The guys at Grasstrack Banter have been doing a fantastic job at promoting the sport in recent years which came to the fore in 2021 with them hosting their first-ever event “Bantasia 1”. Following their 2021 success, they have announced they will be back in 2022 with two events.
Read their full statement below:
Get your 2022 calendars at the ready and mark these two dates down. Bantasia 2 and The Grasstrack Banter Trophy event will be taking place at Whaddon Farm on Sunday 10th April 2022 and Sunday 24th July 2022 respectively.
Following the success of the inaugural staging of ’Bantasia 1′, we have agreed the dates with Whaddon Farm owners Brian and Joan Lush and will be setting about planning both the events over the next month or so.
This year’s ‘Bantasia 1’ was an event like no other for it’s first running, and was action packed with youth racing right through to the U.K’s top solo and sidecar riders like James Shanes, James Wright and Edward Kennett. Racers as young as six took to the track in the youth classes in a behind closed door event to give our riders the first chance of a race since the turmoil of COVID-19 restrictions.
This event was a first of its kind in the UK, with over 600 people taking in the action via a live online stream that we organised which, to date, has had over two thousand views. We had plenty of full line ups on the start gate, from the Auto Class up to the adult 1000cc sidecars and the racing was fast and furious throughout every class all the way to the final chequered flag on 68 races.
We have also decided to add a new event for 2022 with the introduction of ‘The Grasstrack Banter Trophy Meeting’ combined with a special event for our younger youth competitors. We will be announcing more details of these plans very soon but for now we are happy to confirm the continuation of Bantasia 2, and cant wait to share the exciting plans we have up our sleeves.
After time to reflect on our first meeting, we’ve decided to go for it again and build on it. It was really hard work putting on our first event what with the backdrop of Covid that we had to deal with. We tried something that had never been done before; a live broadcast streamed on the internet. What was achieved couldn’t of happened without our awesome sponsors, volunteers and, of course riders. The main thing is it was well received and we had such positive feedback and encouragement to do it again from the riders and fans. That is why we have decided to stage two events in 2022 and build a special event for the Youth riders in the summer school holidays.
We’re excited about 2022 and if our plans for Bantasia 2 come off, riders and fans alike are in for a treat. For now though, lets hope the Grasstrack calendar gets back to some kind of normality next year. The sport is definitely on the up in terms of numbers and we are delighted to plan two events for all ages and abilities through the year and build towards our goal of staging a top class Grasstrack racing event.
