An Interview with Nemesis 239
Steve Carter
(interview published March 4 2014 in the lead up to the 2014 Unlimited
Banger BBA Supreme Championship)
Age: 24
Home Town: Exexter
Occupation: Doing as little as possible for as much as possible
Family: Girlfriend Jackie
Racing Career: First raced October 2002
This is the third year running you have qualified for the championship but you have failed to make it the last two years with a combination of last minute problems (in 2012) and the bad weather (in 2013) so the first question is will you actually make it this year?
(laughing) Yes I will and I can tell you why I will definitely get there this year. Because of the car I’m going to build for it. I have a Yank. It’s a bit like the really good one I had a few years back that everyone was talking about with that really good front bumper on it (laughs)! I’ve had it in the Yard for quite a while and have been pretty stuck as to what to do with it. The scrutineers are a lot tighter on what you can do with cars like this now and the problem with a lot of Yanks is that without the ‘work’ they really aren’t that good, they look good but that’s about it. So every time I’ve thought about racing it I’ve decided against it because I just thought it would be no good for the meeting. Then this came up and I thought a Yank at Mildenhall would probably be pretty good because its shale and the size of the track would be a bit more forgiving for a car like this and also I can turn round if I want so the plan is to try and cause as much mayhem as I possibly can and just have a laugh. I’m actually really looking forward to it.
In previous visits to Mildenhall, we’ve often seen your crashing side, do you think the track has a habit of bringing that out of you?
Yes I think that is true. The thing is I really like coming there when I can, I like the track, the people, the atmosphere, the way you are treated, all of it and whenever I go there is does seem to be more fun. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy racing everywhere but some places just feel more serious than Mildenhall so when I go there because of that I do tend to crash more, just because I’m enjoying myself. I had my first unlimited win there in the team meeting last year, but that didn’t last, after that I went back to crashing and even though we didn’t do very well in the end I still had a great night. I think a part of it as well is that there are still a lot of drivers who only race at Mildenhall and that makes it a little different. Nowadays I’m part of the travelling circus and every week a lot of the faces are the same as the week before and the week before that but when you go to Mildenhall there are all these people you don’t normally see and it makes it much more of a free for all and I enjoy that a lot.
Given your car choice is it safe to assume you don’t fancy your chances of winning?
No, not really. I suppose there could be a pile-up and it might go to the last car running but I doubt that will happen very much but I think that would probably be my only chance of winning.
There are a handful of your well known on track rivals in this year’s race, do you approach races like this differently to others?
In a way. You are a little more mindful when you have people other who you are always taking on but I’m not a driver who spends a lot of time planning races or even thinking about them too much. The only exception was the World Final I won at Taunton last year where I was on the grid very much in the mind-set that I wanted to try and win but I’m never like that, I just take it as it comes but obviously when you have rivals you have an extra eye in the hope you see them sticking out so you can wreck them.
On the subject of rivals, in a previous interview Lee Clarke said you love each other, would you care to comment?
Of course we do, we have a real Bro-mance going on!
On the other side of the coin, some of your Team DWO team mates have also qualified, is that a good feeling knowing they will be out there?
It is, for me there is no better feeling than being on track knowing your there, you’ve got proper team mates who’ve got your back and there are some of your best rivals on track and knowing it’s going to be a proper tear up, that’s a fantastic feeling and that should be the way I will feel when this race starts, on paper it should be a good one.
Moving away from the Supreme Championship and much has been said about the recent unlimited meeting at the Heartbreaker with a number of fans expressing their disappointing at the meeting on line. Firstly did you enjoy the meeting and what is your take on the comments?
It was ok, I didn’t have a bad day, it wasn’t the best but it was nice to just do a few laps and have a bit of racing which doesn’t seem to happen for me very often anymore. Usually at these unlimited meetings I’ll get wrecked in the first race and spend the rest of the meeting fixing the car so it made a chance just to have a race and I like Birmingham. As for the comments, I honestly can’t say because I don’t really pay much attention to that anymore. I used too but now I just don’t, I do what I want and try not to pay any attention to anything else.
You played a big part in the South’s victory in the Civil War this year, being a part of the very strong Tank (unlimited) division, were you pleased to be a part of that?
I was, especially as I was asked specifically to do the meeting to do that, to boost the unlimited team and score the points and I had good results in all three races so I was pleased to play my part, do my job and help the team win but I must say that for whatever reason, the meeting just doesn’t have the same buzz for me as it used to. I don’t know why but it’s just not the same as it once was.
Another thing which has changed this year is the Banger World Series, as one of the contracted drivers in 2013 what do you think of this year’s series with no contracted drivers and instead more prize money on offer to all and the introduction of 2litre rounds?
Even though both changes don’t really benefit me I think they are definitely better for the series and so I think they are good. The dropping of the contracted drivers and prize money has already been proved as a better idea I think with the great turnout at Wimbledon (in February) and I think the 2litre meetings will be good as well, even though I don’t really like them. There were some rounds last year which just didn’t quite click and there are tracks like Hednesford and Ipswich where you need 40 to 50 cars on track at once for a good race and these places struggle to get that many unlimited cars so making them 2litre I think will be better because I think you will get more cars and also it opens it up to different drivers and gives them a chance to qualify for the World Final.
Have you made any plans for 2014, especially given your local promotion Autospeed is running very few National Banger meetings owing to the introduction of their limited contact Old School series in 2014?
I plan my racing no more than two weeks at a time now. We look to see what meetings are coming up and then prepare for them, when you start planning months in advance things tend to go wrong so I’ve stopped doing that so I’ll be taking it as it comes. The Autospeed fixtures don’t make too much difference to me as I didn’t tend to do all the meetings there anyway and the meetings I would have done are still there so I’ll do them still.
A recent talking point has been the confirmation of the 2014 technical rules from the ORCi, have you any thoughts?
I’m quite happy, I think my concerns are the same as a lot of peoples. Changing the drive shafts and prop shafts don’t actually make a car stronger, they just make them more reliable so I can’t see the problem with that and with the tyres, I understand banning a certain make of tyre if its felt it is bad for the sport but I think the minimum profile rule is going to be a problem because a lot of modern cars come with lower profile tyres and I think this rule is going to result in all drivers having to buy tyres because the ones on the car will be no good.
Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
My dad, Tilly, Lee, Milber Salvage Spares and DM Services.