ONE OF the highlights of the short oval race season at Smeatharpe Stadium between Honiton and Taunton is the annual Championship of the World for the hard hitting National Bangers. 

The event is the highlight of the first of two days of action at the circuit, beginning on Saturday evening (July 20, 5p.m.). This will be the 41st annual staging of the event.  Formula Two Stock Cars will feature. 

They will race on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon (July 21, 1p.m.), with a hugely impressive entry of drivers expected. 

The junior racers in the Ministox also have two days of competition, while the programme on Sunday afternoon will also include Saloon Stock Cars and the Back 2 Basics Bangers..

Meanwhile, the 41st annual Championship of the World will see a huge entry of unlimited cc National Bangers head to the Westcountry.

Twenty four drivers are pre-seeded on to the grid, and many more will contest a Last Chance race to see who can grab the last few places in the main event.

Of those drivers who are pre-seeded, ten are Westcountry based, and have worked their way through the region’s qualifying system.

Leading the way will be Shaun Brokenshire of Torquay, Lewis Fasey of Sampford Peverell and Jamie Smith of Wadebrige.  They will be joined by Mike Hamley of Launceston, Ryan Sparks of Torquay, Jared Roe of Teignmouth and two pairs of Cornish based brothers – Scott and Luke Gillbard of Launceston, and Tom Perkins (Gunnislake) and Jack Perkins (Launceston) . 

On Spring Bank Holiday Monday, Jack Perkins was the centre of attention, when he raced a rare Mercedes hearse, which came under heavy fire most of the day.

The reigning champion is Terry Hill of Newton Poppleford.  He was ruthless in claiming the title last July, and will be one of the more fancied runners for top honours this season.

Jason Moore of Kilmington won a Wild Card event at St Day in West Cornwall early in the year to earn his place on the grid.

The most popular cars are likely to be Ford Scorpios, Lexus and the occasional Jaguar, but racegoers can expect a selection of the weird and the wonderful, as there are a host of special awards which are presented during the pre-meeting Grand Parade. 

These include prizes for Best Presented cars and Oldest/Rarest cars.  The night will end with a Destruction Derby contest, where the winner of the event will be the driver of the last moving car after much crashing and bashing.

The Formula Two Stock Cars will again honour one of the legends of the spor, as they contest The Master Trophy as part of the tribute to former four times World Champion Bill Batten.