An Interview with Saloon Stockcar British Champion 428 Lee Sampson
(interview published August 5 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Championship at Mildenhall on August 29)

Age: 29
Home Town: King’s Lynn
Occupation: Welder and fabricator
Family: Girlfriend Alicei and two children
Started racing: 1998 in Ministox at Swaffham and 2002 in Saloon Stockcars at King’s Lynn

This will be your 12th appearance in the Saloon Stockcar World Championship, after all these years is this still something you look forward to?
Yes it is. I don’t think it matters how many times you’ve been in it, it’s always special, it’s the pinnacle of our sport and the biggest night of the year and I think if you race all the time and take your racing a little seriously and are actively trying to get into the race then it probably means a little bit more than it does to others but it definitely means a lot to me. It’s the atmosphere which makes it special. It doesn’t matter where the race it, there is always a special buzz for it. I think it comes from the extra people who come and watch because not only do we now have all the people who watch Saloons make a point of coming to the World but I think you also get a lot of people who maybe don’t watch the formula every week, but they also make a point of coming to the World Final, simply because it’s the World Final. You definitely see a lot faces who you might not see every weekend or at every meeting and I have friends and family who make a point of coming when it’s the World Final and the race is local to them so all of that makes it what it is and makes it such a special night and I don’t think you can ever really get bored of that.

This year saw you finish the World Rankings in fifth place but the confirmation that Stu Shevill Jnr, who finished fourth, will not be competing means you are potentially starting on the outside of the second row. How do you feel about that and would you have preferred to have stayed in grid position five?
I think I might have preferred to have stayed on the inside line, I’m not too sure it matters if it’s row two or three but the inside may have helped a little at the start but then again at Mildenhall I’m not sure it makes too much difference really because it doesn’t matter where you start you always have about the same odds of winding up in the fence when things get going (laughs). There is always that hint of unpredictability at Mildenhall. I find it is similar at Taunton, just because they are smaller tracks but being shale Mildenhall is perhaps even more so, you never know what’s going to happen at any point in any race but I think that just adds to the excitement of it all. I think the biggest difference between a track like Mildenhall and a larger one is you can be half a lap in front of the next car but you still have to drive every bit as hard as if they were on your tail because there are always cars around you, especially at Mildenhall because there is almost always a decent entry of cars, at least there has been this year, so it doesn’t matter where you are in the race, winning or two laps down, you are always with other cars and you have to drive as hard as you can. It’s what happened in the British Championship at Taunton, I got in the lead and had a bit of a gap but because there were cars everywhere you couldn’t take it easy for a second whereas on a larger track if you get in the lead, sometimes you can pace yourself. I think that’s going to be the case in the World as well, especially when the race starts so I’m not sure it will make too much difference where you start. The big thing for me is that I finished in the top six and that was a big goal for me after last year’s World Final. Last year I started behind the first row of international drivers and typically they crashed on the first bend and I got delayed and by the time I got going again (Dave Aldous and Willie Skoyles Jnr) were going so I think by that stage the best I could hope for, without a stoppage, was third which is where I came. I was hoping there might have been a stoppage because that might have got me back in the race but it wasn’t to be so after this year I wanted to try and be in the top six because if there are overseas drivers I think it might help to be in front of them. But again, I think potentially you could do it from anywhere on the grid. Last year in the European we had all the problems the morning of the meeting and barely got to Mildenhall in time for the race and had to start at the back and I finished second from there and I think I was catching (Dave) Aldous at the end but I ran out of laps but even so, to come second from the back was amazing really. Eddie Darby won the World from the back at Skegness and while he was probably helped by the stoppages, there is a good chance you will get that this year and even one stoppage can make all the difference. I guess it will all depend on how everyone feels come the night but I think the majority are going to go into the race up for trying to win it, that’s going to make it even more unpredictable and you just don’t know who will win.

What is your target for this year’s race and how achievable do you think it is?
(laughs) I want to win it, but I think I’ve said that every year and it’s not happened yet. It’s the race everyone wants to win, we wouldn’t be in it if we didn’t want to or think we could, it’s the big one and it would mean so much to finally get it. I’ve had enough practise now (laughs) and I’m not getting any younger so I’d better get on with it quick. As for my chances, I guess in a way with how this season has gone I would have thought I’d have had a better chance if it’s been on tarmac. It’s weird because normally I’m waiting for the World Finals on shale as I’ve always seen them as my best opportunities but this year it’s gone the other way and we’ve had the tarmac car going really well but struggled more on tarmac and typically the World is on shale which is just my luck (laughs). I think I’ll have a better idea after (the National Championship weekend at King’s Lynn). We are currently in the process of fitting a Zetec engine in my shale car and we’ve this weekend and (the August 8 meeting at Lynn) to try and get it running good for the World. I guess we should have done this a while ago as we’ve been concentrating a lot on the tarmac car and that’s been getting us brilliant results. I fell behind with my tarmac car and when the British, European and UK Championships were coming up we had a short break from racing all together to concentrate on getting it ready and it really paid off winning the British and also coming fourth in the UK and now it’s matter of trying to get the shale car to go just as well and hopefully we’ve not left it too late. If it goes well at Lynn then I think we’ve a good chance at Mildenhall. I appreciate the tracks are very different other than they are shale but if you have your car going well at one shale track it’s usually not rocket science to get it going well at the other ones. I’ve been racing now at Mildenhall for so long so I know the set up to use, I know how to get the car going well, it’s getting it to go well in the first place which has been tricky but hopefully the change in engines will do the trick.

