An Interview with 2015 Startrax points championship runner up 261 Dom Davies
(interview published February 24 2016 in the lead up to the 2016 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship)

Age: 23
Home Town: Stockport
Occupation: Signwriter
Family: Fiancé Hayley
Racing career: Started racing in Junior Bangers at Warton in September 2003. “They were basically 1400cc Bangers but with kids racing and were a bit wild to be honest, especially with the amount of following in, I think it’s where I got my appetite for destruction that I still have now.”

You are set to make your debut in the Supreme Championship this year, is this something you are looking forward to?
Yes I am and it will be really nice to tick another think of my list of things I’ve done in the sport. I don’t consider myself to be the best driver out by quite some way so I rarely consider myself to be a leading contender to win big championships so for me to get into a race like this is a big achievement in itself and something I’m really chuffed about. I qualified for the Spedeworth World Final for the first time last year and that was just such a buzz to be in that race and it’s similar with this one although I would like to think I might have a better chance in this race with it being on a shale track.

How do you rate your chances in the championship?
I’d like to think I have a chance. I’ve been going really well at Belle Vue lately at the couple of unlimited meetings they have there and I think the track is quite similar to Mildenhall, Belle Vue is a little tighter probably but it’s still quite similar and I’m thinking that if I can get round there well I should be able to get round Mildenhall pretty well with a bit of luck. At the Terminator last summer I won a heat and finished second to Tom Waller in the final. He had a bit of edge over me and he was flying that day but I was able to stay with him and he’s obviously an excellent driver so doing so well against him has given me a bit of belief I can do the same at the Supreme. To be fair I did better in the (Spedeworth) World Final than I thought I would. I do struggle on tarmac to be competitive because there are so many drivers who are putting so much time and money into their racing and that gives them a huge edge and I just can’t do that. It’s funny really because the main reason why I don’t have the time is because I’m so busy with work which is largely sign writing other people’s cars but it does mean I’ve been able to see the set ups that other people have and some of it is amazing and really when you are putting that much into your racing you really deserve to do well but it makes it harder for the rest of us to keep up (laughs). I never expected to do very well at Ipswich, I was just happy to be in the race but I did ok and was quite pleased but I got a puncture so I retired. At the end of the day, even I’m spending plenty of time and money on my cars so when you get a flat tyre it really is pointless continuing because it’s just hopeless and that is the car I’m planning to bring to the Supreme, it seemed very quick at Ipswich so hopefully it will do just as well at Mildenhall and being on shale I should be able to do ok, it just depends how it goes on the night.

Given your work load at the moment, how hard is it to make a championship meeting like this a priority in your schedule?
It’s been frustrating lately because I haven’t been able to race as much as I would have liked because of the amount of work I’ve had on but work has to come first. At the moment I’ve actually got 13 cars built ready for racing which include ones I raced last year and still haven’t repaired but are good enough to race again, hence why I’ve not scrapped them. I’m used to working long hours and then working through the night on cars, it’s nothing new for me but sometimes you just have to stop. I wanted to race at Stoke the other week, I’ve a car built and sat there that should have been raced but it got to the weekend and I’d not seen my girlfriend all week and sometimes you just have to take a break and put other things first. Thankfully the work load should start to ease off soon. It’s always manic this time of year with people building new cars for the season but it should slow down a bit now and I can get back to racing more. I had a brilliant season last year and did almost every meeting at Startrax and finished second in the points. It was hard to do all the meetings and balance everything between work, family and racing but I think if you want to do something bad enough, you just find a way and that’s what I managed to do, a lot (laughs)!

You finished second in the points at Startrax last year, were you pleased with that or disappointed to miss the top spot?
I was pleased. I decided going into last year that I was going to have a good go at it for a change and see how well I could do. Me and Rusty (275 Joe Morgan) had a good battle with each other all year over the points and in the end he got it and I had to settle for second but it was still the best year I’d ever had so I was really pleased with that and it gave me the opportunity to go to Ipswich for the World Final which meant a lot to me because it was a race I never thought a guy like me would get the chance to race in so it was great to do that and it’s turned out that the points from last year has now got me into the Supreme Championship as well so it’s been well worth the effort as it’s got me the chance to do these two big races.

Are you planning a similar assault on the Startrax points in 2016?
I’m not completely sure yet. I’ve every intention of doing just as much racing as I did in 2015 this year and I think I will probably do most of the Startrax meetings because the tracks are local to me and I enjoy the racing there. The great thing about a lot of them as well is that I don’t think you need to have the best of cars to have a good meeting, especially tracks like Stoke and Belle Vue where standard cars seem to go just as well as anything else and they do a lot of meetings like Micros and 2litres, it’s not all unlimited like it is elsewhere and those kind of cars are a lot cheaper and easier to build so it allows you to race a bit more. But at the same time I’m keen to do a bit more travelling again this year. I’m in the process of sorting a new lorry for racing. I’ve bought it but it needs some work before it’s ready but I’m hoping that when it is it will allow me to do a lot more, either going with other people or taking two cars so I can make a weekend of it. I’m hoping to get to Scotland soon as I’ve not raced there yet and I’d especially like to do Cowdenbeath and also the west country tracks and I really want to race in Europe as well but again it’s all down to time with work and everything so we’ll see. Going for the points last year was good in one sense but not so good in another because taking things that seriously takes a toll on you, especially if you have a bad meeting and it can take away some of the fun of it so we’ll have to see how it goes but I wouldn’t rule it out.

