impressive. 

Equally impressive was that just two of the 30 RDC drivers on hand were in used cars and that over 20 of those in fresh cars had excelled with fully signwritten motors for the big night. Further problems however saw 97 Dave Allen suffer a blown head gasket and never leave the pits while 278 Tom Hills suffered mechanical gremlins on track and never turned a wheel.

Following a shower the opening heat featured 538 Jake Swan, 862 Liam Reach, 381 Craig Upson, 68(8) Steve Collins, 36(2) Liam Friel, 520 Derek Caton and 395 Steve Hale. 538 Swanny Jnr piloted an ultra smart Omega estate and Collins a very pretty Mk1 Granada while 862 Reachy, 36 Tilly and Hale all made an effort in the paint department, the latter’s in particular a stunner. The race started badly for Tilly who was caught in a home straight melee and nailed by 197 Jay Firth who was blasted in turn by Collins, Tilly then taking a roof bending and night ending shot from the Granada limo of 311 Danny Allen before 837 Martin Wesby ran head-on into the stricken RDC young gun. Hale meanwhile just missed out in the main event with a fine second while Reachy fared well with a 10th. 

Onto heat two which featured 148 Ian Redden, 853 Jason Barnard, 86 Alec Savage, 709 Ben Hayward, 400 Kevin Shinn, 879 Reg Reed and 100 Callum White. The latter piloted a Volvo 240 estate and 853 the Verger returned his Mk1 Granada from the all Granada meeting and again there was some paint to be found from the Aftermath pairing and 879 Wrecked Reg while 709 Minge used his well smart effort which sadly let him down the previous year and Savage turned out a stunning looking Mk5 Granada. Reg spotted 11 Darren Race’s stricken DS420 hearse and landed a big hit before repeating the move a lap later before the Predator bailed out. His vacated Granada was unwittingly then blasted by 333 Ben Wyatt which triggered the much talked about wrecking train as elsewhere 400 Shinny nailed the Volvo of 91 Lee Herbert. 148 Shorty and Savage registered top 10 finishes this time in ninth and tenth. 

The final heat featured 587 Alex Humphrey, 22(2) Dave Vincent, 61 Karl Totham, 17 Kyle Overy, 928 Emmerson Prime, 782 Glen Boyce, 384 John Golden, 456 Nathan Roberts and 278 Sex Pest. 782 Gladis was at the wheel of an XJ while Vincent, 61 Flash, 17 the Little Chief, 928 Tyrone, 384 Goldie and 278 Sex Pest all had smart motors. Gladis was the first to show with a hit over the rear wheel of 01 Kyle Shires before Roberts hammered 589 Simon Smith and then treated the lurking Gladiator to a big head-on the next time round. Vincent meanwhile didn’t put a wheel wrong to lad from flag to flag and secure a place at the back of the grid. Flash meanwhile took sixth and the Little Chief seventh. 

Onto the main event with 382 Jack Foster Jnr getting the best draw of the RDC contingent pulling 12th. Team mate 617 Jack Overy was on grid 24, 682 Paul Sparrow on 43 and 53 Dave Palmer on 45. All four made the effort with the paint for the big night as did Skegness representative 807 Chris Murfin was started 52nd on the grid in his smart XJ. 382 Chubby made a fine start and was quickly up to sixth as 158 Shane Davies nailed Team Black rival 807 Smurf, the latter getting hit in the door by the leading 82 Paul Tomkins which brought the reds out for Smurf which was a bad break for Chubby who had climbed to third. A complete restart was ordered which featured all RDC drivers save Smurf although Chubby was unable to repeat his earlier start. This time it was Overy making the best progress working his way to eighth before the race settled down as Palmer, Sparrow and Vincent all crashed out in the mayhem on the scoreboard bend. Overy also got delayed by the chaos which allowed 204 Charlie King to strike and end his race and the RDC involvement in the event leaving 27 Dale Hughes to race to his second World Final win in three years. 

Nearly 60 cars for the first Allcomers which included Shorty, 587 Humps, 520 the Undertaker, the Verger, Savage, Swanny Jnr, Tyrone, Shinny, 381 Shrug, 100 Captain Cock and Goldie. Cock fell victim to a first bend pile-up before 562 Terry Scruton lunged at Savage and sent him crashing into 51 Simon Heilds. Shrug copped a head-on from 797 Jay Clarke as the luckless Cock was buried by 282 Lee Treasurer and Scruton nearly rolled himself when he attacked the Undertaker. Shorty meanwhile fenced 134 Scott Hanby en route to an excellent second place finish.

Just over 50 cars for the second Allcomers which boasted Overy, Collins, Savage, Humps and Gladis among the starters. Humps managed a spectacular full roll on the turnstile bend while Overy worked from the back of the grid and fired 549 Phil Smith wide on the final bend for a fine win. 

13 for the demo including both Aftermath pilots and the Verger, Captain Cock being buried by 423 Danny Oliver at the start although this was avenged by a big hit from Shinny who was trashed in turn by 60 Kyle Stevenson. Davies then attacked the recovered Cock who duly homed in for a big hit on Phil Smith as the Verger was destroyed by a rated hit from Craig Oliver. Cock eventually broke free of the wreckage and delivered a stonking head-on to Davies finishing them both for a dead heat to secure RDC’s third win of the night.

RDC Thunderstruck round up and thank you (added October 20)
All at RDC would like to extend a massive thanks to everyone who helped make last weekend’s Thunderstruck event at Mildenhall Stadium such a great success. 

It is certainly not an understatement to say we were not only delighted but very surprised by the entry of National Bangers which not only broke the three figure entry but was a large increase in the turnout 12 months ago. This is even more impressive considering the Spedeworth World Final (which features more RDC drivers than ever before) and that once again the championship double header received almost zero pre meeting coverage outside of the RDC website. 

We were also blessed with a tremendous turnout of Saloon Stockcars for their last Saturday night fixture of the year and once again they provided fans with some blistering action, the first and second heats certainly being among the best races we have seen from the formula this season. 

Congratulations to 131 Timmy Barnes and 303 Wayne Linsdale for overcoming the difficult conditions to win the White and Yellow Grade Series Finals in the Saloon Stockcars and National Bangers. For the latter it was a fitting reward for a tremendous season and 382 Jack Foster Jnr continued his rise in the sport with a competitive win in the National Banger Accumulator Championship after a tremendous scrap with 682 Paul Sparrow. Also well done to fellow teenage star 389 Ryan Santry on lifting the Wayne Osler Memorial trophy in the Saloon Stockcars. 

As is tradition for the Thunderstruck meeting, a shed load of silverware was shelled out with no less than 139 trophies presented on the evening. These were
99 x qualifiers trophies between the three title races
12 x trophies to top four in each championship race
9 x trophies to top three in Saloon Stockcar Wayne Osler Memorial races
8 x additional race winner trophies
11 x National Banger smart car awards

19th Mildenhall Winter Series Dates and Details (added October 13)
While we are sorry it has taken a lot longer than usual to confirm this than normal we are pleased this week to confirm the majority of details with regard the 19th annual Mildenhall Winter Series which will take place between December 27 and January 23. 

Firstly here are the confirmed dates and confirmed formulas which will be running.
Round One: Monday December 27 1.30pm Metro and Fiesta Bangers and Saloon Stockcars
Round Two: Sunday January 9 1.30pm 1800cc (no Mondeo/Cougar) Bangers and Ministox
Round Three: Sunday January 23 1.30pm National Bangers Winter Series Finale and support TBC

As you can see we have already confirmed the dates and the formats for the National Bangers at all three meetings but we have yet to finalise all the details of the support formulas for the meetings. However we can confirm the December 27 fixture will only feature Metro and Fiesta Bangers and Saloon Stockcars and we can also confirm that one of the January dates will feature the return of the Dover Raceway based Bangerstox formula.

This first ever winter date for the Bangerstox at Mildenhall is being offered to drivers as a reward for the superb show of support the formula gave both to the June weekend event at Mildenhall and the continued support for the meetings at Dover following that event in 2010.

We hope to have confirmation as too when the Bangerstox will be racing in next weeks news update and any more news on the non-Banger formulas at the January meetings. 

Furthermore we can also add some more information to the National Banger Winter Series with special mention to the opening round for Metro and Fiesta Bangers which, like last year’s event, will be open to a few more types of cars other than Metros and Fiestas.

The same list of cars from last years meeting may be used with no restriction on engine cc as long as the cars are all using standard engines to that car. The cars allowed are
Any Metro or Fiesta
Ford KA
Fiat Uno/Panda
Kia Pride/Mazda 121
Daihatsu Charade
Mini/Riley Elf/Wolseley Hornet

Once again we will give special consideration to unusual cars which may be suitable for this meeting. Last year we saw a Fiat 126 and 127, Reno 5 and Austin 1300 in action. We also gave permission for a Datsun 100A to be raced and all of these cars would be ok again. If a driver does have a unique request then please contact the office or e mail us for an answer.

In addition there are two changes to last years format which are as follows
The first is that ANY car 1100cc or less can be used in addition to what is listed above. This includes the Nissan Micra. If you have a car which is over 1100cc but doesn’t appear on the list, then please do not bring it or ask in advance as the answer will be to bring it to the first 1400cc meeting of the season.

Secondly the new ORC rules for 2011 allows fuel injection engines to be used and we will be allowing this rule a few days early as we believe it may be to the benefit of this meeting. We hope to bring you the confirmed ruling on petrol tanks and pumps for fuel injection engines in our next news update but in the meantime drivers are invited to contact the office or speak to our scrutineers about what is needed to use these cars. 

The formats for the second and third rounds of the series we believe our pretty self explanatory and we hope will encourage drivers to use ‘leftovers from the previous round at the next meeting as well as taking into consideration other major fixtures around the country.

Again we are sorry that it has taken us so long to bring you these confirmed dates and we want to assure everyone that our 2010 fixtures are very well developed and all being well we will announce them here in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime we would like to thank everyone for their patience. 

RDC at 2Litre Banger BBA World Final (added October 13)
Although we don’t have a full report we can bring you brief details on how the RDC National Banger contingent fared at Hednesford on Sunday, October 10 in the 2Litre Banger BBA World Final. 

Following no luck for the RDC drivers in the first last chance race, we more than bounced back in heat two with 180 Mark Foster leading home 525 Wes Starmer and 456 Nathan Roberts for an RDC 1-2-3 and they joined 188 John Reeves, 382 Jack Foster Jnr (who had finished third in the unlimited banger King of the Fens the previous night at King’s Lynn) and 617 Jack Overy in the main event. However it was only 382 Chubby who had any success with a 10th place finish and he followed that up with victory in the Allcomers race before team mate Overy finished second in the DD.

Well done to Incarace young gun 290 Ryan Davies who won the main event ahead of defending champion 190 Steve Bailey and 27 Dale Hughes who all qualify for the 2011 Supreme Championship at Mildenhall next March as a result. Watch out for a provisional list of Supreme Championship finalists very soon as this will be confirmed shortly after the Spedeworth World Final next weekend. 

Mildenhall October 2-a thank you (added October 8)
Following the extremely wet Mildenhall meeting last weekend we would like to thank all the drivers and their teams and the RDC team for their sterling efforts in the second half of the meeting.

Given the good fortune we have had at recent Mildenhall meetings with regard the weather it was perhaps inevitable that some wet weather was due but even so the conditions on Saturday were still better than what were forecast as rain was expected much earlier than it eventually arrived. 

And even when the weather clouds did open the drivers continued to entertain and serve up some most decent racing with a very lively 2Litre Banger consolation and DD and a thrilling conclusion to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar track championship.