On the subject of engines, presumably you are pleased to see the introduction of Zetec engines into the sport?
Absolutely, I think it’s been a very good move, purely for the costs let alone anything else. The fact that we can now have a competitive engine for a fraction of what we were spending before for a good Pinto engine is just brilliant and I think it’s excellent for the sport and a big reason why we are seeing more and more new drivers come in. I’ve had two, which I bought of a banger driver, so they are just scrap engines, the one I won the British with cost £150 and the one we are currently fitting into the shale car was cheaper still and was just £50 and with conversion kit, you just bolt it in and away you go with an engine which is as quick as one which has costs hundred and even thousands of pounds so I think purely for the money it is saving drivers this is a fantastic move.

This year’s World Final is an historic one for you as it is not only your 12th World Final appearance but your 12th consecutive World Final appearance tying you with the record set by Bob Jones (1982-1993) and Gordon Alexander (1991-2002) and if you qualify next year the record will be yours as the first driver to achieve 13 consecutive World Final appearances. Do statistics like this interest you or are they simply numbers?
They are interesting and it’s really cool to hear things like that about yourself, I guess it means you are doing something right (laughs). I was informed the other day that I’m the first driver to win the British on tarmac and shale and that meant a lot to me and I was really chuffed when I found that out and it’s the same with the World Final appearances. When you stop and think about the brilliant drivers we’ve had in the formula over the years to be up there with the best of them means a lot. It’s also nice because I think it shows I’ve done well over a long period of time and also that I’ve managed to avoid having problems. I think there are drivers racing now who would have a longer (consecutive) record than me but they’ve missed one or two from being hurt or getting banned so I suppose it shows I’ve been kind of fortunate and a good boy as well (laughs), touchwood I can keep it that way!

As you mentioned you successfully won the British Championship for the second time in your career in June, how special was winning that race again?
Very special, it really is. It’s hard to tell you how much it means but when you look at the trophy and you look at all the incredible drivers who’ve won that race and to now not only have my name among them but to have it on their twice is just an incredible feeling and it really does mean so much, winning those races is so special. Also winning it on tarmac meant a lot, even before I was told I was the first to win it on both surfaces. For a long time I think a lot of people considered me a shale only driver or someone who would only have big wins on shale so to go and do it again on tarmac is a real buzz, I think most people would agree that the best drivers can do it on both surfaces, the best drivers are the all-rounders and for me winning the British on tarmac meant a lot personally because I think it proved that I can do to as well. Now I just need to get back to being as good as I was on shale now I’ve really got better on tarmac (laughs).

We’ve seen a little more of you at Mildenhall this season, was that fuelled by the World Final being there at all and also your Mildenhall form has been a little patchy so far in 2015, is that a concern heading into the World?
To be honest I’ve just been doing as much racing as I can and it’s fell the way that it has that when I’ve been able to do the meetings, there has been a Mildenhall on so it’s not been an active plan to race more at Mildenhall, just the way everything has fallen into place. Like I said I had a three week break from racing to get the tarmac car sorted ahead of the run of championships and that fell in between two Mildenhall meetings so I did both of them but missed the ones in the middle. I’m not too worried about how I’ve done at Mildenhall so far this year because again we’ve concentrated so much on getting the tarmac car to go as well as it has that we’ve really not done the work we should have with the shale one and I think that’s more why the results haven’t been the best. We’re doing the work now for the National and World so hopefully we haven’t left it to late and hopefully we’ve learned enough about the Zetec engine that we can get the one in the shale car going as well as the one in the tarmac car and do it quickly enough because I think everything else is there.

A question we regular ask stockcar drivers is about the use of red flags to stop races, a practise seen more at Mildenhall then any other venue in the formula, are you happy for red flags to be used as well as waved yellow ones and also are you pleased to see the changes for lap sheet order restarts in 2015 where back markers stay in position among the drivers on the leap lap when red flags are used and not just waved yellows?
It’s a very grey area isn’t it, using red flags. I think it depends on the situation but I do think if a driver is hurt a red flag should be used but what I would like to see is more consistency between the tracks with how and when certain flags are used and also with the starts as well (laughs) even though you never asked about that! As for restarts, well that depends where I am in the race (laughs). If I’m winning I want the backmarkers to stay behind me and if I’m second I want them out of the way but it doesn’t work that way does it! I think it is best that they stay where they are, which is what we have now. At the end of the day that’s where they were when the race was stopped so it makes sense that they should be in the same place when the race restarts.

Another talking point in 2015 has been the number of drivers who’ve suffered injuries this season, is that a concern for you and is there anything you would like to see changed or introduced and also do you use any specific safety equipment?
It’s not something you think about too much, I don’t think you can really if you want to race but I’ve been using a Hans device for about three years now and I’ve used a back brace for quite a long time. I hurt my back when I was about 18 and have used one ever since and I wouldn’t race without it but the Hans device has also been really good. I’m not saying everyone should have one, I probably wouldn’t have wanted one years ago but I’m getting older now and you have to protect yourself and since I’ve started using one I’ve stopped getting bad necks so it’s been brilliant for that and I would recommend them to people, I think if you are always getting stiff necks from racing then they are definitely worth looking into.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
Just my family and friends for all their help and support and all my sponsors for everything they do to help me keep the car on track because I couldn’t do it without them all.