An Interview with Saloon Stockcar driver 158 Shane Davies
(interview published July 29 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Championship at Mildenhall on August 29)

Age: 35
Home Town: Gravesend
Occupation: Mechanic
Family: Partner Nicola and daughter Jessica
Started racing: 1992 in Junior Bangers at Dover, first races Saloon Stockcars in 2003 and started in the formula full time in August 2012

This will be your third consecutive appearance in the Saloon Stockcar World Final, is this still a race and a meeting which you look forward to?
The World Final is essentially the reason I go racing every weekend, it’s to get into the top 24 (in the World Rankings) and qualify for the big race of the year, it’s always the target so I’m really pleased to have qualified again, especially as this season has been quite difficult at times, especially at the start where I blew two engines up in the Stockcar in almost as many meetings and also did an engine in my van so it was pretty rough at the start of the year and it hit my enthusiasm a great deal because of the money it cost to put everything right so to come through that and still qualify pretty well is really good. It’s funny because the World Final is a big reason as to why I threw myself into the formula so hard when I first moved into Saloons from Bangers. The first meeting I did in 2012 was the World Final meeting at Taunton and I watched the big race that year and said to myself that the following year I would be in it, that was the goal right from the start for me. But I had no idea how the qualifying worked for the formula or how hard it is to qualify, especially for a new driver just coming into the formula but that might have been a good thing because if I had I may not have gone for it like I did, instead I just went for it and did every meeting I could and it worked and a year later I was in the World.

You’ve also registered top 10 finishes in both of your World Finals to date, no easy feat when you consider half of this year’s World Finalists failed to register a top 10 in their debut, are you pleased with the success you’ve had in the race so far?
Yes and no really. It’s really great to have got those results and I honestly never expected them, especially the first year being at Cowdenbeath but at the same time I really feel that I could have done better had it not been for some back luck. In Cowdenbeath I was running in fifth and everything was going really, really well and I believed I was going to get that place and a back wheel bearing went in the final few laps and I dropped right back to 10th and was pretty lucky to stay in the top 10 so while it was great to get a place it was still disappointing as it wasn’t quite what it could have been and it was the same last year at King’s Lynn where I got into third and was again feeling confident that I would finish on the podium and the car just went off at the end and I started to slip back and I finished fifth. There was a bit of a fright at the end as the gearbox came a little loose and dumped a load of oil on the final bend so I crossed the line in a cloud of smoke. I didn’t know what it was at the end so I was pretty glad to just finish but it turned out it wasn’t as serious as it looked but again it was a little disappointing to not quite get the result I thought but luck plays such a massive part of the racing in this formula.

This will be your first World Final at Mildenhall, a track you have great experience of from your years as an RDC registered National Banger driver, does that history with the track make this World Final any more special and how do you feel about your chances?
It’s funny because for so many years I considered Mildenhall my home track but since going into the stockcars I just cannot get my car to get on with the track and I’ve no idea why. It’s been quite frustrating really because it should have been the easiest track for me to master I think but instead it’s been the hardest, it just won’t click for me there at all and I cannot suss out why. The plan this season had been to do all the meetings at Mildenhall to get the car going better there to give myself a real shot at doing well in the World Final but unfortunately that has not been the case, again the problems I had at the start of the year really didn’t help with the blown engines and the problems with my van and I missed Mildenhall meetings straight away there and it seems that every time I’ve had a problem this year it’s a Mildenhall meeting I’ve had to miss so it’s been a bit of a nightmare really. As a result I don’t really fancy my chances at all, Mildenhall is such a hard track and one mistake and you are pretty much out of it so it’s going to be hard. (editors note-it's worth remembering this interview was conducted in the days leading up to One Wild Weekend prior to Shane's first shale win in Saloon Stockcars on July 25 and his fourth place finish in the EA Championship the following afternoon)

How different do you think a Mildenhall World Final will be to a World Final at the other venues you’ve competed in?
I think the biggest difference is that at Mildenhall you cannot make a plan, everyone will have the same plan and that is go for it, there is no other option at Mildenhall. At other places, certainly Cowdenbeath you can make a plan, especially once you’ve survived the start and the race settles down a little, you can even do that to a lesser degree at King’s Lynn but not at Mildenhall, you just have to go for it, the whole time and you never know what’s going to happen do you, I suspect the race will be carnage, at least at some point, it’s hard to see a race with that many cars in at Mildenhall being any different and I would imagine it will have a close finish so again you cannot take it easy at all.