BriSCA F2 Stockcar end of Mildenhall season thank you (added October 8)
With the 2010 BriSCA F2 Stockcar season at Mildenhall reaching its conclusion we would like to extend a massive message of thanks to all the drivers and their teams for providing such a tremendous season of action at the stadium. 

The support shown to the Mildenhall meetings by the drivers has been second to none and the standard of racing has been nothing short of exceptional and we truly believe it has ranked among the best open wheeled stockcar action you will find in the sport.

No less than 110 different drivers raced at the eight Mildenhall meetings in 2010 and we would like to congratulate the 10 drivers who raced at every meeting this season. These were 260 Anthony Winters, 366 Mick Kemp, 495 John and 498 Derek Cayzer, 606 Andy Palmer, 607 Paul Barrett, 662 Steve Wycherly, 702 Allen Cooper, 744 Tom Smart and 871 Mark Simpson. A special mention is perhaps deserving of Barrett who raced at every meeting but failed to score a single point but remained ever dedicated to the cause. 

Another impressive fact was that the eight Grand Final were all won by different drivers, a rarity in the sport and further proof of how competitive the racing was at Mildenhall in 2010. 

Finally we would like to congratulate 495 John Cayzer on winning an action packed and dramatic White and Yellow Grade Series Final on Saturday and 606 Andy Palmer for successfully defending his track championship after a thrilling battle with 702 Allen Cooper which, just like the battle between 38 Dave Polley and 599 Jon Lawrence in 2008, went right to the final lap of the final race of the season. 

Nothin’ Else Matters round up and thank you (added September 29)
Following a rather soggy end to the 2010 season at Dover Raceway we would like to extend a massive message of thanks to all those who braved the dreadful weather conditions for the Masters Championship meeting on Sunday afternoon. 

Despite far from promising forecasts we were blessed with another packed pit area which boasted our second biggest National Banger entry of the season and also very pleasingly saw all but two of the seeded entries for the Bangerstox and Super Rod Masters Championship.

Sadly of course the wet weather arrived shortly after the first race and remained for the remainder of the afternoon and at times was among the worst weather we have ever experienced at the track. Despite this the drivers continued to battle and do their best to entertain. Certainly those who competed in the last race of the afternoon for their formula deserve extra praise for braving the completely flooded bottom bend and it was nice to report that the majority of fans on hand remained to watch their efforts, admittedly from the safety of their cars!

While the weather was a disappointment there is no denying it was still a strong end to what has been an excellent season at the track with three very competitive Masters Championships, two of the three points championships going right to the wire, possibly the biggest crash we have ever seen in the National Bangers at the track and even a cracking DD to end the season on a highnote. 

As well as the thanking the drivers for their efforts we also want to extend our thanks to our marshals and staff who worked outside in the rain and did a fantastic job of getting through the races as quickly as possible. 

Finally we want to congratulate all of our big winners from the afternoon. Well done to 492 Dean Harper on winning the National Banger Masters Championship after a superb drive which was worthy of someone with far greater experience than Dean as he adds his name to his fathers on the historic trophy. Also congratulations to 53 Dave Palmer whose third in the Masters along with winning the Trophy Winners Dash means he successfully retains his Dover track championship by the narrowest of margins. These two, alongside Masters Championship runner up 682 Paul Sparrow have secured a place in the 2011 Supreme Championship at Mildenhall in what is already shaping up to be a star studded affair.

Bad luck to 188 John Reeves whose luckless day means he lost the Dover points at the final knockings but he went out on a high with a fantastic DD win and entertainer award double to ensure he won the Dover DD Championship in grand style. 

In the Bangerstox the day belonged to Suffolk Champion 64 Aaron Harris who confirmed himself as 2010 points champion in the best of styles by winning both the Masters Championship and then sealing the deal by winning the final Bangerstox race of the season. 

In the Super Rods 121 Nigel Goodwin successful defended the Masters Championship and 88 Jason Anderson did enough to hang onto the silver roof for another season. However the efforts of those in the rain was rewarded, a pair of Allcomer wins meaning 21 Kevin Hickey finished second in the points, just a short distance behind Anderson while finishing the second Allcomers resulted in 41 Pete Emson snatching third in the points. 

Dover Raceway end of season stats and thanks (added September 29)
With the 2010 season at Dover now done and dusted we can bring you some stats from the year which goes to underline what a tremendous season it has been at the raceway. 

Over the eight meetings held at Dover in 2010 there was an average car count in the pits of 98 cars. If you only included the six ‘open meetings’ (not August 8 and September 26 where Bangerstox and Super Rod numbers were limited) then the average car count was 101. Of the eight meetings held at the raceway, three meetings boasted 100 or more cars in the pits, the best being May 31 with 112 which is particularly impressive as this was one of the seasons three formula meetings. Of the remaining five meetings there were entries of 97 (August 30), 96 (May 3) and 90 (July 11). The only meetings to not field 90 or more cars in the pits were the aforementioned limited entry meetings on August 8 and September 26 which still raised an impressive 88 and 87 respectively.

Moving onto formulas now and the average banger turnout for the eight meetings (including the Rookie Banger Crazy Day on May 31) was 42, the highest being the Kent team meeting with 62 and the lowest being the big vans which raised a record breaking 26 strong entry. This wasn’t the only record of the season in the bangers with the entry for the unlimited Kent championship being a best ever of 31. Even more impressive is that between the seven National Banger fixtures (not including the Rookie Banger date), a whopping 129 different drivers raced at the venue which incredibly was up slightly on last year, even though 2009 featured 11 National Banger dates. 

In the Bangerstox the average car count across the eight Dover meetings was 38 and for the six open meetings it was a very impressive 44 cars. The best turnout of the season was 50 on May 3 and the lowest of the six open meetings was 41 on July 11. No less than 63 drivers raced in the formula in 2010 which was only 14 less than last season and given the reduction in fixtures this year that is no bad thing.

In the Super Rods, car turnouts ranged between 12 and seven and the average entry was 10 while 16 different drivers raced in 2010. Furthermore 14 different drivers raced in both the Ministox and Reliant Robins at Dover in 2010 meaning that in total 236 different drivers raced at the track in 2010. Like last year this number does not include those who only raced at the Rookie Banger meeting in May so the actual figure is likely to exceed 250. Again despite the Dover fixtures being cut from 14 to eight this season, this number was very close to last season where 272 different drivers raced at the track. 

Moving on to individuals and many believed the reduction in dates would see greater commitment to all the meetings at Dover this season and this has very much been the case. In the National Bangers, nine drivers raced at all seven fixtures in 2010. These were 20 Andy Burbridge, 24 Stu Buddle, 53 Dave Palmer, 101 Ian Norris, 113 Steve Sedwick, 188 John Reeves, 346 Scott and 349 Lee Saunders and 492 Dean Harper. A special mention is deserving of Buddle who went the whole season without managing to score a single point. 

In the Bangerstox there are many deserving of extra praise. 3 George Forbes, 9 Chris Young, 15 Jay Powell, 29 Craig Groombridge, 32 Gary Austin, 40 Joe Taylor, 52 Richard Randall, 63 Shane Bullen, 58 Owen Childs, 64 Aaron Harris, 65 Chris Bull and 69 Andy Bucket raced at every Dover meeting. Even more impressive is that all of the above save Young and Groombridge also attended the weekend event at Mildenhall in June. On top of that we should also highlight 13 Tracey Gilbert, 16 Jade Stokes, 27 Michael Godfrey, 54 Martin Skiggs and 59 Nathan Port who raced at every Dover meeting except the invitational only August 8 meeting where they were not offered a booking because of their points championship standing. Furthermore all of the second group of drivers also raced at the Mildenhall weekend as well except Skiggs who also deserved a mention for going the entire season without scoring a point but continuing to give it his best each and every time. 

Finally in the Super Rods, full marks to 21 Kevin Hickey, 28 Andrew Donavan, 41 Pete Emson, 77 Mark Shngleton and 88 Jason Anderson who not only raced at all eight Dover meetings but also raced at the Mildenhall weekend event.

Thanks to all those drivers who supported the raceway in 2010 and we hope to see you all again on Easter Monday, April 25 for the 2011 season opener and watch out for the remaining Dover fixtures on the website very soon. 

Latest Thunderstruck news (added September 29)
The big meetings continue to come as we move into the final weeks of the season at RDC and Mildenhall Stadium and the next major date is RDC’s Thunderstruck meeting on October 16 featuring the annual championship double header for National Bangers.

Earlier this week we added a detailed section to the site with all the information about this meeting, which is also a big night for Saloon Stockcar racing, and to coincide with this weeks news update we have the latest news on the meeting with the latest confirmations for the National Banger White and Yellow Grade Series Final and Accumulator Championship. 

Rather pleasingly we already have just over 30 drivers confirmed for the White and Yellow Grade Series Final and the Accumulator Championship. Drivers who have not qualified for either event are reminded this meeting is open to all drivers although there is no last chance qualifying for either race but there will be at least three Allcomer races following the two title events on a night which will feature at least five National Banger races. 

Furthermore this week we also bring a detailed driver by driver preview for the Saloon Stockcar White and Yellow Grade Series Final which will be the first of their five races on a busy night for the formula which also features the Wayne Osler Memorial and Dash for Cash Series Jackpot Final.

RDC success at Hednesford pre 68 meeting (added September 29)
While we are presently without a detailed report we do have some information to share about the success some of the RDC drivers enjoyed at Hednesford Hills Raceway on Sunday, September 26 where RDC was well represented, especially by the WI Engineering contingent who were out in force once again. 

RDC’s 73 Tony Sims enjoyed a win in the opening heat in the 1725cc class before 262 Jason Barnard continued his excellent season by winning the 1725cc championship race followed home by RDC’s 917 John Millen and WI team mate 118 Pete Wake. 384 John Golden meanwhile followed up a decent finish in the championship by winning the meeting final. We aim to have a more detailed report about the RDC drivers on track antics in the future.

Appeal for help regarding RDC’s legal case at Mildenhall Stadium (added September 22)
The on-going legal case which threatens the future of Mildenhall Stadium is no secret in the sport since RDC went public with the problems in the summer but this week we are making another appeal for help in our fight to protect the venue.

As part of our research we urgently need to locate race programmes for stockcar and banger meetings held at the stadium prior to RDC’s maiden meeting there on January 1 1993.

We have a complete library of race programmes for every event we have ever staged at the track but we need to source some programmes from events in the 1980s under previous promotions as part of our campaign.

If anyone can assist us we would be very grateful to hear from you, either by e mailing wastedmc@btopenworld.com or phoning 01268 412299.

No Hype Needed and Runnin’ Wild round up and thank you (added September 22)
We would like take the opportunity in this week’s news update by extending a massive show of thanks to all the drivers and fans as well as the RDC team for making the last two weekends such huge successes at Mildenhall Stadium.

The eagerly anticipated Saloon Stockcar World Final proved a monumental success and then just seven days later the National Banger Old Skool team championship more than delivered the goods despite receiving precious little fanfare in the build up to the meeting outside of the website. 

What was especially pleasing to report was that on both occasions we have roughly the expected entry of cars and we were delighted that both major events were so fabulously supported by the fans. To have two such great turnouts on the terracing for meetings just seven days apart, especially when the month was packed full of major meetings all around the country was quite simply outstanding and we are very thankful to everyone for their support and we hope your support was rewarded with one or two great nights of racing. 

