banger race

noun

A motorsport event in which cars race around a track while trying to damage one another.

Meanings

nounbanger race (plural banger races)

plural banger races

  1. UKA motorsport event in which cars race around a track while trying to damage one another.

    Fed up with Formula One? Rebecca Feiner recommends an evening at the Banger races

    2003 December 6, Rebecca Feiner, “A smashing night out”, in The Daily Telegraph
    5 more examples

    Trouble began when he moved in permanently after having building work done and set up a banger race track.

    2003 August 31, Renee Mickleburgh, “Lotto lout gives neighbours hell by racing bangers round garden”, in The Daily Telegraph

    He made his neighbours' lives a misery earlier this year by staging late-night banger races on the three-acre field where he held the bonfire.

    2003 November 7, David Sapsted, “Lottery winner puts 40ft mobile home on bonfire”, in The Daily Telegraph

    A much-dented Ford Fiesta with broken windows serves as a reminder of the row with neighbours and council officials earlier this year over Carroll's habit of inviting friends round for late-night banger races on a three-acre field he bought at the rear of the house.

    2003 December 19, David Sapsted, “£10m 'lotto lout' arrested in police raid”, in The Daily Telegraph

    This DVD is a showcase for several of those - including banger races featuring everything from caravans to Austin FX4 taxis via Ford Transits and Reliant Robins.

    2005 December 3, Simon Arron, “Flights of fancy”, in The Daily Telegraph

    The couple sought action after Mr Robinson's son and his friends allegedly staged banger races in old cars on the land surrounding their own smallholding.

    2009 June 1, “Man called German neighbour Schweinhund, court told”, in The Daily Telegraph

Origin

From the slang sense of banger (“an old, worn-out car”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

banger race. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/banger%20race

MLA

“banger race.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/banger%20race. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “banger race,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/banger%20race.

Source: banger race on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.