An Interview with March 7 Saloon Stockcar Final winner 217 Sid Magewick
(interview published March 17 2015 in the lead up to round three of the Mildenhall Track Championship on March 28)

Age: 18
Home Town: Isleham
Occupation: Welder and fabricator
Family: Girlfriend Emily
Racing career: Starting racing Go Karts aged eight and Ministox aged 11

Congratulations on winning the Saloon Stockcar final on March 7, was the victory particularly special or significant for you and was it especially so coming so early in the season?
Coming on the second weekend of the year was a massive deal to be honest, especially as I didn’t have the best of starts at King’s Lynn the weekend before so to win the final, and have a really good night in general where I finished in the top 10 in all of my races was a huge boost for me. I think it’s the same for everyone at this stage of the year that if you can have some good success it is a massive motivator and it certainly has been for me, I’m still buzzing after the win and can’t wait to get racing against next weekend. On the other hand I’ve had seasons which have started terribly and it can be crushing for your morale and that can make such a difference at any time of the season, but I think it is especially so at this point in the year, because having such a good result now can carry you for a good while. Also it can have a massive impact on your racing because when you have some good results it gives your confidence a big boost and that can make you such a better driver. I’ve struggled with my confidence at times, especially on shale where I really don’t think I’ve quite cracked it so when you get a meeting like that it gives you that self believe in yourself that you really need and that can make such a big difference. Also I believe it is my first Saloon final at Mildenhall so that means a lot, especially having had so many brilliant results there in the Ministox, it’s fantastic to now have a result like this in the Saloons.

Of course the March 7 meeting will be remembered for the very difficult track conditions, the winter rain and frost leading to several large holes and ruts on the circuit, how difficult was it for you to cope with these conditions?
It was a bit of a killer wasn’t it (laughs). I guess I was pretty lucky because he worst thing which happened to me was I got a puncture but unfortunately there were some others who got some damage because of the conditions which is a shame but we all know it’s been a bad winter. It was hard work, the thing was the track was changing so much all the time and new holes would pop up out of nowhere and catch you out and I found it such hard work because you were working the (steering) wheel so hard to keep control of the car, I was exhausted after the races (laughs). It was interesting as well because everyone seemed to have a different way round the track. In the heat I wasn’t racing in I went to watch to see if I could learn anything but everyone seemed to have a different idea so I think it was a matter of just doing what you thought was the best thing at the time and just because something worked once didn’t mean it work again the next lap. To be honest I thought (Daniel) Parker had the best idea, he just drove the track like the conditions were perfect and didn’t care about the holes, he just went hell for leather (laughs)! I tried that once but it was a bit uncomfortable so thought better of it! My plan was to go a little wider when I was clear but when I was under pressure you had to take a tighter line and try not to worry about the ruts and just risk it.

Does having success on a night like that when conditions are so challenging make the achievement mean more?
I suppose it does in a way. A win is a win isn’t it but when you’ve had to work hard for it, it does mean more to you personally and that win, well the whole evening really, did mean a lot. It wasn’t just the conditions which made it hard but the final was such a great race with Danny Colliver battling for the lead. He pushed me really, really hard and it was a great battle to be a part of. To be honest I think it helped in a way because I was so busy worrying about him that you forgot about the track and just worried about trying to beat the other car. I also had it (in heat three) when I was racing with Carl Waterfield for third, that was a great battle as well and again it was fantastic to come out on top in that as well. Again it’s given me such a huge boost with my confidence and now I can’t wait to race again, that is the best thing from a night like that. It’s also awesome when you are beating some of the top drivers. For example in one race I lapped Willie Skoyles Jnr. Don’t get me wrong he was probably having a bad night but everyone knows how good he is so when you can see you are doing that well it just does wonders for your own racing, it’s such a huge thing to have that kind of lift especially this soon into the season.