As always there are a few things we would like to address. The first is from the Saloon Stockcar World Final where we would like to say sorry for getting the split in the qualifying heats for the Dash for Cash Super Final a little wide of the mark with fields of 25 and 14 for the heats. In hindsight it was perhaps foolish to expect 50 of the 57 drivers to continue in the meeting after the brutality of the last chance race and the World Final. However we were hopeful that we would have had more than 40 drivers compete, especially given the amount of prize money which was up for grabs but it is a lesson learnt and we are again sorry for the mistake and hope it didn’t ruin anyone’s enjoyment.

On a similar note we would like to praise the tremendous work by some of the National Banger drivers in the all Granada meeting. Of the 63 drivers in action, no less than 46 raced on more than one occasion which, especially given the destruction in the last chance qualifier, was a fine figure. Of these 46 drivers, 17 of them raced three times on the night and a special congratulations to the five drivers who raced in four of the five races. These all deserve a mention and were 169 James Rushton, 247 Lee Clarke, 200 Wayne Holton, 349 Lee Saunders and 382 Jack Foster Jnr. Given that there wasn’t the greatest amount of repair time between races later in the night their hard work was especially impressive and we would also like to thank the National Banger drivers whose immense pit work meant we had decent fields throughout the night without having delays between races. 

Moving onto last weekends Old Skool team championship and firstly a massive message of thanks to all of the 12 teams who put such a tremendous show of action for the fans. Each of the head to head heats delivering some fine action plus one of the best finals we’ve ever seen and one of the biggest crashes ever seen at RDC meant it was a memorable meeting and one of the best this season at RDC. It was also regarded by many as one of the best Old Skool team meetings to date which was most welcome and reassuring that the changes made last season were the right ones after last year’s event failed to live up to the standards of previous seasons. 

However the event did feature, for the first time in a few seasons, some degree of controversy which came in the final head to head heat between Team Green and the Motley Krew. An incident on the safety area between 170 Darren Teal and 617 Jack Overy which led to the pair being disqualified. However the latter continued in the event and was instrumental in the leading 320 Paul Seymour being stopped. The meeting stewards immediately excluded Overy from the remainder of the meeting but felt that was punishment enough for Team Green as a whole, especially given that Seymour was stopped with a few laps to go and the outcome was far from clear cut. However following listening to a well presented case from the Motley Krew it was also agreed that they were worthy of a place in the final and in a unique decision it was agreed that both teams would compete in the final. 

We would also like to clarify that the Motley Krew were not added to the final instead of the consolation winners and that the consolation ceased to carry a place in the final for the winner’s team when the event was modified in 2009. For the historians the format of which the meeting is based never carried a final place in the consolation and it was never intended to be the case in the Old Skool but at the maiden even at Mildenhall two teams failed to show on the day and so the relevant changes were made. The tweaks made for the 2009 event were done so to bring the event closer to its original format while maintaining a potential 48 car field, albeit with six teams rather than eight as in previous years. 

While it is wrong on a night such as last Saturday to single out any drivers and teams we would especially like to praise the efforts of 538 Jake Swan and the Midnight Runners. Starting with teenage hot shot 538 Swanny Jnr who drove the race of his life and like a driver beyond his years to win the thrilling final for Team 22 in a performance he should be very proud off to underline himself as not only one of RDC’s best newcomers in 2010 but also one the best in the sport as a whole. 

Meanwhile the efforts of the Midnight Runners should not go without a mention. Faced with the unfavourable situation of two cars suffering mechanical failures just prior to their head to head heat the remaining six drivers not only put up a brave and determined performance against the full strength Damage Inc but did so without any protest or complaint about the issues they had. To bounce back from that and return several cars for the consolation and an incredible seven of their eight cars for the DD was an outstanding performance and one which again sets the team apart from much of their competition. 

Finally we would like to say sorry for the mix up which concerned many of the Reliant Robin drivers who believed the British Championship was set to be their final race of the night rather than their first. The confusion has been explained to all the drivers who have asked and we are especially grateful for their understanding in what was a simple mistake which unfortunately had a negative impact on the feature race of the evening for the Reliants. 

RDC on tour at PRI World Final (added September 22)
Looking back to last weekend and there was a massive RDC entry at the PRI World Final at Arena Essex, many of which having competed the previous night at Mildenhall. 

34 cars for heat one including the smartly presented 105 Billy Standing and 400 Kevin Shinn, the latter joined by Aftermath team mate 603 John Cooper. The Cream Team’s 552 Karl Douglas were also well turned out and the grid also boasted Team Black duo 384 John Golden and 688 Steve Collins plus 54 Martin Lawton. The race began with Cooper giving 174 Dave Osbourn an assist in thundering in 662 Jamie Harding on the QE2 bend before 384 Goldie ended 49 Billy King’s day with a destructive T-bone. 54 Splat was stuffed by 60 Kyle Stevenson as 400 Shinny was fenced hard with a drivers side attack from 451 Willy Blackwell. 552 Blacknuts met 513 Sean Harvey in a stiff head-on which allowed 10 Paul Whiteman to wreck the former. Splat went the distance in eighth.

309 Paul Brown, 100 Callum White, lone Predator 404 Luke Brinton, 604 Ross Cooper, 259 Dan Poole, 415 Scott Cornish, 50 Reece Laybourn and 362 Liam Friel were out for heat two, 100 Captain Cock and Cornish wielding smart motors. Cooper gave 414 Lee Busby an assist in fencing Laybourn early on before Captain Cock leathered the Bluebird estate of 114 Tony Broughton. 01 Kyle Shires then ran the luckless Laybourn head-on into the spun 6 Lee West. 264 Mark Welland meanwhile nailed the lurking 362 Tilly head-on before 404 Spook dished out a wicked hit to Busby. Cornish now turned round and stopped 204 Charlie King with two hits on consecutive laps before he blasted 264 Welland which prompted the latter to turn round and destroy his attacker with several hits. 171 James Simpson then blasted Spook as 572 Paul Scully buried Laybourn, the latter battling on to take fifth. 

Gladiator brothers 363 Sam and 367 Tom Keep were joined by Cream Team rival 553 Daniel Douglas, 86 Alec Savage, 320 Paul Seymour, 585 Kevin Giles, 180 Mark Foster, 160 Perry Willings and 188 John Reeves in the final heat, Douglas, 320 Smiler and 180 Sparky in smart motors. The latter was buried early on by 27 Terry Reynolds but he bounced back to follow-in 249 Jim Harding full chat on the pit bend which left the latter shaken and brought the reds out. The race resumed with Tom Keep burying 2 Luke Dawson which also claimed brother Sam before 193 Chris North nailed Douglas, the latter then coming inside out at Sparky but missing and getting T-boned instead by Sam Keep. This brought the reds out for the latter with Savage leading the restart from 188 Victor but the latter expired in the closing stages while 781 Shaun O’Donnell buried 585 Big Ears into Sam Keep’s car. Savage meanwhile raced to the final space in the World Final with 160 Pez in fourth. 

Onto the main event with Savage joining RDC’s seeded entries 53 Dave Palmer, 382 Jack Foster Jnr, 617 Jack Overy and 682 Paul Sparrow, 382 Chubby turning out a superbly presented car for the occasion. He drew grid position five, team mate Overy pulled 38, Palmer 28 and Sparrow grid position 26. It was a disastrous start for Sparrow who was sent crashing into the back straight sleepers at the very start to end his race while Chubby raced from row three into the early lead. A few laps later and 527 Dan Gardiner lunged at the Team Black young relegated him to second behind team mate 998 Wayne Cotterill Jnr. Palmer dumped 589 Simon Smith into the sleepers as Chubby slipped to eighth while Overy was making rapid progress and soon into the top 10. Just after half way Chubby got trapped in a QE2 bend blockage which allowed Condom rival 158 Shane Davies to assault him as Overy climbed to fifth. Savage ran into the lurking 474 Matty Threlkeld and was duly hit by front runner 294 Lee Hughes who hit the front shortly after. Overy meanwhile moved up to fourth and dodged an attack off the shale by 173 Steve Reynolds to finish in fourth which then became third when team mate 998 Cotty Jnr was disqualified for hitting 173 Hot Socks on the shale on the run down lap. Savage registered an excellent eighth from the back. 

Sparky dished out a big shot to Shinny in the consolation with Simpson blasting the former only to take a rated hit from Ross Cooper in turn before Laybourn nailed Sparky, the latter then coming under attack from Captain Cock who subsequently took a big shot from Harvey as 714 Paul Smaldon laid into Laybourn, albeit on the shale. Back on the tarmac and the impressive Ross Cooper blasted Blacknuts hard as 781 Shaggy turned round to T-bone Sparky and Ross Cooper buried 988 Kane. Goldie finished in fourth with Ross Cooper sixth after a full contact display.

Goldie nailed 222 Ricky Walters during a lively start to the final before Overy scored on Condom rival 47 Andy Davies who rallied back to hammer Chubby. Overy meanwhile fired Ross Cooper into Gardiner before burying the recovered Aftermath young gun a short while later for a second time. This prompted the latter to meet 331 Jason Jackson head-on but he took one from 88 Josh Fuller as Goldie attacked 203 Darren Nash and 331 Boxer landed a revenge hit on Cooper which was marginally on the shale. Overy then landed a hard hit on Davies on the pit bend as team mate Chubby recorded a seventh place finish.

Allcomers to close with Blacknuts hammering Andy Davies from the off as Captain Cock followed in 72 Billy Bond hard before he blasted 67 Rickie Beasley. 239 Steve Carter attacked 603 the Younger Hitman on opposite with 589 Smiffy Jnr also laying into the latter before 239 Nemesis nearly rolled himself with a massive shot on Captain Cock. Sparky T-boned 70 Ant Long went the event moved into the demo which ended RDC’s involvement in the meeting.

RDC at Autospeed World Final (added September 13)
Finally this week we would like to extend a huge message of congratulations to 617 Jack Overy for once again lifting the unlimited banger Autospeed World Championship at Taunton on Sunday (September 12).

Adding to the RDC drivers success was 360 Jack Reynolds who finished a superb sixth in the main event while Overy went on to take a second in the second Allcomers race.

Congratulations to George Turiccki-new BriSCA F2 Stockcar World of Shale Champion (added September 1)
All at RDC Promotions would like to extend their congratulations to BriSCA F2 Stockcar hot shot 186 George Turiccki on his sensational win in a sublime World of Shale championship at Mildenhall on Saturday night. 

However it must be said lady luck played a part as defending champion 606 Andy Palmer had looked on course for a fourth consecutive win, leading from pole for the first 22 laps until a blown engine ended his reign with the finish in touching distance. 

Full credit though is most deserving of Turiccki who had matched Palmer move for move over the first 22 laps and especially when it traffic he looked a real danger. Who knows what may have happened if Palmer had gone the distance as Turiccki certainly looked capable of landing a killer blow in the final stages. 

The championship race lived up to every bit of its potential with the 32 car field producing a sublime and action packed 25 lap title race which incredibly went flag to flag despite a high level of action with incidents and fine action for the entire duration of the race. 

It wasn’t only Turiccki who drove a fantastic race. 871 Mark Simpson battled back from a disastrous start and a crash at the half way mark to finish an excellent second. 886 Chris Bradbury and 13 Andy Ford clawed their way from almost the very back of the grid for fourth and fifth places respectively, the former the last of the drivers to finish on the lead lap while front row starter 702 Allen Cooper battled hard from two big crashes which took him from the front to the back to finish in sixth. 

The championship race was once again a real credit to both the sport and its drivers and it was pleasing to see so many fans come into the stadium to enjoy the main event, our gate staff reported that the pit area was almost a ghost town with almost everyone at the stadium inside to watch the big race. 