Are you happy with your grid position for the race?
I would have liked to have been a little closer to the front of the grid but given everything that has happened this year I’m not complaining. To be fair at Mildenhall I think the grid positions are going to be very much pot luck, look at (Dave) Aldous in the English, he started at the front and everyone I think thought he would run away with it and instead he was out straight away so you just don’t know. For that reason I hope I’m on the inside, I think that will help but apart from that I don’t think it matters so much, Mildenhall is so unpredictable so you just cannot tell what will work out for you, again it’s just pot luck.

You have enjoyed an amazing run of top 10 finishes in championship events in the formula, your best to date being a second in the Superbowl, was that something you were especially pleased about and are you happy with the consistency in the big races or are you now looking for more?
I was really chuffed with the Superbowl result, especially as I finished second to Stu Shevill Jnr. He’s pretty much unbeatable round Cowdenbeath and so to finish second to him in my mind meant I’d beaten everyone else and that was a great feeling and I was so pleased about that. So much of the championship races is down to luck. This is such a great formula with so many good drivers in it that you definitely need a lot of luck on your side and while I’ve had a bit of bad luck I think at the same time I’ve still been pretty fortunate and looking back at some of my big race results, I’ve definitely been lucky. I’ve had a couple of top 10s at Mildenhall and in those races I’ve been knocked about all over the place and just managed to hang on so they’ve been pretty fortunate. Of course you always want to get to the next level which would be to win a big race and I honestly don’t think I would be able to stop in the formula until I’ve had one big win but for me I think it’s going to be hard to do that at least on my own. I’ve learnt so much in the formula in the last couple of years and I think I have come a long way but to get to that next step I think I will need some outside help from someone who knows more about the cars than I do. I’m hoping to have a new tarmac car for next season and I think I might have someone else build it rather than build it myself like the current one and see if that makes a difference because I think it will.

How do you feel 2015 has gone so far, have you enjoyed your year?
I’m quite happy, again with the problems I had at the start of the year, I’m currently in the top 10 in the National points and to come from such a bad start and rally back to be there is really good and I’m pleased about that but the truth is the problems at the start of the season put a massive damper on my year and really took a lot of enthusiasm out of me, especially as it cost so much money to get everything right. The problem I have is that I have this feeling that the results I’m getting don’t really justify the work and time I’m putting in. I guess it underlines how hard the formula is that I need to put so much into it to get what I’m getting but it is frustrating, maybe it’s an age thing (laughs) but I must be enjoying it, otherwise I wouldn’t do it.

This season has seen the introduction of Zetec engines, is this something you are pleased about?
I think it’s a great idea. I’m still using a Pinto on tarmac but have a Zetec for shale and it’s been going fine and we’ve seen in a lot of places that the Zetec engines have been posting the fastest laps at many meetings, admittedly by a small margin but still the fastest. The Zetec engines are definitely a cheaper option as well and I think it has helped bring a lot of new drivers into the formula but my only concern is that I think in time people will start spending more money on them. Even though they are quite easy to find now, they, like everything, won’t last forever and eventually they will be harder to get hold off and people will start getting fussy about the ones they use so I’m not 100 per cent sure how long it will last but for now it’s great and I just hope some thought is given to what we use next because that day will eventually come.

We usually ask stockcar drivers on their thoughts about the use of reds flags to stop races rather than just waved yellow flags, something we see more at Mildenhall than pretty much everywhere, also how do you feel about the change for lap sheet order restarts where a red flag is used in 2015 where the back markers now stay in position rather than going to the back of the grid?
I don’t mind red flags being used, in fact I think there are times when they should be used and I would like to see them used more at other tracks because there have been a few incidents recently where I think red flags should have been used and not waved yellows but if I was in trouble I would want to see a red flag used. As for the restarts, I’m honestly not too worried, if I’m honest you’d prefer whatever system benefits you at the time but it doesn’t work that way does it (laughs). I don’t think any system is perfect so all you can ask for is that it is the same everywhere and I think having the same system for both flags is better than two.

There has been much talk recently in the formula following some driver injuries, are you happy with the safety record of the sport and is there any improvements you would like to see?
The one thing I would really like to see is drivers being made to have better roll cages. I’m as guilty of this as anyone because drivers are always trying to make their cars as light as possible to the rules and I think sometimes that means the rollcage is not as strong as it could be so I would like to see the rules changed where the cars have to be heavier or there is just a rule which insists the rollcage is made a certain way or made of certain sized material, I think that would be a big benefit.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
My mechanic Stump, Dad for everything he does, my sponsors BJ Plastering, Gravesend Metalos, Excel Skip Hire, Chase Car Spares, WW Electrical and Tony Faulkner and Nicola for her support.

More from this interview with Shane Davies will appear in the official race programme at the 2015 Saloon Stockcar World Final at Mildenhall on August 29

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