An Interview with Saloon Stockcar driver 350 Thomas Parrin
(interview published January 27 2015 in the lead up to round two of the Mildenhall Track Championship on March 7)

Age: 19
Home Town: Wisbech
Occupation: At college studying motorsport engineering
Family: Girlfriend Chloe
Racing career: Started racing in Autograss at St Neots aged 17 in a Morris Minor, steering column came out in the first race and throttle jammer open in the second

We are now well into the winter break for the Saloon Stockcars, are you enjoying the break from the action or are you itching to get back racing?
It’s a bit of both really. I came back from my suspension half way through (2014) and so I was really getting back into the swing of things when the season came to an end so on that hand it was a shame the season ended just when I was starting to have a good run but on the other hand we are busy building a new car so it’s good that we have the time of to concentrate on the new car and trying to get that ready in time.

Can you tell us about the new car?
We’re building a car to race on tarmac and keeping my old car just for racing on shale. The new car is a Webster chassis and we’ve done the rest ourselves and so far it’s going pretty well, there is a Skegness meeting on March 15 and the target is to have it ready for that meeting while the shale car is pretty much ready to go for the first meetings of the season at King’s Lynn and then Mildenhall.

With a new car being built for tarmac raceways, is it safe to say you are hoping to do more tarmac meetings in 2015?
I’m hoping to do more racing full stop if I can. The hope is that by having two cars, one set up for shale and one for tarmac so we don’t have to switch the set ups between cars each time I want to race on a different surface I will be able to do more meetings but hopefully with the same amount of work. It’s a lot of work changing the car for a shale meeting to a tarmac meeting, at least a couple of nights to do it all properly and what we hope is that by having two cars we will be able to spend roughly the same amount of time on the cars but get more racing out of it. For example there are a lot of weekends where they might be Mildenhall or King’s Lynn on a Saturday and then Skegness on a Sunday and I’ve had to miss one of the meetings, usually the tarmac one, because I can’t get the car ready in time, having two cars should help me do both meetings on weekends like that. I’m also hoping that if things go well I might travel a bit more with the tarmac car.

On the subject of travelling you visited Cowdenbeath Raceway for the Superbowl at the end of October, was that your first time racing there and what was the motivation behind the trip?
It was my first time racing a Saloon (Stockcar) there and basically we’d had such a good meeting the week before at Mildenhall winning two races that we decided to give it a go. We’d been toying with the idea of going and then when I had such a good night at Mildenhall and there was no damage to fix we decided to go for it. It was an eventful time. I rolled over in my first heat and so I missed the second but got back for the final but got steering damage and had to retire. But I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to go back, I’m hoping that by having a car which is just for tarmac racing it will be a lot more competitive than my current car is and that would make meetings like that more enjoyable, because it is more fun when you are on the pace and not struggling so much.

Have you any targets for 2015?
Just to try and keep improving. I think I have got a lot better since coming back from my ban, I think I’ve matured a bit as a driver and am a bit more level headed. Before the race would start and I would be doing ok and then I would start worrying too much about who was coming up behind me as the race went on and that was when I would start making mistakes but I think I have got a lot better at that now so I’m hoping I can continue that this season. If we can make the cars better then that will help a lot and I think having the new car will make a difference. My big target would be to try and get to the blue grade and then stay there, staying there will be the hard bit because that is all about being consistent and that’s another thing I need to improve on. Quite often I will have a really great meeting and then two or three bad ones where as you would be better to try and have at least decent results all the time so that’s another goal.

While it wasn’t the most successful meeting, your trip to the Superbowl at the very least boosted your World Ranking score, is trying to qualify for the World Final, especially with the final at Mildenhall this year, a target for you?
I don’t think I’m at a stage yet where I really stand too much of a chance of qualifying for the World Final and being in the top 24 (in the World Rankings) but I would like to try and score as many (World Ranking) points as I can to try and get a good starting position in the last chance race at the World Final because I think I am capable of getting a decent finish in that race and qualifying for the World on the night and that in itself would be absolutely brilliant so qualifying for the World Final is something I would very much like to do but I can’t see me qualifying ahead of the night.

This season also sees Mildenhall stage the English and ORCi Championships, where qualifying is determined on the day, do you see these events as opportunities for championship success?
I guess it is possible that you could have a bit of luck in championships like this. I go well round Mildenhall so if your luck is in then anything is possible. Luck is hugely important and without it you’ve no chance, you could be the best and fastest driver that night but if your luck has run out you’ll go nowhere, it’s especially hard at Mildenhall because the track is so much smaller so if you get taken out even once it is very hard to recover from that because one spin normally means you are a lap down which isn’t always the case at other tracks. At Mildenhall you really have to be absolutely on it and the track is very unforgiving, one mistake and that’s it but you could say that makes it a proper stockcar track in some ways, just to qualify for those championships would be a big deal for me and to get a top 10 would be really brilliant.

You describe Mildenhall as being an unforgiving track, does that make any success you have there, like the pair of race wins at the Paul Tuppen tribute meeting in October, any more special?
Any success for me is special but that was a great meeting, especially because there was a really good turn out and the racing was pretty wild, the first heat in particularly. Kris Woods passed me for the lead and there was a crash on the back straight, he went for it and got caught out and I had just a split second longer to react and took a different line and it made all the difference, again that’s the importance of having luck on your side.

You seem to have a real talent for racing in the wet as you showed in January with a pair of race wins, do you enjoy racing in the wet or do you simply just go well in those conditions?
I do enjoy racing at wet meetings, it’s just when you have to clean the car up when you get home that I don’t like (laughs). I’ve always gone pretty well in those conditions, even when I raced the Ministox, I’m not sure why, I’ve learned to just keep calm in those conditions and try and not make mistakes and I think others make more mistakes which is why I tend to do ok.

You’ve mentioned a couple of times your suspension from racing which ended last summer, how difficult was it being away from the racing for so long and did you draw any positives from it?
It was pretty crap really (laughs). But something like that makes you appreciate the racing more, when you are forced to not do it, you realise how important it is. As hard as it was going to meetings and not being able to race there were a few positives from it, my cousin (Andrew) raced the car a few times and it was nice to see him in the Saloons again and I was able to watch a lot of racing which I think looking back now has helped me a lot because I learned a lot from just watching other drivers and what they did and I also had time to talk to a lot of drivers about what they were doing and picked up a lot of useful things which have all helped since I’ve come back.

It’s just been agreed that for 2015 when races are stopped and a lap sheet order restart is needed that the cars will line up the same way when a yellow or a red flag is used with the back markers staying in their position among the leaders. Do you agree with one system being used rather than two and are you happy for red flags to be used to stop races?
To be honest I never actually knew there was two different systems but I think it makes a lot more sense having one, I think that is better and I’ve no problem with red flags being used because I think people do stop quicker for them and if there is car upside down or something then a red flag should be used. Everyone has to go to work the next day so if using a red flag keeps everyone safe or stops somewhere getting hurt then that’s what should happen.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad for everything, for funding my racing, taking me to meetings and fixing the cars, Chloe for not having a boyfriend during the summer months, Dave Parrin Car Sales for letting me store the car with them, all my other sponsors for all their support and Wiggy and Roary for everything they do to help me.