An Interview with National Banger Accumulator Champion JT 624 Jason Thurlow
(interview published March 25 2014 in the lead up to the 1400cc Banger Suffolk Open team championship at Mildenhall on April 3)

Age: 31
Home Town: Rushmeer St Andrews
Occupation: Vauxhall technician
Family: Girlfriend Courtney and daughter Ebony
Started racing: Aged 17 in Rookie Bangers at Ipswich

You are once again set for action in the 1400cc Bangers Suffolk Open team championship at Mildenhall racing with United Nations, is this a meeting you look forward to?
Definitely. Last year was my first time doing the meeting and it’s one I have always fancied doing because I really enjoy the 1400cc meetings usually try and make a point of doing them if I can but for whatever reason I’ve never managed to do Good Friday before so when Dan Stacey asked me if I wanted to be in his team I jumped at the chance and I loved it last year and had a great meeting. So when Dan asked again about this year there was no question for me, it was always going to be one which I would want to do.

What is the appeal of the meeting for yourself?
Well I really like the 1400cc meetings. I’m not overly worried about racing RWD or unlimited meetings, I’ve had a go at a couple of them over the years and it was ok but it wasn’t the be all and end all for me and I’m quite happy racing the cars which just come my way and the unlimited type cars do tend to be that bit more expensive and they are a lot more work to prepare so I’ve almost resigned myself that that kind of racing isn’t for me, although I do enjoy watching unlimited meetings, especially the ones at Mildenhall. And then like a lot of drivers, I’m not so keen on Mondeos either so for me my ideal meetings are the non Mondeo type limited cc, front wheel drive type meetings. I always try and do the non Mondeo meetings when I can and in a way these meetings are similar, just with smaller cars. But Good Friday is a little extra special, mainly because of the amount of teams and drivers that usually race, when you have around 200 cars at a meeting, straight away that’s pretty special and a cool thing to be a part of. The other thing I really like about these kind of meetings is typically drivers race cars which are a bit more of a ‘throwaway’ car and so they haven’t spent a lot of time or money on the cars to make them quicker or handle better or anything like that and because of that everyone seems to be racing on a much more level playing field. I think that is a big reason why the meeting is so popular with so many people, just because everyone has a good chance to be competitive and the great thing I found about Good Friday last year is it seems more people are eager to get stuck in and have a crash, it’s much more so than a normal (1400cc) meeting, so last year was a great crack and I’m pleased to be doing it again this year.

You are in one of the more interesting teams on paper, firstly because your team and your stable mates in Nations United have a large international flavour to them?
Yes, it’s really cool. I have to give Dan (Stacey) credit for the team he put together last year. He goes racing on the continent a lot and has made a few friends and it was great to race with these people last year, they were such a friendly bunch and it was another reason why the day was so much fun and special. Having spent a day racing with a few of the continentals last year I can understand why so many enjoy racing over there now and go over so often. So having even more of them in the teams this year is even better, honestly when Dan told me the team last year I didn’t know half of my team mates and it’s the same again this time so I’m looking forward to meeting and racing with new people, it should be a lot of fun.

Another interesting element of your teams is the number of lady drivers racing with you, something we have seen an increasing amount of in recent months, is more women in the sport something you welcome?
Absolutely, I think it is fantastic and I hope we see even more women in the future. There is absolutely no reason why the ladies shouldn’t race with the men in my opinion and we’ve seen lots of time where the ladies have been just as good and even better than the male drivers and it’s good to have them out at a big meeting like this one, the way I see it is if the ladies can do this meeting then there is no reason why they couldn’t do any (National) Banger meeting, hopefully it will encourage a few more to have a go as well.

Last season your team qualified for the final, was that a surprise for you and is this a goal for this year’s meeting again?
It was a huge surprise to me to be honest, I never thought we would have a chance of qualifying and we certainly never set out to do that, it just kind of happened but again it goes back to the meeting being such a level playing field with the cars and everything else and I think us qualifying for the final kind of proved that in a way, that any team can have a bit of luck and get some results and that can on the day be good enough to get in the final. I must admit it was really cool being in the final because there were a lot of top drivers in that race. I remember lining up for it and thinking what on earth am I doing out here with this lot (laughs). A lot of those drivers I consider them to be real banger drivers, in that racing is their whole life and they put so much time and money into it while I’m just a part timer in comparison (laughs) so it was really great to be out there with top guys like that. Unfortunately it didn’t last long, I think I was out within a lap and the rest of the team followed me! As for this year I doubt we’ll have any big plans or anything, I’m sure there will be a discussion before hand and we’ll take it from there. The first heat is usually pretty important, if you do ok in that then you might have a go at trying to get in the final and if it doesn’t go well then you just forget that and have a crash instead so we’ll see what the day brings.

Last season you won the Accumulator Championship and then followed it up by winning the David Riley trophy later that night, was that meeting a career highlight for you?
It definitely was, it was just amazing to have that success on that night, I’m still a bit blown away by it now really. I honestly never knew I’d won the Accumulator Championship. I was doing well but then the race got stopped and I kind of figured that my luck had run out at that point and I almost lost my bearings after that. When the race got restarted I thought I might have been somewhere but was blissfully unaware that I was winning and then I had a battle with (370 John Cobbold) who took me out so I figured that was the end of that. I had no idea I was not only leading but so far in front so when I was told after the race that I had won, I just couldn’t believe it. It was really special for me as well because of the car I was racing. Like I said I’m not a big fan of the Ford Mondeo and much prefer Vauxhall Vectra for (National) meetings and there were a few people who said I was crazy for using one but I think they are pretty good cars, they might not be as strong as a Mondeo at the front but they are just as hard at the back and are pretty quick and I think I showed that they are good cars that night and then to win the (David Riley trophy race) as well was just the icing on the cake, it was a really brilliant night, which was a bit weird because normally my best meetings are the ones where I just go crashing, so it was really nice to have such a good night racing instead.

Have you made any plans for 2015?
Well I had but unfortunately it has not got off to the best of starts at all (laughs). Winning the Accumulator Championship was a big motivator for me and I really wanted to make the most of it and try and show it wasn’t a fluke I guess and my hope was to try and do all the National meetings I could and in the back of my head I fancied having a crack at qualifying for the British Championship. Unfortunately this hasn’t had the best of starts because I had a load of problems with my lorry just before the start of the season and so I missed the first British qualifier so I’m guessing my chances of qualifying for the British are a bit slimmer now (laughs). I’m hoping to be ready to go for the second round and I guess after that I will have to see how I do but I’m hoping to do a bit more this year and most of the extra meetings are the National meetings which I might have usually done until winning the Accumulator. The Siamese meeting is another one I’m looking forward to, I did that last year for the first time and it was fantastic so I can’t wait to do that again, we’ve still got our top car from last year so that will be a big help.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad, without him I would struggle to do any of the racing I do and the same with Adrian who owns the yard I use and helps with the car and drive the lorry sometimes, like my dad without him I would find it very hard to do any racing at all but also Shane who is a big help with building the cars and my girlfriend for all her support.