Sunday 27th May - Arena Essex - National Bangers Report by BangerBash 33 cars for the latest session at Arena with the majority of the field in Granada Mk2’s. Most of the cars were from the warring teams with the Gladiators numbering 8 and Bad Co/whoever else in black had 13. 552 Karl Douglas had the lone Mondeo while the Glads came equipped with a few Volvo’s as did Ant Hill Mob’s 226 Jamie Marsh who didn’t race. Pick of the Granada’s came from 456 Nathan Roberts who returned Outen’s one and 333 Danny Webb who had a smartly presented one. 18 cars for Heat 1 and 250 turned round his very battered Cavalier to get t-boned by 552 Blacknuts (Mondeo). On the home straight 549 Phil Smith (Volvo 740 Est) leathered 137 Lee Turner nicely to end his day early. 508 Harry Bradbury guided 321 Lee Caunter (Volvo 740 Est) into the fence while Blacknuts layed into 650 Steve Ward before he retired to the shale. 161 Wayne Burns delivered a hit to 321 Trigger and Bradbury connected with the head on. Blacknuts then did a big hit to Trigger over the back door and the reds came out for a shaken Trigger. Blacknuts was loaded for hitting while the yellow was out. An action less restart saw 331 Boxer take the flag ahead of 348 Sonny Sherwood (Mk3) and 395 Steve Hale. 1st: 331-Jason Jackson, 2nd-348, 3rd-395, 4th-188, 5th-567, 6th-26, 7th-196, 8th-322, 9th-507, 10th-508 Only 13 cars for Heat 2 but it was a goodun as only 3 cars weren’t part of the war. 374 Paddy Palmer landed one on 336 Ian Smith (Volvo 940). 206 Phil Milner (Volvo 240 Est) turned round and 333 Danny Webb (Mk1) gave him a good head on. 589 Simon Smith (Volvo 740 Est) then piled into Webb. 456 Nathan Roberts (Mk1) flattened Smiffy Jnr while 138 Elliot Dobson turned round to fire into the back of Turkish. Smiffy gave a solid hit to Roberts and 342 Carl Davies nailed the former. Smiffy recovered to take another one from Paddy. Elliot then gave a t-bone to Turkish while Webb nailed Smiffy Jnr again. Webb being black flagged for turning round on the shale. 342 Big Dave then gave Simon a head on while Paddy and Webb pounded Simon who sat tight the whole time. Meanwhile 539 Michael Outen (Cav Mk3) took the win from 242 Ricky Korpiella and 320 Paul Seymour (Cav Mk3). 1st: 539-Michael Outen, 2nd-242, 3rd-320, 4th-113, nof 25 cars for the final and Bradbury held up Action Man so Mushy could blitz him then Dobson annihilated 650 with another length of the straight hit. 113 Ian Beaumont was picked up by 103 John Seex (Cav Mk3) and followed in. 342 Big Dave went for 514 Charlie Taylor only to get blown up by Turkish and Burnsey gave Turkish a killer shot in which the reds came out but everyone was ok. On the restart Dobson was lurking the wrong way round and gave Phil Smith a head on although snapped his own car in the process. 507 Danny Brown then t-boned the young Smith and 341 Richard Davies gave him 2 stiff hits. Danny Boy then gave Smiffy Jnr another hit before things went quiet. Towards the end Mushy picked up 26 Buzz Kelsey (Mk3) and planted him into the dead 650 car while 395 Steve Hale took the win ahead of Boxer and Outen. 1st: 395-Steven Hale, 2nd-331, 3rd-539, 4th-188, 5th-348, 6th-567, 7th-322, 8th-242, 9th-26, 10th-508 12 cars returned for the Rawlins/DD including the Smith family. Credit to Simon Smith and Elliot Dobson for repairing their big wrecks for one last crash. Mushy started his account by blowing up Simon Smith before then taking out Phil. Then he also put away Ian Smith but this only proved to kill his own motor. In the race Boxer took the win and everyone pulled off bar Dobson and Fuller and they had a solid head on which killed both cars to end it in a dead heat. 1st: 331-Jason Jackson, 2nd-103, 3rd-188 Last Car Running: 138-Elliot Dobson and 188-Matt Fuller Car List 26-Buzz Kelsey-Granada Mk3* 103-John Seex-Cavalier Mk3* 113-Ian Beaumont-Granada Mk2* 137-Lee Turner-Granada Mk2* 138-Elliot Dobson-Granada Mk2 161-Wayne Burns-Granada Mk2* 188-Matt Fuller-Granada Mk2 Estate* 196-Stu Palmer-Granada Mk2 Estate* 206-Phil Milner-Volvo 240 Estate 226-Jamie Marsh-Volvo 240 Estate (DNR) 242-Ricky Korpiella-Granada Mk2* 250-Carl Howard-Cavalier Mk3* 320-Paul Seymour-Cavalier Mk3* 321-Lee Caunter-Volvo 740 Estate 322-Mark Rowland-Granada Mk2* 331-Jason Jackson-Granada Mk2 Estate* 333-Danny Webb-Granada Mk1 336-Ian Smith-Volvo 940 341-Richard Davies-Granada Mk2* 342-Carl Davies-Granada Mk2* 348-Sonny Sherwood-Granada Mk3* 374-Paddy Palmer-Granada Mk2* 395-Steven Hale-Granada Mk2 456-Nathan Roberts-Granada Mk1* 507-Danny Brown-Granada Mk2 508-Harry Bradbury-Granada Mk2 514-Charlie Taylor-Granada Mk2 539-Michael Outen-Cavalier Mk3* 549-Phil Smith-Volvo 740 Estate 552-Karl Douglas-Mondeo 567-Gary Brown-Cavalier Mk3* 589-Simon Smith-Volvo 740 Estate 650-Steve Ward-Granada Mk2*