An Interview with National Banger young gun 51 James Licquorice
(interview published March 25 2014 in the lead up to the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open team championship at Mildenhall on April 3)

Age: 16
Home Town: Wisbech
Occupation: At college studying motor vehicle mechanics and part time mechanic
Family: Single
Racing career: Starting racing in Ministox aged 11 at Mildenhall

You are set to race at the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open team championship for the first time this year and are guesting for the Aftermath, your first time racing for the team, are you looking forward to it and is there any extra pressure which comes from racing with a team with such a profile as the Aftermath?
I am looking forward to it. Me and (brother) Jack actually asked Callum (White) about doing the meeting with them when he mentioned he was struggling to find drivers to race with him. It’s a big meeting, probably the biggest of the year at Mildenhall and I’ve always fancied a go at it and Jack has done it before and enjoyed it. We didn’t have our own team in this time but we still were quite keen to give it a go and were open to racing with another team and so when Callum said he needed a couple of people and was open for us joining up it all clicked into place. I don’t think there is any added pressure from racing for a team like the Aftermath. I know a lot of people associate the team with crashing and the action they produce on the track and that’s fine but I’m just treating it as another meeting and another chance to go racing, whether it be crashing or racing, it’s just another meeting for me.

What was the appeal of the meeting and does it have anything to do with the types of car used as you’ve done a few small car meetings in your somewhat short National Banger career so far?
The main appeal really is that it’s just a big meeting and they are always good to be a part of. Usually the more cars, the more fun and enjoyable a meeting can be. It doesn’t always work that way but it can help (laughs) so I think that was probably the biggest reason. I’ve had a quick look at the entry for the meeting and it looks really good, loads of teams and drivers and quite a few visiting people as well which is also a good thing I think and helps liven things up a lot as well. To be honest I’ve not actually done that many small car meetings like this, it’s been Mondeos I’ve raced mostly but the few times I’ve raced smaller cars have always been pretty good, especially the Astra I had at the 1500cc Icebreaker at King’s Lynn, I really enjoyed myself at that one and won an entertainer award. I’ve got a Mk4 Astra for this meeting and I think they are really good cars to be honest for this kind of thing and they are a lot better than the Mk3 model. You wouldn’t think they would be that different but they really are, the Mk4s have a better chassis which makes them a stronger car but unfortunately the rear axles have a tendency to snap which is their main weak point.

You mentioned winning an entertainer award at the 1500cc Icebreaker, was that a career highlight for you and is trying to win some entertainer silverware a target on Good Friday?
It was really good to win that trophy to be honest, especially because it’s such a big meeting. I also won an entertainer award at the Mildenhall Team Championship which was my first one and they were both really cool things to win because it’s really nice to know that someone has noticed your efforts and you get some recognition for doing it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not why you do it, you do because you enjoy it but to get noticed and get something as a reward for it is really cool. It would be awesome to win an award like that on Good Friday, again especially because it’s such a massive meeting with so many drivers and teams taking part so to get noticed like that would be fantastic but I don’t think that is going to be an easy thing to do at all (laughs). I don’t think it matters what you do at a meeting like that but if you do well and win a trophy, it’s going to be special, it’s always going to be at a meeting of that scale.

Teams like the Aftermath are also known for having several regular rivals, is that something which you thought about much and does it change your approach to a meeting at all?
No, not really. I just see it that every car out there is a rival when you get on track and anyone can hit you, whether it’s someone you regularly have run-ins with or someone you have never crossed paths with, they are all just as likely to hit you as you are to hit them so what’s the difference really (laughs). I suppose being in that team will mean there will be a few people likely to be after me and Jack just because of the colours we are in and they might be after the colours rather than actually being after us, but that’s just racing isn’t it and it’s especially the case with a team meeting, it should be good fun and that is the most important thing after all.

