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2 Litre Banger Team Championship - Mildenhall - Sunday 23rd
November 2008
Many thanks to Michael Coventry for this report, for more RDC
info check
out their excellent official website
AF=Aftermath, AL=Allstars,
BB=Bits and Bobs, BD=Beck Row Bandits, BN=Bad News, BW=Banger Wags, CA=Crash
Attack, CC=Common Crushers, CV=The Convicts, CW=The Cowboys, DA=Dover Boys A,
DB=Dover Boys B, DG=Damaged Goods, DL=Dealer Boys, FL=Team Flash, GC=Gypsy Crew,
GL=Gladiators, GT=Green Team, KA=Team Kamikaze A, KB=Team Kamikaze B, MR=Midnight
Runners, MK=Motley Krew, OS=Team Oldstockcarpics, PA=Predators A, PB=Predators
B, PC=Predators C, RA=Renegades A, RB=Renegades B, RC=Renegades C, SB=Six Bolt,
SC=Six Bolt Critters, SH=Shunters, TD=Team Dale, TG=Team Green, TT=Thattadoo, TW=Twisted
Metal, WI=WI Engineering, YB=The Yobwocs
The 2008 staging of the 2Litre
Banger Mildenhall Team Championship saw a bumper field of 39 teams and no
less than 147 cars fill the pits on November 23 despite blizzard conditions
hitting the country on the weekend of the meeting and the track being hits by
the same snow storms from 8 to 11.30am. Sadly Damage Inc fell fell of the
weather and the horrendous road conditions and were unable to attend but full
credit and extra are deserving of all the other teams and drivers who braved the
conditions to simply attend when you could not have blamed any for thinking
better of making the trip. Full marks should also go to all those drivers who
had raced at Birmingham the previous evening including MR190 Steve Bailey who
made yet another trip to Suffolk. On the car front the Mondeo was very much the
chosen tool but there was a little bit of RWD interest although it was all used.
BN277 Des Own and YB345 Les Waite had Cortinas, PA292 Keith Saunders had a Mk2
Triumph 2000 and DG76 Terry Mansfield piloted his BMW 518. Plenty made the
effort in the paint department with Team Kamikaze A judged to be the smartest
team while individual awards were to KB278 Tom Hills, BW74 Caroline Garner,
RB178 Paul Robinson (Cavalier), RB455 Luke Cornish (Cavalier), SC332 Lee
Champion, BW317 Vicky Woods, RC405 Neil Cornish (Cavalier) and RC818 Wayne
Duncan.
Sadly with so many drivers struggling to get to the stadium, let alone on time
the start of the meeting was pushed back by around 40 minutes in order to try
and get everyone into the pits and scrutineered but again credit it deserving to
all the drivers for simply making the effort and enduring the awful problems on
almost every road around the raceway. Ultimately 26 cars made it out for the opening
heat with a couple of teams failing to line up, the track very wet as
expected but in all honesty far better than anyone could have expected given the
weather earlier in the day. AD400 Kevin Shinn made his intentions clear as he
picked up and followed in SH174 Dave Osborn from the off as CV623 Ricky Hutton
piled DB807 Chris Murfin (Bluebird) into the concrete blocks as MR88 Josh Fuller
treated AF604 Ross Cooper to a head-on. DB148 Ian Redden (Bluebird) and SH403
Marcus Sprawling (Cavalier) met in similar fashion as 174 Whipper bounced back
to thump AF602 Shaun Cooper as 400 Shinny latched onto 148 Shorty who picked up
SH514 Chas Taylor (Cavalier) and he ran them both in. Ross Cooper bounced back
and T-boned Sprawling and BD22 Dave Vincent did the same to the spun CV710 Sam
Topley with CV826 John Murrell (Bluebird) then leaning 190 Pikey into the
latter. Shinny scored on MR208 Jimmy Randall as DB801 Jack Foster's Saab 99 was
pounded by Whipper and 602 Mr Moody before DB180 Mark Foster (Bluebird) turned
round and hit Whipper while 208 the Finger blasted Murrell and Mr Moody fenced
Vincent. SH512 Lewis Harvey (Cavalier) turned round to lay into 180 Sparky with
CV623 Ricky Hutton turning round to hit the former in turn as the Finger picked
up Shinny who latched onto Murrell, the latter getting run in hard and then
copping a T-bone from Mr Moody. 278 Sex Pest took a near flag to flag win with
team mate KB167 Kev Ling (Cavalier) second and Team Kamikaze B topped the points
and sailed into the final. 88 Splosh was third and Shinny took the entertainer
award.
