An Interview with Saloon Stockcar driver the Joker 386 Daniel Petters
(interview published October 28 2014 in the lead up to the final round of the Mildenhall Track Championship on November 9)

Age: 16
Home Town : Newmarket
Occupation: Studying engineering technology at college
Family: Girlfriend Zoe
Racing career: Started racing Ministox aged 11

You are currently one of the youngest drivers on the Saloon Stockcar scene, how do you feel your first season has gone?
Its gone well I think. Certainly at the start, I don’t think I could have asked for a better start to racing in the formula. My first meeting was at Coventry and I led my first race up until about three laps to go when I was finally caught but to lead for that long was just incredible and more than I ever imagined I would be able to do so I was thrilled with that. Then I won a white and yellow grade race at King’s Lynn and another at Mildenhall, I was really pleased to win at the two different tracks, that meant a lot to me because it showed myself that I could do well at different tracks and not just one so that was really cool. But after the start went so well it became a lot harder during the main part of the season and we had a lot of teething problems but the truth is we are still learning in the formula and we have so much to learn so I think it was always going to be hard at the start but hopefully we have made some good ground this season and can try and keep moving forward next year.

Was you surprised at your initial success?
Yes I was. I was fairly confident that I would be ok but I never expected to have the results like that straight away, I just thought I would be ok to race with the rest of the drivers and maybe finish some races, not be in a position to almost win races and then win some, it’s just a shame I’ve had quite a bit of bad luck in the last few months but having had such a good start in the formula it doesn’t matter quite as much. The biggest step for me was moving to rear wheel drive cars because other than my go-karting before I did Ministox, everything I have raced has been front wheel drive but I did surprise myself at how quickly I managed to pick things up.

You finished second in the white and yellow grade series final at Mildenhall, last time out, how pleased were you with that and does it rank among your season highlights?
It’s definitely up there but I still think my first Saloon Stockcar race where I nearly had a win was the best moment and I think it will take something really special to top that. But finishing second in the white and yellow grade series final was brilliant and again something I never expected. I started quite a way down the grid, I think I was about 15th so I fully expected to get wiped out in the first bend push which I think happens quite a lot in closed grid races to the cars in the middle of the pack, ideally you want to be up the front or near the back. So all I wanted to do was survive the first couple of laps and when I managed to do that it was just a matter of trying to keep pushing forward but I honestly never expected to do as well as I did. It was a bit of a chaotic race and at the end I really wasn’t sure where I had finished. I knew the starter was giving me some signal but I was paying so much attention to driving I couldn’t quite tell what it was so finding out I was second was great.

Speaking of chaotic, you were in the 30 plus car heat one which was another incredible stockcar race, what is it like being in races like that?
(laughs) To be honest I’d prefer not to be because I usually get wrecked in them and that’s what happened in that race! But they are pretty awesome at the time and that race was great fun until I got taken out, when there is a big field like that and everyone is racing as hard as that, it’s real stockcar racing.

October 18 was a special night for your family as it marked the first time you’ve raced with both your father Karl and your uncle Lee, how special was that?
It was pretty cool to be honest and something I’ve wanted to do ever since I came into Saloons but unfortunately Lee has been struggling with motivation this season and hasn’t done too much racing. There were a couple of times when we should have all raced at the same meeting but for one reason or another it just never happened so it was really cool when it finally did. I always enjoy the meetings when me and my dad are both racing and it is a different feeling to when it’s just me out there and having my uncle out there was different again, it was a great feeling.

As well as racing as a family, do you work on the cars together as well?
Well I’m sure Lee won’t mind me saying that he isn’t too mechanically minded but he does what he can and we all chip in together to get the cars ready. It’s funny really because I never really look forward to working on the cars, when we’ve work to do I’ll wake up that morning and almost dread it and I never seem to enjoy it when we are doing it but when we’ve finished I’ll look back and think that was pretty good, especially when we’ve worked together to get something done which perhaps wasn’t as straight forward as we thought or hoped it would be.

You’re a graduate of the RDC Ministox, how much do you think the Ministox helped you prepare for a career in Saloon Stockcars?
It was a massive help. In a lot of ways the Ministox racing is the same as Saloon Stockcars. Obvious Saloons are rear wheel drive and the hits and bigger but apart from that the style of driving I think is very similar so all that time in the Minis really helped me. I actually thought the hits in the Saloons would be a lot bigger than they were but again I think my time in Ministox really helped me out, especially all the meetings at Mildenhall because the racing there in Ministox is quite rough. Don’t get me wrong it was still a big jump into Saloons but the Minis definitely helped. It was just a pity I couldn’t have done a bit more Ministox racing before I turned 16 but I actually grew so big I didn’t fit in the car anymore. My last Ministox meeting I hurt myself a bit just because I was too large for the car and we decided it probably wasn’t best to carry on for the last few months so I did some Junior Bangers instead until I was old enough to race with the adults. I enjoyed the Junior Bangers as well. I’d done them a few years before as well because I had a rough start in the Ministox and it rattled my confidence so I went into the (Junior) Bangers for a little bit to get my confidence back and I enjoyed them again at the end, they were especially good for helping me learn how to keep racing when a car is bent, although that doesn’t come into handy too much in a Saloon (laughs).

Speaking of bangers, your first race with the adults was the Micro Banger meeting last year and you’ve done a couple of National Banger meetings since, is that something you enjoy?
Absolutely, I’ve found the National Bangers meetings to be great fun and I loved the Micro meeting, just because it was the first time I’d gone racing and could just have a crash and get stuck in because the junior formulas weren’t like that so it’s something different and just a lot of fun. I’m doing the Micro meeting again this year and this time dad is doing it as well. He was planning to do it last year but it just never happened so I’m looking forward to seeing him in a banger, it should be good fun.

Have you any plans for next year in the Saloons?
I’m not really making any bold plans, I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and trying and improve. I’m hoping that everything we have learned this year, especially with the car itself as well as racing, will help a bit and I will get to race a bit more regularly which I think will make a difference. I’d love to win a final, if I could manage that next year that would be fantastic.

What was the appeal of Saloon Stockcars to you?
I did consider just doing bangers for a while or maybe a BriSCA F2 Stockcar but I just love the look of a Saloon Stockcar and then there is the racing itself which is just brilliant, again it’s proper stockcar racing and also it’s good doing the same formula as my dad and that helps us quite a bit.

We’ve been asking drivers this year about their thoughts on the flags sued to stop races and the subsequent restart procedure. As a driver are you happy for red flags to be used or would you prefer only waved yellows and what are your thoughts on each flag having it’s own restart order for lap sheet order restarts?
I do think it is good when red flags are used especially if a driver might be hurt or they’ve rolled over, I think whenever someone is in trouble the red flags should come out because I do think drivers react and stop quicker to them and with a waved yellow it might be a lap or so longer for everyone to slow down. As for the restarts I think it should be the same whatever flag is used and that the back markers should stay in place. I think it’s unfair if the driver in second gets a big advantage by restarting behind the leader if there was a few back markers between them before the stoppage, the race should restart as close to how it was stopped I think.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My mum and dad for everything and all their support, Arbus Fencing for their sponsorship, Ivor Searle for all his tremendous work with our engines and Neil and Kevin from Roundwheel.