The Easter weekend entertainment kicked off on Saturday night at Birmingham Wheels with the first of the three-round Bride and Groom Banger series.

Just over a dozen pairings turned out including some The first heat was stopped when 188 Lisa Holmes hit the home straight banking avoiding the spun 299 Natalie Rice and rolled, 699 Stacey Holdsworth shielding the upturned car. Holdsworth battled past 90 Daryl Harper to take the win on the restart, holding off 255 Emma Alldridge. Harper would lead heat two all the way while 21 Emma Robinson provided much of the entertainment in the pack, spinning 888 Jemma Kerr among others. The men took over for the Final which saw a good scrap between 699 Carl Korszewski, 21 Gavin Robinson and 471 Trevor Perry up front with the three Hondas finishing in that order.

The Rebels contested their first title of the year in the shape of the KPH Tyres Early Bird Challenge. Heat one saw 896 Adam Cockburn lead the early laps until he spun allowing 309 Dave Baker to take his first ever race win after holding off 202 Tom Dayman while heat two saw Baker denied his double as 601 Mark Wareham took him late on. The final was in points order over the aggregate of the last three meetings and poleman 656 Adam Joyce led all the way for the Early Bird title with brother James battling past 170 Craig Thompson for second and 202 Tom Dayman third.

271 Jamie Johnson led the first Classic Hot Rod heat from flag to flag for his first win of the year before 445 Graham Boyd’s A40 passed 22 Rob Montagner to win heat two. After a false start Boyd led the early going in the Final but 172 Colin Hitch was driving around the outside of everyone and took the lead in fine fashion before heading on to victory from Boyd who headed a five car train across the line.

The first heat for the Heritage F2s was a lively one with the drivers clearly treating it as first day back at school, 494 James Pratt passing 264 Pete Welland to take the win. Heat two was quieter and 247 Andy Webb passed 760 Howard Cardew to win and “Spiderman” did likewise in the Final after avoiding the spun 536 John Ferguson to complete his double.