One more for the second heat with PC296 Liam Brinton attacked AL19 Joe
Mullarkey (Bluebird) from the off as BB761 Nat Cohn (Cavalier) bundled PC137 Jay
Chilton into the fence, the latter taking a head-on from GL349 Lewis Price and
YB518 Vic Bikey Jnr blasted the Predator in turn. PC404 Luke Brinton zeroed in
on the PRI young gun in turn as RC888 Jack Hills (Cavalier) met PC192 Stu Warby
on the nose while 404 Spook went on to follow in YB503 Ben Murray hard. The race
then turned quiet until Spook again stuffed Murray which also claimed BB303
Wayne Linsdale before 296 Brat nailed OS750 James Anderson and Spook continued
by running in AL249 Matt Frost, Brat then blasting the latter for good measure.
GL432 Mark Munson took the win which was enough to put the Gladiators through,
TG82 Wayne Quinn and AL898 Andy Battle (Cavalier) the placemen while Spook took
the entertainer award.
The fields started to improve for the third heat which raised a much
better 38 car field and BN121 Dan Owen fired the first shot by fencing FL161
Karl Totham as FL287 Paul Totham bundled KA487 Craig Farrow into the concrete in
an all Bluebird affair. TW40 Lester Freestone connected with a T-bone on SB244
Colin Burnham while RA103 John Seex (Cavalier) hit MK311 Lee Bradbury on the
nose. CC51 Simon Heilds opened his account by following Owen into DL362 Liam
Friel hard as BN515 Gareth Flatters T-boned Seex before BN192 Terry Nightingale
picked up RA446 Lee Greer and buried him head-on into 515 Flatts hard with CC60
Kyle Stevenson blasting Nightingale in turn with a stiff shot. CC70 Ant Long
trashed SB379 Ade Clifton (Bluebird estate) on the road bend while DL307 Jon Joe
Cunningham (Bluebird) fired SB172 Ben Forbes into the blocks. Heilds now powered
into 379 the Worm as Owen met GT768 Pete Sparrow on the nose as Freestone scored
on MK46 Wayne Pecker. GT86 Alex Savage (Cavalier) hit team mate Sparrow on the
nose while GT371 Jason Cobbold (Bluebird) survived a late burial from CC840 Dan
Waddingham to take the win. TW37 Dave Lewis (Rover 214) and Savage were the
placemen, the latters result meaning the Green Team just pipped Twisted Metal
for the spot in the final while Heilds took the entertainer award.
38 cars again for heat four and DA465 Andy Scarlett (Bluebird) and GC85
James Ellis met head-on from the off as did PA401 Steve Hemmings and GC285 Sean
Dyer (Bluebird), the former going on to nail DA188 John Reeves (Bluebird) while
Woods stuffed KA117 Karl Dack. Ellis bounced back to hit PA778 Aaron Bonness on
the nose and Scarlett fired into RB108 Adam Tutton before GC490 Alistair Warren
hammered RB415 Scott Cornish and buried him into the concrete, 490 Bonky then
hitting the spun 332 Rodney on the nose. Scarlett fenced CA902 Tony Lowther
before DA431 Shaun Abra followed KA620 Guy Whitehead in well in an all Bluebird
affair. PA879 Reg Reed scored on WI166 Guy Chopping while DA364 Sean Winchester
(Bluebird) threw away hit place to blast 401 Psycho with a large head-on. The
latter rallied back to stop Abra on opposite as CA525 Wes Starmer stuffed Garner
and took one in turn from Winchester. The latter continued to stuffed 879
Wrecked Reg as SC312 Grief Cheeseman ended the action by burying BW84 Lizzy
Crowden-Murfin (Rover 216). Ellis won from 285 Mr Misery to book the Gypsy Crew
a place in the final with 84 Our Lizzy was third and Psycho the best
entertainer.
