An Interview with BriSCA F2 Stockcar 2014 Mildenhall Track Championship runner up 380 Steve Cayzer
(interview published March 11 2015 in the lead up to round one of the 2015 Mildenhall Track Championship on March 21)

Age: 38
Home Town: Saffron Walden
Occupation: Works for Tescos fixing loading bay equipment
Family: Wife Marta and two children
Racing career: In 1992 in Superstox at Yarmouth

We are now just a couple of weeks away from the start of the new BriSCA F2 Stockcar season at Mildenhall, are you looking forward to the meeting?
Well, yes and no really (laughs). Of course I am looking forward to racing because that’s the thing I love but I’ve decided this year that I will probably only be racing at Mildenhall for this season and so because of that there is a little apprehension. The reason for only racing at Mildenhall in 2015 is simply because of the work commitments I and my wife have which I think would make it hard for me to do much more this year so my intention is to just concentrate on doing the meetings at Mildenhall which is probably going to be enough for me this year. It also helps that we have a couple of extra Mildenhall meetings now compared to previous years and I think nine meetings with everything else we’ve got on will be sufficient for me for this season at least. But the biggest downside of racing less is I think it automatically makes you that little bit less competitive than other drivers. There is such an advantage to be gained from racing all the time. It makes you sharper as a driver and also when you are racing regularly you are able to know exactly what you need to do with your car to make it better and if you try something different, you have the results of that the following weekend so it makes a huge difference. I’m fully aware that when I come to race at Mildenhall there are going to be a lot of drivers who already have a good few meetings this year under their belt where as I’ve not raced since December (laughs) so that is going to make things quite tough for me I think so there is a little apprehension for the meeting for me but I’m looking forward to it, it will be good to be back out there, especially at Mildenhall. I just think the track is so perfectly suited for F2s. It’s small enough so that it’s not so fast that you can get loads of damage all the time but still more than fast enough for the racing to be really exciting to be a part of and I think the F2 racing there is just fantastic and it’s a big reason why I’ve decided to just sticking to racing at Mildenhall this year.

The last two seasons have seen you finish second in the Mildenhall Track Championship, is there any disappointment from coming close both seasons and is trying to take the top spot a goal for 2015?
There is absolutely no disappointment and equally there is no ambition to try and win it this year (laughs). I consider myself something of a budget racer and perhaps more importantly all of my car is self-built and for me getting any result is a great achievement because I consider it all to be my own work. It’s been so satisfying to get such great results in the last couple of years because I look at it as all my work so to speak and not just the driving but the car itself. Also Mildenhall is such a hard track to do well at. You can be having a perfect race and then just get wiped out by something which you have no control over. But that’s one of the things I love about the track so much and one of the reasons I think the formula is so well suited to the track. There is always something going on and always something to worry about and I think that is how stockcar racing should be but at the same time it makes the racing there so tough and so tricky so anytime you get a good result I think that is a real achievement. I’ve had some great results there over the last few years, one of the highlights for me last year was getting on the podium in two finals when I was starting the red grade. I think for someone like me to get to the red grade that is a great achievement but to then get results like that is just fantastic so again there was no disappointment by finishing second in the points the last two years. I suppose it was a little disappointing in 2013 because I missed the weekend meeting because my wife had our baby but that couldn’t be helped (laughs). The way I look at it is that I still finished second even though I missed two meetings! Admittedly I didn’t win last year when I did every meeting but there was no shame at all in losing to Carl (Issit) as he was absolutely brilliant in my eyes and thoroughly deserved to win it. I find the racing at Mildenhall so tricky and sometimes just finishing a race can be hard. One of the things which makes the racing so exciting now is that the lower graded drivers are so competitive. I mean no disrespect but that wasn’t the case a few years ago but now not only are the lower graded drivers just as good as anyone but they don’t give up when they get caught which makes my job harder but again makes the racing so exciting. Sometimes I will admit to hanging back and being a little bit cautions just to ensure a result rather than wind up with nothing but Carl was never like that. He is a lot more gun-ho than me and gives it everything and I think to get the results he did was very, very impressive so he really deserved it and I was very pleased to finish second to him. I have no intentions of trying to win it this year, especially as I’m only racing at Mildenhall which I actually think will make it harder for me for the reasons I mentioned but don’t get me wrong if I was doing well about half way through the season then of course I would take it a little more seriously but I doubt that will happen (laughs).

You mentioned the car being self-made, can you tell us a little more?
One of the things I enjoy the most about my racing is trying to find new ways to do things and especially when I can do it without spending a fortune. I’m quite proud of the ideas I’ve had and all of my car is made from parts of other cars, which I’ve tried out to try and get it to go better. Don’t get me wrong it can be hard and frustrating when the car isn’t going well but on those meetings when you get a result the satisfaction is just so much better than any feeling I think I would ever get from getting the same results from a car that I had bought from someone else, it just wouldn’t be the same. But at the same time it does make things harder. When you buy a car from a race car builder, a lot of the work is done for you and then it’s just down to you trying to tweak things to make the car suite you better but my way you have to do it all from the ground up. And again I suspect this year will be harder because I am racing less so there is less time and opportunities to make changes and try new things if the car isn’t performing as well as you like. But it adds to the challenge and adds to the excitement for me. I’m currently working on a new car which I’m hoping to have ready for next season but there is a chance I might get it ready for the end of this year but I doubt I will because of work. My intention is to try a Zetec engine as the whole Zetec thing sounds a bit too good to be true really so if the engines are competitive I think that will be an excellent thing. The idea that you could get a competitive engine for around £900 is a very appealing one I think because good Pinto engines are very expensive now. In theory with a Zetec if you wrecked it, it would probably be cheaper to just go out and get another one. The only trouble is like I said it all sounds too good to be true (laughs)! But I hope it isn’t and hope to use one in my new car if everything goes to plan.

This year sees a change in the race restart procedure in that races with lap sheet order restarts will line up the same regardless of whether red or yellow flags are used and that back markers will stay in place rather than being moved to the back, is that something you agree with?
Absolutely. I didn’t actually know until quite recently that there was two systems which I just find crazy because if it was a red flag and you were a lap down you have to start at the back and basically you have to pass everyone twice so your race is effectively over and that happened to me a couple of times last year and I just retired because I didn’t see any point in continuing because my race was over so I’m pleased that has changed. But to be honest I think using waved yellow flags to stop a race is fine and I’m not sure there really is a need for red flags. At the end of the day the end result is the same, you have to stop your car so I think a waved yellow is just as good as a red flag but now I guess the restarts are the same it doesn’t really matter so much.

This year saw something a little different for the formula with the first out of season meetings in many years and you competed at the meeting at King’s Lynn, were you pleased to see these meetings on the fixtures?
Very much but that is because I do enjoy the conditions when they are a bit wet because when it’s like that it takes away all the advantages drivers get from their cars and it’s all about the driver and less to do with the car and I like those odds (laughs). I just think wet conditions on shale is such a leveller in my eyes and I enjoy those kind of conditions so in December you would expect the conditions to be like that so I’m always likely to jump at a chance such as that. In fact I was a bit surprised at how good the track was at King’s Lynn in December, it really wasn’t that wet at all but it still suited me I guess as I had a good day and won my heat (laughs).

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
My dad mostly for everything he has done for me and my racing over the years, both financially and with all the help in the workshop.