An Interview with 1800cc National Banger Suffolk Open Championhip Del Boy 690 Jack Wilkins
(interview published July 16 2014 in the lead up to One Wild Weekend for National Bangers at Mildenhall on July 26 and 27)

Age: 24
Home Town: Sudbury
Occupation: MOT tester and mechanic
Family: Wife Hayley and son
Racing career: First raced at Yarmouth in 2003 in Ministox

You’re booked in to race on both days of One Wild Weekend on July 26 and 27, is this a weekend you particularly enjoy?
It is to be fair. I love the social side of the racing, it’s just a big an attraction to me at the racing itself and it’s especially the case at two day meetings because people are always enjoying themselves and it’s a good chance to spend some time with your friends at the track who sometimes you don’t get to see on a race meeting because you are so busy and it’s also two good meetings for me as well. I’ve been wanting to do the 2Litre RWD meeting for a while now and I always enjoy the non-Mondeo meetings as well so it’s two meetings which I think I will enjoy and that makes it a bit special as well. The only problem is it’s a lot of work getting both the cars ready. My Focus is well on the way for the Sunday so that will be behind but the Sierra for the Saturday could be a little harder as I’ve not actually got it yet (laughs). Anton Martin has sorted it out for me but I’ve not even had the time to go and get it yet so I’m pretty behind but they are fairly easy to build, which is one of the reasons I went for it, so it should be ok. The only issue I’ve got with the Sierra is Anton wants the rear axle back and if I break it I’ve got to pay for it! It should be ok as long as I don’t wind up with the wheels round my head, although I suppose that could happen knowing my luck! Another thing I’ve got to sort is a caravan for the weekend as we’ve little one now and I don’t think staying in a tent is probably the best idea for him at the moment! Hopefully I will get something sorted so we can spend the whole weekend at the track as a family, it’d be really cool to do that.

You are defending the 1800cc Suffolk Open title this season, was winning last year a highlight for you and how do you rate your chances this year?
It’s certainly one of my highlights, probably my best at Mildenhall although for me I think winning the Olly Moran Memorial at Arena a couple of years ago is probably still my best moment but that was mainly because it was my first time racing there so that was really cool to do so well at a new track. I’m not sure how I’ll get on this time, it’s the same kind of car I won in last year and it’ll be set up the same so hopefully it will go as well but you can never tell can you and a lot will be down to the day. If it’s going ok I might have a race and see how I can do but if it all goes wrong I might just go crashing instead, you never really know. I also think this is one of the more unpredictable meeting of the season. I think it’s because people are racing cars which are really only good for that kind of meeting so they are more likely to smash them up during the day, either that or they are still hung over from the night before and just want to wreck them (laughs). But it’s usually a lively meeting and you can never really plan for those, I never plan anything anyway, it never works out how you think so the best plan is to not have one!

You’ve not had the best first half to the season, do you think that is down to bad luck or something else?
I think luck has played a part in it but I also think a lack of enthusiasm hasn’t helped. The problem is when you have some bad meetings it can get hard to get motivated to do the next one and when that happens your car might not be as good as it should be and then it just gets worse and you get in a bit of a slump which can be hard to get out off. The good thing is that it only needs one good meeting to break you out of it and get you fired up and back into it and one good meeting usually outweighs a handful of bad ones, which is lucky in my case as I tend to have more bad ones than good ones (laughs). Hopefully if I could have a good weekend here that would be enough motivation to get me going for a good while!

Have you got any plans for the rest of the season or beyond?
There are a couple of meetings I really want to do next year which are the unlimited vans and pre 70. I’ve wanted to do them both for a while but it’s never happened but I’m determined to do it next year if I can. It helped that Jack (Lower) did the vans this year and he had a great time and the meeting was one of the best van meetings at Mildenhall for a little while so when that happens it does make you want to do it a little more. The think is now we’ve got our son I don’t want to be spending all my time on cars, things have really changed for me now and I want to spend as much time with my family as I possibly can and so I want to try and pick out the meetings I’ve not done before or the ones I think I will enjoy the most. I also want to do more unlimited and rear wheel drive meetings as well if I can because they are always good fun, that’s why I’m pleased to finally be doing the 2litre RWD meeting this year.

In March last year you were sidelined from racing for a while after you suffered an eye injury while working on a car away from the track, how is that now?
Pretty crap (laughs). It’s still far from right but I’ve got used to it and I’m pleased that I don’t get headaches which a lot of people with eye injuries suffer with so that’s good. I don’t think it will get much better now but it hasn’t affected my racing to much, the only problem I have is with wet meetings because I can’t really afford to do any damage to my other eye.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Ant for all his help, especially with the car for the rear wheel drive meeting and everyone who helps make my life better and easier, especially Hayley for all her support.