Into the second round of
heats with 35 cars for the fifth heat and Sparky nailed Splosh from the
off before hitting 405 Nelly on the nose causing an immediate pile-up.
Waddingham thundered HG326 Shane Lynn (Cavalier) in hard on the road bend and
Pikey administered a brutal T-bone on Brat. Cooper hammered Lewis as PC192 Fat
Head blew up the luckless 326 Ratty before the reds came out for Duncan who was
in a spot of trouble on the road bend. A depleted field for the restart and
Waddingham picked up where he left off as blasted Hills and stuffed him to boot
but took a package from Cooper in turn as Brat followed in BD33 Gary Magewick
(Bluebird) who was making a welcome outing. The latter recovered only to be
stuffed again, this time by Waddingham with the latter then nailing HG328 Daniel
Latham (Cavalier) as 807 Murf turned round and fired into Spook with TG682 Paul
Sparrow hitting the latter head-on in a big crash. Murrell buried Brat and
Foster in one go as Murf again hammered Spook on opposite while Splosh put 33
Magic away and Cooper ended things with a hard hit on TG385 Roy Gedge (Bluebird
estate). TG617 Jack Overy took the win from 67 Sparky and Splosh while a fourth
for 682 Sparrow Boy guaranteed Team Green a space in the final. Waddingham took
the entertainer prize.
Down to 30 cars for the sixth heat but it was one of the best of the
days. 117 Kamikaze set the ball following by following in Saunders as 312 Rattie
blasted Wrecked Reg and RA107 Michael Seex (Cavalier) went in on Bilkey Jnr as a
massive pile-up formed on the start line. Taylor and RA545 Karl Hough (Cavalier)
met on the nose as did 525 Wes and Woods before Bilkey Jnr took a hard hit from
John Seex. TT154 Tony Lawton (Bluebird) dished out a head-on to 545 Huffy with
SC442 Sean Crittenden T-boning the former hard in another big hit. TT435 Dan
Wilkins (Primera) and Rattie enjoyed a head-on with Whipper blasting the latter
in turn as Saunders turned round and struck 435 Action Man. Wes turned round and
blasted Saunders in turn as Rodney nailed 154 Splitter and 19 Doe Toe Joe picked
up Taylor for a meaty hit. Battle clobbered Dove Toe Joe in turn as Taylor
turned round and connected on Kamikaze and Wes hit Battle on opposite. 512
Shaggy hammered Rodney but Six Bolt Critter revenge was swift thanks to a solid
hit from 442 Critter. 54 Splat came inside out at Shaggy and was shown the black
flag and immediately withdrew from the event as Wes continued on opposite with
hits on SC741 Charlie Daniels on Battle. Kamikaze picked up Shaggy and buried
him into Murray allowing Rodney to hit the Shunter as Battle dumped Critter into
the pile on the pit bend. Kamikaze and 741 German Jnr traded hits as Shaggy took
the flag from Rodney but both were found guilty of corner cutting and thus
Kamikaze took the win from Battle and Rodney but minor places for the Six Bolt
Critters saw them top the points this time and they advanced to the final. Wes
took the entertainer trophy this time.