We have been blessed with some tremendous open wheeled stockcar action from the F2s this season at Mildenhall and would again like to thank all the drivers who produced such a fantastic meeting last weekend. We are now very much looking forward to their final visit of the season on October 2, a night which plays host the white and yellow grade series final and also the Mildenhall leg of the BriSCA F2 Stockcar 50th anniversary series. 

Message following maiden Mildenhall Classic Car Show (added August 25)
We would like to take the chance to thank everyone who supported the maiden Classic Car show at Mildenhall Stadium last weekend and made the event such a great success. 

With very modest expectations we were delighted to see the better part of 90 classic cars turn out during the course of the day, although all were not present at the same time, and there was some amazing cars on display and a great variety of vehicles of all shapes and sizes as well, something which was commented on by many. 

Giving the show a unique edge over any other classic car show was the inclusion of the BriSCA F2 Stockcar Heritage who fielded 10 cars. Not only did these cars attract much attention in the display area but they were the source of much enjoyment when they were in action on track in their three races. After two heats where the driver gained sufficient experience of the raceway, the final was a cracking and competitive race and as good a race as you are likely to see from such a modest field of cars. 

Many of the classic car owners who were regulars at such shows gave many positive comments about the classic stockcar racing and it is an area we are keen to expand on in 2011 as well as trying to encourage more classic car owners to visit with their cars.

Throughout the day we received much positive feedback from the visitors, many of whom were impressed with the event, especially given it was the first one and we hope to use these comments to make next year’s show much bigger and better.

Thanks again to all those who supported this years event and we hope to confirm the date of the 2011 event in the next few months. 

RDC on tour at King’s Lynn 2Litre RWD Bangers (added August 25)
RDC was well represented at TSR’s annual 2Litre RWD banger at King’s Lynn on August 21 with the nine strong RDC contingent making up almost a quarter of the field. The majority of our interest came from the Hogs camp with 323 Steve Leeper and 328 Dan Lathan in Sierras, 326 Shane Lynn in a fresh Capri and 324 Mark Lathan returning a Triumph 2000. 21 Jason Colbert, 221 Michael Whitelock, 519 Lee Middleton, 587 Alex Humphrey and 837 Pete Nash all returned motors from the Mildenhall RWD meeting with a pair of Granadas, two Cortinas and a Triumph 2000 respectively.

It was an all in format with 221 Mad Mike planting 837 Mr Happy into the stricken Sierra of 212 Richard Marion before 519 Knuckles earned a load up when he came inside out and hit 149 Wayne Bailey in the door. 217 Dave Truman delivered out final action when he nailed Daniel Lathan as Colbert survived running into 362 Matt Godden to take the win. The rain started to fall for heat two which was a quieter affair but did see 326 Ratty clobber the spun Bailey head-on before Leeper crashed into one of the marker tyres. Ratty bounced back to finish eighth. 

Improved conditions made for a better final with Colbert fencing 170 Rusty from the off before he span Mr Happy into the plating and Ratty was leaned in on the road bend by 212 Mario and duly blitzed hard by 390 Dave Gibson. Bailey blew up Leeper well as the luckless Ratty was clobbered over the rear wheel by 587 Humps, Mr Happy recovering to nail 313 John Cullingford before he was spun into 597 Andy Ashman by 349 Michael Allard. 168 Calvyn Girling just beat Colbert on the line for the win, the latter having the last laugh by spinning him into the plating as they crossed the line, Mr Happy taking ninth. 

RDC made up a third of the DD field with Leeper finished early by Allard before Mr Happy was nailed by 97 Firthy which triggered a rated wrecking train, highlighted by 791 Nicky Young decimating Allard. Mark Lathan blasted the former in turn which left Colbert as the sole survivor and winner. 

Another Wild Night round up and thank you (added August 18)
In the wake of the annual summer championship double header of the National Banger BBA British Championship and Reliant Robin World Final, RDC’s Another Wild Night, last Saturday at Mildenhall Stadium we would like to thank everyone who supported the night and address the various problems which hindered the evening. 

Firstly we want to extend a massive thank you to everyone who supported this annual event. Despite coming in the middle of perhaps the busiest period of one of RDC’s biggest ever seasons for major events and despite heavy rain in the days leading up to and the morning of the meeting and a far from ideal forecast there was a great turn out. This came on both side of the fence with a superb crowd given the aforementioned circumstances. Furthermore there was once again a bumper turnout in the pits with around 150 race cars for this two formula meeting including yet another three figure National Banger entry and arguably the biggest turn out of Reliant Robins the sport is likely to see in 2010. Once again this turn out came very much with our ‘No Hype Needed’ motto in mind as outside of this website, the meeting received precious little internet coverage, so the show of support from drivers and fans was once again a tremendous boost for all at RDC. 

However while we did enjoy some fantastic on track action at times, the meeting turned into one of the most problematic evenings we have endured at RDC in some time and these issues took a certain shine off what was an action packed evening of racing and we would like to take this opportunity to address all of the issues and offer some explanation to each of them.

Firstly the meeting suffered a late start of around 10 minutes and there was a further delay prior to getting the second National Banger last chance qualifier heat underway, these hold ups proving critical later in the evening. This delay was down to a big hold up getting the large entry of cars through scrutineering which meant a number of National Banger drivers weren’t ready for the last chance heats and some missed out on the opening races of the evening. Unfortunately staff holidays meant we didn’t have our usual scrutineering team for the night and this problem was increased when those on hand were delayed by traffic meaning scrutineering started later than intended. This does not excuse the situation but we hope this offers some explanation as to the reasons behind these delays.

Further time was lost during the National Banger BBA British Championship when the race was red flagged at the half way mark and a lap sheet order restart was ordered. RDC have somewhat unique rules regarding how we line cars up for a lap sheet order restart which have been in place for some time and were changed to meeting with the style of lap scorer we have at RDC. The ruling, which was announced on the RDC website when it was introduced and was reminded to all drivers racing Saturday via their information sheet, reads as follows. If the race is stopped at any point in after the first five laps and before the final five laps then a lap sheet order restart will be called for. In this case we will line up at least the top 10 cars or all those still on the lead lap (whichever is more) at the front of the grid with the remaining cars behind with every driver starting on the lead lap. Depending on how many cars are running this grid may be double file and not single. This is what was carried out on Saturday and we believe this is the first time we have had to implement this in the National Banger championship race at RDC. We would like to thank the drivers who all followed the instructions given and allowed us to restart the race reasonably quickly. We also believe the rule served one of its main purposes as when the race restarted it was very easy for those watching the race to know where every driver was in the race without having to explain back markers and if any drivers were a lap down. 

Sadly the British Championship, which had been an action packed, high speed and exciting affair, albeit a somewhat controversial one, was hit with further controversy when the first two drivers past the finish line, 566 Tony Pallett and 516 Carl Gould were disqualified when their tyres failed post race checks. The news has led to much speculation and rumour on the internet and typically the majority of what has been said is far from the truth so to clarify neither driver was excluded for running a brand or type of tyre which was illegal. Both drivers were excluded because durometer tests following the race gave readings that deemed the tyres to be too soft. Furthermore the tyres which were found to fail the post race checks were not considered borderline failures but were significantly under the required reading of 60. In the case of the race winner the readings taken were just over half of this and even an hour after the race the tyre in question failed to give a legal reading. Our congratulations to 673 Darren Fendley who was later in the night declared the champion, albeit under far from ideal circumstances. 

The biggest delays of the night came later in the evening during the second National Banger Allcomers race which suffered two stoppages and two lengthy delays to attend injured drivers which combined led to the race being declared with only a few laps completed. First and most importantly we want to confirm that to the best of our knowledge both of the drivers involved have escaped any serious injury. Neither were taken to hospital that night and we have received no information to suggest anything other than they are both ok. However in one of these cases and in at least three other incident during the night, drivers were very, very lucky to avoid injury after deciding to exit their cars at very dangerous times. There is an unwritten rule in the sport that the safest place when your car is immobile is inside the car and it was with that in mind that we introduced our ‘attacking stationary car’ rule a few seasons ago. While it is the hardest of our rules to police it is an important rule for us in discouraging drivers to take unnecessary risks when exiting their cars during a race. All drivers are reminded that it is not just their safety in danger when they take such risks but also that they place other drivers at risk and this point was proved by the incident which brought about the first stoppage in the first Allcomers. Shortly after the race we spoke with the two drivers involved in the first collision with the car with the exiting driver and both expressed great regret with what happened and took no further involvement in the meeting even though both were completely blameless in the situation. Furthermore we would like to thank our marshals and medical team whose reaction to the crash was almost perfect. Marshals often receive criticism when they make mistakes but rarely receive any compliments when they do a job well done. Our static camera confirmed the red flag was waved by the marshal two seconds (almost instantly) after the initial hit on the car in question. This was spotted by race control and the red lights came on two seconds after the flag was waved (again almost instantly) although not in time to prevent a second impact with the car where again the driver delivering the hit would have had no idea about the situation. Furthermore the first of the medical team arrived on the scene 10 seconds after the red lights came on and we would also like to thank all the drivers on track who had stopped their cars in the same 10 second period after the red lights came on. 

Furthermore while drivers are also reminded of the importance of staying in their car until they are 100 per cent it is safe to exit we also need to remind all friends and family of the importance of staying on the terracing in situations such as this. While we understand that emotions can run high when people fear a friend or family member is hurt, everyone must stay on the terracing to allow the marshals and medical teams to do their jobs as in both cases with injured drivers in the first National Banger Allcomers, the medical teams were delayed in their work by concerned family members and friends. Unfortunately we have seen a rise in this problem at Mildenhall in recent months, not just when drivers are potentially injured but also from mechanics looking to help with mechanical problems and this needs to stop immediately. Drivers are now warned that should anyone attempt to help them while on track, regardless of whether they asked for assistance or not, that they face being excluded from the meeting and repeat offenders may be banned from racing.

When it became clear that the second stoppage in the first National Banger Allcomers was going to be a lengthy one we made the difficult decision to declare the event at that point and move on to the second Allcomers. The situation was explained to all the drivers who were at that point waiting for the restart to the race (which admittedly was precious few and influenced the decision to abort the race) and we would like to thank all of them for their co-operation and understanding. No-one questioned or complained about the decision and instead put the needs of the injured driver and the remainder of the meeting before themselves and their race and for that we are especially grateful. 

However with all the delays adding up it left us racing against the clock to squeeze the remaining races in before our curfew (of which the reasons behind its strictness are now no longer a secret). Following the second National Banger Allcomers we spread word as best we could that we intended to close the pit gate for the Accumulator qualifier and DD no later than 10.45pm. Ultimately given the time taken to clear the track from the second Allcomers and Reliant Robin Allcomers, the pit gate closed for the final race at 10.50pm. While we were delighted to see a near 40 car field return for the race there would have been drivers who no doubt missed the gate and we are sorry to each of them but again we had no choice but to start the race when we did. Furthermore with the DD also suffering two stoppages and the ambulance again being called for after the second it meant we had no option but to abort the DD with a handful of cars still in the running which was a disappointing end to the night. 

Another point of concern during the night was the amount of Reliant Robin drivers who failed to respond quickly enough to the caution flags in their races. Once again it is paramount that all drivers slow down instantly for the yellow flags as it means both a fellow driver is in a dangerous position and marshals are on track attending to the incident. Several drivers were disqualified for this during the night but once again RDC will again have to clamp down on this problem in upcoming meetings so all drivers be warned of the importance of obeying these flags. 

