An Interview with National Banger driver Minge 209 Ben Hayward
(interview published July 2 2014 in the lead up to the National Siamese Banger meeting at Mildenhall on July 19)

Age: 27
Home Town: Diss
Occupation: Factory worker
Family: Girlfriend Claire
Racing career: First meeting was the Metro meeting at Mildenhall, aged 18, ran out of petrol!

The third National Siamese Banger meeting is coming up very soon and you and your brother (Steve) are once again booked in to race, is it safe to say this is a meeting you look forward to and enjoy?
Definitely, it’s one of the highlights of the season for me now. It’s just so much fun and completely different to anything else and it always seems that everyone racing at the meeting is there to just have fun so it has always been a great meeting in the past and one which we really wanted to do again. We’ve been looking forward to it ever since last year’s meeting and there was never any question of us doing it again.

What attracted you to the meeting in the first place?
Again, just that it was something different and it sounded like fun which is what our racing is meant to be about after all, just having a giggle. It’s also good to try something new and neither me or Steve had ever done anything like that before so when the first meeting was announced we just figured we’d give it a go and we loved it.

As you now have some experience at this meeting, does this give you any advantage on July 19 and do you have any special tricks or ways of communicating between you when you race at this meeting?
(laughs) No, definitely not, we just make it up as we go along and hope for the best. I don’t know if having experience helps, it might do at first but what we found the first year is you pick it up pretty quick, I think everyone does because if you don’t you get buried (laughs).

For someone who has never raced a Siamese banger, what is it like?
It’s weird, very, very strange. I’ve always driven the top car. At the original meeting me and Steve were going to swap over but we did ok in the heat so decided to stick with what we are doing and it was the same last year. The rocking sensation is perhaps the most noticeable thing in the top car I think. I don’t think it’s quite as bad in the bottom car but up top, you really notice it and it’s like nothing else in racing because you’re always thinking you are going over. The other thing is that while you are in control, you’re also not in control. It takes a while to get used to not being in charge of the pedals because suddenly the car is going and it’s nothing to do with you which is very strange at first. Also the viewing in the top car isn’t the best and you can’t see what’s immediately in front of you so you have to try and judge things before you get there so it’s very different to a normal race.

Last year you were involved in some superb crashes, what were they like?
Yeah, it was all good. The rollover was pretty cool, but it did hurt falling from that height. Anyone who says rolling one of them doesn’t hurt is a liar (laughs). It’s pretty intense because you go all the way down and then back up again so it’s like a really bad rollercoaster ride! The crashing was awesome, we had the wrecking train first and then the big head-on in the DD. Thankfully Steve had the same idea as me because I could only change our direction so if he hadn’t have wanted to do it I guess we would have just stopped and looked a bit silly but he had the same idea as me and those crashes were just brilliant, I loved them.

At the first Siamese meeting in 2012 you and Steve won the final, looking back is that a highlight for you?
Absolutely, it’s a big highlight for me. I’ve never had that much success in bangers so any win is special but that one was in particular for a few reasons. The biggest is that I did it with Steve and that meant so much to me. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy the meeting so much because it’s something that we can do together and that is very cool. But also being the first year, we will always be the first final winners at the Siamese meeting and that’s a nice thing to say. We never intended it the first year, honestly we went into the final intending to have a crash but one never presented itself in the first half of the race and then we were leading and had a shot so we went for it and it went our way which was great.

One of the things which has stood out at this meeting has been the pace of the racing, has it surprised you how fast these meetings have been?
Yes it has really. Before the first one we assumed it would be a case of the drivers plodding round, hoping not to roll over and nudge and spin kind of racing but in fact it’s just as quick as any other meeting which did surprise me, it’s amazing how quick you can still get round with a car on top and the hits are just as hard, if not harder than any other meeting. I ached a lot after last year’s meeting and the big hits, I think it’s worse in the top car because there is less give, well that was my excuse anyway (laughs). The day after last year’s meeting was Dan Lathan’s daughters christening and there was a good few of us there who were as stiff as a board!

Having won the final in 2012 and enjoyed some big crashes in 2013 have you any set plans for this year?
No, not at all, we’ll just take it as it comes and enjoy ourselves but I’m sure it’s going to be a top meeting again, it’s good to see so many drivers booked in and some new drivers as well so it should be a good night again and a lot of fun.

We don’t see too much of you on track these days, can you explain that and have you any plans for the rest of this season?
There are a few reasons but one of the biggest is the injuries I’ve picked up over the years. I’m doing ok but there are still times, like in the winter, where I struggle. I’ll never be perfect but that’s part of the risks in the sport but it’s funny because now I race a lot less I look forward to the meetings I do a lot more. When I was racing all the kind I almost got the feeling that I had to do it and now the meetings I do are a lot more spread out I do enjoy and look forward to them more and right now I’m really enjoying helping Steve with his racing, especially as he is having such a great year. Seeing him qualify for the British Championship was a really big deal and helping him gives me just as big a buzz as racing myself.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Claire for being so supportive, Steve for everything he has done to help me and Shane, Mark and Terry and everyone else who helps out.