25 cars lined up for heat seven and PB157 Michael Piggott drew first
blood with a hit on Owen, firing the latter up to turn round and meet Winchester
in a hard head-on and SB204 Charlie King hit the latter in turn as PB595 Andrew
Tarn (Bluebird) fenced Cohn before Owen caught fire to bring the reds out. A
complete restart was ordered and things resumed with Scarlett fencing the
Bluebird of BB437 Chris Bailey (who got married the previous day) and 244 Clumsy
and PB176 Ady Gibbs met on the nose. PB79 Ricky Twell fenced Bailey as 178 Bince
assaulted 176 Gibo before the formr belted TD791 Nicky Young (Cavalier) on the
nose. 79 Twelly impressed by thundering FL454 Gary Foreman (Cavalier) into a
dead car on the pit bend and repeated the move a lap later with Scarlett the
victim. 157 Piglet moved in to hit the latter head-on as Winchester zeroed in on
Twelly as Bince continued his full contact performance by nailing Foreman,
Piglet also attacking the latter on opposite as Winchester dished out hits to
595 Drew and Piglet before T-boning Foreman. Piglet rallied back to nail 287
Gizmo, the latter recovering for a revenge head-on. FL388 Emmerson Fairweather
(Cavalier) took the win with Bince the only other finisher so Team Flash
qualified while Bince's full contact drive was rewarded with the entertainer
award.
Into the final round of heats and 24 cars for the penultimate heat which
started well as Sprawling picked up AF384 Liam Conway (Bluebird) and followed
him in which also claimed Murrell and DG26 Daniel Holmes (Cavalier). CC70 Ant
Long opened his account with a shot on Duncan as Heilds laid into BD318 Terry
Chapman while PC137 Jay Chilton fenced Whipper. Long hit Duncan and Kamikaze
followed 148 Shorty in well before Murf scored on Whipper as Duncan connected
with a fine hit on YB681 Dan Parry (Cavalier). Shorty rallied back to hit Spook
who bounced back quickly and T-boned Bilkey Jnr by the start line. Murf and
Spook went head to head with Kamikaze blasting the former in turn as Long nailed
Duncan only to take one in turn from Freestone. Tricky hit the latter in turn
with the Convict going on to hit Whipper on the nose which allowed Freestone to
score with a revenge hit. Conway blasted Kamikaze as Long laid into Freestone
and Conway continued with a meaty head-on to Tricky before the race was declared
early with a nasty looking fire for Spook. Lewis won which was enough to put
Twisted Metal through, 318 Shifty and Shaggy the placemen, just six finished and
Long was declared the best entertainer.
The afternoon was certainly taking its toll by this point and just 13 cars
contested the final heat. Things started quietly until Dove Toe Joe
blasted Ratty hard, Wrecked Reg homing in for a head-on to the latter. Piglet
turned it on by turning round to hammer the luckless Ratty as OS138 Jason Smy
nailed Wrecked Reg with a stiff shot. Piglet now stopped Dove Toe Joe with a big
head-on before setting about HG324 Mark Latham (Cavalier) and AL551 Stu Franklin
(Vectra estate). Latham hit back for a revenge head-on from Piglet and they met
on the nose again the following lap. Battle took the win from TD717 Craig
Pendergast (Cavalier) and WI165 Steve Chopping (Primera), a fourth from Franklin
sealing the Allstars' place in the final with Piglet winning the entertainer
award by a country mile.
