An Interview with former Saloon Stockcar British Champion 199 Phil Powell
(interview published August 5 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Championship at Mildenhall on August 29)

Age: 47
Home Town: Taunton
Occupation: Workshop manager
Family: Wife Sarah and son Joseph
Racing career: Started racing in Bangers in 1988 and Saloon Stockcars in 2003, also at Taunton

Congratulations on qualifying for the World Final for the 10th time, are you pleased to again be a part of the big race?
I am, it’s really nice to be in it again and what makes it special this year is that I’ve managed to qualify without actually trying too hard. I’ve got to a stage in my life and my racing where I don’t want to be travelling up and down the country each and every weekend and I don’t want to be actively chasing things like qualifying for the World Final and trying a bit too hard. At the moment, my racing is very much for fun and I’m certainly not taking it as seriously as I once did. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to win and I still want to be competitive, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it at all but I’m racing more when I want to race and doing the things I enjoy and it has made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable. But because of that, and especially because I’m not doing all the big championships which take place outside the west country I never really thought I would do enough to qualify, so to have done that without really going for it, and especially to actually be in the top 24, rather than getting because others aren’t racing is really great. It’s been a nice thing for me personally because I guess it’s made me think I am doing ok, even if I’m racing so much now.

Are there other reasons for enjoying your racing so much at the moment?
Apart from cutting back on my meetings and doing the once I want to do which makes a massive difference because when you are pushing yourself to race for the sake of racing and are doing meeting you don’t especially enjoy it can take a toll and cutting those meetings out has definitely made a big difference. But the other big reason I’m enjoying things more is the people I have around me now. Just lately I’ve had some more people come to help me and get involved more and more in the Stockcars and it’s getting to stage now where some of them are racing themselves. It’s taken a while to convince them that they might enjoy the Saloons but it seems it’s finally paying off (laughs). Ben Sealy has already had a go in one and we are now working on Chris Jeanes who is the Rookie Banger World Champion and I think he would be really good in the Saloons as well. The other person getting more and more involved is my son but he is still away doing an apprenticeship in Plymouth but he is spending more and more time helping when he can and I honestly think we might see him out on track in a couple of years as well but having this people around me has really helped me enjoy my racing a lot more lately. The social element of our sport is always important and so too is having some help so it’s made a massive difference.

Do you have a target going into this year’s World Final?
I think the target is always the same for any race at Mildenhall, regardless of what the race is and that is just to try and finish (laughs), you can’t really plan much more than that there. I really hope the weather is ok because I know I’m going to struggle on the shale as I hardly race on it anymore but if the weather and track are good then I might be a bit better but we’ll see. There is always a good buzz though at Mildenhall and racing there really does remind me of my years of racing bangers, just because the track is one of the smaller ones and everyone gets stuck into each other as a result, the race is usually a lot more fun and I’ve always enjoyed racing there so I am looking forward to it and I’d be pleased to finish it, again finishing any race at Mildenhall is good but to finish the World Final there would be excellent.

As you mentioned you rarely race on shale at the moment but you are a former British Champion, having won the race at Mildenhall, how much of a disadvantage do you think you are racing on shale here?
(laughs) I’m at a massive disadvantage. I think it’s been five or six years since I last raced on shale regularly and that for me is because of the tyres we now race on shale with because I just don’t like them at all and again with me now sticking to the racing I enjoy I decided not to do shale so much because I just wasn’t enjoying racing on a tyre that I could not make work for myself. It wasn’t even the miles involved in me travelling to the shale tracks, I honestly didn’t mind that, it was just when I got there I wasn’t enjoying the racing at all because it was such a huge struggle so I stopped. About 10 years ago, when I won the British, I was racing at Mildenhall a lot and did quite well in the track championship one year but then things changed and so did I. I don’t think it’s quite so bad at Mildenhall for me as it would be at Coventry and King’s Lynn because those tracks are so much bigger so it would put me at an even bigger disadvantage, I think the size of Mildenhall will help me a little but I’m definitely going to struggle because I’ve never got to grips with the tyres we now use on shale which again is why I would be pleased to finish the race.

There is a lot of talk about tyres in the formula right now, presumably this is something you would like to see changed?
Everyone has a different opinion I think and I know some want to see the shale tyre used on tarmac as well and I do understand where they are coming from to a point because of the speeds we are getting on tarmac but I don’t think it’s the speed which can be dangerous, it’s the lack of control. Look at (BriSCA F2 Stockcars), on tarmac they are much faster than Saloons but I don’t think you get the bad crashes and injuries because the drivers are able to control their cars better with the speeds they are racing at. I think if you put the cars on a worse tyre the drivers will find a way to go just as fast but we’ll be less in control of the cars and then the accidents will come which is part of my problem on shale because I’m just not in control of the car when I race on shale, again at somewhere like Mildenhall maybe it’s not quite so bad because the track is a bit smaller but at larger tracks I think that is an issue. I think also the current tyre rules have actually made shale a more specialist surface that tarmac than it used to be. Normally you would expect shale to be the thing which makes it a level playing ground for everyone but I think the tyres we have on tarmac have done that to tarmac because they allow everyone to be competitive whereas on shale I think it’s more and more about how well your car is set up and those who have it right have done a lot of work to get it right.

