'Pre-'68 is coming' Hednesford Raceway Sun 30/9

[Brian Damaged]

Unfinished business dept........

As most of you will no doubt be aware, last year I organised a day out last September which consisted of a Dawn Drive around Birmingham, breakfast at a transport cafe near Cannock and then what was supposed to be the icing on the cake which was a trip over to Hednesford Raceway for the Pre-68 banger meeting. The early morning rain (and a bigger than expected turnout) put a bit of a dampener on the Dawn Drive, but any problems with that paled into insignificance when we witnessed the tragedy that befell banger racer Dave Weare in the fifth race of the day at Hednesford. I'm not going to dwell on that, those of us that were there and saw it all have our own all-too-vivid memories.

This year's Pre-68 is to go ahead on Sunday September 30th with a race dedicated to his memory. If there's enough interest I'll contact the relevant people at Incarace and see if we can't have our own little enclave.

So....who's in?

I understand that Banger Racing is an emotive subject on here, but would respectfully ask that those with strong opinions both for and against the sport please refrain from turning this event thread into any kind of bunfight.

[retrolegends]

I am planning on going to Hednesford for the Pre '68 meeting,probably would'nt make the dawn drive but breakfast sounds like a good idea,will it be at the cafe on the A5?
Oh and have a couple of pics of Solihulls finest!

[Brian Damaged]

Yeah, breakfast at The Hollies, same as last year. It had a complete refit about 18 months back, the grub's excellent.

;D

[kevfromwales]

OH HELLS YEAH!!!

[rysz]

Toby and I hope to be there Bri!

Sounds good!

Rysz.

[kevfromwales]

are we dawn driving at all? - or keeping it simple with brekkie and hednesford action?

[Brian Damaged]

Aug 2, 2012 22:33:42 GMT kevfromwales said:

are we dawn driving at all? - or keeping it simple with brekkie and hednesford action?

Simplicity's the way forward...... ;D

[davethepieman]

I'll be doing the PA commentary at Hednesford - will be nice to meet some of you and maybe snatch a quick interview

[Brian Damaged]

Aug 3, 2012 23:15:15 GMT davethepieman said:

I'll be doing the PA commentary at Hednesford - will be nice to meet some of you and maybe snatch a quick interview

I'll be in touch about that, Dave.

[Brat-Man]

Jul 30, 2012 17:08:21 GMT Brian Damaged said:

Yeah, breakfast at The Hollies, same as last year. It had a complete refit about 18 months back, the grub's excellent.

;D

That's me in the picture about to receive "THAT MONSTER BREKKIE"
& i was full up from it for the rest of the day!
I might be tempted to come along again & sample another one as it is without doubt one of the finest greasy spoon breakfasts i've ever consumed!!
Tim.

[v8devon]

Could be up for this Bri, you will have to remind me nearer the time though, 6 weeks is a lot of sleeps

[Brian Damaged]

Aug 12, 2012 16:26:43 GMT v8devon said:

Could be up for this Bri, you will have to remind me nearer the time though, 6 weeks is a lot of sleeps

Fnaaaarrrrr!!! Many happy returns BTW!! You enjoying your birthday pal?

[v8devon]

Aug 12, 2012 17:09:25 GMT Brian Damaged said:

Fnaaaarrrrr!!! Many happy returns BTW!! You enjoying your birthday pal?

Sure am, had a big bonfire this morning, off to the flicks now, then the pub ;D

[jamesp]

hold fire with this at the mo kids the council are puttin the brakes on the bangers at the track for the mo
hopefully its sorted before the 30th


The following has just been posted on the Incarace website - can people please spread it around to save anyone wasted journeys. I have let all the booked-in drivers know.

This is down to the ongoing H&S investigation into the tragedy at Hednesford last September. While there are potentially serious implications to the future of Banger racing at all tracks, we are asking people not to get involved in contacting Cannock Chase Council as we are hopeful of reaching a sensible resolution as per the statement. Thank you.

Nico

"Due to restrictions currently being imposed on Bangers / National Bangers at Hednesford by Cannock Chase Council, we have had to take the decision to cancel the National Bangers from the programme for this Monday 27th August. The meeting will go ahead with the other formulas - the National Hot Rods, MASCARs and Ministox.

Cannock Chase Council is requiring that we do not permit drivers to get out of their cars during a Banger race. We are resisting this on the basis that it is considered that in some circumstances it is safer for a driver to exit if he/she feels unsafe, and in the interests of driver safety we do not want to make drivers feel compelled to stay in their cars when it may be in their interest to get out. We believe that decision must always rest with the driver who is best placed to assess the situation.

As we are committed to driver safety and do not feel that we can comply with the current requirements of Cannock Chase Council without putting our drivers at increased risk, we have taken the decision to cancel Banger racing at Hednesford Hills Raceway until further notice. We are hopeful of being able to reach a suitable compromise in due course and there is ongoing dialogue between parties.

The National Banger Pre-68 meeting scheduled for 30th September will not be cancelled, but may need to be moved. The worst case scenario is that we would have to move this to Northampton on the same date, but again we are hopeful that we will reach a suitable compromise with Cannock Chase Council and will be able to recommence Banger racing at Hednesford Hills very soon.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience."

[Brian Damaged]

Thanks for that James.

Understandable I guess, if a little over-zealous on Cannock Chase DC's part IMHO.

I'll keep a watching brief on Incarace's website and keep all interested parties aware of any developments.

[v8devon]

I can't see that Cannock Chase DC have any jurisdiction on this matter. HSE maybe, but not the council

[jamesp]

can always go to northampton for the pre 68 fix if they move it there

[ChasR]

Brekkie at the Hollies always seems to be a good shout .

[davethepieman]

Good news....

Following our previous news story about Banger racing at Hednesford, we are now pleased to confirm that we have reached an agreement with Cannock Chase Council on continuing to run Banger racing at the track.

This Sunday's 'Rookie' Banger meeting will go ahead as scheduled and we already have very good interest. There will be some small experimental changes to procedures which will be detailed in due course.

The Pre-68 National Banger meeting on 30th September also goes ahead as planned.

Drivers can book in for either on 01252 322920.

[kevfromwales]

YES!!

can we confirm what time (roughly) racing winds up at the end of the day please?

REALLY looking forward to this - should be down with a full car load