An Interview with National Banger White and Yellow Grade Series Final winner Bubba 730 Brandon Mayes
(interview published December 23 2015 in the lead up to round two of the 2015/6 Mildenhall Winter Series)

Age: 16
Home Town: Diss
Occupation: Apprentice mechanic
Family: Girlfriend Breeze
Racing career: Started in Junior Bangers at King’s Lynn aged 13

We are now just a couple of weeks away from the second round of the National Banger Mildenhall Winter Series for 1400cc Bangers on January 2. Is this a meeting you are looking forward to?
I always look forward to any chance I have to race and this is no different. This is a good time of year for me because (step-dad) Deane (Mayes) isn’t racing his (Saloon) Stockcar so there is a bit more time to concentrate on my racing and I’m hoping to make the most of it. I’m building two cars at the moment, one being for (January 2 at Mildenhall) and while I’ve not got a car yet I’ve every intention of racing again the last round of the series (on January 31). In the season when Deane is racing the stockcar, that is very much our first priority and everything else fits in around what he is doing. It works quite well though because whenever he races at Mildenhall there is a banger meeting so I try and do them if I can and I’ve done a couple of meetings at King’s Lynn now as well so hopefully there will be times next year when the Saloon dates match up with a suitable Banger date for me. But Deane says he’s not going to do quite as much with the stockcars (in 2016) and will probably do a little less travelling so hopefully that will create more chance for me to race myself.

When you were racing Junior Bangers, you didn’t race that frequently, is it safe to say you have greater enthusiasm for National Bangers?
I do. I think the problem I had when I was doing the Juniors was I was a typical teenager and wanted to race but didn’t want to do any of the work (laughs) and quite rightly my family wouldn’t do it all for me if I didn’t do some myself so I rarely raced. When I did my first National meeting I got the bug for it so much and it was like a switch because after that I was down the yard at the next opportunity, stripping that car and starting work on another one (laughs)!

Your National Banger debut came at Mildenhall on March 28, two days after your 16th birthday where the car was a surprise for you, how much of a surprise was it?
It was a complete surprise and everyone kept it completely quiet and I honestly had no idea at all that I would be racing until I got to the track. I’d gone completely assuming I would just be there to watch Deane in his stockcar and to help if I could and when we rolled into the pits there was the Mondeo with my fin plate on it. Mum even filmed me when I first saw it and my reaction is a bit of a picture really, I was completely gobsmacked. The first meeting was pretty good really, I finished second in the consolation but got smashed up by TMT in the process so I didn’t make the final which was a shame but I was so pleased to just qualify for the final in my first meeting and again the first meeting really gave me the bug for racing.

Having mentioned your enthusiasm for the sport, how much time do you spend working on cars and as a 16-year-old, does it leave much time for other hobbies and interests?
We have a routine where I get picked up from work every Tuesday and Thursday and go straight to the yard to work on cars and we do that until about 9pm when we have to stop because of our curfew at the yard. It’s good and bad really having a curfew, on the one hand it can be restrictive but on the other it makes you get on with what you have to do. I usually spend Saturdays working on cars as well when I’m not working and depending on how busy we are I might spend Sundays to. There is time for other things but the truth is I’m not interested in the kind of stuff teenagers typically do, all I want to do is race but I’m lucky as well because my girlfriend races (lady bangers) so she’s the same as me and will quite often come to the yard with me and she understands if I can’t see her one night because I need to work on a car.

This will be your first Winter Series, these meetings are often trademarked by having less than ideal racing conditions because of the typical winter weather, is that a concern for you?
To be honest, I actually prefer it when it’s a little wet because it makes a level playing field for everyone. When the track is wet you don’t even get any advantage from good tyres, it’s all on the driver to do their best with their conditions and I really like that because I think that is how bangers should be and I also think it gives me a bit of a better chance. The other thing I like about wet meetings, but I appreciate it might not be so good for the fans, is that it slows the racing down so the hits don’t tend to be as big and that keeps the drivers a bit safer and means everyone is more able to enjoy their racing and have fun without worrying about getting injured so much. I’ve noticed that at wet meetings, more drivers seem to want to get stuck in and I honestly think that is partly because the speeds are lower and the hits aren’t so hard because normally when you do a hit, you get hit yourself and there aren’t many drivers who enjoy taking a big hit but if you know the hit that’s coming won’t be too bad you might be more willing to do one yourself.