With that in mind, how important will the practise session be to you prior to the World Final?
Very important, definitely and I hope to get there early and try and make the most of it. I’ll be using my tarmac car of course and while I have a rough idea of what to change before I get there I’ll still be speaking to some people whose advice I can trust to see what else I can do and we will definitely be hoping to make some improvements when we get there. I think I’ve only raced on shale about three times with this car and none of them were at Mildenhall so we need all the help we can get (laughs).

You have been in World Finals at all the modern day World Final venues, how does a Mildenhall World Final compare to other venues?
(pauses) That’s actually quite an awkward question to answer because they are all special in their own way. I think to be fair Cowdenbeath is probably the best, just because of the atmosphere and for whatever reason everyone goes there when they have the World and because the track is so stockcar based and so are the fans so that makes a World Final there really special. Taunton is special for me because it’s my home track but they are all great in their own way. What makes it so good for me at Mildenhall I guess is the entrance to the track which kind of has that tunnel effect. It’s not the same as when we had the big banger events at Wimbledon but I don’t think anywhere is, but it’s along those lines and again because Mildenhall is smaller you drive in and get that stadium kind of feel and that is cool, it’s definitely the atmosphere which makes the World Finals so special because you don’t get anything like it any other time of the year.

You recently won the Devon Championship, how big of a boost was that for you?
It was definitely a nice boost for me personally but I don’t think it will help me at all in the World Final (laughs). Again it’s nice to be having any kind of success in my racing at this point because we aren’t doing quite as much as we used to do so to still be able to challenge for wins and be competitive means a lot to me personally.

A big talking point this year has been the introduction of the Zetec engine, is this something you are in support of?
Very much so, I think that we have an engine which drivers can use and can only cost a couple of hundred quid once you’ve bought the conversion kit and straight away be on the pace and competitive with those who have engines which cost a lot more is absolutely brilliant and it’s definitely bringing more new drivers into the formula which can only be good. I think the other brilliant thing is that now if something goes wrong with your engine you can get back out there much quicker because you’re not out of racing for two or three weeks either waiting for an engine builder to do the work or saving to pay for the job.

Much has also been said of the recent surge of National Banger drivers coming into the formula but you were a part of a previous wave of this happening when you, Shane Brown and Danny Hunt moved into the Saloons, are you pleased to see more drivers making the switch?
I actually followed (Shane and Danny) to be fair (laughs). I think Banger drivers always watch Saloons, there is always that link and I think a lot of drivers are often put off because they think they can’t afford a Saloon, I know I thought that at first but I don’t think that is the case anymore with the costs of bangers now and also the cheaper engines in Saloons and it’s allowing more and more who’ve always wanted to do the stockcars to have a go and there are some fantastic drivers coming into the formula which is brilliant for everyone.

We always make a habit of asking drivers about the use of flags in sport, are you happy for red flags to be used to stop races as well as waved yellow ones which is often the case at Mildenhall and also what are your thoughts on the change in lap sheet order restarts where back markers now stay in their positions when a red flag is used as well as a waved yellow?
I’ve no problem with red flags being used if they are needed, whatever it takes to keep everyone safe, the thing I’d like to see changed is marshals having more power to stop a race when they think it needs stopping rather than getting permission from the box first which I don’t agree with because those few seconds can sometimes make a difference and I think the orders we have now for restarts are right. Back markers should stay where they are, it’s better for everyone. If you are in contention and you’ve passed a backmarker you want them to stay where they are as you’ve passed them and done the work and I think it also encourages back markers to stay in the race as if they are moved to the back they can sometimes think there is no point in continuing. The one thing I would like to see changed is when we had a stoppage the order was always taken from the last completed lap and I don’t think it is now with waved yellows so I think that results in drivers not slowing down as quickly as they should so I’d like that to be changed.

This year has unfortunately seen a number of driver injuries, is there anything you would like to see improved to help reduce this or is there anything you are doing differently?
I’ve started to use a Hans devise and I’ve found it’s really helped me. When I had my big crash at Skegness my neck was absolutely fine. I had a back ache but that was because something wasn’t right with my harness which I’ve now sorted but my neck was fine and I put that down to the Hans device. Craig Banwell who hit me, it destroyed the front of his car so it was clearly a big impact and he’s half the age I am and he was complaining of a stiff neck the following day so I think the Hans device made a massive difference. But you also have to remember that I’m older and when you are younger you bounce better (laughs) so I’m not saying everyone should have them but it’s definitely helped me. There are no ideal scenarios in our racing but I do think drivers should have a look around and see what is out there and is any of it might help them.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My wife Sara for all her support over the years, my son whose getting so enthusiastic for the sport now, John Metcalfe at Autospares for his sponsorship and everything he does for me which is a massive amount and everyone whose helped out over the years, there have been so many, you could never thank them all but I’m very grateful to everyone.