THERE’s an early Christmas present in store for racegoers heading to Smeatharpe Stadium on the last weekend before the festive period begins in earnest.

Not only will a deluge of action be expected from the Banger Bonanza fixture, but the suitably themed occasion is set to include an appearance from Father Christmas in his Grotto, which is bound to be hugely popular winner for the children.

On the track, spectacular action is expected from three classes of Bangers. In the build-up to the meeting, there has been an abundance of interest in the 2 Litre National Bangers, as they prepare to contest the Winter Open Championship. The 2 Litre National Bangers have not raced at Smeatharpe since an explosive fixture in June that was littered with lively incidents and crashes.

The Winter Open title will be defended by Kenny Gabriel Jnr of Yate, but a trio of local drivers will have designs on succeeding him – brothers Sam Hill of Exmouth and Terry Hill of Newton Poppleford, and Lewis Fasey of Sampford Peverell.

The meeting is set to be one of double duty for both Terry Hill and Lewis Fasey, as they are also planning to feature in the National Micro Bangers. Typically the mantra from the National Micro Bangers reads small cars and big action, although for Fasey, his Nissan Micra has proved to be an exceptionally successful car. Last December he won two of the three races he started in the Micra, and in February, he scored a faultless hat-trick at St Day in west Cornwall. Fasey joked, “The prize money I have won with the small car amounts to more than I paid for it!”

Completing the line-up for Banger Bonanza, Cornish duo Grant Harris and new Cornish Champion Scott Kendall are set to share the front row of the grid of the Supreme Championship for Bangers. The two friends and rivals will be joint favourites to land the Supreme Championship title having amassed identical points tallies from the season’s qualifying rounds. Should Harris and Kendall trip one another up at the front of the pack, Jared Roe of Teignmouth, former World Champion Chris Jeanes of West Hatch and Pete Hollis of Dunkeswell will be keen to take full advantage.

The Banger Bonanza event has an earlier than usual start time of 12 noon, when Father Christmas has been invited to lead the pre-meeting Grand Parade.

Looking further ahead in the 2025 season, and Smeatharpe has been chosen as the venue for the BriSCA F2 Stock Car World Championship Semi Finals meeting. This will be the first time that the event has been scheduled for the circuit since 2009. The date of the World Semi Finals fixture is Saturday 23 August 2025.