An Interview with 129 Jon Brooks

Age: 26
Home Town: Leciestershire
Occupation: Tractor mechanic
Family: Single
Racing Career: Third full season in National Bangers

Congratulations on qualifying for the Supreme Championship for the first time, is it something you are excited about and looking forward too?
Definitely, especially because I still have very limited unlimited experience so it’s going to be very new to me and only my second unlimited meeting on shale and the first one didn’t go so well because the car let me down so hopefully this will be better. I like racing on shale and I’ve enjoyed my visits to Mildenhall before so it should be good but again I’m very much trying to find my feet in unlimited racing so I hope this will help me get better. 

Your unlimited banger debut was in the Spedeworth World Final at Ipswich which is perhaps a case of diving in at the deepest of deep ends, how did the race go for you and tell us about your unlimited meetings since?
I was very nervous going into the World Final at Ipswich but when the race started it all went pretty well, a lot better than I was expecting and I managed to finish the race which was a big result for me and I was delighted to do that, especially at my first go not only in the race but in an unlimited banger as well. What made the night more nerve wracking is all the hype which goes with it because my second unlimited meeting was the Dim Tim Memorial at Northampton and that wasn’t as hyped up and I think that helped me a bit because I had a really good day there and enjoyed myself a great deal and got some good results. The third unlimited meeting was the Icebreaker at King’s Lynn but that didn’t go so well, because the car wasn’t right so some lessons learned which might help at the Supreme. 

Expanding on that, while King’s Lynn wasn’t the most successful of meeting, do you think it might help you at the Supreme, having a little unlimited shale experience under your belt?
Probably because now everything won’t be completely new to me when I go to Mildenhall. There was a lot of new things for me at King’s Lynn in January. It was my first (Volvo) 240, first time in an unlimited on shale, first time with a locked diff and it was very different but although the meeting didn’t go too well, I did get some laps so hopefully when I go to Mildenhall in March is won’t all be completely new and that will help a bit. 

There has been some discussion recently about qualifying processes for championships with some feeling the qualifying rounds should all be run to the some format as the final itself. As a driver who qualified for both the Spedeworth World Final and BBA Supreme, both unlimited events, without racing an unlimited car when you’d qualified, what do you think about that?
I think there is some merit to it but at the end of day I’ve always thought that champions should be great at racing all types of cars. A real champion is someone who can race unlimited bangers, 2litre bangers, Micro bangers, everything so races like the World Final and the Supreme are an example of being the best of the best because drivers have qualified in a range of meetings and then all sort it out on the night and it’s probably best that the championships are in unlimiteds because that is what a lot of people consider to be the best format at the moment. But just because the championship is unlimited, I don’t think drivers like me, who do most of their racing in 2litres, should be excluded from being able to qualify and having a chance. 

You have hinted at doing more unlimited meetings in the future, is this your plan?
Yes it is but it’s been slow going getting sorted out for it because in order to race unlimited bangers regularly and competitively you need to have all the right gear and that takes time and money. I’m very much a one man team and apart from when some of the guys at work stay behind and help me for the odd hour I do it all myself. Also I race for a hobby so it’s all funded by me. There are some drivers whose racing is more of a lifestyle and I’m not like that so getting everything in place to do unlimited racing has been a lot of work because a good unlimited car can these days cost you up to £1,000 and it can be wrecked in a lap. But at the same time I do get a lot of pride out of doing everything pretty much by myself because when you have some success it makes it very satisfying, knowing that it’s on the back of your own hard work. 

Looking ahead to 2014, much has been said of the Incarace scene, where you are registered with a high profile drivers meeting being held at the end of last year to discuss some of the issues and the promotion seem keen to improve the National Banger scene, as an Incarace driver, how do you feel things are going?
It’s not too bad. I’m not really sure what the answers are because Incarace has some excellent tracks, like Northampton which is one of the best tarmac tracks in the sport if you ask me. People go on and on about the problems they have at scrutineering at Incarace but that is a problem that happens everywhere and I’ve experienced it all around the country so it’s not just an Incarace thing. Having said that there is a great entry expected at the Heartbreaker (on February 16) which is encouraging, I think it’s a matter of trying to keep the drivers interested in the tracks once they are there so hopefully they will all have a good day and come back throughout the year. I think the biggest problem is that the amount of drivers in the midlands that are willing and able to race regularly is simply dwindling and I don’t know what can be done to change that. Having said that I probably shouldn’t complain too much because being registered with Incarace has given me a great opportunity to qualify for big races all around the country. Not only is there a dwindling number of regulars but there are even less that are interested in travelling around to the various big races which has worked out very well because it has given me a chance to race in many championship races which is great.

You mentioned scrutineering, with that in mind, what are your thoughts of the new technical specification rules which have just been announced for 2014 in National Bangers?
I’ve very mixed views on them, especially with the tyres. I never liked the Goodyear Eagles but at the same time I’m not able to spend a lot of money on my engines so instead I would buy a decent set of tyres and that would allow me to get round the bends and give me half a chance. I think the biggest thing is seeing how these rules are enforced and perhaps more importantly how some drivers will try and get round them, because there will always be those who interpret the rules differently to suit themselves so I think that’s going to be the most important thing. 

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
Everyone who helps me but especially my work Farol Limited who are a John Deer dealership as they let me work on my cars at work and without that support I wouldn’t be able to do everything I do and my mum who comes with me to every meeting and is my main mechanic most of the time!

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