An Interview with former BriSCA F2 Stockcar track championship front runner 103 Carl Issit
(interview published July 16 2014 in the lead up to One Wild Weekend for BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Mildenhall on July 26 and 27)

Age: 43
Home Town: Spalding
Occupation: Self-employed Engineer
Family: Wife Maxine and three children
Racing career: First raced at Peterborough in Superstox in 1993 or 1994

After the first four round of the Mildenhall Track Championship, you are currently a close second in the standings, this in spite of missing the opening round and failing to have the best of nights at the last one so are you happy with your season thus far?
I’m very happy so far, not just at Mildenhall but with the whole season as it’s been going really well and I think a big part of that is because of the new car I’ve got. It’s a bit frustrating really because I’ve had the car for about four years now and just never got round to finishing it. All the while my old car was ok I never really saw the point of finishing the new one so it just kind of sat there, had I know it would have gone this well I would have pulled my finger out ages ago and got it finished (laughs). It’s an HCD chassis and then we finished it off, last year I had a go in the Saloon Stockcars (in Kris Woods car) and then someone made me an offer on my F2 so I decided to do the deal and get the new car finished after all this time and it’s been going really, really well. As well as going well at Mildenhall, I’ve had a pair of final top threes at King’s Lynn and a final win at Coventry so it’s been good.

Is the Mildenhall track championship a target for 2014?
It is now, after having those two really good meetings I’ve decided to have a go at it. I’ve never really attempted to try and win a track championship in the past and I think a big reason for that was because I used to race on both tarmac and shale and so I never really raced at all the meetings at a single track and so I was never really in contention for a track championship. I had hoped to do the first meeting at Mildenhall this year but it just didn’t happen which was a shame really but after the next meetings I’ve managed to make up the ground so I hope to keep at it and have a go at trying to win it. It’s a little easier to try this now because I’m not racing as much as I used to. There was a time when I raced on both shale and tarmac and was doing 50 or so meetings a year but I don’t want to do that anymore and the eight meetings at Mildenhall, five or so at King’s Lynn, a few at Coventry and a couple of other shale dates is just about enough for me now so that’s what I’m doing and to be honest it’s helping me enjoy the racing more because it’s not as full on as it once was.

We’ve often commented on the style of racing at Mildenhall, especially in the finals which usually see at least 30 cars on track, what is it like to be a part of stockcar races like that?
Over the years I’ve found you tend to get control of your nerves and with all the experience I know have I only really get nervous when it’s the big championship races but I’ve always said the races at Mildenhall sort of bridge the gap between your normal races and the big ones because they are very exciting to be a part of it. It’s down to the track and the size of it as I’ve always found this with the smaller tracks, Taunton was the same when I used to go there. Because it’s smaller, it’s more intense and more exciting as a result and a real buzz when you are a racing and I enjoy that element of it.

We’re looking forward to the July 26 and 27 weekend for the F2s at Mildenhall, with only three rounds of the Mildenhall championship after this weekend, could this be make or break for your championship hopes?
I think it is still too early to ‘make’ it but this weekend will be very important to the championship because if you have a bad weekend you could lose a lot of ground on others and there might not be the time to make it up after this weekend. It’s important to score well at both meetings and certainly to survive Saturday and race again Sunday as failure to do that could be disastrous, it would be far worse to have a bad meeting Saturday than any other meeting because it could potentially mean missing the Sunday and that could be the end of your chances of winning the track championship.

The big F2 event of the season is the World Championship Semi Finals and you are very much on course to not only qualify for one of the races but to also qualify well, was this an aim for 2014?
It honestly wasn’t, I never started the season with any thoughts to the world qualifiers or World Final. I’ve only done the rounds I would have done anyway and I suppose I’ve just had good meetings at the right time which has put me up the points. Of course I will do the semi-final, races like that are always good ones to be a part off and exciting races so I will definitely be doing in but as for the World Final if I qualify, I don’t know. I don’t race tarmac anymore and Cowdenbeath is a particular specialist track. I had said I’d only go if I was on the front row but I don’t know, I suppose I will do the semi-final and go from there, I’ve even been thinking about doing the final qualifying round at Skegness in a couple of weeks to see if I can get a better grid position for Mildenhall now!

You’ve always qualified for the World of Shale Championship at Coventry in August, given your comments about the World Final, is the World of Shale your main championship target in 2014 and what do you think to your chances?
It is really the main championship for me know I guess and I think that is the case with a lot of the shale drivers. The new format is pretty good as well because qualifying is a little more special now and I like the inclusion of the overseas drivers. I’d like to think I’ve got a chance, especially with how well the car went when I won the final there. The race was stopped and I had Barry Goldin and Chris Bradbury behind me on the restart and I was able to stay in the lead and win and it’s never easy beating guys like that so the cars performance has been great but you never know until the day, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

One of the big talking points in the formula this season has been the reduction in prize money for 2014, what is your opinion of this?
To be honestly I’m really not that worried. I reckon an average meeting probably costs me around £200 to take part in with everything involved and you’re never going to win that in prize money so if you are relying on £10 or £20 to make a difference I think you are probably cutting it a little fine. Some prize money is always nice but it’s not the end of the world to me so I’m not too worried.

A question we’ve been asking a lot of stockcar drivers this year is about race flag as Mildenhall tends to use red flag to suspend a race rather than a waved yellow flag a lot more than other tracks. Do you agree with the practice of using red flags to stop races or do you think a waved yellow is sufficient?
I think you should use a red flag if the stoppage is going to take a while but I think the race should be stopped initially with a waved yellow and then you can go from there. I don’t agree with races being restarted in different order with a yellow flag to a red flag though, I think the back markers should stay in place all the time (which is the case with a waved yellow flag but not a red flag restart) because moving the back markers to the back can be really unfair on a lot of drivers, not just the guy leading who may have some back markers between himself and second but also on the lapped cars who have to start at the back but stay a lap down.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Jay and Lyndale Engines and HCD who have done so much for me throughout my racing career.