An Interview with National Banger driver Little Legs 327 Mick Maskall Jnr
(interview published April 16 in the lead up to round four of the National Banger British qualifying series on April 21)

Age: 17
Home Town: Saffron Waldon
Occupation: Landscape gardener
Family: Single
Racing career: Started racing Ministox at Mildenhall aged 11

You had a fantastic afternoon at the season opener at Dover Raceway in the third British qualifying round of the season, were you pleased with how well the day went and how important was the meeting for the rest of your season?
I was really pleased and I think it’s going to be a very important meeting in the long run, or at least I hope it will be. I’ve not had the best of starts to the year and this meeting has really turned things around and got me back on track which is important because when you are doing well it’s easier to stay motivated compared to when things aren’t going well and this meeting has done a lot to get me fired up again for the next few meetings. I’ve not had the best of starts to the British Championship qualifying rounds, I did ok at the (Mildenhall) opener but it was only ok, far from a great start and then I missed the second round because I was working which I was really gutted about so that really put me behind and kind of made the first meeting at Dover a make or break meeting as far as qualifying for the British went because I think if I’d had another bad day that probably would have been the end of my chances (of qualifying) but thankfully it went really well. I scored in every race and picking up the entertainer award in the DD was a big boost as well and now I’m right back where I need to be.

You described the meeting as being make or break, did that add to the pressure of the meeting?
I suppose it did but I managed to try and forget about it and take it like any other meeting. I think when you put pressure on yourself it’s more likely to not go your way so there was no point me getting worked up like that. With racing, if it happens, it happens and I always try and remember that and thankfully for me it happened to go my way on (April 6).

Given your desire to qualify for the British Championship again, is it safe to say qualifying for the race is a big priority of yours?
Definitely. It was a huge thing for me to qualify last year in my first full season in (National) Bangers and to say I was one of the youngest drivers to race in the event. I was really lucky last year as I got the chance to race in several big championships around the country with the World Cup at Cowdenbeath, World Finals at Hednesford and King’s Lynn and the English at Skegness and I would like to try and do some of those races again this year but being in the British is really important because it’s on my home track and one of the biggest races of the year on my home track and also because it’s a National meeting it’s my preferred format as I like racing Mondeos so it’s probably the race I stand the most chance of doing well in. It was great to qualify last year and I really want to do it again this year and see if I can get a top 10 finish, a top five is my main goal and that would be brilliant to that, especially when the race always has so many top drivers in it. For me that’s one of the biggest things about doing big races like that, I get to race against the drivers I’ve looked up to and watched for many years and that’s a huge buzz.

Going back to your success at the Dover season opener, you almost had even better results as you were in contention to challenge for the lead in the final with a few laps to go only to be spun out in the middle of the pile-up, were you disappointed by that or pleased to recover so well and still finish in a good place?
I had no idea I was even up there. There was so much going on in the final, with the pile-up and people getting taken out that I had no idea I had a chance of winning. I thought I might have been in the top six but when I got taken out I figured that was over so to still finish in the top six was really pleasing because that’s what I was hoping for anyway.

You ended the afternoon second in the Dover Track Championship, given the distance from home to the track is challenging for the points title something you might consider?
We have actually been talking about it and it might be something I go for but I think a lot of it will depend on how the next meeting (April 21) goes. I’m doing the meeting anyway because it’s the next (British) qualifier and I’m hoping to have another good day to ease the pressure of qualifying ahead of the final round at Mildenhall. I know I’m still going to have to do the last round but a good score on Easter Monday could make all the difference. As for the (Dover) Track Championship, if the next meeting goes well I might give it a crack. I can’t do the unlimited in July because we are away but I could make the effort for the other meetings and I probably would have done a couple of them anyway so it would only be an extra couple of meetings. It’s about 100 miles for us to get to Dover but I just love the place, the track is like nowhere else and it’s a real challenge just getting round there, I liked it when I raced Ministox there but it’s even better in bangers so to have a chance of the track championship would be amazing but it’s still very early days, we’ll see how (April 21) goes and go from there I think.

We spoke about your championship appearances last season, is there anywhere different you would like to visit and race in this season?
I had a great meeting at Skegness for the English Championship, that was one of my favourite meetings of the season and this year’s race is at Buxton so I think we might try and make a trip to that if all goes well.

You mentioned not having the best of starts to the season and this was reflected at the Unlimited BBA Supreme Championship meeting where you were one of the night’s first casualties. How disappointing was that?
Yeah I was pretty gutted. It wasn’t actually the hit (he was followed in by 390 David Gibson at the start of the last chance race) that did it, I blew my drive shaft the minute I put my foot down when the race started.

A lot has been said about the vulnerability of Scorpio drive shafts since the rules were announced for 2014 banning drivers from changing them, given what happened to you at the Supreme Championship, what are your feelings on this rule?
It doesn’t matter to me because I’ve never changed them and despite what happened at the Supreme I doubt I’d change them now. It was just one of those things which can happen in racing, things break (laughs). It was just bad luck.

Despite being more regular in National Banger format meetings, is it safe to say you enjoy unlimited and rwd type events?
Yes I do but I’ve still got a lot to learn when it comes to racing them, I’ve had some luck like the Rover (P5) at the Steamer Memorial but not too much since so I hope to keep getting better in time, we’ve a few unlimited cars in stock now and I’m quite looking forward to racing them.

Can you give us some insight into how much time you spend dedicated to your racing?
On an average week we always try and have Monday off for a bit of a break and then me and dad are on the cars, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. I always try and have Friday off as well to have a night out or something, just do something which isn’t racing because that’s how we spend most weekends, either racing or watching somewhere. It’s not too bad though and that’s usually enough time for us. It’s especially easy if we are building a Mondeo. The car I raced at Dover (on April 6), me and dad, stripped and built that in a day. Once you’ve built one (Mondeo), there are pretty easy as everything comes straight off one car and onto the next, that’s one of the big advantages from racing (Mondeos).

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My mum and dad and Little Phil.