We hope all of the above offers some insights and facts into the various incidents which spoiled Saturday night’s meeting somewhat and we sincerely hoped the majority of you still had an enjoyable evening of racing. 

RDC’s At Our Best-a roundup and thank you (added August 11)
This week we would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who helped make RDC’s At Our Best at Dover Raceway last Sunday (August 8) such a tremendous success. 

Despite a few unfortunate no shows in all three formulas, the pits remains pretty packed with around 90 cars which for a three formula meeting with limited bookings is most impressive at Dover and continues are run of excellent turnouts at the track in 2010.

And once again there was a great standard of racing, especially from the 2Litre Bangers who produced an action, packed, highly entertaining and most lively afternoon of action which for many boasted an ‘old school’ mentality of the majority of drivers getting stuck in throughout and few drivers passing others without making contact, which is something which has been commented on by many of the drivers from the day, the majority of which who have spoken highly of the day. 

We would to extend a special thank you to those who travelled considerable distance to attend. Certainly all of the drivers who came from the continent and certainly added a great deal of action to the afternoon, their effort to get cars back out for the last race was tremendous, but also those who didn’t cross any border but still put in many miles to attend.

In fact the last race is deserving of a mention with nearly half the original entry making it back out which was a tremendous effort by the whole pit area given the action which had gone on before. On a similar note the effort by the top 10 teams to return a whopping 34 cars for the final led to a superb banger race and one of the best Kent team championship finals we have ever seen. 

Congratulations to Them who narrowly beat the Condoms B for the team title and also to 36 Kevin Sims and 41 Pete Emson on winning the Bangerstox Kent and Super Rod Southern championships.

Finally a couple of interesting banger stats from the day to underline how this meeting continues to attract new and different drivers to the raceway. Of the 62 bangers on hand no less than 31 of them were racing at Dover for the first time this season while 19 of them were racing at RDC for the first time this season. Furthermore 13 drivers made their Dover track debut on Sunday and 264 Mark Welland made his first appearance at his former stomping ground since RDC took the venue over in 2000. 

Bangerstox and Super Rod grades for final meetings of 2010 (added August 11)
Following the championship meetings last weekend we have the new Bangerstox and Super Rods which will be used for the final two meetings of the season at Dover, the last Masters qualifier on August 30 and the Masters Championship on September 26.

Please note any driver who enjoys a big points haul on August 30 may be upgraded for the September 26 meeting but no drivers will be downgraded. The new grades are as follows

BANGERSTOX
Masters: 29
Southern: 15
Kent: 36
Red: 32, 63, 64
Blue: 9, 23, 26, 37, 58, 62, 80, 96
Yellow: 3, 40, 55, 61, 65, 69, 83

SUPER RODS
Masters and Kent: 121
Silver: 88
Southern: 41
Red: 21
Blue: 7, 17, 77
Yellow: 14, 28, 271

RDC on tour at Skegness, Arlington and Coventry (added August 11)
Several of the RDC banger drivers have been busy touring the country in recent weeks and we’ll start our recap at Skegness’ annual 2Litre Banger Crash Attack UK Open on August 10 where 100 Callum White, 128 Andy Shipp, 363 Sam Keep and 807 Chris Murfin were on hand. It was a disappointing start to the night for 100 Captain Cock who found himself spun into the fence hard at the end of heat one by 98 Matt Harrison before Keep found himself buried hard by 70 Ant Long in heat two. Captain Cock evened the score on Harrison with a big hit in the final and added the exclamation mark in the Allcomers with a hard follow-in on the Brampton man. The Aftermath young gun then enjoyed a head-on with 60 Kyle Stevenson and was finished by a stiff hit from 742 Ian Gregory and a T-bone from 349 Lewis Price. 

Last weekend saw RDC well represented at the annual A60 Amble and pre 75 meeting at Arlington on August 7. Management trio 346 Scott and 349 Lee Saunders wielded Minxs and team mate 347 Simon Wheeler debuted a Cambridge. 73 Tony Sims and 587 Alex Humphrey returned A60s from Mildenhall while 260 Keith and 360 Jack Reynolds provided some pre 75 bilge with a Marina and Mk1 Escort estate respectively, 310 Chas Lee completing our line up with a pretty Super Minx. 

346 Muttley came under fire from 757 Tom Farren in the first (non A60) heat while 360 Jackstar gave 774 Tom Grantham an assist in burying the smart A40 of 119 Dean Andrews, the former then shrugging off an attack from 91 Lee Herbert to T-bone the Beetle of 522 Tim James. Jackstar then came under fire from Grantham and 349 Finbarr before dad 260 Keefy laid in leaving Jackstar prone to a big hit from 158 Shane Davies. Keefy went on to finish fourth and Finbarr took sixth. 

No RDC action in the all A60 second heat in which 73 Slaphead finished seventh so onto the all in third heat with Slaphead rolling onto his side on the shale early on as Finbarr raced to third with Keefy in ninth. Slaphead’s woes continued in the final as he was buried from the word go by 259 Limbo, our next action seeing 66 Mark Rogers blast Finbarr in the midst of a massive pile-up on the scoreboard bend, the latter then taking a series of hits from an on opposite 245 Jack France. Muttley meanwhile scored on 206 Dave King only to have his 50s Minx stuffed into 304 Alan Tibbs by 397 Andrew Cullen. 204 Charlie King blasted 347 the Stick who rallied back with a hit on 528 Alan Hunt only to again fell the force of 204 Charlie Boy. Our involvement in the DD was short lived, 702 James Dodge blasting Finbarr to wrap up our action.

Finally we look at the Unlimited Coventry Masters on July 31 where Keefy was again tooled up with a smart Jaguar 420. 27 Terry King’s track debut saw him fenced by 44 Jamie Ddin at the start of heat one while 22 Dave Vincent continued his recent return to form with a fine win. Onto heat three where RDC registered Bear 133 Karl Day took a big hit from the XJ of 51 Simon Heilds before Jackstar found himself fenced by the Cadillac Seville of 341 Andy Jones in the consolation, the former battling on only to be stuffed again, this time by 800 Tom Hannah. The luckless King was nailed by 73 Dean Cruickshank in the final before 617 Jack Overy fenced 44 Trouble en route to a fine second behind team mate 67 Rickie Beasley with RDC’s 384 John Golden completing a 1-2-3 for Team Black. RDC’s 726 Kalin Dawe rolled in the Allcomers to bring the reds out, the restart seeing 521 Ash Riley bury Keefy into 353 Sean Mullin before Predator 879 Reg Reed was stuffed by 742 Taz. Overy came off the centre to score on 221 Justin Riley only to then fall foul of a series of hits from 785 Jambo, Trouble, 221 Motormouth and 133 Karly, Overy’s Granada bursting into a big fire sometime after the race finished. Karly was the victim of a rated follow-in from 591 Marc Blower in the DD before King was leathered by a storming hit from 449 Mark Thomas, Keefy hitting the latter in turn only to be T-boned by 837 Martin Wesby. Jackstar evened the score on 521 Ace Ash but a second hit on the Bear left him open to a shot from Trouble, the latter then taking a stonking hit from Keefy. 46 Scott Starkey meanwhile enjoyed a head-on with Jackstar which finished them both and they shared the win. 

Message to all who have support appeal for Mildenhall Stadium (added August 4)
Of course the last news update on the site wasn’t the happiest we have ever written as we went public with the legal issues which RDC Promotions are facing which threaten the future of our sport, and indeed all sports, at Mildenhall Stadium. 

Back on July 21 we launched an appeal to all drivers and fans who have visited Mildenhall Stadium (click here to read the appeal in case you missed it) and the reaction from many of you have been amazing. In the days since we made our appeal public we have received dozens and dozens of letters, both via e mail, the post and by hand at our recent meetings and our heartfelt thanks go to each and every one of you that has taken the time and trouble to support us. 

It is no word of lie to say that the show of support has been incredibly humbling and that many of the comments made truly bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. We’ve always known how important Mildenhall Stadium is to us but now we have seen a small indication of how important it is to so many other people and the importance of us winning this fight has been further underlined. 

Furthermore our legal team is delighted with the support which has been shown thus far and informs us that every letter will be a powerful weapon in our fight. 

But there is still time for more of you to make your opinions known and your voices heard. As we original stated we simply cannot have enough letters and the more we have the better so if you’ve yet to write then we urge you to do so. Letters can be sent by e mail to wastedmc@btopenworld.com or posted to 15 Glamis House, Cameron Close, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5BT or you can simply hand them to one of our staff at an upcoming RDC meeting.

We would also like to thank the near 3,500 of you who have joined the Save Mildenhall Stadium FaceBook group which again is a tremendous show of support.

Finally we would just like to stress that there is presently no danger to the upcoming fixtures at Mildenhall Stadium. There has been a lot of confusion caused by the Mildenhall Fen Tigers National Speedway League team withdrawing from the rest of their 2010 season but this is for very different reasons and has nothing to do with the ongoing legal issues. 

In fact we are hopeful that speedway will return in 2011 and with regard to the future we are already busy putting together our 2011 fixtures for Mildenhall Stadium which we hope to announce in the next few weeks. 

Thanks again, the Coventry family

Early warning of change to 2Litre RWD Banger meeting in 2011 and early 2011 fixture news (added August 4)
On a similar theme, although in this case we are giving drivers almost one year’s notice, we would like to confirm that in 2011 we will not be allowing any Ford Granadas in the annual 2Litre RWD National Banger meeting which is currently pencilled in for the Saturday of our July weekend event next season. 

After a close look at this year’s meeting on July 24, where a little over 20 of the 105 strong field were Granada powered, it was clear that the modern ‘frog eyed’ shaped Granada seemed a very advantageous car for drivers in terms of both speed and strength over the more traditional cars which this meeting was original designed for. 

Therefore with the belief that these cars could start to take over this meeting and with drivers clearly showing there are still plenty of the more traditional ‘2Litre RWD’ meeting car available we are not going to allow any Ford Granada at next year’s meeting. 

Please note this is the only change so drivers will still be able to use some more modern options such as Omegas, BMWs and Mercedes as well as the more traditional Cortinas, Capris, Sierras, small Japs and vintage cars. Large Volvos also remain outlawed. 

However we are looking at introducing a new meeting to the RDC fixtures in 2011 at Mildenhall in which the later shaped Ford Granadas would be not only permitted but would be a favourable option. We will have more information on this meeting if it happens in the next few weeks when we hope to be able to announce a first draft of our 2011 fixtures.

Another new fixture which we have pencilled in to the 2011 dates at Mildenhall is something new for RDC but is a format which has proved successful in the past in the shape of a Best Pairs event for National Bangers which will be a two-man team event.

Similar events have proved successful at Standlake and Birmingham in the past but the sport is presently without such an event so we are looking to experiment with one and the meeting has been provisionally pencilled in for late March 2011 with a limit on 40 pairs for the night. 

One Wild Weekend round up and thank you (added August 4)
Again this message comes somewhat later than we would have liked but we wish to extend a massive debut of thanks to all those who helped make this year’s One Wild Weekend at Mildenhall Stadium on July 24 and 25 such a huge success and a highly enjoyable affair for those on hand. 

For the second year running the dream combination of National Bangers, Saloon Stockcars and BriSCA F2 Stockcars attracted a great turnout of drivers and fans and the action supplied was second to none.

Firstly some very cool stats from the weekend which saw no less than 221 cars compete on Saturdays programme and 214 on Sunday. There were 280 different drivers racing in total, split between 159 National Banger drivers, 45 Saloon Stockcars and 76 BriSCA F2 Stockcars and the weekend saw a whopping 33 races (34 if you count the National Banger Accumulator qualifier and DD as separate events) making it one of the biggest weekends anywhere in the sport so once again our thanks to all those who helped make the weekend as massive as it was. 

