An Interview with Stoxkart British Champion 229 Joe Higgins
(interview published June 3 2015 in the lead up to the Stoxkart mBritish Championship at Mildenhall on June 27)

Age: 18
Home Town: Yorkshire
Occupation: Student (studying engineering)
Family: Single
Started racing: Aged 12 in class 1 Minis on Autograss at Scunthorpe and Scarborough

The Stoxkarts are set to make their annual visit to Mildenhall at the end of June, is this a meeting you are looking forward to?
Yes it is. Mildenhall is a little special to me because I used to really struggle with my racing on shale until I came to Mildenhall two years ago and I’m not sure what happened but something just clicked and I found myself having a great night. I didn’t really get the results so on paper it didn’t look like I had done that well but I knew I had and I’d just made some silly mistakes, like messing up the end of the final and stuff like that but it was probably my best shale meeting at that point and it gave me a massive boost in confidence on shale which I think I still have now and it all goes back to that meeting at Mildenhall. I’ve been having a bit of a hard start to the season so far, getting to grips with a new car so I’m hoping that going back to Mildenhall might give me that boost like it did before.

This year’s meeting is especially important as it sees the British Championship take place and you are defending champion, are you looking forward to the event being at Mildenhall and how do you rate your chances?
I am looking forward to it being at Mildenhall but I’m not completely sure about my chances (laughs). As I said I’m racing a new car this year which has been a bit of a struggle and I’m still getting to grips with it so I don’t think I’m quite at my best with the car just yet so that might not help me but I also think being at Mildenhall makes the event much more open for everyone and I’m not sure anyone will have much of an advantage coming into the meeting. As we only visit Mildenhall once a year I don’t think anyone has an advantage on knowing the track that much better than anyone but Mildenhall really does bring out the best in our formula I think, the track is so well suited for the Stoxkarts. It doesn’t have long straights and the bends are wide so all the cars are usually very evenly matched and I think that means there won’t be any favourites this year, it will be very much down to the driver’s luck on the night. I’m not sure that helps me but hopefully it will make for a good meeting (laughs). Last year the championship was at King’s Lynn and I had the fastest lap times that day so it was a little easier to make progress and get the win, I don’t think anyone will have that kind of advantage at Mildenhall. Just the nature of the track makes everything a lot closer and there should still be the same amount of karts in each race but with Mildenhall being so much smaller than Lynn we’ll be a lot more tightly packed together and so anything can happen and luck is going to play a big part.

The British Championship has a unique twist in that after the qualifying heats, the top points scorer tosses a coin and if they win the grid for the championship sees the top scorers start at the front but if they lose the top scorers start at the back. Last year the top scorer lost the toss and they started at the back, as did you, do you enjoy that element of the race?
I do. My dad (Ian Higgins) got the idea from the years he raced Rebels as they did the same and he always thought it was a good idea and a good twist and I think it works and it made for a more exciting race last year. I didn’t qualify at the very top, I think I was third or fourth but I started almost at the back but again my car was going so well that day I was able get through the field and win the race and to do it from the back was really special. Had I started at the front I’d like to think I would have still done well but I don’t think it would have been anywhere near as enjoyable and I think with the reverse grid it made for a more exciting race. I think qualifying well at Mildenhall will be important because I would prefer to start the race either near the front or near the back, I think the middle could be a bad place to start, especially at Mildenhall where the race is likely to start in particularly manic fashion and if you are in the middle of the pack it will be especially easy to get take out so I will definitely be doing my best in the heats because even if it is a reverse order grid, starting at the back could be an advantage.

How has your season been going so far in 2015?
(laughs) Not as well as I would have liked it to be! I’ve got a new kart for this year and I’ve been struggling with it a little, especially on tarmac. I just can’t quite get it to go as well as I want it to so I’ve still trying little things to try and get it to go better. It’s not been so bad on shale but I seem to have no luck at the moment so even in the races where I’m doing ok they never seem to end very well (laughs).

It’s been said before that Mildenhall is a good fit for the Stoxkart formula, is that something you agree with?
Absolutely, as a driver the racing at Mildenhall is excellent. Because of the size of the track it doesn’t really allow anyone to get much of an advantage over anyone else in terms of speed. The formula prides itself on all the cars being the same and even if someone has their set up a little bit wrong at somewhere like Mildenhall the difference isn’t too much so it makes for a very even playing field. But also because the track is quite small compared to others it keeps the pack really close together and that can lead to come pretty exciting racing I think. I think last year pretty much all of the races weren’t decided until the last bend and a lot of final places were not settled until the very end which is always great. I remember seeing some photos last year from the meeting and there were a few were we were racing five abreast. I’m not sure you will see that in any other formula and I’m not even sure we manage to do that anywhere else (laughs).

The provisional entry list for the British Championship includes some overseas entries, is that something you are looking forward to?
(laughs) Yeah, I’m not sure how British it is but I think it’s great that we have these overseas drivers who have that much interest in our formula that they are willing to travel over and race our hire karts, I think that is excellent and it’s brilliant to have these drivers in our formula. Some of them raced with us at Coventry recently and they had such a great time that they booked this meeting as well and that says a lot about how enjoyable this formula is. I know some people discard us because of the types of cars we race and don’t even give us a chance but as a driver the racing is absolutely brilliant, it’s always so close and exciting and every race is a blast inside the kart and I think if people give us a chance they will enjoy our racing, especially at Mildenhall because it is one the circuits where we have some of our best racing.

As a driver what is the appeal of the Stoxkart formula for you?
For me the biggest appeal is knowing that when you are on the track no-one has a better car or engine than you and everyone is in the same equipment and that if someone beats you they have done so because they drove better in that race or because they had a better set up than you did, that’s what I like. There are so many formulas where drivers can get an advantage simply by being able to spend more money on their cars and others where there are accusations of cheating and we don’t have that because so much is done to make sure the cars are all the same and that no-one has tampered with their karts and I think that is one of our best qualities.

Can you tell us a little more about what you can do to try and improve your karts performance?
Not very much at all (laughs). Tyre pressures is the biggest thing and other than that the only thing you can change is the angle of the casters at the front end of the car and the two things can affect the transfer of weight in the kart which can make a difference but even then we are very limited to what we can do to our cars so even if you get it wrong the effect is fairly minimal but sometimes that little difference is all that’s needed.

Another big advantage of the formula is the costs involved with Stoxkarts priding itself on being a very inexpensive form of motorsport, is that something you would agree with and can you tell us more about the costs involved?
Yes it is, the main cost is getting the kart in the first place. A new one will cost between £4,250 to £4,500 and that is complete and ready to race but you could get a second hand one for as little as £1,800 but once you have a kart the costs are minimal. All the engines are sealed so it’s not like you are spending money on engines all the time, the cost of a rebuild is between £200 and £300 and I think I had one last year and the tyres last for a long time as well, I used the same rear tyre for every meeting last year!

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Everyone who helps me with my kart but especially TR-M for their work, my dad and brother for their support and help and H20 who help with my repairs as I do seem to like bending my car a bit (laughs).