An Interview with Boogie 252 Steve Bugler
(interview published February 25 2014 in the lead up to the 2014 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship)

Age: 23
Home Town: Bornemouth
Occupation: Signwriter
Family: Girlfriend Alysia
Racing career: Started in Junior Bangers, aged 11 at Ringwood Cheetas

Congratulations on qualifying for the championship for the first time. Initially you weren’t one of the qualifiers but a place for you opened up via the Mendips points chart in 2013, was it an offer you accepted quickly?
Yes it was because I was considering coming up for the last chance qualifier and then when I was told there was a place for me on the grid (2013 Mendips points champion 54 Tom Davey was the original Mendips seed but turned the place down and Steve was the next available driver for the place) I accepted it straight away. If I’d come up for the last chance, it would have been with the intention of having a serious go at trying to qualify so to be straight in the race is a big bonus for me and not something I was going to turn down. It’s always special to qualify for races like this so I think it important to try and make the effort to do them when you can because you can never be too sure when the chance will come up again.

This will be your first time in the race, does that make it more special?
I suppose it does in a way but if I’m honest it’s not a race or a meeting I have the greatest amount of knowledge about. I know it’s just like a World Final race, you’ve only got to look at who has qualified to see that and obviously it is a hard race to qualify for but I don’t really know much more than that but I am looking forward to it very much. I always enjoy my visits to Mildenhall and it’s been a while since I have done an unlimited meeting there. I did a Suffolk Open and one of the first (unlimited) team meetings so it’s been a couple of years and I love racing unlimited cars on shale, more so than on tarmac I think, just because it’s a bit more fun and you can throw the car around a bit and that is a great buzz in itself. So it will be good to go back with an unlimited again and to be in this race for the first time is going to be a little extra special, it should be good.

What are your hopes or intentions for the race?
The same as any other race, if I can get past the first bend without getting run in, anything more will be a bonus. That is how I look at all my races because I think if you start expecting certain things from a race or a meeting you just set yourself up to be disappointed and this race will be no different. If I can get a lap in then I’ll be happy and if I can get through the first bend or lap I’ll take it from there although I think even getting that far could be difficult in a race like this.

There are several drivers on the grid who you regularly battle with on track and have history with, with that in mind will you approach this race any different to a meeting or a race where you have fewer or none of your regular rivals in?
No, I don’t at all. The way I see it, is it’s just another driver in a car to have a crash with and when I have a crash it doesn’t matter if it’s someone I crash with frequently or someone I’ve never raced against before. It’s just another car to me. The thing is as well, you never know what’s going to happen in any race or meeting so there is no point in trying to think ahead. I’ve done meetings where there have been loads of my usual rivals there and nothing has happened and other meetings where I’ve turned up and there is no-one there I’m having an ongoing battle with and got smashed to pieces.

Sticking with the theme of your feuds, some of them have been rumbling for quite some time now, do you still enjoy these rivalries or does there come a point when you think about moving on to something different?
No, not at all. Again it goes back to just seeing it as a car to crash with rather than someone I need to crash with. I think that attitude it the reason why some of them have carried on for so long, because I don’t see it so much as a vendetta or something, it’s just racing and I enjoy the crashing side more than anything else. Don’t get me wrong there are times when you wreck someone and they get upset and that makes you want to keep smashing them up but thankfully it doesn’t happening very often at all, I suppose that’s why when it does it sticks out but the truth is the guys I have regular run-ins with, I get on with most of them very well, Nemesis (239 Steve Carter) for example, I consider a good friend and we even went on a holiday together last year so off the track I get on with most of my on track enemies which is how it should be.

Going back to the Supreme Championship, what kind of race do you expect it to be and what kind of race are you hoping for?
It doesn’t make the greatest amount of difference to me because I think the race would be similar for me if there was 10 cars out there of 40. I just race my own race and do my own thing but if there is a big grid as expected I would imagine it will be lively and there is a good chance of a blockage which would probably be good for me as that can be more sort of thing.

