An Interview with BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship rookie 298 Jake Walker
(interview published August 23 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 21 (turns 22 on August 28)
Home Town: Chesterfield
Occupation: Mechanic
Family: Girlfriend Hannah
Racing career: Started in Ministox at Birmingham in 2007

Congratulations on qualifying for the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship for the first time, how big of an achievement is this for you?
It’s really good. At the start of the year I had two goals. The first was to try and get to red grade and the second was to try and qualify for the World Final. With the semi-final being on shale I felt I had a chance as I only on shale but with the World Final at Mildenhall it was a big incentive to try and qualify for the first time. I’ve managed to do both goals because I got the red roof at the start of the year. I’ve always been in between yellow and blue grade in the F2s and I wanted to try and be a bit more consistent this season as that is something I have struggled with in the past. I started the year really well by winning the final at Belle Vue on the first weekend of the season which automatically put me to blue grade and it was also a World qualifier so that was a big boost for qualifying for a semi-final. I then worked really hard, the first few weeks of the season which most of the shale drivers will tell you is the best chance for us to go up the grades because it is probably the only time when there are as many shale meetings as tarmac ones so I really went for it and I scored enough points to get the red grade. Having done most of those meetings from the blues was a big thing for me and I really felt like I had earned the red roof and while I only held onto it for a month, I was really chuffed to have got it in the first place and I’ve been pleased to stay blue for the rest of the year. I’ve been scoring decent points all year which is something I’ve never really been able to do before so it’s been really good.

On the subject of the grades, much has been said about the grading system and with the imbalance of shale and tarmac meetings and the difficulty for shale only drivers to climb the grades with some suggesting it leads to drivers being graded lower than they should. Do you think the system needs changing?
I do think it could do with tweaking but at the same time I have no idea what the answer is (laughs). Dave Polley brought it up on FaceBook recently and it actually led to quite an interesting conversation with a lot of people having an opinion on it but everyone had a different opinion and a different idea on what to do so I’m not sure there even is an idea. But I do think it’s a bit wrong that you can have drivers go to tracks like Barford, Buxton or Skegness on a Thursday night where there usually is less cars and be able to score the same points as say when I go to Mildenhall where it is very hard to score points as it usually is at most of the shale meetings. It’s a hard one but I do think it needs some kind of change to balance it out.

You ultimately finished sixth in your semi-final and will start the World Final on row eight. You were on course to finish second but engine failure saw you drop down the order in the final laps, how do you feel about your final result?
(laughs) It’s one of those situations where you are really pleased by disappointed at the same time. If you had said to me at the start of the year that I would have been in the World Final I’d have taken it and been really pleased. If you’d then said to me I would finish my semi-final in sixth place and be starting on the eighth row I would have been over the moon and don’t get me wrong I am over the moon just to be in the race for the first time and to be on the eighth row but of course I was looking good to finish second and then the engine went bang so it’s hard to not be a bit gutted and wonder what might have been (laughs). It would have been awesome to have finished second and be right at the front of the grid, of course it would have been but it wasn’t to be and I’m still in the race and that is the most important thing.

Can you tell us what happened with the engine?
It broke (laughs). I think I might have cracked a cylinder, I’m not sure but it’s gone away to be worked on and I’m hoping to have it back in time for the World Final as it’s a good engine and I would like to have it in the car for the World Final but I’d also like to try and do a meeting with it first just to make sure it’s ok. Failing that I might just go to Birmingham for one of their mid-week practise sessions just to do a few laps because obviously when you have an engine fail like that, it’s a concern and it will be in the back of your head that it could happen again and that can be a distraction and in a race like the World Final you don’t want any distractions so hopefully I’ll get to do something with the engine before the World which I think would be a big help and a bit of a confidence boost, having that knowledge that the engine seems to be ok. It was pretty frustrating as the engine had only just gone away for a bit of work on it and I put it back in the car for the semi-final and that happened so it was unexpected but sometimes stuff like this happens.

When was you aware you had an issue and how tough were the final few laps?
Around half way I thought something was wrong because the car just didn’t feel as fast as it was but I could see I still had a big gap over the next car so I thought maybe it was my imagination or just that Andy Palmer was getting even faster (laughs). Then with about five to go it started to really go and started sounding pretty dreadful. Any other race and I would retired immediately to try and avoid doing more damage but it was the semi-final and I was that close to finishing. Again being in second and knowing I had a good gap between me and third I figured I had to just try and keep going in the hope that if I could make it home I’d still be in the top 10. It was pretty tough, especially with all the smoke in the car, it was actually pretty hard to just see where I was going (laughs). I saw Dave Polley and Tom Adcroft pass me but after that I kinda lost track and was just concentrating on trying to keep the car going. I was a bit disappointed when my mate James Riggall passed me when I’d lapped him and I said to him afterwards that I thought he might have given me a push (laughs). I think one more lap and I might not have made it, it was pretty close but I got to the end so it was worth it.

