An Interview with Saloon
Stockcar hot shot Philo Jnr 220 Casey Englestone
(interview published July 16 2014 in the lead up to One Wild Weekend for
Saloon Stockcars at Mildenhall on July 26 and 27)
Age: 18
Home Town: Norwich
Occupation: Delivery driver
Family: Girlfriend Jarron
Racing career: First raced at Yarmouth in Ministox aged 11
How do you feel the first half of your season has gone so far?
I'm pretty pleased with it. I've had a few good results and a few wins and
I've been up and down the grades as well. I started the year as a yellow (grade)
and got up to the reds and now I've come back down to the blues. It was a little
disappointing not being able to stay in the red grade but I don't think my
timing was the best because I went to red just in time for some of the big
championship meetings and so those meetings were always going to be tough and
coming from the back from the first time combined with me having a lot of bad
luck was just a little too much. But things have been going well recently from
the blue grade and my hope is to try and get back to the red grade eventually
but at the moment I just want to try and achieve some consistency with my
racing, that's the most important thing for me right now, keep picking up
results and try and do well at every meeting, rather than really well at
some.
The last time we saw the Saloon Stockcars at
Mildenhall was at the European Championship where you had a mixed weekend,
failing to match your early season form at Mildenhall by failing to qualify for
the championship in the heats on the first night but coming back to win the last
chance race on the Sunday. Were you pleased to qualify or disappointed that it
was via the last chance race?
I wasn't disappointed at all because that always seems to be the way I
qualify for these races (laughs). Honestly I seem to never have any luck in the
qualifying heats at these meetings. At the British last year I qualified in the
last chance, I did the same in the UK Championship at Skegness at the weekend
and at Mildenhall as well. I suppose at least I'm used to being in these last
chance races so I'm getting a bit more experienced at it. I just try and treat
them like any other race and try not to put any extra pressure on myself and
just see how it goes and I suppose it's been working out alright but it is
something I need to try and improve on (laughs).
You went on to finish 10th in the European
Championship, were you pleased with that?
Yes I was, especially because about five laps in I was about three laps down
because I got spun out and stuck so all I wanted to do was try and finish and to
get something out of it after a start like that was pretty good. It was a very
rough race, the starts were pretty crazy and it was good racing but I damaged
both of my rear wheels. I didn't know until I came back to the pits and saw
there were both pointing the wrong way (laughs) so it was good to just finish in
a race like that.
Did the conditions, the hot weather and the
delays for the stoppages make it more difficult?
I suppose, it was hard in the car, being that hot and everything but it
couldn't be helped and as soon as the green flag fell again you forgot all that
because you were too busy concentrating on your racing.
The qualifying races on the Saturday were
particularly action packed, despite having little success, did you enjoy the
racing that night?
Yes I did, even when you don't do well you can still enjoy it because the
racing is so good. I just had a lot of bad luck on the Saturday but when the
racing is like that, it happens a lot because you can just be in the wrong place
at the wrong time and you have no say in what's going to happen, you never know
what's going to happen.
You are currently fifth in the Mildenhall
Track Championship where the race for third is extremely close with just a
handful of points between third and seventh place, is a high finish in the
Mildenhall points a target of yours for this season?
My goal for the rest of the season is to try and maintain my current
positions in the track championships and not just Mildenhall. I've had a good
start to the year really, I'm sixth I think at King's Lynn and second at
Coventry as well as fifth at Mildenhall and what I want to try and do now is try
and stay there at least until the end of the season. Championships are one race
on one day and anything can happen but if I could end the year with some good
track championship places I think that would prove I've had a good season and
been good all year, rather than just having a good race here and there so that's
the target but I know it won't be easy.
How important is the upcoming One Wild
Weekend event to your Mildenhall Track Championship hopes?
It is quite important I think because it can be very hard to be good over
two days, especially on shale where things can change so much. If you have a bad
night Saturday, you've got to rally back straight away so you don't have another
bad day on the Sunday and if you have a good night Saturday it doesn't mean
Sunday will be good as well so it is hard and two bad meetings here could really
set you back so again my hope is to try and be consistent across the weekend.
It's especially hard on shale because the track changes every race, let alone
one day after the next so you have to keep working to keep your car going
well.
Looking further ahead, the World Final takes
place this year on shale at King's Lynn, is that something you are looking
forward to?
Yes it is, especially because I'm hoping that now I've done enough to
qualify. I was 22nd in the World Ranking points going into the UK Championship
at Skegness and I finished fourth. I thought a top 10 would hopefully be enough
to get me into the World Final so I'm sure that a fourth must be enough. I
missed out on qualifying for last years World by one place in the last chance
race and one of my targets for this season was to try and qualify but I said I
wanted to do it through the World Ranking points rather than on the day and if I
have made it then I'll be really pleased, especially as it is only my second
season in the formula. I'm not sure what my chances will be. I've been going
well at Lynn this year so hopefully I'll do ok, you can never know what to
expect at Lynn.
Being a youngster, what attracted you to the
formula?
We were thinking about doing a 1300cc stockcar after Ministox and so dad got
one and was racing it while I finished in the Ministox but it was just proving
hassle and so we decided to have a complete change of scene. Dad used to race in
Saloons and we were always watching them and I always wanted to race them but
dad felt it was too big of a step from the Ministox but then others were coming
from Ministox into the formula like Georgie Boult Jnr, Craig Banwell and Sid
Magewick and were doing well and so dad reconsidered and we got a car. I love
the formula and there is nothing else which appeals to me right now, I truly
believe it is the best formula out there and a big reason for that is the
drivers because 99 per cent of them are proper stockcar drivers who drive like
stockcar drivers on track but keep it on the track and there is never any hassle
off the track which is exactly how it should be.
We've been asking a lot of stockcar drivers
about the practise of using red flags to stop races in emergency situations. At
Mildenhall, red flags are used more than other venues, are you happy for red
flag to be used or do you think only waved yellow flags should be used?
I think red flags should used when needed for things like a car rolling over
or something. The way I see it is at Mildenhall the track is smaller and so I
can understand why the cars need to be stopped quicker. At somewhere like
Skegness or King's Lynn where the track is larger you can have half a lap
between you and the problem and enough time to slow down where as at Mildenhall
you can be right on top of the problem and drivers do react quicker to a red
flag. I think with a waved yellow it sometimes takes a lap for drivers to slow
down where as with a red I think drivers do stop pretty much straight away.
With that in mind, under the current rules
of racing cars are restarted differently in a lap sheet order restart if a red
flag is used compared to a yellow flag, do you agree with that or should it be
the same either way?
Personally I like it when the back markers go to the back (lap sheet order
restarts with red flags) even if they do have to stay a lap down. I think having
the back markers mixed in with the cars on the lead lap can cause confusion
among fans and drivers because no one really knows who is where. It happened to
me in the UK Championship where I was third and I thought I was fourth because I
thought the car in front of me was in third but he was a lap down so I span him
out and actually lost third place in doing so, so I do think restarting the cars
(first to last) makes things clearer but then when you have where I was in the
European, restarting three laps down there are some drivers who may think
carrying on is pointless so it's certainly not without faults.
Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My uncle who always comes with us and Phillip who does as well and is a big
help, John Halifax who does a great deal to help me with sponsorship, Lyndale
engines who do a tremendous job for me and a lot of other drivers and my dad of
course who helps me big time with all my racing.
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