An Interview with 788 Stephen Mallinson

This is your fifth appearance in the World of Shale but it is your first since 2009, before we talk about this year's race, can you tell us a little about your absence from the event in recent years?
Well it's pretty simple really, I got married! During the last season I was racing regularly on shale I was busy saving for the wedding and I had a target in mind and we did really well so when I reached the target I kept on saving and decided to buy a tarmac car. I met my wife at racing and she is extremely supportive of the racing and I said to her that when I'd saved this money it was probably my only chance to have a real crack at racing on tarmac so we decided to go for it and once I'd had a bit of time off to sort the wedding fund we started racing on tarmac. The next thing that happened was my wife got pregnant with our daughter so the circumstances changed again and basically I could either afford a pile of tyres for racing on tarmac or spend the money on nappies! And nappies were more important.

You've returned to racing more on shale in 2013, are you enjoying that?
Yes I am, for whatever reason I never quite enjoyed racing on tarmac as much as I enjoyed racing on shale and you don't need to spend quite as much money to be competitive on shale so that was a big factor in going back to shale. I'm lucky as well because I've had a great season which has helped justify the switch back.

You've certainly had some great form at Mildenhall this year with a final win and you are currently second in the track championship despite missing two meetings this season. Have you enjoyed your racing at Mildenhall this year?
Yes I have, again I've been fortunate with Mildenhall because I've had my best meetings there in 2013. The only trouble is the track is a long way away for us, it's four hours there and four back so we've tried hard to make the effort to do as many meetings there as we can because we've been having the results, for whatever reason the car at the moment just seems to be best suited to Mildenhall and the car goes really well there. 

With that in mind, how do you feel about this year's World of Shale Championship, especially with your fine qualifying series which will see you start on the outside of row four.
I would prefer to be on the inside but that can't be helped, I'm happy to be as far up the front as I am, I had a lot of good fortune in the qualifying rounds so I can't complain. I think the winner is likely to come from the front few rows, just because there are such good drivers up there and one is likely to get away and be hard to catch but I think I have a chance of doing well from where I've qualified. But it's like anything, you don't know what's going to happen when the race starts, you can't plan for it you just have to see how it goes and go from there and do your best.

Your best result in race is a sixth, which came at Mildenhall back in 2006. Do you hope to improve on that result and what is your goal for this race and do you think you are capable of improving on that result?
I suppose you always want to try and do better than you did before but it isn't always as easy as that. Being in the top six again would be a fantastic result and I would be really pleased if I could do that but to be honest I would be quite happy to finish and drive with the car still in one piece, and I don't think that is going to be the easiest task in a race like this.

It sound like you are expecting a lively race.
You just don't know what's going to happen do you. It might be but it could go completely the other way, you can never tell but hopefully it will be a good one.

Who do you think the main danger men are going to be? 
Again, I think anyone on the front three or four rows has got to fancy their chances. There are a lot of quick drivers in front of me and a lot of quick ones behind me so there are plenty of people who will fancy their chances I think. I've got Andy Ford lining up behind me and he is going to be one to watch and likely to be in a hurry to get to the front which could make my first bend lively! To be honest there are so many good drivers, especially in the first half of the grid, it could be any of them.

How big of an occasion is the World of Shale to you as a driver?
It's a big deal. For the shale drivers it is our World Final and especially so now we've the overseas drivers from Holland racing which makes it feel much more like a World Final. Years ago you would expect the English drivers to have an advantage over the overseas ones but that isn't the case anymore, these guys are as good as anyone over here, some might even be better so they raise the quality of the drivers on the grid and make it a better race to be a part off.

What do you think of the changes made to the World of Shale series this year?
I like the involvement of the overseas drivers a lot but to be honest for someone like me in the top 10, the changes haven't made the most difference to me. The people effected are those who finished 21st to 32nd who previously would have qualified but not have to try in the last chance race. I can understand they would be disappointed and I'm sure I would have been if I was in that position but sometimes changing things can be good so we will have to see. 

Is there anyone you would to thank or mention?
My dad who is a massive help to me and my wife who is a huge support and understanding of all the money I spend and time I spend in the garage.