Furthermore the BriSCA F2 Stockcar entries on both days were the biggest seen at any shale meeting in 2010 and are likely to be one of the biggest non championship turnouts seen this season. In addition the triple figure entry for the 2Litre RWD Banger meeting on the Ssaturday is only the second time a meeting of this description has reached the magical 100 car mark. 

However despite the roaring success and popularity of the meeting, it is far to say that the weekend wasn’t without its problems. The most obvious disappointment to many was the loss of the 2Litre RWD Banger Accumulator qualifier and DD on the Saturday night. While there were many small problems on Saturday which swallowed time at various stages during the night there was no major problems or mistake which directly led to the loss of this race, quite simply the volume of the meeting proved too much within the strict restrictions we presently face at the stadium. Again we apologise to those who were adversely effected by the cancellation, on both sides of the fence, but we would like to thank the many National Banger drivers who showed great understanding with the situation. We would also like to thank the many drivers who supported the all RWD heat which was added to Sunday’s programme and this indeed featured many drivers who would not have been able to fix their car in time for the last race on the Saturday had it been run so there was a silver lining for some drivers. The support for the all RWD race on Sunday has also given us much to consider when we assemble next year’s format. 

Furthermore owing to the success of the 2Litre RWD cars being mixed in with the 1800cc FWD cars it has been decided that at all future non Mondeo and Cougar meetings, 2Litre RWD cars will be allowed. This is similar to the ruling at 1400cc meetings where 1600cc RWD cars are allowed.

Beyond that we also suffered with dust problems on the raceway, especially on Sunday’s programme. There is a very fine balance between over watering and ruining a race and not watering enough and there were several occasions where the balance wasn’t correct and for this we apologise and hope that it didn’t spoil anyone’s enjoyment of the great racing too much. 

Another issue was the length of time it took to get the drivers into the pits on the Saturday night. Again this goes back to the sheer volume of drivers who rolled into the pits on the Saturday with 221 drivers racing plus several more cars arriving Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s programme. Certainly the amount of drivers who were on hand very much took us by surprise, especially in the National Bangers, and this problem has fortunately not been one we have seen too often this year. However again the situation was unacceptable and something we need to improve on in the future. 

Finally we would like to apologise to anyone who witnessed an unfortunate incident under the home straight grand stand on Saturday evening and a smaller incident which happened in the same place on Sunday afternoon. Neither incident was linked and involved totally different people, none of whom were identified as drivers. Even though these incidents were addressed as quickly as possible by the RDC team we are very sorry for those who had to see them and hope it didn’t spoil your enjoyment of the weekend. Thankfully incidents such as this are very, very rare at Mildenhall Stadium and we take great pride in the friendly atmosphere many enjoy inside the stadium, something we will continue to defend in the future.

Jackpot contenders confirmed for Saloon Stockcar Dash for Cash Series Final (added August 4)
Congratulations to European Champion 499 Dave Aldous who won the final Saloon Stockcar Dash for Cash round at Mildenhall last weekend to establish himself as the final contender for the £500 jackpot in the series final at Mildenhall on October 16.

He joins fellow dash winners this season 641 Willie Skoyles Jnr, 490 Ian Jarman and 131 Timmy Barnes in being seeded directly into the jackpot final where should they emerge victorious they will claim the £500 jackpot.

However standing between them and the loot will be any other driver who posts a top six finish on the night and they will be chasing a £100 individual prize should they win.

Please note the Dash for Cash Super Final on World Final night, September 11, does not count towards the traditional Dash for Cash Series at Mildenhall. 

RDC at TSR World Final (added August 4)
As promised we have a detailed account of the RDC drivers action at the 2Litre Banger TSR World Championship at King’s Lynn on July 17 where there was a massive entry of over 25 RDC drivers among the 110 strong entry. 

The first last chance heat started badly for 8 Dale Woolnough who was nailed by 695 Mark Mason before 209 Ben Hayward fenced his smart Mondeo after a badly timed lunge on 286 Aaron Phillips. 511 Helen Licquorice meanwhile found herself stuffed by 223 Brett Harrison which in turn caused 49 Mark Heilds to run into 101 Richard Rayner before 324 Mark Latham piled 557 John Small into Licquorice. The race ended badly for 715 Mick Prince whose empty car was trashed by a seemingly unaware 391 Ben Gibson but a well timed last bend lunge secured 100 Callum White third and a place at the rear of the championship grid, Rayner not so fortunate in seventh place. 

The second last chance race began with 401 Steve Hemmings fencing 40 Lester Freestone before the former collected the spun 543 Luke Townsend tearing a wheel off the latter to bring the reds out. The race resumed with 17 Kyle Overy spinning 401 Psycho into a marker tyre before 779 Luke Allen fenced 788 Dan Burton which set the latter up for a solid hit from 170 Darren Teal while 779 Munch continued to nail 597 Andy Ashman. Up front a close finish saw 17 the Little Chief just beat 64 Barry Lee and 79 Ricky Twell to the line these three taking the final spaces in the main event. However the latter suffered a blown engine and was thus replaced by the fourth placed 88 Ace Burton to leave no less than nine RDC drivers in the main event. 525 Wes Starmer and Munch missed out in sixth and seventh respectively. 

Onto the main event with 382 Jack Foster Jnr having the best draw among the RDC contingent to start on the second row but he fell foul to a back straight pile-up, in which he buried 348 Sonny Sherwood, the heap also claiming 64 Barry the Bull and 682 Paul Sparrow. The Bull recovered only to be spun by 423 Danny Oliver with our only other action seeing 208 Jimmy Randall stuff 100 Captain Cock. 119 Davey Cox won the title for the third time ahead of Mildenhall regular 673 Darren Fendley and former RDC pilot 425 Martin Stopher. Officially representing Skegness, 807 Chris Murfin was the best of the RDC registered finishers in sixth ahead of 160 Pez and 88 Ace Ash with 188 John Reeves in 10th. 

A massive field for the consolation with 138 Tommy Chilton blasting 11 Darren Race before 415 Scott Cornish thundered in 897 Matt Battle only to catch one near the door from the Primera limo of 223 Bushy. 742 Ian Gregory then stuffed 328 Daniel Latham into a tractor tyre as the luckless Woolnough was nailed by 196 Ben Harrison and 326 Shane Lynn was destroyed by a monster T-bone from 72 Billy Bond. Psycho added 340 Wes Freestone and 349 Michael Allard to the massive road bend pile-up only to take one in turn from 513 Lewis Harvey before the reds came out to clear the blockage. The race resumed with Woolnough burying 04 Mick Croft which allowed 180 Mark Foster to nail the latter head-on. 551 Danny Blackwell stuffed 519 Lee Middleton but Predator revenge was swift thanks to 137 Jay Chilton with 450 Glyn Platts also sticking it to 519 Knuckles. Bond then buried Daniel Latham as 180 Sparky stuffed Jay Chilton and Woolough in one go, Knuckles charging headlong into the pile only to take a hard T-bone from 382 Chubby in turn before Platts delivered a head-on. Mark Latham meanwhile managed to avoid the on opposite attacks from 50 Simon West to take the win with Chubby in second. 

The qualifiers only World Masters saw both Captain Cock and Chubby stick it to 389 Charlie Garrod before an attack on Mark Latham saw Munch send himself crashing into the tyres. Mark Latham meanwhile raced on to second with Ace Ash in third, 807 Murf in seventh and 525 Wes tenth. 

More Stinkbridge v Predator feuding in the Allcomers as Psycho nailed Croft while Chubby ran in Licquorice and Jay Chilton thundered Blackwell into the plating. Psycho meanwhile felt the force of hard head-ons from Chubby and Platts with Knuckles blasting the latter only to take a fierce hit in turn from 67 Rickie Beasley who was then nailed himself by Wes. Chubby was our best finisher this time in seventh with Wes eighth. 

Munch supplied our first action in the DD with a shot on Croft before he was later T-boned by 196 Ginner which he shrugged off in which to meet Platts head-on. Murf and Heilds met in similar fashion, the former then going head to head with Garrod before Chubby reeled in and followed in 206 Phil Milner. The latter took a head-on from Murf as Chubby nailed Heilds and 742 Taz before expiring with Murf silenced by hits from Taz and 60 Kyle Stevenson to end our involvement in the evening.

Urgent appeal from RDC to all drivers and fans at Mildenhall Stadium (added July 21)
The following news piece is one which all at RDC Promotions had sincerely hoped we would never have to write but ultimately the time has come for RDC to call upon the support and backing of all the drivers and fans at Mildenhall Stadium to help in our biggest fight to date. 

The fight is for the future of Mildenhall Stadium and its continued ability and reputation as one of the leading venues for stockcar and banger racing in the UK. 

Many of you may be aware, but many more will undoubtedly be unaware, that over the past several months RDC have been fighting a legal battle with one local resident near to the stadium and their complaints over noise. 

Despite RDC taking every measure possible, including the erection of a noise barrier around half the stadium (which cost in the region of £40,000), to avoid this going any further, the case is now destined to go to the courts in the next couple of months where the future of the stadium is very much in jeopardy. 

Up until now we have elected to keep these issues relatively quiet. This has been for several reasons, mainly because it has been a private issue for the entire Coventry family and furthermore we didn’t want to create any unneeded worry or concern. 

However the time has now come for us to reveal more about this very real and dangerous threat to the stadium and to call for the help and support of the many people who use the stadium. 

Our legal team has advised us that it would be very much in our interest if we could gather as much support as possible from those people who use the stadium so this week we are urging as many of our drivers, their mechanics, friends and family and the hundreds of thousands of short oval motor racing fans who have enjoyed the sport at Mildenhall Stadium during the last 17 and a half seasons to show us your support. 

It doesn’t take much to help us in this battle. All we need are letters of support from as many of you as possible. Honestly there is no such thing as ‘too many’ in this case. The letters do not have to be pages and pages of writing either, just a few paragraphs will be more than sufficient. 

And ideally we need to hear from as wide a mix of people as possible. We need to hear from those who first visited Mildenhall in 1993 right the way through to 2010, those who first visited this year, those who come to every meeting, people who come once a year, people who live five miles away to people who live 500 miles away. Young, old, everything in between, we need to hear from as many of you as possible. 

Letters can either be e mailed to the usual address of wastedmc@btopenworld.com or posted to 15 Glamis House, Cameron Close, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 5BT or alternatively they can be passed on to any of our staff at a meeting at either Mildenhall or Dover. 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and thanks in advance to those who support us.
Kindest regards
The Coventry family

Latest National Banger British Championship Finalists (added July 21)
As promised this week we have the latest news regarding the forthcoming National Banger British Championship which forms one half of the championship double header at RDC’s Another Wild Night at Mildenhall on August 14.

This week we have heard from Spedeworth who have confirmed their four seeds and also from Autospeed who have confirmed their final two drivers and all of these drivers add plenty of quality to the grid and the potential for many fireworks.

Spedeworth are set to be represented by former points champion 516 Carl Gould plus Condom trio 158 Shane Davies, 204 Charlie King and 264 Mark Welland whose presence alongside the Team Black qualifiers from RDC, Startrax and Skegness is almost guaranteed to inject plenty of action into the race.

Furthermore Autospeed have confirmed their remaining seeds are Midnight Runner pairing 208 Jimmy Randall and 331 Jason Jackson who are likely to cross swords with regular rivals 30 Roy Laybourn Jnr, 60 Steve Laybourn and 349 Michael Allard in another long running issue set to generate more potential action in this title race. 

