An Interview with National Banger racer Gava 205 Mike King
(interview published April 13 2016 in the lead up to the Micro Banger Best Pairs meeting at Mildenhall on April 30)

Age: 27
Home Town: Horsham
Occupation: Tarmacer
Family: Girlfriend Kimberly and two children
Racing career: First raced at Eastbourne aged 18, National Banger debut was at Mildenhall (British Championship) in 2014

You are set for action at the Micro Banger Best Pairs meeting on April 30, is this one you are looking forward to as you are a bit of a regular at Micro meetings at RDC and elsewhere?
I am because I really enjoy the Micro meetings. I think in a lot of ways they are what National Banger racing should be because not only are they a cheaper way to go racing but all the cars are very evenly matched. I think a lot of that is because, unlike in other formats, you don’t get drivers who spend a lot of extra time or money on Micro Bangers, that hasn’t crept into this class like it has say unlimited bangers or 2litres and I hope it never does because that is the best thing about it. You can just build a car without having to put an excessive amount of work into the car and have a really good night with it and that is what it should be about, just having fun.

Can you tell us about the car you have and the work which has gone into preparing it for the meeting?
I’ve got a Ford Ka and this one only cost me £30 and it was on the button running when I bought it so again the Micro cars are really cheap cars for racing. You compare that to say a Mondeo which can cost around £100 and then something like a (Scorpio) where people are paying in the region of £500 for one which I think is just crazy money to spend on a banger but that’s what people are doing. So again the Micros are usually the cheapest cars you can get for racing and again they are easy to build. I would say that is we spent a whole day on one we could build one in a day, that’s if we started in the morning and worked until the evening which isn’t what we do very often, unless it’s something very last minute on a Saturday (laughs). But two or three evenings is usually more than enough to get one ready, they are much easier than any other type of car to race and because the cars are still very easy to get hold of, I guess that is why they are so popular and also why driver’s don’t mind smashing them up more often because it’s not too hard to get another one and build it. To be fair, they are so easy to get that we don’t tend to buy them all the time, we usually only get one once we have raced one. As room in our yard is a little tight it seems a little daft to fill it with cars which we know we can get fairly easily so once I’ve raced this one I’ll get another for the next Micro meeting I do and hopefully it won’t take long to find one.

You are set to team with Ricky Miller for the meeting who has made a couple of appearances at Mildenhall before, do you guys have a plan for the night?
Just to enjoy it really. Ricky has done a couple of meetings at Mildenhall before and really enjoyed it and wanted to come back so this seemed like an ideal meeting for because he tends to stick to the smaller car type meetings . He’s actually done most of his racing at Worthing over the years but wants to try and do a few more National meetings and he’s been helping me a lot with my racing recently so it’s nice to now help him a little with his and return the favour a bit. As for our plan, it will be the same as usual and for us that is always to just try and do ok in the first race. I think it’s the same for almost everyone in that there isn’t much worse than getting written off in the first heat. Admittedly in banger racing it’s a risk you always take but there is a lot to be said for just getting through that first race, I can’t explain it really but if you get through the first race it makes a huge difference. Not only do you get more racing but also I think after the first race it takes a lot of the pressure off and you find you enjoy yourself a lot more in the later races. So for us, we’ll be looking to get through the first heat and anything after that will be a big bonus but as long as we enjoy ourselves, that is the most important thing as always.

This is your second season as an RDC driver, this in spite of Mildenhall Stadium being far from local to you, what is the appeal of the racing at RDC and Mildenhall?
Our family was Spedeworth (registered) for so many years and yes they have three tracks we are far more local to us than Mildenhall but the simple truth is that we just enjoy racing at Mildenhall so much. It’s especially the case for me because I don’t have the means to make my cars as competitive as some do, not that I would particularly want to anyway, but being unable to do that does take the fun out of racing at some of the meetings at somewhere like Spedeworth because of how the racing is. Instead when I come to Mildenhal I feel that I have a much better chance to compete, mainly because of the track, being small and shale and with that I get a lot more enjoyment from it so that is the main appeal I guess but I also like the atmosphere there, I just find it to be a lot more friendly and enjoyable and everyone seems a lot more relaxed than you find at other tracks. I’ve no idea why it’s like that but again it does add to the fun and make the meetings more enjoyable for me.

