An Interview with 2015 Bangerstox Southern Champion 15 Jay Powell
(interview published June 3 2015 in the lead up to round eight of the Bangerstox Points Championship at Dover on June 21)

Age: 34
Home Town: Dover
Occupation: HGV technician
Family: Fiancé Heather and four children
Started racing: 12 years ago at Dover Raceway in Reliant Robins

Congratulations on winning the Bangerstox Southern Championship, you have had much success in this event, does that make this win, less or more special?
This is the third time I’ve won the race. I last won it five years ago and the first time was two years before that so it’s been a long time coming again and to be honest it’s really special for me for a lot of reasons. Firstly doing the hat trick is pretty cool and I’m really happy to have done that but it was also special for me for a lot of other reasons. I think a big reason for it is because my dad is no longer around and this is the first big win I’ve had since he died. The last meeting he saw me race was when I won the Masters Championship a couple of years back and if I’m honest things have been pretty difficult after he died. First there was the shock and that time you spend grieving and I think that hit me a little harder than I expected and realised at the time and then when that passed I think I truly came to understand just how much he did to help me with my racing. When he was here, I think you just took things for granted a bit because he was such a massive help to my racing, he really was the one that would kick my arse into gear and get on with things (laughs) and I suppose I’ve missed that a lot more than I thought I would. I’ve always been really busy with work and so it’s always been hard to find all the time for the racing and so I relied on him a lot with the car and not having that help around has been a massive blow to my racing. It was mainly the silly things which I miss the most, like how he would always sort out the spares to take to a meeting, I don’t think I’ve ever been as sorted going to a meeting since (laughs). The other reason the win was so special is because it was so unexpected. I’ve not had the best of starts to the year, in fact the start was absolutely terrible and I had an awful meeting at the start of the year at Dover so straight away I was playing catch up. The next two were better but not that great really, so much so that I was downgraded to blue for the last meeting which I think is the first time I’ve not been a red top for around 10 years. I didn’t even notice I’d been downgraded (laughs) but thankfully by winning the Southern I won’t have to worry about my roof grade for a year now! I’ve also started to use a new car and a new engine and I’ve found it to be totally different to the last car so I was still very much getting my head round it going into the Southern and that was another reason that I never expected I would have a chance, so winning was a huge surprise and that also helped make it a little special.

Picking up on the comments about your father, does the fact that more of your racing is done by yourself now, does that give the victory extra meaning?
I suppose it does really. When dad was around, so much of my success was because of him and without him around I’ve really had to try and step up as much as I can in the things he used to take care of and while it’s been hard when you get a result like (winning the Southern) it does mean a little more I guess because you know that so much of it is down to you?

When in the Southern Championship did you think you were in contention?
Well I never really thought I had a chance to be honest. With it being a new car and it not going as well as I would have liked at the previous meeting I always felt it would be a struggle and then when I was drawn on the fifth row I didn’t think I would have much of a chance of winning but that might have helped a little by taking some pressure away because I just decided to go for it and do my best and things started to go my way. I think the track conditions suited me, because the track was just sticky and I was getting plenty of grip so that certainly helped a lot and I made a good start as well. I was able to get on the outside pretty quick and that’s my best line at Dover and getting there so soon allowed me to make some early progress which I think made a big difference. But even then Jamie (Walker) made such a great start from the front that I didn’t think I would be able to catch him and it was only when he started to struggle a little through the traffic that I was able to make much ground.

Do you think your ability to get through the back markers made the difference?
I guess so. Before Jamie was in the traffic I didn’t seem to be catching him at all but then all of a sudden I started to reel him in. It’s certainly easier chasing someone that trying to lead a race because when you are chasing you have a target to try and catch. It also helps that I know the track so well, quite literally every lump and bump (laughs) and I think that makes a difference, having that little bit of extra experience, I think it certainly helped with me racing a new car that I didn’t know so well. But even when I caught and passed Jamie I still wasn’t sure that I was leading. It was such a good race, it was really exciting from where I was sat (laughs) but there was so much going on that I wasn’t completely sure if someone else hadn’t got away from the front and was still leading after I’d past Jamie. It was only with about three laps to go that I realised that I was being shown as the leader and realised I’d got to the front.

As you mentioned, you’d not had the best of starts to the season, how important was it to have this win at this stage of the year?
Pretty massive really because to be honest after the first meeting I did lose quite a bit of heart in the racing and was pretty fed up with it all but I plugged away because I knew I needed to and thankfully it’s paid off but it’s made a massive difference now because I’m buzzing for my racing again and can’t wait to get back out there at the next meeting.

The next meeting at Dover (June 21) is the second Masters Championship qualifying round, given that you failed to score at the first round, how important is this meeting?
It’s very important for me because the Masters is so special and important. It’s still our biggest race of the year and I think it’s the best race as well because you have all the top drivers in it and everyone has spent all year getting there and when they get to the final they are usually at their best and everyone wants to win it so it’s a fantastic race to be in and I think I’ve qualified every year I’ve been in the formula so the thought of not being in it is something I really don’t want to think about (laughs). I’ve had a bad start but there are still three rounds to go so hopefully I can still turn it around and not only qualify but get a decent starting spot.

The win in the Southern Championship has also moved you back up in the points standings, do you still have your eye on the points championship?
I’ve always got my eye on it really, again I’ve had an excellent track record in the points, I’ve won it a couple of times and usually I finish in the top three or four so anything less would be quite disappointing but again I’ve given myself a bit of work to do this year with such a bad start. Things are a little more on track now but I know I’ve got to keep it up but I’m gunning for a similar position to previous years, I would love to manage that again.

What is the appeal of the Bangerstox formula for you?
There are a lot of things really. I love the racing at Dover, it’s a unique track and I enjoy the challenge you get from it, it’s really fast when it’s dry and when it’s wet it’s very tricky so I enjoy the two sides of the track and the different challenges you get. I also enjoy having a couple of meetings a year at Mildenhall because that’s so different to Dover so it’s nice to go there once or twice a year and do that and I like the formula itself, it’s a relatively inexpensive way of going racing, there isn’t too many meetings so it’s not too demanding and most importantly it’s great fun and there are a lot of good people there and that makes a huge difference.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My fiancé Heather for all her support and putting up with the time I spend on my racing, John Butcher for everything he does to help me and the rest of Team Elite who all help me a lot as well.