This week we have added a section of the site dedicated to Another Wild Night so check that out for the full current line up for the big race and much more information and look out for a full preview on the big race in the not too distance future.

Important information regarding changed start times at Dover and Mildenhall (added July 14)
We would like to make an important announcement at this point in the season regarding some changes to start times for forthcoming meetings in 2010 at RDC.

Firstly, following the change in start times at Dover Raceway last weekend, a move which was welcomed by many, we have elected to bring forward the start time at all Dover meetings to 1pm. This will be the case for all three of the remaining meetings at the track this season starting with Sunday, August 8.

Furthermore after much thought and consideration we have elected to also bring forward the start time of the Saloon Stockcar World Final at Mildenhall Stadium on Saturday, September 11 to 6pm. This meeting also features the first ever all Granada National Banger meeting and the first ever RWD Series Final and early indications suggest we could have a most decent field of National Bangers that night. Combining this with our intention to have a presentation suitable for such a prestigious event as the Saloon Stockcar World Final and that it is six race Saloon Stockcar programme we feel the 6pm start time will be more appropriate.

We are sorry for making these changes mid-way through a season which is something we try very hard to avoid but we feel that these changes are in the best interest of the meetings in question and that there is sufficient time to inform everyone of what is happening.

Suffolk Open Championship round up (added July 14)
Albeit somewhat later than we ideally would have liked, we would like to thank everyone who helped make this years Suffolk Open Championship double header for unlimited bangers and Ministox at Mildenhall on July 3 such a success.

While there was no doubt disappointment for many that this year’s unlimited banger entry was significantly down on previous years, there was a degree of compensation with some of the best unlimited banger material we have even seen at Mildenhall gracing the shaleway. And the drivers treated the most impressive audience to some fine action, highlighted by the rated Accumulator qualifier and hard hitting DD.

Certainly the decision to return to the once traditional format of running a stand alone Accumulator qualifier and DD at this meeting paid off and ensured that the night ended in fine fashion and our thanks to all the drivers who adapted so well to the change in the format. A special thank you also goes to those who worked so hard after the Accumulator to provide a much better than anticipated field for the DD.

Thanks also go to the Ministox who received a fourth race thanks to the change in the banger format and the young guns answered the call superbly with all of their races well subscribed and they provided some entertaining stockcar racing all night, highlighted by a cracking championship race.

Prior to the meeting we had raised the point that we believed the success of the unlimited EA team championship would have a significant impact on the turn out for the Suffolk Open Championship and this certainly proved to be the case. Of the 88 drivers who raced at the Suffolk Open, just 33 of them also raced at the team meeting, meaning that between the two Mildenhall unlimited meetings this season we have seen just over 150 different drivers. This total is very comparable to previous years but this year we enjoyed a much more even split between the two meetings. Our goal now is to try and establish two significant unlimited fixtures on the Mildenhall calendar and this will be something we will be working hard to achieve and something we believe we have the support of the drivers on.

While there were many positives to come from the Suffolk Open Championship there are some issues which we would like to address. The first, and perhaps most important, was the dust problems on the night. Given the very hot weather conditions this was always likely to be an issue but it proved a much greater one than we feared it would. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and rest assured that many lessons were learned, especially when we plan to stage grand parades prior to meetings. It is not an issue we are going to get right every time, but we always strive to get the right balance between the best racing conditions and the best viewing conditions for fans and again we are very sorry for being wide of the mark at the start of this meeting.

We were also sorry to hear that some people were unaware of the expansion of the programme and believed the Unlimited Banger Accumulator qualifier was the last race of the night. We made the decision to split the Accumulator qualifier and DD (and add another Ministox race) following the three unlimited banger heats and this was repeatedly announced so we are really sorry to anyone who was unaware and may have left the stadium early believing the meeting was over.

Unlimited Banger Kent Championship message (added July 14)
On a similar note we would like to thank all the drivers who helped make last weekend’s unlimited banger Kent Championship not only the biggest to date but one of the best to date.

Not only was the 31 car entry a record breaker for this modest event but the effort made by so many drivers made it the best material line up that Dover Raceway has ever seen by a country mile and the sight of just over 30 unlimited bangers on the grid with some much rated material on Sunday was one of the best sights we’ve seen in our 10 plus year history at the track.

Many have pointed to the reduction of fixtures at Dover this season leading to greater commitment by more drivers to do more meetings (each of the five meetings have seen over 90 cars in the pits and three have reached triple fixtures) and this was certainly reflected in Sunday’s turn out so again our thanks to the drivers for their wonderful support of this meeting.

Sadly while the on track action was one of the liveliest unlimited banger meetings seen at the track, the racing was spoiled somewhat by the terribly dusty conditions. Unfortunately the last two meetings at Dover have seen us battling against the soaring heat which has in turn led to both dusty conditions for drivers and fans and also delays in between the races in order to try and put the required amount of water down.

It is no secret that we have limited equipment at Dover Raceway and while this is unlikely to change in the immediate future we want to stress that we always try and do the best with what we have and would like to again say sorry to anyone who suffered from the dust last weekend and indeed on June 27.

Bangerstox and Super Rod entry list for Kent and Southern Championships (added July 14)
Following last weekend’s meeting at Dover Raceway we can now confirm the drivers who have been invited to take part in the second championship meeting of the season for Bangerstox and Super Rods at Dover.

The top 25 (there was a tie for 24th) Bangerstox drivers will be able to compete for their 2010 Kent Championship while the current top 12 in the Super Rod chart will be eligible to race for the 2010 Southern Championship.

In both formulas the drivers will race in two qualifying heats which will determine the starting grids for the championship races.

In the Bangerstox the grids for each heat will be determined by a random (Incarace) draw while in the Super Rods the grid for heat one will be determined by a random draw but the grid for the second race will be a reserve of heat one. Although there will be no grades for this meeting, drivers are expected to have the correct roof grade on their cars and new grades will be issued after this meeting for the final two meetings of 2010.

In the meantime here are the list of qualifiers for both formulas. Well done to everyone who has secured a place at this event and bad luck to those who missed out who unfortunately will not be able to race at this meeting. Drivers who have qualified but are unable to attend are asked to please contact RDC either by phone or e-mail to let us know as drivers who simply do not turn up will forfeit bookings at future restricted entry meetings in the future including this year’s Masters Championship

Drivers are also reminded that owing to the expected entry of 2Litre Bangers, all Super Rod and Bangerstox drivers need to transport their cars with vehicles which are able to park at the top end of the pits. Drivers whose transport is unable to park at the top of the hill may be refused entry to the pits and may not be able to race.

And once again please remember this meeting starts at the new start time of 1pm.

Bangerstox Kent Championship
3 George Forbes
9 Chris Young
11 Brian Willis
15 Jay Powell
23 Darren Young
26 Ant Williams
29 Craig Groombridge
32 Gary Austin
36 Kevin Sims
37 Del Jarman
40 Joe Taylor
52 Richard Randall
55 Clint Miller
58 Owen Childs
62 Steve Cross
63 Shane Bullen
64 Aaron Harris
65 Chris Bull
66 Kev Hook
69 Andy Bucket
80 Stacey Griffiths
83 Paul Apps
95 Paul Chapman
96 Andy Chapman
111 Nick Glover

Super Rods Southern Championship
7 Dave Ward
14 Frank Gough
17 John Shilleto
21 Kevin Hickey
28 Andrew Donavan
41 Pete Emson
76 Oliver Jarvis
77 Mark Shingleton
84 Gary Harvey
88 Jason Anderson
121 Nigel Goodwin
271 Aaron Beany

Congratulations to Jack Overy-King of the Peak Champion (added July 14)
While we don’t have full details we would like to congratulate 617 Jack Overy on winning the unlimited banger King of the Peak Championship at Buxton last week.

This marks the first time an RDC driver has won this event and secures Overy a place in the 2011 National Banger BBA Supreme Championship at Mildenhall.

Also among the entry were fellow RDC pilots and Team Black team mates 17 Kyle Overy and 384 John Golden, the former piloting a Granada limo for the afternoon.

Important messages from ORC to all National Banger drivers (added June 30)
Following a mid season specification meeting of ORC promoters last wee we have some important information to relay to all National Bangers which come into immediate effect. 

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly for RDC in particular, the dizzy guard experiment for unlimited bangers which was announced in April has been scrapped with immediate effect. This has come with strong insistence from the ORC and such guards will not be permitted at Mildenhall this weekend or Dover next weekend. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes any drivers over the next two weekends. As it stands there appears precious little chance that a dizzy guard rule will be reintroduced at RDC or elsewhere in the immediate future. 

Secondly a new rule has been introduced by the ORC, this morning we received an official press release detailing this. The statement is below in full. 

The ORCi Technical Sub Committees met last week to discuss any rules changes for 2011.

These will be published in due course, however, there is an additional rule that will be implemented this year and will apply from 1st July 2010.

This new rule was based on the findings of four cars that were presented for scrutineering at Crasharama and were ‘overbuilt’ to the current specifications.

The ORCi does not wish to see Bangers with chassis strengthening and additional steel strengthening which goes well beyond the scope of the rule book.

The new rule reads as follows:

If a car is presented for PRE-RACE scrutineering and found to be armoured or strengthened and cannot be corrected on the day, the driver will receive an immediate 12 month ORCi ban. Please note, this includes engine or gearbox suspensions mounts that are over the top and also includes distributor and cam belt guards that cannot be corrected on the day and be re-presented for scrutineering.

If the car is subject of POST-RACE scrutineering checks and fails in any of the above noted areas, the driver will receive an immediate 12 month ORCi ban, irrespective of whether the problem could have been corrected on the day.

Please note that there will be no exceptions. This trend of the overbuilding of cars has to be stamped out immediately.

Finally, at all limited cc meetings where the Ford Mondeo is outlawed, the Ford Cougar is also excluded. This will be the case for the 1800cc Suffolk Open at Mildenhall on July 25 and also the 1600cc meeting on October 2. 

Bangerstox and Super Rod grades and Masters qualifying points (added June 30)
Following last weekend’s meeting at Dover Raceway we have as promised new grades for the Bangerstox for the July 11 meeting and we also have updated grades for the Super Rods for the same meeting. 

Furthermore we also bring you here extended editions of the current Masters Championship qualifying points. 

While we appreciate we only had a new Super Rod grading list for the formula prior to last weekends meeting with the points race proving very close this season we will continue to update the grades as and when needed in a bid to keep the high standard of close and exciting racing.

Bangerstox Grades (effective on July 11)
Masters: 29
Southern: 15
Red: 32, 63, 64, 96
Blue: 11, 23, 36, 37, 40, 62, 65
Yellow: 3, 9, 26, 52, 55, 58, 61, 66, 80, 83, 95

Super Rod Grades (effective July 11)
Points and Southern: 88
Masters and Kent: 121
Red: 21
Blue: 7, 17, 41, 77
Yellow: 14, 28, 76, 271

Bangerstox Masters Qualifying Points
23 Darren Young 55pts
32 Gary Austin 50
40 Joe Taylor 46
64 Aaron Harris 45
9 Chris Young 38
52 Richard Randell 38
36 Kevin Sims 36
50 Ray Walker 35
63 Shane Bullen 34
65 Chris Bull 32
96 Andy Chapman 32
15 Jay Powell 30
69 Andy Bucket 30
11 Brian Willis 29
26 Ant Williams 29
33 John Butcher 27
62 Steven Cross 26
37 Del Jarman 25
47 Barry Sunter 25
29 Craig Groombridge 24
83 Paul Apps 24
3 George Forbes 19
53 Martin Charles 19
66 Kevin Hook 19
24 Mark Sweeney 17
28 Mark Robinson 17
61 Ken Hollamby 17
80 Stacey Griffiths 15
13 Tracey Gilbert 14
89 Gary Kimber 14
59 Nathan Port 13
73 Karl Taylor 12
34 Lisa Fagg 11
111 Nick Glover 11

Super Rod Masters Qualifying points
21 Kevin Hickey 61pts
41 Pete Emson 58
121 Nigel Goodwin 58
7 Dave Ward 56
88 Jason Anderson 53
77 Mark Shingleton 51
17 John Shilleto 26
28 Andrew Donavan 24
76 Oliver Jarvis 21
84 Gary Harvey 19
271 Aaron Beany 16
14 Frank Gough 13
8 Trevor Wright 11
04 Rick Williams 5

RDC at Bandit Memorial (added June 30)
As mentioned last week there was a bumper showing of RDC National Banger drivers at the annual Bandit Memorial at King’s Lynn on June 19 and as promised we now have a more detailed report on the efforts of our drivers. 

