An Interview with National Banger livewire 339 Jack Garrod
(interview published January 13 2016 in the lead up to the final of the 2015/6 Mildenhall Winter Series)

Age: 24
Home Town: Swaffham
Occupation: Mechanic
Family: Son and daughter
Racing career: First raced in Ministox aged 12 or 13 at Mildenhall

You’ve so far raced in both rounds of the Winter Series and are set to compete as well at the final round, are these meetings you enjoy because they do tend to be meetings which don’t feature the best of racing conditions due to the time of year?
To be honest the plan wasn’t to do the meetings as I don’t normally do them but I guess I’m enjoying my racing so much at the moment that all I want to do is race (laughs). It’s been a busy year and the plan was to have a bit of a break over the winter and get ready for another busy season from March but the truth is there isn’t much racing on shale at this time of year so I decided to make the most of what was available, I think so far I’ve made the decision to race at the Winter Series the week of the meeting where I’ve either got really bored or just keen all of a sudden and built a car to race in that week. It helps that the cars you race at these meetings aren’t the hardest to build but I’ve enjoyed them both hence why I’m planning on doing the final round as well. I don’t mind racing in wet conditions on shale, it’s usually good fun to be honest but to be fair I think the conditions for the Winter Series rounds have been really good when you consider the rain we’ve had and that’s made the meetings pretty good, I just hope it’s the same again (on January 31) as if it is that should be a good meeting too.

It’s often been said to us that the wet conditions you often see at Winter Series meetings makes for an even more level playing field for drivers, is that something you agree with?
Yes, it’s true. I stay away from tarmac mostly because it is so much harder to be competitive. On tarmac the advantage a driver can get from things like tyres, engines, ECUs and set ups compared to someone who doesn’t is massive and nowadays you really need those things to have a chance on tarmac whereas on shale you can be in the mix without them but when it’s wet the advantage stuff like that gives you is even smaller so I can understand why people do these meetings because for someone who is racing a car pretty much exactly as it came they have an even greater chance of being able to compete. I think that is why you get so many cars at these meetings and you often see a lot of drivers who you don’t normally see. Take (January 2), there were loads of drivers there that I wasn’t familiar with and it was the same at the Micro meeting and I think you get a load of drivers come out for these meetings that maybe wouldn’t normally race because they see them as a chance for them to have a chance (laughs). What was also great about the (January 2) meeting was the variety of cars. You had loads of Micro cars out there against normal 1400cc cars like Almeras and Civics. I had an Escort but it was no better than any of the Micro cars and that was again because even though the track was good, it was still wet and slippery so it allowed drivers to race whatever they had and have a good night.

You are currently fourth in the Winter Series and perhaps the last of the four drivers to go into the final round with a realistic chance of taking the title, was challenging for the Winter Series your intention at the start and how does it affect your strategy going into the last round?
(laughs) No it wasn’t my plan at all. I think a lot of it came from the (second round) where there were so many drivers racing smaller, Micro type, cars and you had to be respectful to those guys. I would never hit a Ka or something flat out in my Escort and to be fair, I think everyone with a bigger car had the same attitude which was great and one of the reasons why the meeting was so enjoyable. So because of that there were less chances for me to crash and instead I wound up scoring some good points which made a change (laughs). I’ve always been more about the crashing side of the racing than chasing points, it’s just what I enjoy more I guess and I don’t think it will change what I do at the last round, I’m certainly not going into it with a game plan to try and win the series but I admit it would be nice to finish in a decent place, that would be a good start to the year.

This year the final round has a twist, remaining a 1600cc meeting but as well as Mondeos being outlawed, so to is the Focus and Vectra, how do you feel about the changes?
Well as much as I enjoy Mondeo meetings I prefer the non-Mondeo meetings, simply because you get more variety of cars out there and I enjoy that but to be honest the changes for this meeting don’t really affect me as I would have had another Escort anyway (laughs). I really don’t like Focus’ at all and I don’t think I’ve ever raced a Vectra so it makes no difference to me at all but I think the changes are good myself because more and more people are using Focus’ at these meetings so hopefully it will bring back a bit more variety to these meetings which I think was always the idea. I like the Escorts myself, they are good all round cars, quick and strong and because it seems not many others like them I can still get them quite easily and they are ideal for several meetings, like 1400cc meetings at Mildenhall and 1500cc meetings at King’s Lynn and non-Mondeo meetings as well.

