User:Dalags/sandbox
 | |
| Sport | Stock car racing |
|---|---|
| Category | Auto racing |
| Founded | 1960's |
| Regional affiliation |  United Kingdom Southern Ireland  The Netherlands  Belgium  Germany |
Banger Racing, or simply Bangers, is a motorsport popularised in Europe, in which drivers compete for a set amount of laps in unarmoured vehicles which retain their factory crumple zones, with additional safety enhancements. What separates Banger Racing from any other motorsport is that drivers are permitted to crash into and write off other opponents for no gain or advantage during regular races.
Oval shaped tracks are used for racing and are primarily shale or tarmac, sometimes incorporating a figure of 8 design. Usually around a quarter-mile in length, tracks range from being purpose built stadiums to primitive dirt tracks. Track fencing is usually in the form of armco barriers, concrete or post and wire, though tyres and dirt banking is also used at some venues.
There are further dimensions to the sport aside from the actual racing, one is the attraction of unusual and rare vehicles racing. In addition to this, within the last couple of decades there has been a trend for high quality car preparation both in terms of performance and appearance.
- TALk about car prep and paint. i.e painted in team colours, number, alot of drivers have nicknames, sponsers, slogans, warpaint etc. now signwritten etc
Vehicles used
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Popular cars are determined on availability, strength, speed, ease to prepare, reliability, and price.
Car classes are largely determined on engine size, with car size and weight also being taken into account.
Common car classes include:
Micro’s, compact cars such as an Austin Metro or a Nissan Micra and usually run up to 1.3Litre engines.
2 Litre's, mid sized cars such as the Ford Mondeo which do not exceed the 2 Litre engine limit.
Unlimited’s are the largest cars and are for cars produced with an engine over 2 Litre such as a Ford Granada or a Lexus LS400. The general rule is that nothing smaller than a Triumph 2000 is permitted to race with the bigger cars due to safety reasons.
National’s are cars under 3 Litre in engine size, this means some cars that would be allowed to race in Unlimited’s can race with cars that have smaller engines; Ford Granada’s, Triumph 2000’s or Vauxhall Omega’s for example would be permitted to race both in the National and Unlimited car classes, but not in 2 Litres.
Between the 2 Litre and Unlimited class there are classes specifically for cars which don't exceed the 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.8 Litre engine limit.
There are meetings held for particular car types, some of the most common examples would be for RWD only cars, British cars, or cars made before a certain date, commonly 1970, or 1985.
More unusual cars are also used, with Reliant Robins, Buses and Vans having a number of fixtures through the season.
Since the sport's early days, there has been a big attraction in racing unusual cars, the first Hearse being recorded as being raced in 1972, over 1000 have since graced the track. Limos and Ambulances have also been raced along with countless amounts of rare, unusual or highly sought after cars. Many Rolls Royce models have been raced[1] and 1 Ferrari[2] to date underlining how wide the range of cars used has been.
Races
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A normal Banger meeting consists of a few heats then a Final.
In a Banger race, the cars are gridded across the track in a rolling start until a green flag is shown. Races have a finite number of laps and through these, drivers can either try and win or simply crash how they wish.
Yellow flags are used during the race to warn drivers that caution is required. Cars which stall or are stopped by opposing drivers are usually left on the course while the race continues. Red flags will be used to stop the race if it is deemed necessary to move stranded cars, if a driver is in particular danger, or if a fire starts. Races are then usually restarted when the situation has been resolved unless the majority of the race has already been completed, or if there aren’t enough cars left to warrant a restart.
Meetings sometimes conclude with a Demolition Derby, in which the last car running is declared the winner.
There are also different race types, special events include:
Caravan racing, where there is a Caravan attached to each car
Siamese racing, where one car is placed on top of another and the driver in each controls either the steering or pedals for the bottom car.
Chained pairs, where one car is chained behind an other.
Other racing types include team events and figure of 8’s.
History
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1960's-1980's
[edit]Unlike Stock car racing, the exact origins of Banger Racing are not as clear. Whilst short oval racing became popular from the mid 50’s, crashing was found to appeal to both crowds and drivers. So from the mid 60’s, Demolition Derby events were being held in the UK at the end of some Stock car meetings, with some drivers electing to only participate in these, and on private land. By 1968 Bangers had starting appearing as an established separate formula at tracks such as Hednesford, St Austell, Northampton, Aldershot and West Ham. Car preparation at this time was very basic and relatively easy for anyone to take part, cars would have the windows removed but often whole interiors would be left inside.
