An Interview with former Saloon Stockcar World, British, European and National Champion 677 Eddie Darby
(interview published August 12 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Championship at Mildenhall on August 29)

Age: 37
Home Town: Newton Abbott
Occupation: Mechanic
Family: Partner Kat and three children
Racing career: Started racing in Ministox aged 12 at Newton Abbott and debuted in Saloon Stockcars at Taunton in 1998

This will be your 14th time in the World Final, is it still something you look forward to after all these years?
Absolutely, it’s always exciting and something to look forward to, at the end of the day you wouldn’t race in the World Final if it didn’t excite you and I don’t think I would race if I still didn’t want to do the World Final. Don’t get me wrong with (son), Warren now racing Ministox I’m pretty semi-retired now and only race for a bit of fun as and when I want to but I still love what I do and of course if you qualify for the World Final you are going to do it. The buzz from the World Final is like nothing else all season and I’m looking forward to doing it again.

Is the excitement the same despite the event being on shale, a surface we rarely see you race on in 2015?
I do honestly enjoy racing on shale but the problem I have is my closest shale track is 300miles away so I’m not really in a position to race on it regularly. What I find is that when I go and race on shale, by the end of the meeting or the weekend if it’s a two day event, I’m ‘on it’ and on the pace with everyone but it does take a while to get back into the swing of it when you’ve not raced on it for a while. There is no substitute for racing on shale regularly and unfortunately I’m not able to do that now so when I do race on shale it takes a while for it to come back to me (laughs). But I still enjoy it and for whatever reason I like Mildenhall, it’s the shale track I’ve always done a bit better on I guess, I can’t really explain why so yes I’m looking forward to racing in the World this year and trying to get back to grips with shale again.

You are no stranger to success in Saloons with countless major championship spoils but each of these has been won on a tarmac track, is that something which you are concerned with and is winning a major title on shale something you particularly would like to achieve, especially as there are some who believe the formula’s greatest drivers are the ones who have won big events on both surfaces?
It’s not mega important to me. I can understand why people think like that and to be fair, there is a lot to be said for that but again the thing with me is that I’ve no shale tracks where I live so that immediately puts you at a disadvantage. Over the years there have only been a few Scottish and west country drivers who have won big races on shale and I really think that is just down to location. All the shale championships are in East Anglia and I honestly believe that if I had been living there all this time and racing there every week that I would have won a title on shale as well and I think it’s the same with a lot of other top drivers in the sport over the years. There is no denying how good some drivers are and I really think the only reason they’ve not won a big championship on shale is because they don’t get to race on it enough because of where they live, if they were able to race on it more I have no doubt some of them would have had those wins. At the same time it would be fantastic to get a big win on shale, that would be really brilliant although again with my eldest son racing Ministox and his younger brother about to start I can’t see it happening now (laughs).

You mention the importance of getting to grips with shale again, with that in mind how vital is the planned practise session to you on the afternoon of the World Final?
It’s very important for me and I think it will be the same for other drivers who don’t race on shale much and I think it’s good that some practise is planned because I think it will be good for the race by giving everyone a chance to get themselves ready for the race. As I said my problem with shale racing is that because I don’t race on it much it usually takes me the whole meeting or weekend to get back into it and by the last race I’m there but of course by then it’s usually too late (laughs). The advantage I have at Mildenhall is that of the shale tracks we race at, it’s the one that I think I go the best at. I didn’t do the last World Final there (in 2010) but I did the one before and I was on the front row and was actually leading for a while until Shaun Webster squeezed me into a dead car. And I’ve had a couple of wins at Mildenhall as well over the years so it is a track that I know I can go well at and because of that I have a rough set up and have a rough idea of what to do with the car so that’s not the problem. The problem is remembering exactly how to drive round the track! And that’s what I hope practise will do for me. I’m sure we will try and change a couple of things but the most important thing for me is getting some laps in and just getting that feel for the track again and hopefully that will make a big difference. It’s been a while since I’ve raced on shale. The last time was the World Final last year at King’s Lynn and that doesn’t really count as I only managed ¾ of a lap and I actually don’t remember a thing about it. I crashed on the first bend and I can only assume I got knocked out or something because the car parked on the infield at the other end but I have no recollection of getting there and remember hardly anything of the race at all and because of that I didn’t race again that weekend so that meeting wasn’t much help to me with my shale racing (laughs).

Despite being, in your own words, semi-retired, you still finished in the World Rankings in the top 10, are you pleased with this and also how do you feel about your grid position, with Steve Webster confirming he is unable to race due to injury you are set to start on the inside of row five?
I’m really pleased to have qualified where I have and to still be in the top 10 in the World Rankings. For me I think that’s pretty amazing because I’ve honestly not done so much this year and I’ve certainly not been travelling and because of that I’ve not got the greatest amount of late season and track championship points so yeah, it’s great to still be in the top 10. I’m not sure if it’s tougher now to qualify than it was. It’s different to a few years ago. We used to have drivers who dominated the sport, certainly in their own regions and I don’t think we have that anymore, it’s much more open, there are a lot of good drivers but not so many of the great ones who were just so hard to beat. I think that is good in a way though, because it makes the sport and the racing more exciting and unpredictable but sometimes it’s good to have those special drivers who really stand out as well. As for the World Rankings I think it has always been the case and still is that if you are willing to do all the meetings and all the travelling you should get in the World Final. It’s far from easy but doing all the meetings is a massive part (of qualifying) and I think if you look at the grid you can safely say that the people who have qualified deserve to be there because they’ve done the work and the ones who haven’t is largely because they’ve not been doing all the meetings. As for the grid position, I will be very pleased if I start on the inside. I think that is especially important for someone like myself who is a little behind the others when it comes to shale racing because the most important thing in this race will be surviving the first few laps. I would imagine it’s going to be a hard race and obviously you need to come out of the first few laps in one piece and I think being on the inside at the start will help a lot.

