An Interview with Bangerstox racer 42 Jake Moat
(interview published May 25 2016 in the lead up to the 2016 Bangerstox Southern Championship)

Age: 26
Home Town: Deal
Occupation: Logistics
Family: Girlfriend Kirsty and stepdaughter Ruby
First raced: Last season in the Bangerstox at Dover but had done karting before

You’ve made a good start to your season, climbing to the yellow grade and also ranking well in the early stages of the Bangerstox points championship. Are you pleased with how the season has started?
Yes, I’m really pleased, it’s been excellent to be honest, especially after how last year went. Well to be honest, this year was starting out a little bit like last year but then things changed (on May 2) and I had an excellent meeting and it’s kind of changed everything now and I can’t wait to get back out at the next meeting. I had loads of mechanical problems last year and there were a few times where I would be leading the race and then the car would fail on me and at the first meeting at Dover this year the exact things happened again and it was so frustrating. I also won a race at Mildenhall in January which would have been my first win but I was penalised for contact. To be fair I was expected (the penalty) so I don’t think I was expecting to win the race but it was still disappointing and then when I broke down again (on April 10) I was starting to think it would never happen. To finally get a first win was a really big thing for me and it’s made a huge difference because I’m now even more enthusiastic about racing again, I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to racing before and a lot of that is down to my first win.

It wasn’t just the race which you won where you did well at the last meeting as you also finished on the podium in the final, where you pleased with that?
That was brilliant and a bit unexpected as well to be honest because in the final you always have the top driver in the formula out there with you and there are so many really fast drivers out there that I never expected to do so well but I managed to hold them off and to finish in the top three was absolutely brilliant. The best thing for me was that it means I have now moved up to the yellow grade which I’m really chuffed about. I find the races with the graded drivers are a lot better for me, the ones where it is just white grade drivers are a lot more manic and I tend to find those races are just about survival and staying out of trouble and making sure you make it to the finish line where as the races with the graded drivers tend to be more about racing and they are usually faster races as well so I’m pleased to be yellow again so hopefully I can do more races like that. I did get to the yellow grade briefly last year but that was when I started to have my mechanical issues so unfortunately it didn’t last too long and I was back to the white grade, hopefully this time will be a little different (laughs).

Mentioning those mechanical issues, how have you gone about resolving them?
It’s been a fair bit of work really, just trying to get to the bottom of it and trying to make sure the car is prepared a little better. To be honest my experience of this kind of racing is quite limited. Me and my brother (Nathan) only got into the racing last year because my girlfriend’s boyfriend (Steve Cross) started to do it and then we got interested through him but I have had to rely on a few people, including Steve, for help with my car. The annoying thing is that all the things which were letting me down weren’t the things they had done but the things I had done so it was quite frustrating, the feeling that I was letting myself down. I spent a fair bit of time on the car during the winter when I had some time and thought I might have cracked it so when the problems came back at the first meeting at Dover it just made the whole situation even more frustrating. Thankfully I’m hoping I have finally resolved it now, fingers crossed (laughs).

You have now qualified for the Southern Championship, are you looking forward to it?
I am, I’ve not been in many championship races so far, especially because I had all those problems last year so it will be good to not only be in a championship race but also to be in one the way I’m feeling now, with a win under my belt and with a boost in confidence, I’m looking forward again to seeing how I get on against the best drivers in the formula although I know it won’t be easy.

How do you rate your chances?
Don’t get me wrong, I always want to do my best and the goal is always to try and win but at the same time I like to think I’m quite realistic and I understand that I am still pretty new to this so really just being in the race is good enough at this stage but I will still be giving it my best and I would like to think that if things go my way I might have a chance of a good result, to finish in the top three would be amazing. The draw for grid positions will be a big part of it because I’m used to starting near the front so I might have to start at the back but not only that the top drivers might get a good draw and start near the front so I think the draw will be important, especially for me but if I get drawn near the front then who knows, I might stand a chance.

You mention the boost in confidence you have had from the last meeting, how much of a difference does that make?
A really big difference. I just feel totally different and I think it showed in the races after I had the win at the last meeting. I was just buzzing and when you have that feeling everything seems to come to you a lot more easily, having that win really helped me find new belief in myself and I think it’s a big reason why I then finished second in the final so hopefully the same will happen again at this meeting.

Have you any targets or goals for the rest of the season?
Again, my ultimate is to one day be at the top of the formula with the likes of Chris (Young) and Jay (Powell) but that is still a long way off. I’d be more than happy just to end the season having done better than last year and I guess by having a win now I’m already part of the way towards achieving that so that’s great and a really good start but being so well up in the points at the moment it’s not possible to not think about trying to maintain that. I would love to be able to say I’ll be trying to win the points but again I think that’s a bit out of my reach right now but maybe I could finish in the top 10, that would be brilliant and a huge improvement on where I finished last season. At the moment, I’m just going to take it one meeting at a time and see how I get on.

As a newcomer to Bangerstox, how did you come into the formula?
Mainly it was through Steve (Cross). He had just started and we all went with him to watch and it looked brilliant so me and Nathan decided to give it a go and we became hooked as well. We’ve always been interested in racing, I’ve cousins who do TVR Tuscan racing and Touring Cars, in fact they’ve been to watch us race and have enjoyed it so maybe we can get them out there one day with us, that would be brilliant (laughs) although I’m not sure what they would make of the cars compared to what they usually race! I’d done go-karting before but never like this, just a bit of fun with some mates every now and again, I’ve never done anything like this before and so far it’s been great.

What is the appeal of the formula to you?
There are a lot of things. I think the racing is really exciting and we usually a good group of people come to watch us and they say the same from a spectators side, it’s pretty fast racing and you get a lot of things going on and crashes as well so it’s good fun to watch and even better to be a part of. The formula is also pretty cheap, if you want to you can get out there without spending a fortune and compared to most motorsports it is very cheap and I also like that we’re not racing every weekend, the amount of meetings is about right for me so I can do every meeting without it taking over my life completely, to be honest sometimes it’s hard for me to get ready for every meeting so I’d probably struggle if there was more (laughs).

The formula has proved incredibly popular so far this season, is that something you are pleased about?
Definitely, the first two meetings have been great with so many cars and drivers and there are some brilliant drivers out there so it makes the racing really exciting and it’s great to be out there against so many other drivers, the more the merrier really (laughs). I also liked the way the cars were split for the last meeting (May 2). I liked having the heats with the white and yellow grade drivers in. As a white grade driver I’ve found one of the things I struggle with a bit is the white grade heats would start as one big pack of cars and I think that is where you tend to get the crashes and accidents, by having a mix of grades it spreads the field out at the start and I think makes for a better race. I enjoyed the heat I did with the yellow grade much more than the one where it was just white tops so it would be good to see more of that I think.

Are you planning on returning to Mildenhall in August for the Suffolk Championship?
Yes, I can’t wait for that. It’s a pity it’s not a two day meeting this year as the whole family went last year and had a big weekend away but I understand it’s because the fixtures have changed and that can’t be helped but I’m still looking forward to it. It’s so different to the racing at Dover and makes a nice change and again the racing is usually very good.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
My girlfriend and Ruby for all their support, all the team, Gary Lee for his help and all my family and friends who come to the meetings to support me.