An Interview with Ministox Final Winner at Mildenhall on March 8 346 Lauren Nicholls
(interview published March 17 2014 in the lead up to round five of the Ministox Mildenhall Track Championship on March 29)

Age: 13
Home Town: Snetterton
Occupation: At school studying for GCSE exams (year 9)
Family: Mum, dad and brother Ben
Racing career: Started racing Ministox, Easter 2013

It’s been less than 24 hours since you completed an excellent weekend of racing which including a final win at Mildenhall (on March 8). How are you feeling right now and how much did you enjoy your weekend?
It was fantastic and I’m still happy and smiling now because of it, it went really, really well, about as good as it could have gone and a lot better than I had hoped it would. As it was the anniversary meeting at Mildenhall and there was all the extra trophies to be won my target on Saturday was to just try and win a trophy. I’ve not had a lot of luck during the winter and have really struggled when the track has been wet so I was really hoping to get a bit of form back and one trophy would have been a great result but to come home with four including winning the final was just amazing. That really got me going for Arena on Sunday and my target after Saturday was to just try and win a trophy and I managed that in the final when I came third. It’s the first trophy I have won on tarmac which makes it a little extra special for me and I was really pleased with how well I went on Sunday because I did pretty good in all the races and led for a few laps which was great as well so it’s been a brilliant weekend.

Both the finals at the weekend at Mildenhall and Arena saw you involved in some close battles, did you enjoy that kind of racing?
Absolutely, it always makes it more exciting when it’s like that. In the final at Mildenhall it was me and Tony (Elbourn) and that was a great scrap that we had and we kept changing the lead. In the end I was able to just punt him wide a bit to get in front and get away and then I got past a back marker quicker than he did and that made all the difference and I was able to stay in front but it was an excellent race and I really enjoyed it and it was great to win it. Although I only came third in the final at Arena, it was still a fantastic race and on the line it was between me and Dan Santry, it was so close he actually thought he’d won and went round to the start line. I was a little disappointed at first because I thought he’d pipped me so when they said I’d got third I was delighted.

The racing on Saturday at Mildenhall was particularly challenging, not just because of the large entry of cars but also because of the track conditions which deteriorated on turn three, how difficult was that for you to cope with?
It was difficult. I got caught out in the first heat because I hit one of the ruts and it buckled my tyre which slowed me down but we were able to sort it and I was back on the pace for the rest of the races. My dad had a good chat with me about where the holes were and we watched some of the other races to see what was going on and that helped a lot because the quickest way was to try and race over the holes rather than go around them but it wasn’t easy but dad gave me some great advice and that was a big reason why I was able to do as well as I did.

The success at Mildenhall has resulted in you returning to the yellow grade for the next Mildenhall meeting on March 29, are you pleased about that?
Yes, very much. I was pretty disappointed when I went back to the white grade after getting to the yellows for the first time and so getting a yellow roof has been the target ever since but I’ve been struggling at the winter meetings so it’s not happened. I was hoping things might improve at the weekend because the weather has been better and to get back into the yellows in one dry meeting is brilliant so I’m really pleased about that.

You mention the recent run you’ve had of disappointing meetings and also how you struggle when conditions aren’t the best, do you think that was the main reason for the lower results lately and did this form have an effect on your confidence?
I think the wet weather has been a big part of it. I just cannot get on with wet shale as well as when it’s dry and it’s something I know I’ve got to work on because I want to be competitive in all conditions and not just when it’s dry. It did effect my confidence a little but not too much because I knew when the weather improved I would be ok, it was just a little frustrating and disappointing at times. I was hoping the weekend might be better but because of all the rain we’ve had I thought the track might have been more slippery than it was so I was really pleased with how good it was and it helped me have one of my best meetings and my first final win.

Have you got any plans for the rest of 2014?
My aim for the long run is to get into the blue and then the red grade and getting back into the yellow grade was the first step so now I’m going to start trying to get into the blues and go from there. Now my brother (Ben) is racing, we are also hoping we might be able to travel around a little more because it’s easier now there is two of us racing and we are hoping to try some new tracks. There is also a group of RDC drivers planning to go to Loch Gelly in June for their weekend event and that is something I’m really looking forward too, I think everyone who is planning on going is looking forward to that.

You mentioned your brother Ben starting his Ministox career this year, how has it been racing with him?
It’s been really good and I think he’s doing well considering he only started in January. I try and help him when I can but he’s pretty good at taking care of himself and it was actually quite handy being in the white grade for the last few meetings because we could start together and I think that was good for him. We’re pretty competitive but we get on really well and we both help each other, even after meetings, we watch videos of the racing together to see if there is anything we can learn and help each other that way too.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My mum and dad for everything they do, my nan and granddad and Ben and everyone who helps us at the meetings, I think it’s amazing how many people will help you when you need some help.