The nine teams which qualified for the final raised 25 cars between them
and things started with TW35 Pete Lewis (Rover 214) following in Bonky to
trigger an immediate pile-up. Critter blasted Savage with Gizmo hammered
Freestone as Gedge and GC273 Kevin McClagish enjoyed a head-on. Gizmo continued
with a package on GL206 Phil Milner (Cavalier) before 388 Emmo buried Mr Misery
into Gizmo. Cobbold fenced Bonky and Critter in one move while GT370 John
Cobbold (Cavalier) blated Pete Lewis and Gedge turned round to T-bone Gizmo
before he also attacked Pete Lewis. Freestone turned round and belted Gedge with
Gizmo T-boning the former only to come under fire from Rattie in turn. 273 Mad
Mouse renewed with Gedge and blasted him as GL542 Craig Oliver (Calibra) turned
round and hit Bonky on the nose, Dave Lewis hitting the former over the rear
wheel while Rattie went head to head with John Cobbold and Jason Cobbold T-boned
Gizmo. Mr Misery nailed Oliver and Freestone continued his battle with Gizmo as
they went head to head before Savage T-boned Battle. TG82 Wayne Quinn and Oliver
met on the nose, Battle hitting the latter in similar fashion which ended his
race as Mouse homed in for a hard shot on Overy. Oliver continued with a head-on
to John Cobbold and German Jnr blasted the former in turn as Ellis won from John
Cobbold and Overy, Savage and German Jnr the only other finishers. When the
points were added up it was the Green Team who just beat the Gypsy Crew to the
win by a single point, Team Green finishing third.
With the meeting now pushing the six hour mark nearly 20 drivers returned for
the demo which was a decent ending to the afternoon. Waddingham started
with a hit on Whipper before Whitehead powered into Waddingham and ran his man
in to boot as Kamikaze dished out a head-on to Whipper. Chilton followed in the
luckless Waddingham only to take one from 349 Squaddie in turn. Long turned it
on with a shot on Kamikaze and a head-on to TD132 Rob James. Shaggy also pounded
132 Bubbles but he took a head-on from the game Waddingham for his trouble with
Chilton blasting Shaggy as well. Splat hit Bubbles but took a head-on from
Waddingham in turn while Long went on a rampage with a head-on to Turkish, a
shot to Squaddie and a head-on directed at Splat. Turkish also belted Splat with
a head-on, Chilton nailing the Gladiator in turn as Overy dished out a meaty
head-on to Tricky. Waddingham scored on Splat as Kamikaze buried Whipper only to
take a hard hit from Overy as Chilton scored on Bubbles. Chilton continued to
hit Overy on the nose as Kamikaze hit Whipper only to take one from Chilton in
turn, the latter then blasting Turkish. Chilton bounced back to dish out a
wicked head-on to Whipper, Kamikaze piling in for a big head-on to the latter to
take the win, Chilton taking the entertainer award this time.
Heat one: KB278 Tom Hills, KB167, MR88, BD67, CV826, MR730, BD318, AF602, DB801
Heat two: GL432 Mark Munson, TG82, AL898, PC404, TD132, BB425, PC296
Heat three: GT371 Jason Cobbold, TW37, GT86, TW29, TW35, FL161, MK320, RA107
Heat four: GC85 James Ellis, GC285, BW84, SC442, KA620, CA525, BW74, RB178,
WI587, DA465
Heat five: TG617 Jack Overy, BD67, MR88, TG682, BD318, CV826, DB801, TW29,
HG328, MR208
Heat six: KA117 Karl Dack, AL898, SC332, SH512, SC442, BW511, SC741
Heat seven: FL388 Emmerson Fairweather, RB178
Heat eight: TW37 Dave Lewis, BD318, SH512, AF384, CC70, DG76
Heat nine: AL898 Andy Battle, TD717, WI165, AL551, OS334, HG324
Grand Final: GC85, GT370, TG617, GT86, SC741
Destruction Derby: KA117 Karl Dack from PC137/SH174
A meeting which was every
bit as good as it possibly could have been, maybe even marginally better, given
the truly rotten conditions. One can only imagine how good the meeting could
have been had the stadium escaped the weather which hit it between 8 and 11.30am
as prior to the that the racing surface was simply immaculate. Nonetheless full
credit is deserving to every single driver for simply attending the meeting, let
alone getting on the track and doing their level best to entertain the truly die
hard fans who deserve just as much praise for attending and hopefully they
enjoyed a entertaining meeting despite being a marathon afternoon which was to
be expected given the volume of cars and races and the unavoidable late start.
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