Have you decided what car you are going to race?
It should be a Mercedes, probably one of the E class models I’ve been using a bit lately.

You certainly have been favouring the modern types of Mercedes recently, why is that?
Availability is the most important reason. It’s funny because when I raced my first one I then realised how many of them are out there, they are everywhere and so being able to get them quite easily is one of the main reasons I like using them but I do think they are good, all round cars. They are pretty solid and quick at the same time so you have the best of both worlds. This will be the first time I’ve raced one on shale though but I think it will be fine, I think it should be a good car for the job because chances are you’re going to need a pretty solid car for this one. I think these Mercedes are a bit like Volvos to be honest and my previous unlimited meetings at Mildenhall I’ve used a Volvo and it’s been fine and there are others who use Volvos there and they go well.

Moving onto other things, you turned a lot of heads last October when you raced your Cadillac Fleetwood ambulance in the Spedeworth World Final at Ipswich, can you tell us a little about that car?
It was an awesome car to build and race and I don’t think I’ll ever top it in terms of rarity or just how cool a car it was but I had mixed luck with it when it came to racing. At the World Final I took one hit and it broke the throttle cable. Normally I would been more upset with myself but in this case there wasn’t much we could have done because we left the V8 engine in and it had an unusual carb and the throttle linkage just twisted and broke so it really wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just one of those things. I decided the best thing was to take it home, get it sorted properly and have another good go at it and even though it only lasted one race at Ringwood, I had a blast in that race and so it made all the hard work worthwhile, because it had been an awful lot of work.

Sticking with the Cadillac, you were a late arrival to Ipswich on World Final night which meant many people saw the car for the first time when you drove onto the track, was that your intention?
(laughs) No, it really, really wasn’t. I drove the car out of the workshop and (brother) Rob followed and as he did it he split a brake pipe on his Supra and we decided to fix it there rather than at the track which meant we arrived very late but that was never the plan, it was just one of those days. I think you’re right about a lot of people not seeing it until it was on track and the buzz was just amazing, it was like a Mexican wave of people cheering as I went round on the parade lap and it was an incredible feeling.

You are one of several qualifiers who were one of the contracted drivers for the Banger World Series, this year’s series does not have that element to it meaning greater prize money being available for all drivers, how do you feel about the changes?
I like it. The truth is if we’d realised how much pressure committing to the series last year would have been we probably wouldn’t have done it and we certainly wouldn’t have done it again this year. The biggest problem I have is that work has to come first and this is what happened with the first round (at Wimbledon) this year. I had every intention of doing it, after all 80 car unlimited meetings don’t happen very often, especially at Wimbledon. But then work picked up and so we never got the car done. Last year we would have had to have found a way and that puts the pressure on and sometimes takes away the enjoyment so I prefer how it is now and I do hope to do some of the rounds.

On that note, have you any plans for 2014?
The idea was to try and do roughly what I did last year but it never seems to go that way! I am planning some new tracks though. There is a group of us planning to go to Emmen in April and I intend to go to Tullyroan for Shamwreck in May and they are probably the things I’m looking forward to the most this year.

A big talking point in recent weeks has been the confirmed technical rules for ORCi National Banger meetings in 2014, have you any thoughts on these?
I think like most people there are things I like and don’t like. Most of it doesn’t really affect me but my biggest issue is over the gearbox cradles. I never really thought this was much of an issue and where I’m now using these Mercedes the gearbox mounts are only made of ally so would break very easily. I had a cradle for the gearbox which I really don’t see as being over the top and now it seems I can only use a ratchet strap and I don’t have good experiences with them, the last time I used one the gearbox ended up on the track after a head-on, hence why I started using the cradles instead so that is something I don’t like.

Is there anyone you would like to mention or thank?
My mechanic Rob who does a great amount to help me, my dad who does all the driving and supplies most of my cars as well, Adam who helps a lot as well and all the people who lend a hand at the track.

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