You were in action in the opening round of the Winter Series and had a successful day, one of just three drivers to race five times at the meeting and with Ryan Santry you narrowly missed out on winning the Best Pairs points, did you enjoy the meeting?
Yeah, I had a great day. I enjoy the Micro meetings as I think they are a bit of a comfort zone for me because I started racing in the Juniors and it’s the same cars at least so it feels a little like home and me and Ryan had a great day, winning three races between us and I had a second. Unfortunately it all went wrong for us in the final and we had to settle for second in the points when we thought we had a great chance of winning but he broke a drive shaft and I got a puncture but that’s racing and it was hardly disappointing to do so well at a meeting as big as that one. It was cool to get so many races, I think having the Semi-Finals was a good idea and it made it a little different to a normal day and meant we got some more racing but even so it was still a bit manic at the end doing the final and the Accumulator immediately after and the second Accumulator (after the Ministox Final) but it was worth it and it was good to smash the car up at the end after a good day of racing.

You scored some good Winter Series points and with the intention to do the remainder of the series do you fancy your chances of challenging for the series?
I don’t think you can ever think like that, all you can do is try and do the meetings and do your best each time and just see how it goes. It would be nice to think I’ve got a shot but I would never actually go as far as to say I have or that trying to win was my intention, all you can do is do your best and see if it’s enough.

This year’s Winter Series sees some changes. First attacking on opposite has been outlawed for all meetings in the series until after the final and the 1600cc series finale sees Focus’ and Vectras not permitted alongside Mondeos. Do you agree with these changes?
I do to be fair. I think the no turning round rule is good especially for these meetings because you seem to get a lot of different people race who maybe don’t race Nationals regularly and I think it’s good for them to have a chance to get some laps and races in before smashing their cars up and if they have a good meeting it might encourage them to race again a bit more regularly. Excluding the Focus and Vectra from the non-Mondeo meeting is also good as well I think even though I haven’t got a car for the meeting yet (laughs). These meetings are getting closer and closer to be all Focus meetings now anyway so it will be good to have some more variety and hopefully by not allowing some more of the better cars it will encourage people to find something a bit different and race it.

Back on the subject of surprises, you also raced at a Saloon Stockcar in July, again how much of a surprise was that and did you enjoy it and might we see more of that in future?
It was a surprise but that time, unlike the (first National Banger) I did have a small clue it might be happening as the night before was the 2litre RWD Banger meeting which was the first time I had raced a RWD car and Steve (Mayes) had joked that if I won my race then maybe I could race Deane’s hire (Saloon Stockcar) on the Sunday. I’m not sure that was the exact plan but I think they wanted to see how I did in the banger before having a go in the Saloon but I did actually win my heat so I guess after that it was going to happen (laughs). I really enjoyed the stockcar but unfortunately it was just the wrong meeting to race one for the first time being so wet but maybe I will have another go one day. I wouldn’t want to race one all the time right now, I’m enjoying my bangers and want to stick at it but maybe in the future.

Mentioning the win at the RWD meeting, might we see more RWD appearances from you in 2016 and have you any plans for next season?
I would like to do some more RWD meetings and definitely hope to do the 2litre RWD meeting again next year and it would be nice to do a couple of unlimited meetings but we’ll have to see how we get on and whether the cars come up and there is the team as they are a lot more work. For (2016) I’m just hoping to do as much as I can. Again if Deane doesn’t do quite as much in the stockcars I might be able to do a little more but we’ll see, it’d be nice to try and qualify for some championships, I’d love to get into the British (Championship).

What were your standout moments of 2015?
Winning the White and Yellow Grade Series Final was a massive deal for me. I never expected to even have a chance of winning that and it was my first big race like that, I was pleased just to get into the race but to go on and win it was just amazing, it was a really tough race and I nearly lost it and managed to come back on the last lap to win it so the fact it was so hard made it all the more special. It was the same when I got my first win in a National Banger which was in the Micro meeting in April. It was a really tough race and there was a big pile-up on the road bend and every lap you had to smash a way through and just try to keep going. After the race we lifted the car on the Hi-ab and the rear axle just fell out completely and I finished the race in first gear because I didn’t have enough power to get into second, winning a race like that is especially good.

More recently we saw you guest for the Dover Boys at the Mildenhall Team Championship where you were involved in an afternoon-long battle with the Gladiators, was that something you enjoyed?
I really did. It was the first team meeting I’d done and it was a great afternoon and when it kicked off between us and the Gladiators, you knew it would be a good afternoon. When you see one of them in the back of your team mate there is only one thing you can do and you know what’s coming next (laughs) but still it was great in the pits with everyone smiling and shaking hands so it was a great day and I was really pleased we got my wreck back out for the DD.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Deano for everything he does to help me, mum for supporting my racing and Breeze for helping me as much as she does.