(chiefly UK) The act of participating in a banger race ("a motorsport event in which cars race around a track while trying to damage one another").
2001 December 12, Staff and agencies, “A loner with a deadly secret”, Child protection, in The Guardian[1]:
Even when he excelled at his favourite hobby of banger racing he attracted little attention and earned the reputation of being shy and introverted.
2002 February 11, Richard Mann, quotee, “Your Valentine pleas”, in The Guardian[2]:
Our daughter's problem has taken its toll on our relationship, but Tony has been understanding throughout. I would like to treat Tony to a day at banger racing followed by a slap-up meal of steak and chips.
2002 November 14, Steven Wells, “Crash, bang, wallop, what a sport”, in The Guardian[3]:
Banger racing, for the uninitiated, is exactly like formula one. Except that it's not really, really, really boring, the cars cost about £200, and they're allowed to deliberately smash into each other.
2002 December 28, Martin Gurdon, “Now for something different...”, in The Daily Telegraph[4]:
Adams didn't mind the work involved. "I used to go banger racing and smash up cars..."
The yellow street lights are wreathed in a wintry mist as we approach Wimbledon's Plough Lane Stadium for what is billed as the biggest night in the national Banger racing calendar, the 2003 Championship of the World.
2004 December 4, Simon Arron, “Goodwill to all motorists...”, in The Daily Telegraph[6]:
Suitable pastimes for those who can't: banger racing; bull-fighting; playing central midfield for Birmingham City.
2005 June 6, John Rawling, “Premier League needs an Asbo to control Chelsea”, in The Guardian[7]:
Chelsea have all the appeal of a lottery-winning slob who pulls out a huge wad of cash, buys the best house in the area, and then stages banger racing in the back garden.
2005 August 16, “'I took all my anger out on him'”, in The Guardian[8]:
Breakspear talks about the few pleasures she had before prison in the past tense. "I wanted to learn banger racing. I used to love fast and furious [car chase] films."
2008 March 17, “Hamilton drives McLaren beyond past troubles”, in The Guardian[9]:
There were so many crashes it might have been American motor sport - banger racing, even.
Banger Racing caught my interest a couple of years ago. I was attracted by the inherent contradictions within it – the creativity and imagination in contrast with the wild need for destruction.
People seem to think that I have called for banger racing to be banned, which I have not. I am not worried about people smashing up disposable modern cars, but they should think a bit more about the older and rarer cars
There is no marquee mode that the game builds itself around, instead offering a compendium of snacky events focussed on variety. A grab bag of bolshy banger racing recalling 90s knockabouts like Destruction Derby.
2012 September 5, Patrick Barkham, “'Wheelchair rugby is the glamour sport. We are the Paralympics' rock stars'”, in The Guardian[13]:
Billed as the mutant child of basketball, ice hockey and rugby – in wheelchairs – murderball at first looks more like banger racing, with dangerously pimped-up wheelchairs bristling with protuberant metal cages and bumpers designed to upend rivals.
2012 September 5, Paul Owen, “London Paralympics 2012 – day seven as it happened”, in The Guardian[14]:
This is the mutant child of rugby, basketball, handball and ice hockey, writes Patrick Barkham, although it looks a bit like banger racing with the souped up – and completely battered – wheelchairs.
2012 September 24, Robert Daines, “Banger racing with classic Rovers”, in The Daily Telegraph[15]:
The string-glove driving brigade was once again puce-faced with rage for this latest event, with the arch enemy of classic banger racing, Classic Car Weekly, vowing that it would not devote a column inch to discuss the race's pros and cons.
2012 November 22, Lucy Ridgard, “The Girls Who Love Smashing Each Other Up In Cars”, in VICE[16]:
Banger racing, once predominantly the preserve of weird-looking guys with anger issues, is being taken up by an increasing number of girls.
2014 March 7, Rebecca Smith, “Banger racing: a cross between Formula One and bumper cars”, in The Daily Telegraph[17]:
A new two-part BBC Two documentary explores the adrenaline-fuelled sport of banger racing, and it makes for exhilarating TV, says Rebecca Smith
2014 March 9, Ben Lawrence, “Fast and Fearless: Britain's Banger Drivers, BBC Two, review”, in The Daily Telegraph[18]:
The first episode of this documentary focused on the racers who flock to the Arena Essex Raceway in Purfleet to take part in banger racing where old, reconstructed cars speed around a dirt track.
2014 September 1, Andrew English, “Jaguar Mk2 reimagined by Ian Callum”, in The Daily Telegraph[19]:
At the time rusty Mark IIs were two a penny, scrapyards were full of them, they were stripped for spares, cut up for Modsports and Banger racing – no one gave a stuff for originality.
Yet every Sunday upwards of 2,000 spectators pay £15 to watch five hours of stock car and banger racing across wildly different formulae.
2016 April 5, Michael Hogan, “Drive, review: Vernon Kay's sexed up Top Gear entertains”, in The Daily Telegraph[22]:
It was a smart move to start with banger racing, as the crashes, prangs and wallops caused genuine needle.
2016 April 6, John Crace, “Drive review – even Top Gear fans will be bored silly”, in The Guardian[23]:
They started with banger racing, and it was clear the producers knew they were in trouble early doors, as the first five minutes were a breathless series of cut shots of the action that was coming later on.