As a World Final veteran, how does a Mildenhall World Final compare to World Finals at other venues?
To be honest, I don’t find any of them to be any different because ultimately they are all the same, they are always madness (laughs). They are always hard races and fantastic to be a part of and when you come out on top, it’s the most amazing feeling and that is the same wherever it is, it’s always a special race and a special night.

We mentioned your great success in the sport, are the two World titles your personal highlights?
They are definitely right up there but the other one which was really special was winning the British in 2002. There were a few reasons for that, it was my first major championship so obviously that is very special and to win the British with all its history meant a great deal but also winning at Cowdenbeath as well was very cool. I won the Superbowl the previous year and that was special to because at the time visiting drivers didn’t win races like that in Cowdenbeath. The Scottish drivers just dominated up there and so to win a big event like that was amazing on its own but to do it on away turf was just incredible. It’s only the English I’ve not won and it would be fantastic to win all five (major titles) and be one of those few drivers to do that but I can’t see it happening now and if it doesn’t it’s not exactly important, having the success I’ve had is more than I could ever asked for. But with (second oldest son) Harry about to start Ministox next year I can’t see me getting out in the Saloon much beyond 2016 (laughs).

You’ve mentioned your commitment to your children’s racing, can we ask what the future holds for you and your family in the sport and how much of a thrill is it to see your son in the Ministox?
At the moment it’s me and Warren but next September (2016) Harry will be 11 and he can’t wait to get out there and I think when he’s racing there will be even less opportunities for me to race. I’m sure I will still keep the car as I’ve no intention of stopping just yet but at the moment if the Ministox and Saloons are on at the same time, me and Warren can race but when Harry starts if that is the case we will only be taking the two Minis, not a Saloon as well (laughs). But when the Saloons are on and the Ministox aren’t I’m sure I will get out there are race myself but as my years of travelling hundreds of miles to race are behind me now I suspect I won’t be racing too regularly once Harry starts. But that’s not a bad thing and I’m looking forward to him getting out there with Warren. It’s a real buzz seeing your kids out there, it’s funny because I honestly don’t get nervous with the racing anymore. I used to but not so much now, I can’t explain it, I get excited and a little anxious sometimes but I wouldn’t call it nerves and I’m the same when Warren races, it’s more excitement than anything else and he’s loving it and that is what it’s all about at the moment, just having fun and he is so that’s great. He does want to go into Saloons and I’d be pleased to see him do that, I can hardly say no after all the year’s I’ve done them (laughs), maybe he could have my car!

A big talking point this season has been the introduction of Zetec engines to the sport, is this something you are in favour of?
Absolutely, I think it’s been a brilliant thing and definitely the future. I’m using one and all I did to it was take it apart and clean it all and put it back together and it’s been excellent. Being a scrap engine we figured it was worth the time to clean the head and stuff so I didn’t go bang straight away and because they are so cheap I’ve got a spare in the back of the van which I’ve still not needed, hopefully I won’t just yet (laughs). I think not only has this engine helped attract a lot of new drivers into the formula but it’s also helped keep drivers in the formula. Before when drivers have blown an engine, it can keep them out of racing for at least a couple of weeks while they try and replace it but for some it would be even longer if they just don’t have the money for the work because obviously it’s an expensive thing but now it’s so much cheaper so I think it’s making a massive difference. I just hope they keep the engines as they are, we really don’t want to be going any faster, if anything it would be nice to slow them down a little bit and I really think they should set a date for when everyone has to use the Zetecs and after that maybe it could be looked into if there is a way to slow the cars a little as I don’t think that would hurt at all. I can’t see an issue with moving everyone onto Zetecs in the end because if you are running a Pinto and had a big problem with it I cannot see why you would stick with it and not just switch to a Zetec because you get the exact same speed and power and it would be less money.

Another talking point this season has been the number of accidents and driver injuries, is there anything you would like to see changed or improved?
It’s not so much a change but I would like to see more attention paid to how a driver sits in their car as a lot of the time the injuries are to legs and feet and I think a lot of that is down to how the driver sits in the car, usually because they are sitting too close to the bulk head. I had an injury a good while ago and that was because I was sitting too close to the bulkhead so I moved my seat and made some changes and it’s made a massive difference and I do think that is a problem with a lot of drivers sitting like that. Also the type of seats help, I’ve one of these full containment seats which are all padded out and they are brilliant and I would recommend one to anyone and I don’t think it would be a bad thing for head restraints to come in. It’s funny because I keep looking at them and thinking about getting one but I haven’t, I suppose it’s because of the money they cost which is stupid really but if you had to have one, I would get one and have no problem with it, I know more and more people are using them and they seem to be a good thing.

We often ask stockcar drivers this but as Mildenhall tends to use red flags more often to stop raced that most races are you happy for red flags to be used when needed and what do you think to the change in rules this year where on lap sheet order restarts after red flags that back markers now stay in position rather than go to the back of the grid?
I’ve no issue with red flags being used if they are needed but I definitely agree to the changes for the restart, the system we have now is much better and much fairer for everyone in the race so that is definitely a good move.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
I’d like to thank Kat for everything and my kids for supporting their dad and everyone else who helps in some way, Newnham Car Spares, Bill Batten, ARR Richards, Milber Salvage, A&B Autos and CBH Transport.