Have you any plans for 2016?
I really want to do the pre 70 meeting again. I had that old Mercedes last year and it was only my second RWD car and I really enjoyed the meeting so I very much want to do that again and I’m hoping to get another one of those Mercedes but if that doesn’t come off I’m sure we will find something, when it’s a meeting you really want to do, you usually find a way to find a car in the end (laughs), even if it means spending a bit more than you want to! I’m also hoping to do the Granada meeting as I raced dad’s old Mk2 (Granada) last year at the RWD Championship and really enjoyed it. It was cool to finally race a Mk2 after all these years so I would like to try and do the Granada meeting if I can. Beyond that I will probably do a couple of Mondeo meetings at Mildenhall and elsewhere we are planning to do the Bears meeting at Eastbourne, that’s me (brother) Charlie and Dad (Dave). That’s a bit of me because the rules at the meeting are quite strict on what you can and can’t do to the cars which I think is better and so I’m looking forward to that one and also I want to try and do the Spedeworth World Final meeting again as I really enjoyed that one. It’s weird because you would think it would be a meeting which wouldn’t be a bit of me, being a big and fast tarmac track and also a meeting where you have all the top drivers and their cars are probably as good as they possibly can be but I had a great night and really enjoyed it. I also took the car to Ringwood for the UK Open and had a great night there too, so maybe it was the car (laughs).

Speaking of racing with your family, you, Charlie and Dave raced for the first time together at the Suffolk Open team championship, was that something you enjoyed?
Yeah it was great really. We’ve all raced with each other before but this was the first time all three of us raced and our cousin Oliver raced with us as well so it was pretty special and we all had a great day and the cool thing was that the cars all survived so we decided to not do the DD and instead bring that back the following week so we had a good run with those cars, hopefully we will do the Good Friday team meeting again.

You’ve father Dave has threatened retirement many times, do you think he will ever retire?
(laughs) Well I guess one day he will. To be fair he always said he would stop when he turns 50 and that’s not too far away but I think he will always do meetings like the pre 70 until he really is unable to. He did say he was going to slow down this year but then over the winter he got all keen and started saying about all these meetings he wanted to do, like Good Friday but I think we have got what will be his last ever car. It’s on my drive at the moment and it’s very cool but I think my other half would like him to race it now as she says it’s taking up too much room (laughs).

On the subject of your family, you don’t race in the familiar Ramrod colours which your father and Charlie use but instead a similar paint scheme with blue instead of red, why is that?
I just felt I didn’t want to go out in the colours until I was a little better and it was better for me to get the hang of it before racing in the familiar colours, I guess there was a part of me that didn’t want to let the family colours down or something like that. But now I really like my colours, I think blue and white is better than red and white (laughs). I should be in the Ramrod colours for the Bears meeting though as the intention is for all three of us to be in the same colours which I’m looking forward to, that should be a great night.

We’ve started to see more of you in RWD type meetings, is this something you enjoy?
I actually prefer the RWD cars but the trouble is the work which is involved in building them because they are just so much harder to get ready for a meeting and the cars are usually more expensive to get so racing them all the time is not an option for me but I do enjoy the times when I get to race them. Unfortunately the Supreme Championship this year didn’t go too well as the BMW I raced was a bit rubbish. It was a choice between that and a Volvo and because the BMW was already stripped out and the one Dad had at the RWD meeting last year was pretty good I thought I’d give it a go but it just fell apart (laughs). I’m hoping to get some more of the modern Jaguars like I had at Ipswich (World Final) and Ringwood (UK Open) last year. The was a really good car and I’ve always liked Jaguars as bangers, I guess partly because dad and Charlie have raced so many over the years.

Does coming from a famous racing come as a blessing or a curse?
I guess it’s a bit of both really but mostly it’s good. The help I’ve had is unbelievable and I doubt I would be able to race without it but like most families we do bicker quite a lot which isn’t so good (laughs).

A lot of drivers have started using extra safety equipment when they race which is not mandatory in the sport, do you use anything like that?
I have started using the ratchet style seat belts which I think are excellent, they are a bit like the seatbelts that NASCAR drivers use and I think they are both really comfortable and also brilliant at keeping you tight in the seat and they’ve made a big difference for me. I am looking into getting a Hans type device at some point because I think they are probably the way to go in the long run. That’s another reason why I like the racing at Mildenhall so much because while the racing is almost always lively and you get big hits, you don’t tend to get the absolutely massive hits you see elsewhere which are normally found on the bigger or tarmac tracks which tend to be faster. So because of that I don’t think a Hans device is as essential at somewhere like Mildenhall but I’m planning to some meetings this year like the Bears meeting and (Spedeworth) World Final where I think something like that could be more beneficial so I hope to have one in time for that if I can.

A big talking point this year has been the ruling from the ORCi prohibiting drivers from exiting their cars while a race is underway, is that something you agree with?
I do, but then I rarely used to get out of my car anyway because I’ve always believed the safest place is in your car anyway. Having said that, I think that if I ever felt I needed to get out of my car I would, regardless of the rules. I think your basic instinct would take over if you thought that you really needed to get out of the car in a hurry and you would just (get out) and worry about any consequences later. I think a lot of people think the same because I have seen a few people getting out of cars already this year but it is a lot less than before and I think that’s the good thing about the rule because drivers are not just getting out of their cars for the sake of it, people are thinking a lot more and the only ones who are doing it are the ones who feel they need to.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
My dad and all the boys who help and the misses for putting up with everything.