Mentioning the variety of cars you race, do you prefer the Supreme Championship now it is an unlimited event?
I would have done it whatever the cars were. I think it is probably better for the meeting itself being unlimited as that seems to be the popular thing right now and what everyone wants to see and race so I think it probably makes it a better event, especially as it will probably attract more people to watch but for me I’d be just as happy if it was a 2ltitre race because I think the racing in the limited classes tends to be a bit more evenly matched between the drivers than it does in unlimited. Having said that I guess with Mildenhall it shouldn’t be as bad as it can be elsewhere because the track, like most shale tracks, tends to level things out between everyone anyway and if it’s a lively race that will help as well.

What kind of race do you expect it to be?
I did the meeting before but only for the last chance race and so I watched the championship and I would imagine it will be similar to be honest. I think it will be a lively race but I think most people will be trying to win it or will at least be trying to win when it starts. Their plans might chance as the race goes along if things don’t go their way (laughs). I think as long as there are plenty of cars in the race like usual that it will be lively, it’s hard to imagine a race at Mildenhall with a lot of cars being anything but lively just because of the amount of cars out there but I think the emphasis will be on trying to win rather than it being a complete crash-fest. But you only need someone to decide that they can’t win and go playing to change all that, especially with turning round being allowed, you never know what to expect really.

Looking beyond the Supreme Championship we are also set to see you again six days later for the 1400cc Suffolk Open Team Championship, is that a meeting you are looking forward to?
Yeah I am. It’s always a good meeting but last year wasn’t. It was weird at the time but something felt wrong and I wasn’t sure what it was and when I found out what was going on it made sense but when I went back (to Mildenhall) for the Pre 70 it was back to how it usually is so rather than last year’s (Good Friday) meeting putting me off I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully the meeting will be back to how it should be. It’s one of those meetings where it doesn’t matter if you have a bad day because there are 200 cars there and you can just enjoy watching everyone else! I think we have a good little team this year (The Unwanteds). The Blands never seem to have much luck in the unlimited meetings and so I think a lot of people don’t rate them like they should but in the smaller cars they are really good. I’m hoping we will have Ant Timmins in the team as well. He’s in Spain and isn’t due to come back until the day of the meeting but he is trying to get an earlier flight so he can come home and meet us at the track and I’ll take his car for him, if he can make it I think he’ll be a great addition to the team and I’d like to think we might surprise people as we are actually considering having a go at trying to do well for a change, but if it goes wrong I’m sure we can go crashing with everyone else with no real problem (laughs).

You mention the pre 70 meeting, a meeting you regular visit as well as similar events around the country, is that on your plans for the year?
Very much. The Mildenhall pre 70 and Stan Woods meeting at Stoke are among my highlights of the year and will always be part of my racing plans and we’ve also got the Speedy meeting at King’s Lynn which I hope to do as well. I’ve got the cars but again time is the issue but thankfully a couple of the pre 70 cars I raced last year are ok to race again so if it comes to it I’ll just bring those cars back but I should be there, I love those meetings and I had a cracker at Mildenhall last year and when you have such a good day it always makes you want to go back. Most of the meetings I tend to do in a season are the ones I did the year before that I enjoyed.

Much has been said about the new rule from the ORCi prohibiting drivers from getting out of their cars while a race is in progress, what are your thoughts on this?
I think it’s a good rule and to be honest I’m a little surprised it has taken so long for it to come in. I was in the race when David Weare was killed at Hednesford, in fact I was a couple of cars behind the accident and saw it happen and that is something I will never forget and anything that stops something like that happening again is only good in my mind. It amazes me how people continue to take such chances by getting out of their cars like they do, I would have thought what happened that day at Hednesford would have been enough to have stopped it but clearly not. Having said that, the rule doesn’t make much difference to me because I don’t get out of my car now. For me, being stuck in a stranded car is part of banger racing, getting out to me would be like getting out of a rollercoaster half way through the ride (laughs). And I always think the safest place for a driver is in their car. When I broke my arm I stayed put and in hindsight it was the right thing to do even though I still got knocked about. I didn’t know how bad I was hurt, I had no idea it was broken but if I’d tried to get out I could have made the situation a whole lot worse so the best place was to stay in the car.”

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
All my family, my dad does so much to help me while I’m at work like picking up and taking cars to scrap yards for me which makes a massive difference, my mum who comes to support me as much as she can, she is partially disabled so it’s not always easy for her to come to the meetings but she still does all the time which means a lot to me, my girlfriend for being so understanding about all the hours I’m not at home, all the guys who help me especially Adie and Wayne and everyone else who helps out.