An Interview with Mr G 620 Guy Whitehead
(interview published April 1 2014 in the lead up to the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open Team Championship at Mildenhall on April 18)

Age: 33
Home Town: North Walsham
Occupation: Workshop manager
Family: Wife Melissa and two children
Racing career: Started racing bangers in 1999, mainly at Yarmouth

You are something of a regular now at the Good Friday meeting and the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open Team Championship and TPL were among the first teams to book in this year, is it a meeting you enjoy?
Yes, I love it, it’s a brilliant meeting. There is always loads of cars in the pits and loads of cars in the races so it’s usually a really lively and crashy kind of meeting which are the ones I enjoy and there is always a good atmosphere at this meeting, I think it comes from the amount of cars there which in turn usually means there is a good crowd watching and that just creates a great buzz and it’s excellent to be a part of that so it’s always a meeting I look forward to and doing it as TPL (Team Proper Laughing) again will be a great, we’re all looking forward to racing in our old colours again and this will be one of the first times we’ll race together in TPL colours again so we’ve all been looking forward to it.

It has been an interesting point that you have booked in as TPL, having helped fly the Team Kamikaze flag for so long, why the change back to TPL?
Well we raced as TPL when we first started and then we became very good friends with Karl (Kamikaze) Dack who kind of almost became something of an icon for us. When we first started out, we didn’t have family or friends who’d raced before to help us, we really were new to it all and were trying to find our feet and when Karl took us under his wing it was an absolutely massive help and hence why when he asked us, we were really chuffed to join Team Kamikaze and race with him for so long. But obviously Karl has drifted away from the racing now and he’s pretty much disappeared from the scene altogether and while we remain really grateful for everything he’s done for us, we felt the time was right for us to go back to our original colours and go back to being who we were in the first place and trying to see if we can make a name for ourselves but our own name. Good Friday is probably going to be the first time we will race properly in the colours since switching back. We had a few cars in colours at the Micro meeting and the Winter Series and (on March 8) but we’ve also been using up some old cars which were still in Kamikaze colours and so Good Friday will be the first time we’ll be out as TPL properly and we’re looking forward to it. I think it’s fired the lads up a bit and we’re pretty excited about it now.

How are your preparations going for Good Friday, how do you think the team will do and have you any intentions for the day?
Actually our preparations are going pretty well for once, we have four, nearly five of the cars already stripped out so we’re actually a little bit ahead compared to where we usually are. But I think what is more important is the boys are really excited about this one. Again it’s a meeting we all look forward to anyway, but being back as TPL has made that even more so and everyone is really buzzing and enthusiastic so we should be ok for this one (laughs). I think we’ve got a good little team this year, one of the big difference is Little G (700 Gareth Cushion) whose a changed man in the last six months. He used to be one of the most nervous guys ever and would sometimes need some real encouragement to get out there but he had an unlimited meeting at King’s Lynn last year (the World of Shale wildcard) which just changed everything and now he’s pretty fearless. He’s always been good but the nerves used to affect him and now he’s doing great which is a big help for us I think. As for our intentions, well we’ve got this rivalry with Team Starky which goes back to when we all used to race at Swaffham. We don’t cross paths very often but we will here so I would imagine there will be a few crashes between us and it’ll be good to take them on again but we’ll just take it as it comes. It’d be great to qualify for the final, if only because then we would all get to race together as a team which would be cool, but we’re pretty realistic about our chances. An entertainer award would be great, we see them as better than winning a race because we’re all more about crashing cars and taking home a bent motor but I’m sure we will enjoy the day.

You seem to like team racing, you guys are also booked in for the unlimited EA team meeting in May, is that one you are looking forward to?
Yes, I love team events, they are always a lot of fun, usually because again they tend to be a more crashy type of meeting and there’s usually a good turnout. I also like the fact that at a team meeting everyone mucks in together to help. We help each other out at all meetings but it’s even more so at a team meeting because it’s more important to get your cars back out for the next race and I love that buzz, even if it does mean I spend most of the day on the back of a lorry working on cars and don’t see many races! It’s funny because even though Good Friday is one of the longest meetings of the year, it flies by for us because we’re always busy. The unlimited meeting should be good as well and I’m looking forward to that again. We did it last year and I thought it was a great meeting even with less cars than previous years and I had my Volvo completely blitzed which was excellent. I’d had the car for almost a year by that point and really needed rid of it so I was glad to get it blitzed properly in the end. Again we’ll be racing as TPL this year so that will be really cool. I really enjoy racing at unlimited meetings and do prefer rear wheel drive cars but I want to race regularly and it’s just not possible for me to race them all the time, if I did I would race a lot less but it does mean you look forward to those meetings a little more. I know a lot of people don’t like them but personally I love Mondeos, they are easy to get and build and usually you can have a whole night racing one so I think they are a great car.

Have you any plans for the rest of the season?
Just to enjoy it, that’s the most important thing for me and the rest of the team but we are hoping to have a good year and get the TPL name mentioned and try and make a bit of an impression if we can, just by enjoying ourselves and doing what we enjoy. We hope to do as many Mildenhall meetings as we can but if some cars survive we might try and visit some other tracks if possible. We’re also hoping to race on the continent with the guys who came over last year and raced at the Old Skool team meeting with us. They are hoping to do it again this year which will be brilliant and we want to try and return the favour if we can and go over there and race with them.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
All the women (laughs), they’re great and very supportive and so I’m really thankful to thank, Stuart and little Mick who do so much for me and the rest of the boys as well.