An Interview with National Banger heat winner on March 7 Telbert 27 Terry King
(interview published March 17 2015 in the lead up to the second 2015 National Banger British Qualifier on March 17)

Age: 24
Home Town: Lakenheath
Occupation: Machine driver
Family: Girlfriend Lyndsay
Started racing: Aged 16 at Mildenhall at the record braking 1600cc National Banger Winter Series meeting

Not only have you returned to being an RDC registered driver for 2015 but you enjoyed something of a triumphant return with a heat win and third in the final at the first British Qualifier, were you pleased or surprised at how well your night went on March 7?
A bit of both really I guess (laughs). What made it really good for me was that it was my first meeting in a while because I had an accident at work last year and so decided to take some time off from the racing and I really hadn’t done very much at all in the last few months and when you have some time away it’s even harder to predict how it will go, you just kind of hope you can at least remember what to do when you are out there (laughs). So to win the heat was a big deal for me, that meant a lot and then to go out and do so well in the final as well was just as good because it proved the heat win wasn’t a complete fluke, I just have to hope I can do it again now at the next (British qualifying) round.

Your results earned you a large amount of British Qualifying points and you are currently comfortably inside the top 12 in the points, was trying to qualify for the championship a target for you and if not, is it now?
To be completely honest it was a target for me but it’s one of those things where you don’t want to say it out loud or even think about it to much because it would almost be setting yourself up for a fall in a way so I just went into the first round hoping to do my best and it went my way. So now, I’m all for trying to get into the British. It would be the first time and it would mean a lot to get into it. It’s still one of the big races of the year and it’s always a top race with loads of the best drivers so it would be awesome to be in for the first time. It’s also a little special because it’s a local track and a local championship for me and those events do have special meaning for you, when there is a big race on your doorstep it’s great to be a part of it rather than missing out so hopefully the next round will be just as good (laughs).

As mentioned, you’ve returned to RDC for 2015 after a spell with TSR, was a desire to qualify for the British Championship a part of that?
Well in a way it is. It’s mostly to do with cars. When I moved to TSR I had a good few (Mk2) Granadas and for me the best track in the country to race them at is at King’s Lynn. Being that much of a bigger track the buzz from throwing a Granada round there is just unbeatable and I had a good time there and got up to the blue grade which is something I’m still really proud about. But the thing is now the sport is moving on and the (Mk2) Granadas just aren’t competitive any more and on top of that they aren’t around any more so I’d been thinking about what to do and I’ve not got some Mondeos and Cougars in stock. Ok they might not be as fun as racing a Granada but what is (laughs)? But they are cheaper and a lot easier to build and you stand a better chance of getting a bit more racing from one. The trouble is they don’t run very many meetings at King’s Lynn for Mondeos now and also while the track is excellent for unlimited bangers I don’t think it is as well suited for Mondeos while Mildenhall is probably one of the best tracks for them, again because of its size so a big part of my decision was simply around the cars that I have and can get for racing. But now I’ve registered with RDC and I had the cars for the (British) qualifiers it always made sense to make an effort and try and qualify if I could. Another reason for me coming back to RDC is because of the other drivers around me. I get on really well with Thomas Fox and he’s really keen again this year and hoping to do some more racing and you’ve got guys like Ben Jackson and Darren Scarrow who are back again as well. Their yard is just down the road for me and I spend quite a bit of time with them and when you have people round you who are enthusiastic like that it does wonders for your own motivation and we all bounce off each other. It also helps that we’d all had good starts to the year so everyone is buzzing for it at the minute.

You mentioned the Mondeos being an easier car to build but of course there is still a lot of time and effort into preparing one of these cars. After your success in the March 7 final you decided to not race in the Accumulator qualifier, can you explain that decision?
It’s time mostly. When you do a meeting and the car is good enough to do another I think you have to take it because even though the Mondeos are easier they are still work and saving one means you can do other things. Take this week, if I’d wrecked that car I would have probably been at the yard every night this week building another one for the next meeting but now I can take things a little easier. I can spend a bit more time at home which can go a long way sometimes (laughs) and also we’ve started work on another car, even just getting one stripped out gives you a big head start so taking advantage of using a car for a second meeting makes a big difference to me and takes a lot of the pressure off. I’ve made the mistake before of doing one more race when I should have perhaps called it quits. I had a Granada at Lynn one night and my original plan was to load it up after the final and take it to the all Granada meeting at Coventry but instead I did the Allcomers and got trashed which meant I missed going to Coventry which I was pretty disappointed about. It’s hard because you want to race all the time but I just don’t have the means to do that and wreck a car each and every time so sometimes you have to think ahead a bit. Also it helps me a bit going into the next British qualifier having a car which I know has gone well before, when you race a new car it’s always a little uncertain in the first few laps or in the first few race but when you raced a good car for a second time it does give you a bit more confidence and I’m hoping I can put that to good use here.

Going back to the March 7 meeting, of course a massive talking point was the track conditions, how hard did you find it to cope with them and also were you surprised at the size of the entry, which was the biggest for a British qualifier at Mildenhall in over two years?
With the turnout, that’s one of the cool things about Mildenhall because meetings like that when you don’t have a booking list you never really know what to expect. You normally expect a good turn out, like between 40 to 50 cars, I think people take that for granted but then out of the blue you get meetings with 80 to 90 cars and when that happens it’s always cool because it’s always more fun racing against more cars than less cars and to have 70 cars and three heats is pretty impressive and it also adds to your own satisfaction when you have a good night because you’ve done well against more drivers and that means a lot. The conditions were difficult. To be honest I thought the track might have been wetter because of the winter meetings and the rain so I guess it was good compared to that, I couldn’t believe how fast it was even with the holes (laughs). You just had to get on with it and do the best you could, obviously it was better to miss the holes but sometimes when someone is pushing you, you don’t have much of a choice (laughs). It certainly made it a challenge and I was really chuffed to do as well as I did.

One feature of the March 7 final was the race had a lap sheet order restart which are now double file, was this your first experience of a double file restart and what did you think?
It was you know, I hadn’t really thought about it, I was too busy wanting the race to get going again (laughs). Yeah I think they are ok, it’s just like starting the race again isn’t it. I guess if you are up front it’s probably not quite a good and helps those who are at the back or have been taken out more than those at the front, but normally I’m at the back myself so I can’t really complain when it wasn’t me for once!

The 2015 construction rules have recently been announced, what are your thoughts?
To be honest, I’ve not really paid too much attention, I’ve always just built my cars and when something is wrong I’ve sorted it out and that is what I did Saturday. There was something wrong with my car, it was nothing too serious and I got it sorted and I know for next time. I know it’s probably not the best way to go about it but it’s always worked for me.

Have you any other plans for 2015?
Well I should be doing most of the National meetings I would think because I have the cars. I’ve still got some Granadas left but they just aren’t any good for unlimited meetings now so I would imagine I’ll use them at the Granada meetings instead so I’m looking forward to them and hopefully I’ll be able to get some more suitable cars for unlimited meetings and do a couple if I can because I do enjoy my unlimited racing.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Freedom Recycling for letting me use their yard, Lyndsay for her support and putting up with me and my racing, Maurice Vincent for all his help with my cars, my dad who does so much to help me and everyone else who helps.