Through the 1970’s and 1980’s car preparation steadily progressed, with roll cages for drivers safety becoming compulsory, door plates being used and fuel tanks moved inside the cars.
1990 - Present
[edit]Whilst there had always been big crashes in the sport, through the 1990’s, they became a lot more common, due to car preparation evolving, and faster cars becoming more available. A debated topic, on internet forums looking back on this period of racing, is that glorification of bigger crashes in magazines of the time encouraged these.
Through the 1990’s, promoters began hosting "open" meetings with significant prize funds on offer not only for race winners, but for rare and smartly turned out cars and for entertaining.
The 5th annual Icebreaker team event, held at Swaffham Raceway on February 8 1998, is widely regarded as the best meeting of all time, drawing 209 competitors in a day of consistently heavy action.
The ORCI was introduced in the early 1990’s as a governing body for short oval racing, introducing more formality in the way cars were prepared, as well as rule enforcement [3]. Drivers door strengthening in the form of weld or plating became compulsory because of the nature in which cars were now folding up due to the sheer scale and speed of some of the crashes.
Although Banger Racing had existed in mainland Europe prior to the 1990’s, the scene had a big boost when promoters CAMSO introduced Bangers to their race meetings at Ruisbroek and Warneton in Belgium[4]. Similar occurred in Ireland with initially Santry and Tipperary, and later Nutts Corner improving the Banger scene.
With modern FWD cars being readily available for the first time there was a noticeable transition to these in the smaller car classes from 2005 onwards. By 2009 the Ford Mondeo had totally dominated its car classes due to its strength.
At higher profile events, cars are often prepared to high standards. This has been on-going since the 1990’s. However, in recent years, some drivers have invested significantly in race-tuned engines, more expensive tyres and even suspension set-ups on a regular basis.
World Final’s
[edit]Winner of World Final’s are permitted to race with a gold roof grade until the next years event.
PRI World Final
[edit]The first ever Banger World Final was held by Promotasport International (PRI) at Harringay Stadium in 1971, won by Kevin McAuley. The PRI World Final is the longest running World Final in the sport and has since been held at Crayford and Arena Essex where it has stayed since 1984. PRI had always ran this event to the National car limit, dominating cars have gone from the Austin A60 range, to Ford Cortinas, to Ford Granadas, to now Ford Mondeos.
Spedeworth World Final
[edit]Spedeworth held their first open World Final in 1974 at Wimbledon Stadium, won by Blondie Melbourne. The meeting was held at Wimbledon from 1974 till 2007, in 2008 the event moved to Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich and has remained there. The Spedeworth World Final is run to the Unlimited car limit, and is considered to be the World Final.
Critics
[edit]Some vehicle enthusiasts object to banger racing on the grounds that it is responsible for the destruction of countless classic cars and the reason why many models, such as the Ford Cortina have become a very rare sight on the road. This argument is heavily debated, a common counter debate claims that a large percentage of vehicles raced are beyond restoration anyway.
Media
[edit]Television
[edit]ITV’s World of Sport featured Banger Racing through the 1980’s. L!ve TV had a program dedicated to Banger Racing in the late 1990’s called Bangers and Smash. A number of events were filmed for Sky during the early 2000’s. An 8 part documentary was filmed during the 2012 season for the History channel focussing on Steve Anscombe and his family and team mates[5]. A 2 part documentry focussing on Banger Racing at Arena Essex Raceway were shown on BBC2 in March 2013[6].
Magazine
[edit]The first fanzine was created by racer Keith Reynolds, 3 Litre Magazine. It covered mainly Spedeworth and Southern tracks, which subsequently inspired others to do the same. There was no one magazine that regularly covered the whole Banger Racing scene until Blitz! magazine, which was first released 1994. It lasted until 2001 by which point the publication had not been producing regular issues for a while. Wasted! magazine produced its first pilot in 2002 filling the gap in the market and has remained dominant since.
Film
[edit]The Long Good Friday's final scenes were filmed during Banger Racing at Harringay Stadium.
See also
[edit]External links
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- Official website of the Oval Racing Council International
- On-going list of tracks were Banger Racing has taken place in the UK.