Sunday 20th March played host to Team NOK's first EVER race outing! The venue was Smeatharpe Stadium in Devon and the weather was fantastic! We were treated to three competitions, each with two heats and one final (we think), so that's nine races in all. BriSCA F2 Stock cars may have had more 'runs' but we didn't buy a programme, so our tight pockets left us clueless. Note to self: Buy a programme.
National Bangers are a shell of a car, no glass, a roll cage and a sexy paint job. The general emphasis for National Bangers seems to be wreckage! The National Bangers were racing, so it wasn't an all-out 'Destruction Derby' but I assume competitors overtake without margins, and hope that their opponents come out of the scrape worse off.
BriSCA F2 Stock cars are the purpose-built triangular-shaped card, with roof-wings. These cars are build with speed in mind and part-take in contact racing.
Ministox are Minis, restricted to 1000cc and are for 'children' (11-16). Ministox is [intended to be] contact-less and exists primarily to introduce young people to the sport, with tougher cars, using additional iron-work to offer the protection of a robust shell.
We arrived just after 1pm so missed the start. I guess we would have had a better idea of what was going on, had we made it in time. Still, we got a burger (I didn't just go for the cars!) and sat in a prime position, on a warm, grassy bank (everywhere is a prime position on an oval track, we headed to the far end, which is only accessible by walking the circumfrence. Most spectators don't bother going that far).
The whole event was fantastic - extremely well-run, great variety of events and a really friendly bunch of people. I took 'O' to the pit area which he loved. We watched a few of the cars having work done and took a look at the various support trucks and other tools and equipment. We will be buying some ear protectors for 'O' and i'll probably take some ear plugs - we didn't quite anticipate just how loud stock car racing can get.