Starting in the unlimited class where the majority of our 11 drivers were also competing in the annual pre 70 events. Four of these came from the WI Engineering camp with 101 Richard Rayner and 520 Derek Caton returning their Humber Hawks from the unlimited team meeting as did 503 Dan Hollinsworth with his Rover P5 while 352 Ben Mynott raced his ultra smart Super Snipe which failed to run at the same meeting. Also in the classic car events, 221 Michael Whitelock piloted a tidy Volvo 164, 125 Roy Preece debuted a cool Plymouth Fury and 830 Lee White turned out a lush looking P5. Also in the unlimited class was 99 Scott Gough, 133 Karl Day, 148 Ian Redden and 726 Kalin Dawe.

Rayner had the Mk2 Jaguar of 302 Tom Meekings out at the start of the pre 70 championship race while Mynott and 830 Stretch tangle and hit the back straight plating before Preece hit the marker tyres on the home straight. 520 the Undertaker removed 85 James Ellis at the end, the latter landing a revenge hit just as the reds came out with Rayner registering a fifth place finish. 

Ellis laid into Mynott at the start of the pre 70 Allcomers while 503 Odd Job found the fence along with the Firebird of 425 Martin Stopher. This allowed 886 Adrian French to dish out a big hit to the former but WI revenge was swift when Rayner blasted 886 Shades’ Rover P6. Mynott recovered to attack Meekings as Odd Job traded blows with the similarly mounted Ellis, Mynott then attacking the latter as Rayner again posted RDC’s only top 10 finish in fifth again. 

Onto the main unlimited programme with Rayner hitting the plating and taking a savage hit from 455 Rick Finney as 148 Shorty raced to a fifth and 99 Goffy claimed ninth. More Humber wreckage in the second heat as 326 Paul Picton span Mynott, the latter the decimated by 521 Ash Riley, the Snipe further wrecked when 726 the Chimp hit it later in the race. 

Onto the final with no RDC action and Shorty again in the places in eighth but he came back to take the spoils in the Allcomers and with it secure a place on the grid in the World of Shale Championship in September. 

No RDC interest in the demo so onto the 2litre class where we were equally well represented where the dozen strong RDC showing which made up almost a quarter of the entry. The majority were from the Predator camp who were racing in memory of their former team mate and their double figure entry included 38 Tom and 137 Jay Chilton, 79 Ricky Twell, 176 Ady Gibbs, 401 Steve Hemmings, 404 Luke Brinton, 519 Lee Middleton and 779 Luke Allen. Joining them were 396 Graham Hyla, 525 Wes Starmer, 527 Michael Norman and 715 Mick Prince. 

The spinning 176 Gibbo was hit by 338 Terry Garrod in the first heat while 79 Twelly came under fire from 49 Marc Heilds, Gibbo rallying back for a big hit on the fenced Norman as Prince removed 269 Tom Morris. Jay Chilton took the honours with 38 Tommy Gun second and Prince fourth. 

No RDC action in the second heat but 525 Wes claimed seventh so into the final where again the Predators were well involved. 404 Spook fenced Norman although the former was then run in hard by 223 Brett Harrison and 50 Simon West as 70 Ant Long buried 401 Psycho. The luckless Spook was then T-boned by 119 Davey Cox as Twelly buried 45 Rob Hughes and the recovered Psycho did the same to 791 Nicky Young. 779 Munch meanwhile raced to the win followed home by Tommy Gun, Gibbo and Chilton for a somewhat fitting Predator clean sweep while Wes was seventh and Psycho ninth. 

Heilds was mauled by Tommy Gun, Chilton and others at the start of the Allcomers before Munch celebrated his win by following in Wes and Gibbo was buried by Cruncher. Psycho turned round to T-bone 317 Nick Wakeham with Tommy Gun taking second this time.

Chilton buried West early on in the DD as Munch nailed Hughes before he also stuck it to 5 Mark Codd while Chilton went on to give Long a big hit. 73 Dean Cruickshank later T-boned Chilton while 60 Kyle Stevenson and Munch enjoyed a head-on to wrap up the RDC involvement in the meeting. 

Statement from RDC Promotions (added June 23)
RDC Promotions would like to take this time to make a statement in reaction to the comments made at the weekend by a fellow ORC promoter in their programme editorial which RDC found absolutely shocking and would like to stress that what has been written is a complete lie. 

The accusation that RDC were “doing their best to destroy a memorial meeting” by staging our event at Mildenhall Stadium last Saturday has left us somewhat dumbfounded that a fellow ORC promoter could write such an out and out fabrication. 

RDC would like to stress that our 2010 fixtures were announced on this website as early as September 2009, many weeks and months before any other ORC promoter confirmed their dates. Further more the said author of the remark in question has clearly forgotten a conversation held in December 2009 when all our dates were discussed with them at length. Not only were no objections raised to us staging a meeting on June 19 2010 but in fact we were complimented by the promotion for considering their National Banger fixtures when we comprised our own dates. 

Claims that the memorial meeting in question is held on a “pretty established date” are somewhat futile given that in its seven year history the event has been held on three different weekends in June and on three occasions the meeting has been held on a Sunday afternoon rather than a Saturday. Again the promotion knew of our intended June 19 date in early September and at no time was any objection raised. 

Accusations that RDC tried to ‘destroy’ the meeting are further laughable when you consider around 25 RDC registered National Banger drivers raced at the meeting despite us staging a meeting on the same night. As always these drivers raced where and when they wanted with no objection from RDC. 

This week we have been in contact with several members of the family in question and it has been somewhat reassuring that none of the people we have spoken too, and it appears the family as a whole, share the opinion given in the programme and they have instead been very complimentary to us in the situation and for this we are especially grateful.

We are sorry for having to raise this matter here but since the subject was made public we felt we had little option but to answer it publicly with the truths surrounding the issue which seemingly have been glossed over in a rather pathetic attempt to smear our reputation. We sincerely hope this puts an end to the matter and that there is no repeat of such incidents in the future. 

Mildenhall June Weekend meeting round up and thanks (added June 16)
All at RDC would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who supported and made the first two day event at Mildenhall Stadium this weekend such a success.

In total 130 National Banger drivers competed over the weekend (racing 147 different National Bangers between them) and in all a whopping 186 different drivers raced with a total of 203 different cars in action. 

There is no denying that the National Banger drivers generated two superb days of on track action, both the Inter Counties team challenge and Hot Shot Championship for the second year running producing some quality racing as they look to become established parts of the fixtures. 

While it was disappointing that the Inter Counties team challenge was enjoyed by a smaller crowd that what we are used to at Mildenhall it was little surprise given the major sporting event on the same night. However those on hand enjoyed one of the hardest banger meetings we’ve seen this season at Mildenhall. With the Inter Counties now established as providing some of the best on track action in both of its outings we are determined to make this a must see fixture in 2011. 

We want to very much thank the captains and all their drivers who made such an amazing effort behind the scenes to make this meeting what it was. Their support for this event so far has been incredible and will be a critical key to its future success. 

Likewise the under 25 Hot Shot Championship proved another great success with another triple figure entry meeting at Mildenhall despite there being many high profile events on the same day (not only was the Hot Shot meeting the biggest banger turn out of the weekend, but the restricted entry Inter Counties event was the second highest). With around 75 young guns in action they again delivered a clear reminder of the superb amount of young blood in the sport and their championship was a fantastic event and a serious contender for race of the year at Mildenhall. 

Away from the National Banger action we would like to extend a massive thanks to all our Bangerstox and Super Rod drivers who made a stellar effort for their maiden trip to Mildenhall for the first ever Suffolk Championship which based on the strength of support shown this year looks likely to be an annual event. 

What was especially impressive was that not only so many drivers made the long trip from their Kent bases to Suffolk but how they managed to maintain strong fields throughout the weekend. Of the 29 Bangerstox which attended, only two failed to race on the Sunday and 21 competed in the all in Grand Final. The 13 Super Rods represented the majority of drivers who have raced in the formula this season and amazingly only one of their five races did not have a full field. 

We would also like to thank all the drivers in the Bangerstox, Super Rods and 1300cc Stockcars who adapted very well to the tight turn around at Mildenhall and in almost every case the drivers were ready for action when we needed them. This helped us tremendously in completing each day of the programme so well with the 12 races on Saturday done in little over three and a half hours (despite a short delay for the ambulance and some waits for the National Banger drivers to complete repairs) and the whopping 17 race programme on Sunday was completed in around five hours despite some big clear up operations in the National Banger drivers and an unfortunate delay to repair some fence damage during the first National Banger support race. 

Our thanks also go to our team who worked hard all weekend to get through the racing as well as possible. 

Finally we would like to again thank everyone who stayed all weekend and once again created a fantastic atmosphere in and out of the stadium all weekend. Once again this was complimented by many people and the Mildenhall weekend’er reputation took another step forward with many now looking forward to the July event on July 24 and 25. 

Congratulations to new Bangerstox and Super Rod Suffolk Champions (added June 16)
Congratulations are in order this week to 17 John Shilleto and 64 Aaron Harris who triumphed in the maiden Suffolk Championships for Super Rods and Bangerstox respectively at Mildenhall last weekend. 

After much thought, we have decided that the event, like the existing championships, should be deserving of a roof grade so the driver’s car can wear something which indicates they are a champion. However as the Mildenhall event is likely to remain a once a year event at best we don’t feel it would be fair for a driver who excelled at Mildenhall to have to start at the back of the grid at Dover for 12 months, given the polar opposites of the track. 

Therefore both Suffolk Champions will start in whatever grade they have currently earned for the next 12 months but if they wish they may paint two black stripes on the passenger side of their roof to designate they are Suffolk Champions.

However should the Suffolk Championship take place again in 2011, then both champions will have to start at the back of the grid with the other championship holders. 

Shelby Coventry has arrived (added May 9)
Regular visitors to the site may have noticed the lack of our usually punctual news updated this week but I'm afraid normal service has been interrupted this week but the early arrival of the newest member of the Coventry family, Shelby. 

Sian Coventry gave birth to her and Michael's first child, at 3.30am on Thursday, May 8 and despite being more than two weeks early, Shelby weighs a very healthy six pounds and eight ozs and the whole family was allowed home just over 12 hours after the birth.

In the meantime many RDC drivers and friends who were foolish enough to leave their mobile phones switched on would have been rudely woken at around 4am with messages carrying the news. 

Shelby is clearly a true Coventry having waited until after the busy bank holiday weekend to make her appearance and also choosing to come just ahead of a rare RDC meeting free weekend

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