It’s a big year at Mildenhall regarding championship events, are these things you have given much thought to and how about your chances in the track championship as at this early stage you are second in the points?
To be honest I don’t tend to think too much about championship events at all. The way I see it, I’m still really young and still learning so much in the formula and I think it’s far too soon for me to thinking about things like that, I’m just worrying on doing whatever I can do right now to better myself and my car. When these meetings come around I try my hardest to not think of them as championships and just treat them like any other meeting and just do my best. In my first year in the Saloons I really went for it and managed to get into the World Final which meant so much to me, it was just amazing and something I never dreamed I would do but I didn’t do so much last year and now I’m well down in the (World Ranking) points so I doubt I’ve any chance of qualifying for this year’s World Final but I will do my best in the last chance race and who knows, maybe I will qualify again, just to be in that race again would be fantastic. I guess the (English and ORCi) champions are a little different as you qualify on the day so those meetings really are a matter of just what happens on the night and anyone can win it. If (March 7) had been a championship then it would have been me so you can’t rule it out although I would never pretend to be a favourite. But again you have to think you have a chance, otherwise you are already beaten and having that boost in confidence really helps, hopefully if I can have another good night (on March 28) it will set me up nicely for the English (on April 25). As for the track championship I think it really is too soon to tell. The hardest thing about Mildenhall is it is so difficult to be consistent there meeting after meeting, it’s such a tough track so just because I did well last time doesn’t mean the same will happen this time. It helps a lot but there are no guarantees so it’s far too early to be thinking about track championships but of course if I was in contention a bit later in the year I would definitely go for it.

You mentioned not doing so much in 2014, can you explain a bit about that and your plans for the year?
Well when I first came into the formula I think in a way I maybe tried a bit too much too soon and was doing everything I could and I just couldn’t crack shale. It was one of those things where I just wasn’t completely comfortable with the car and that made such a huge difference. I couldn’t see it at the time but now that I have a car I’m really happy with, it becomes a bit more obvious how big of a difference that makes and I think the results I had (on March 7) are a bit of proof of that. So after struggling so much on shale last year I decided to step back a little bit. Things were going really well with the tarmac car and I decided to just concentrate on that for a bit but of course I had two shale tracks on my doorstep and it just seemed crazy to not be racing on them and of course it was costing me a lot of money travelling to the tarmac tracks. So me and my dad sat down about half way through the year and had a good chat and we came up with a way to get me a new car for shale and try and crack it. It didn’t start off too well and the end of last year wasn’t the best but then we made some changes and not only has that helped but it’s made me a bit more comfortable with the car because now I can see more of my input into it so it feels a bit more like it’s my car if that makes sense. All of this has given me a lot more confidence and it’s making a massive difference already. I really want to crack the shale. It’s been a bit frustrating for me because I was good on shale and at Mildenhall in the Ministox and since moving into the Saloons I’ve just not quite got there, it’s been fine on tarmac but I really want the same on shale as well. As for the rest of 2015 I just want to keep doing what I’ve been doing and hopefully improving, that’s the most important thing for me, just to keep getting a little bit better all the time.

It’s been a regularly brought up question but as a driver are you happy for red flags to be used to stop races or do you think waved yellows are sufficient and what are your thoughts on the change for this year meaning that lap sheet order restarts see the cars lined up the same way now if a red or yellow flag is used?
I do think red flags should be used. As a driver I think we all react quicker to a red flags. It’s just a bit clearer in my opinion, you see a red flag and you know to stop whereas with a yellow flag you might question if it was waving or not so it might take a little longer to register and I think if a driver is in a dangerous position then the race should be stopped to prevent them from getting hurt. As for the restarts, it’s the usual thing as it depends where you are in the race (laughs). If you are winning you’d probably want all the back markers kept in place but if you are second or third you want the back markers out of the way but it does make sense to have one system and not two and if it was going to be one it probably is best to reline the cars up as close as you could to how they were when the race was stopped.

Another big talking point at Mildenhall especially, has been what is the ideal number of cars to have in a race, in your opinion what do think is the best number?
That is a tricky one. I guess if the conditions are ok between 27 and 30. I don’t think you would want many more at Mildenhall given the size of the track. The thing is that even though the track is smaller than say King’s Lynn I think the racing is just as fast, even if it isn’t it certainly feels like it is and I think those kind of numbers are ideal for some great racing there. Of course if conditions aren’t ideal then it’s probably best to have a few less, take (March 7) for example, there was just over 20 cars in each race but because it was hard to use the whole track it worked out really well.

Is there anyone you would like to mention or thank?
My dad, Trevor and everyone at Beck Row Car Spares, Alec Savage, CJ Overy, Lee and Harry Overy, Karl and Craig, my girlfriend Emily, AMS Electrical, the Plumbers, Uncle Gary and Richard and Kyle Overy and everyone else whose helped.