As already mentioned this isn’t your first team meeting at Mildenhall, your first National Banger was a team event, the Inter Counties team race in August. You then guested for the Grave Diggers at the Old Skool teams and Team Shameless at the Mildenhall Team Championship. It seems you enjoy team racing?
(laughs) Well when you put it like that I guess I do! It’s not just team racing really, I just love racing. When I turned 16 I just wanted to get out there and do a National meeting and the first one was the Inter Counties and Jack was doing it for Cambridge and I got in the team as well and that was a great meeting to have as a first one. The other two meetings were the same. I really wanted to do the meetings, not just because they were team meetings, but because I wanted to race and there were teams who needed a driver and I was more than happy to fill in for them. They got another driver and I got to race so everyone got what they wanted I guess but the team meetings have been a lot of fun and it’s been cool racing with different people as I’ve met some new people along the way which is nice.

You registered your first race win at Mildenhall in October, how does that rank among your early season moments and was you surprised to get success like that so soon?
It was a bit of a surprise really, especially because it was at the Accumulator championship meeting so there were a lot of top drivers racing that night and to get a win on a night like that is a little extra special. I think at the stage of racing that I am at, a win is a win but that one did mean a lot, also because it wasn’t easy and I had quite a hard time winning it. I actually didn’t take the lead until the very end and I managed to get through the pile-up a bit quicker than the others who were in contention so to win a race that way, rather than it all being plain sailing is pretty cool. I wasn’t actually going to do that race because I’d hurt my hand earlier in the night when Turkish (206 Phil Milner) turned round and did me head-on. But the car was pretty badly damaged and certainly not good enough for another meeting so I decided to go back out and I’m glad I did (laughs). Again it was also cool to win in a car which was pretty battered and then I got to smash it up in the DD. I like that at Mildenhall you usually end the meeting with a race into a DD. I think that is better myself because it usually means you get more cars for the last race and it’s a better end to the meeting and I was buzzing after winning the race so to then go and have a few good hits and wreck the car properly just added to the whole night.

You were one of the drivers who supported our recent Winter Series dates in spite of the meetings being held in most difficult conditions, what are the appeal of these meetings for you?
Again for me, it’s just that I want to race as much as I can. Weather and track conditions don’t really make much difference to me, you can still have just as much fun if it’s wet, it’s just a different day but it doesn’t automatically mean it is any less fun. I wanted to do the Micro meeting because I love Ford Ka’s, they are one of my favourite cars to race, really easy to build and you usually get a good day of racing with them. I’m glad there is another Micro meeting at Mildenhall this year and me and James are doing that as well, I’m always up for the Micro meetings when they come up, purely because I like the cars so much. To be honest I didn’t have that good a day at the final winter meeting but that was just because my car wasn’t the best and we had a lot of problems with it.

Have you any other plans for 2015?
Well I hope to do as many of the Mondeo meetings as I can as we have those cars and I’m starting to get the hang of them now. I’ve a Mk2 Granada for the Supreme Championship which will be my first RWD car and unlimited meeting so that should be a case of going in at the deep end and I’ve a BMW for the RWD meeting in July so I’m hoping to try and do a bit more RWD if I can this year but it does depend on what cars become available. We’ll have to see. I’m also hoping to go to Yarmouth for their Micro meeting as well. I’ve raced their once in a Junior Banger and really enjoyed it so I would like to try it again and again I like Micro meetings so that makes sense. We’ve got a few plans for the year but no doubt they will all fall apart (laughs). So far, it’s not been too bad keeping on top of things with the cars since I’ve started racing National Bangers as well as James. Obviously it does mean a lot more work but we’re lucky that we have some really good people to help us. We usually have two nights a week on the cars and Saturdays as well but if we fall behind then we’ll work on another night but we’ve done pretty well at staying on track so hopefully we’ll get plenty of racing in this year.

Is there anyone you would like to mention or thank?
Everyone! Mostly my dad, Mo, Richard, Yogi, Jack and Jack but everyone else who helps out as well.