2016 May 4, John Plunkett, “Car-crash TV: six celebrity sports flops”, in The Guardian[24]:
Drive wasn't the first celebrity sporting reality show (they tried banger racing, buggy racing and Formula 4, among other pursuits) and it won't be the last.
2016 July 12, Martin Evans, “Lotto Lout's former uncle dies in Norfolk 'murder-suicide' shooting”, in The Daily Telegraph[25]:
But most of the rest of his fortune was wasted on high-living, parties and cars which he enjoyed smashing up on his own banger racing track in a field beside a house which he bought on the outskirts of Swaffham.
2016 December 16, Jessica Wong, quoting Jeremy Clarkson, “'Holidays for three 12-year-old men': Jeremy Clarkson returns with The Grand Tour”, in CBC News[26]:
Combine harvester banger — actually I've done that: banger racing up in Red Deer [in Alberta, for his 1998 doc series Extreme Machines].
2017 March 24, Paul Macinnes, “Gone to the dogs: how time has run out for greyhound racing in Wimbledon”, in The Guardian[27]:
The venue closes its doors forever on Saturday night after 89 years of greyhound, speedway and, latterly, banger racing.
2017 March 24, Adam Hay-Nicholls, quoting Martin Brundle, “My first car - Martin Brundle: 'It felt like I was doing 150mph with a Picasso under my arm'”, in The Daily Telegraph[28]:
That was my first proper car, when I was 17, although the first car I owned was when I was 12. It was a Ford Anglia 105E, which I took banger racing.
2017 March 27, Jake Lewis, “In the Queue for the Last Night of the Wimbledon Dog Races”, in VICE[29]:
What are you guys going to miss about the track? / Tom: The whole experience of it all – the dogs and the banger racing.
2017 October 17, Jack Whitehall, quotee, “Jack Whitehall says 'life flashed before my eyes' during high-speed crash with Freddie Flintoff”, in The Daily Telegraph[30]:
When we did banger racing, which is where you race round a track, I literally crashed into a wall. I mean I had a full-on car crash.
2017 December 30, “Police pull over battered car being driven on the roads without any windows or mirrors”, in The Daily Telegraph[31]:
The vehicle, which might look more at home in banger racing, had extensive damage to all areas of its bodywork.
2019 October 24, Jamie Johnson, “Lorry driver arrested over the death of 39 migrants 'passed out' when he discovered his human cargo, it's claimed”, in The Daily Telegraph[32]:
Robinson is a self proclaimed car lover, competing in 'banger racing' competitions with team mates he calls 'the bomb squad'.
2020 November 3, Ed Aarons, “AFC Wimbledon's Plough Lane return: 'There was just an irresistible pull'”, in The Guardian[33]:
We also used to spend quite a lot of time at the dog track and go banger racing there as well on Saturday nights, which is where the new ground is.
2021 March 11, Romain Vennekens, “What is Banger Racing? Inside One of the World's Most Dangerous Motorsports”, in VICE[34]:
But in banger racing, ramming your vehicle into a competitor's is not only tolerated, it might win you an award.
2021 June 10, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1956 Austin A90 Westminster, one of only 28 left on British roads”, in The Daily Telegraph[35]:
Many of the original Westminsters ended their days on the banger racing circuit but Dickens never quite forgot the Portland Beige Austin he saw "when I was five or six years old".
2021 August 7, Richard Webber, “Classic cars with anniversaries in 2021”, in The Daily Telegraph[36]:
The main chassis was solid enough, explaining why many ended up on the banger racing circuit, but panels corroded without protection and maintenance.
2021 August 11, Robert Jackman, “Why now is the time to follow Banksy to Great Yarmouth”, in The Daily Telegraph[37]:
When it comes to entertainment, Great Yarmouth is still rich with the sorts of curious and yesteryear pastimes you might have assumed died out years ago. From full-contact banger racing (at the Yarmouth Stadium) to end-of-the-pier sing songs, you won't be short of options.
2021 October 21, Sarah Gilbert, “The eccentricities of British subcultures – in pictures”, in The Guardian[38]:
Her solo exhibition Showtime runs from 23 October at Messums Wiltshire, and explores the realms of street car culture, banger racing and Gypsy fairs
2021 November 19, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1967 Vauxhall Cresta PC – an estate car fit for HM The Queen”, in The Daily Telegraph[39]:
Production ended in 1972; survivors are now scarce due to various fuel crises, rust and their fatal attraction to the banger racing fraternity.
2022 April 29, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1972 Vauxhall Ventora, one of only 30 left on British roads”, in The Daily Telegraph[40]:
In the UK, a combination of rust, banger racing and general neglect helped to diminish the number of Ventoras.
2022 July 8, Andrew B Roberts, “Don't mention Z-Cars: Ford Zodiac Mk3 at 60”, in The Daily Telegraph[41]:
The Mk4 replaced the Mk3 in early 1966 and by the following decade many examples had fallen prey to a combination of banger racing and rampant corrosion.
2022 December 16, Andrew B Roberts, “UK's rarest cars: 1977 Datsun Laurel, one of only five left on British roads”, in The Daily Telegraph[42]:
Corrosion was one major problem, in addition to many Laurels ending their days on banger racing circuits.