Another feature of this year’s Winter Series has been the outlawing of turning round and attacking on opposite, what are your thoughts on that?
I think it has worked and is appropriate for these meetings but I wouldn’t want to see it come in all the time at Mildenhall because that is one of the things I like about racing at Mildenhall, that turning round is allowed. I think Mildenhall is one of the more action tracks we race at. It’s mainly because of its size, being so small and you only need one guy to turn round and it can be carnage and I like that, a banger race should be mayhem, that’s the idea (laughs). But with the Winter Series I think with the track usually being a bit wet if you have turning round and the carnage it can slow things up a lot and I’m not sure that is the best so I think it’s been a good idea for these meetings. Also, as I said you often get drivers do these meetings who you don’t usually see and I suspect they might prefer the no turning round rule as well. Thankfully we’ve still had the carnage though, I think where the meetings have had good turnouts and the conditions have still been a little tricky, you still get the mayhem even without anyone turning round so that’s been good.

Another tricky element of the Winter Series has been the very difficult conditions in the pits, has that been hard to cope with?
I think you expect it at this time of year don’t you. We’ve had a lot of rain and anyone who was expecting anything different is a bit silly really, it’s just been good that the track so been pretty good, I think that’s the most important thing anyway (laughs). It’s funny though because I find that meetings where it’s wet you get a different atmosphere. It’s almost like everyone just thinks, ‘well I’m wet now, I might as well make the most it’ and you do notice the atmosphere is a bit more light hearted almost and everyone just mucks in and does the best they can. It was funny on (January 2) as we had a little trouble getting out and one of my mechanics jumped out of the truck to see if he could help. I think he thinks he pushed us out where I actually think I just found a bit of traction. That’s probably ruined his moment now (laughs).

You finished fifth in the King’s Lynn points last year, was you pleased about that?
Yeah I guess so, it’s definitely the best I have ever done and it was a bit of a surprise really because I never set out to do anything like that, again to be honest crashing is the thing I enjoy the most from racing but I suppose as I did a lot of the meetings there, you do pick up points along the way. Having had all the time off from racing while banned it was nice to come back and have such a good year and I suppose it does show at least that I’ve improved as I do get a bit of stick from my brothers who joke that I can’t drive and can only drive into other cars. To be honest I don’t disagree with them (laughs) but maybe last year showed I can do ok.

That said, have you any plans for 2016?
(laughs) Yeah but rather ironically my plans are to try and win the entertainer’s league at TSR. Even though I’ve been doing rather well in (race) points championships lately I still think the thing I’m best at is crashing so I’ve decided to give that a go. I did pretty well in that last year and I wasn’t especially going for it so I’m hoping with a bit more effort I might do even better. It could be difficult though because they score quite a lot of points for smart cars and unless you have the means to have a sign written car every meeting that could be hard. I do think smart cars should be awarded but the main points should be for crashing and stuff like that but even so I’ll give it a good go. I’m also hoping to do as much as I can at Mildenhall. It’s ideal for me having two good shale tracks so close and a lot of the meetings are well suited to me and I think I should be able to do most of the meetings with the cars I have. I’ve a lot of Mondeos stocked up and TSR aren’t running many meetings for them at all this year so I hope to start using them at Mildenhall instead and I’m doing more unlimited meetings now that I’ve started to race Previas. I’d love to do the pre 70 meeting at Mildenhall as well, that is a meeting I’ve always wanted to do but it’s hard finding suitable cars for it.

Mentioning unlimited meetings and as you said you’ve been a driver to race Previas more often lately, the car has divided opinion in the sport, what do you think of them?
They are good that they are a cheap car which I think is pretty competitive without spending two or three weeks building them and spending a lot of money on them. (brother) Terry had one at the Ipswich World Final and even though he didn’t last long the car was quick so they are a good car in that sense but the problem is they are so weak on the front now that you can’t run a water tank and there have been a couple of times where I’ve felt a bit lucky because of the way the front has caved in. Don’t get me wrong, all cars have to have a weak point and no car should be unstoppable and that’s why I think it’s right to not have water tanks because they did make them almost unstoppable but I think we need a middle ground. I think driver’s should be allowed to make a brace on the driver’s side between the bulk head and the front of the car, not to strengthen the car but just to give the driver a little more protection.

In 2015 you and your brothers collectively raced in over 100 meetings, how do you expect to top that in 2016?
(laughs) I’ve no idea but I’m fortunate in that I build my cars at home in the garage so at least there is no travelling to and from a yard every night which costs you time. You just get home and step out the door and can start on the cars, but even then I was on the cars every night last year and it does get hard and I’m sure this year will be no different, especially if I want to go for the entertainer league and try and do more at Mildenhall. I guess a lot of it is because I was banned (from the ORCi) for so long and I’m so pleased to be back and back into the racing and want to make the most of it. It was a tough time when I was banned and if I’m honest it had a very negative affect on my life, I was so bored without my racing and was spending more and more time at the pub and it really caused me problems so now I realise how precious having my racing is and I’m determined not to make the same mistakes again and also to make the most of my racing as well, it’s great to be back and having such a good time with again.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad, Jim Jam, Brendon, Biston and all of my family, especially Terry who helps me a lot, and friends.