Andy Palmer went on to win the evening’s Grand Final which means you will start on the inside row, is that an advantage?
I think it will be, especially at Mildenhall. Being such a small track if you get out on the outside it can sometimes be very difficult to get back into the race because the gaps don’t come up as much as they do at a bigger track like King’s Lynn and with the World Final set to have such a big grid those gaps are going to be even more sparse so I think being on the inside will be a big help, as long as you can stay there (laughs). It could be hard from row eight, it’s pretty close to the middle of the grid so it’s definitely going to be tough and I would have much preferred to have been on the second row (laughs). Again being on the inside will help and I know I’ve a good, strong car so hopefully I’ll make it through the start which is bound to be hectic.

What kind of race do you expect it to be?
With 38 cars round Mildenhall, I think there is only one kind of race it can be (laughs). It’s bound to be hectic but then the last F2 World at Mildenhall went flag to flag so you never know but I can’t see that happening this time, I think it will be chaos. I don’t know it that benefits me or not, I guess it depends on what happens on the night really, races like that can often be more about luck than anything else, don’t get me wrong I could do with a pile-up at the front really, just as long as I manage to avoid it (laughs).

How do you rate your chances and have you any personal goals for the race?
To be honest I’m happy to just be in it, but a top 10 would be brilliant and anything more would be a huge bonus. I think I am capable of a top 10 finish providing things go well but I’ve been struggling a little at Mildenhall this season. I’ve been racing a new car this year which is an ex Chris Bradbury car and I know seem to do better at the bigger tracks whereas before I would go better on the smaller tracks. At the weekend meeting Chris was there and we did some work on the set up and tried some different things and on each day I finished the meeting well with a second and fourth in the Grand Nationals so that is good for the confidence, knowing the last time I raced there the car was going well and hopefully we’ve found what we’ve been missing at the right time.

Who are your picks for the championship?
Before the Semi-Finals I would have said Mark Simpson, he’s such a clever driver, especially in championships which I think is important but I still wouldn’t rule him out if he qualifies in the consolation semi-final. I think the winner could come from the back of the grid but it won’t be easy but if it is carnage and there are cautions which I think there will be then the winner could come from anywhere. Of those who’ve qualified Sam Wagner is a good bet. He’s got an old Chris Bradbury car as well and he goes really well round Mildenhall but I think the Dutch are going to be good bets as well. They have got so good lately and I think some people overlook them which will only help them, I really wouldn’t be surprised if a Dutchman took the win.

Much has been said this year about the Semi-Finals and World Final both being on shale, what are your thoughts on that?
Obviously I don’t have an issue with it but what gets me is there have been plenty of years where they have both been on tarmac and that seemed to just be accepted whereas this year some people didn’t like it. Personally I think we need to do more to have a greater balance between shale and tarmac because really the World Champion should have to overcome both surfaces to win it I think. I don’t understand the reasons but Startrax do not get the World Final, I’m not sure about the Semis, but if they did it would help even things out a bit. I know there is talk that next year’s World Final might be at Coventry which would be great, I think it would be a great track to have it at but if it’s not then it’s going to be a long time before the World is on shale again and also as Mildenhall had the Semis a couple of years ago, they won’t be on shale for a long time either and that seems very unfair to me.

Much has been said about the state of the formula in 2016 with efforts being made to improve things, how do you feel the sport is at present?
I think it is really good that drivers are now more involved in the rules and I think that is important but to be honest the shale scene is pretty ok at the moment and I don’t think it needs the help, it’s tarmac that needs the attention but I’ve no idea what the answer is. I guess the ultimate goal is that a driver can race on both surfaces with the same car, ideally without having to do much work to alter it but the problem is so far gone now, I’m not sure it can ever be pulled back. When I first got my F2 I did three tarmac meetings at Birmingham and Northampton and got so disheartened because I was pretty out of my depth and was starting to wonder what I’d done getting the car in the first place. I was good friends with John Wright and he encouraged me to race on shale and even though the tracks weren’t as local I was able to compete with what I had and I’ve not raced on shale since, even though when I raced Ministox I did that mainly on tarmac. The thing with tarmac is you need to have a good car, good engine and good tyres to have a chance to be competitive and while having that stuff on shale helps, it’s not as essential and you can still be competitive even without the best stuff, I’m not sure if there is a way to make that happen on tarmac as well.

There is talk of introducing a shootout style series for the National Points Championship in F2s as there is in BriSCA F1 Stockcars, is that something you would like to see?
I think it would be good. It works well in F1s and I can’t see why it wouldn’t work in F2s as well but I do think the driver who scores the most points in the season should have the silver wing so maybe the shootout should be for something else but then I think there are already too many championships (laughs). The other issue I could see is that the top 12 or so in the points usually includes a few Scots and it might be hard for them to travel to all the meetings in the shootout series as for it to work you would really need all the drivers chasing the (shootout) to race at most, if not all the rounds.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My granddad, I wouldn’t be able to do this without him, Chris Bradbury for all his help this year and everyone else who has ever picked up a spanner or done anything else to help me.