An Interview with Terz 133 Terry Hill
(interview published March 4 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship)

Age: 29
Home Town: Exmouth
Occupation: Scrap dealer
Family: Fiancé Anne and three children
Racing career: Started racing aged 10 in 1995 in Juniors at Tiverton District in a Triumph Toledo

Congratulations on qualifying for the Supreme Championship for the first time, are you looking forward to the meeting and the race?
Yes, I really am. I’ve been coming to watch meetings at Mildenhall now for probably around 10 years, usually coming up with Pikey (190 Steve Bailey) and Nemesis (239 Steve Carter) and it’s always been a track I have wanted to race at since I’ve started to get back into my racing. I started my racing on the dirt tracks in the area and I’ve always fancied a go at a proper shale track and so I’ve always had this interest in racing at Mildenhall ever since I’ve been going there to watch but I’ve never really had a chance. To be honest all the time I was racing on the dirt tracks I never saw myself racing at any ORCi tracks, I just never considered it to be a bit of me. Then I got into trouble and got banned and decided to sell all my racing stuff and at that point I thought I was finished. I had a (Toyota) Crown and Pikey wanted it and we wound up doing a deal where I swapped it for a built Mondeo and so I had another go but this time at Taunton which was the first time I’d raced on tarmac and I kind of eased myself back in from there. But up until last year I had stuck with Mondeos and other front wheel drive stuff, I only raced an unlimited at the World Final last year which was the first rear wheel drive car I’d raced in quite some time. To be honest that was another reason why I was keen to do the Supreme when I found out I’d qualified because while I’d had the interest to race on shale and Mildenhall for quite a while, I always really wanted to do it in a rear wheel drive car and I’ve only just started racing them again.

You finished fourth in the World Final at Taunton which earned you your spot in the Supreme Championship, were you pleased with such a strong finish, especially as you said it was your first unlimited on tarmac and your first unlimited in quite some time?
I was but on top of all that I was really sick the day of the meeting. I could barely get out of bed and to be honest I probably shouldn’t have done the meeting and had it not been the World Final I certainly wouldn’t have raced. I’d qualified for the World Final before but had never done it because at that point I hadn’t been racing unlimiteds. Last year the qualifying was a little different and the first rounds were for unlimited bangers and so I had no points. The first qualifying round I did was the Wreckfest meeting at Taunton in July where I got caught up in the crashing because everyone went a bit ballistic that day. I managed two good follow-ins and then got trashed myself, all in the first heat so no points again (laughs). Going into the last round at St Day I needed a bit of a miracle and somehow managed to win all three races and just squeezed into the World Final. After that I was really keen to have a go in the World Final that time, I had a couple of Scorpios but I’ve always been the kind of guy who only wants to race if everything is right and at least fairly competitive. I’ve never been into just making up the numbers, that isn’t much fun for me, I want to at least feel like I have a chance and a bit part of that is having all the right equipment, especially with unlimited bangers, you can’t just throw them together and expect to be ok, it doesn’t work like that anymore unfortunately. So I’d been getting myself sorted to finally race an unlimited and then when I had that brilliant meeting at St Day and qualified for the World, I had to go for it, even though I was sick. It’s funny because even though I had a brilliant result I honestly don’t remember much about the race, which I assume is because I was ill, I remember the parade lap but not very much about the race which is a little weird.

Up until recently you have been keeping your racing largely in the west country but recent months have seen you travel around a bit more including a visit to Eastbourne in October, Birmingham in January and now Mildenhall, could this be the sign of things to come?
I hope it is. I’ve always had the interest to race elsewhere and outside of the west country but it’s simply a matter of time with me. I always seem to be flat out with work so there is never enough time for racing as I would like which is why I’ve stuck pretty much to the local tracks for so long. When Eastbourne Gala Night was coming round Steve (Pikey) and the boys were going and they were encouraging me to come up with them and at first I said no, because of how busy I was. But I kept looking at the car sitting in the yard, thinking ‘well, what else will I do with it’, and so a couple of days before the meeting I did the few things which needed doing and booked in and I really enjoyed it. I made the decision to stick to racing that night. I wanted to try and at least get a few laps in, because I’d never travelled so far to race myself and I finished all three races and had a third and a fourth which I was so pleased with, especially as I’d never raced there and there were a lot of good drivers there that night so that was fantastic. Birmingham was good as well but unfortunately I blew my engine. Typically, I’d used the engine all year and never had any problems and then it did that when I raced miles away from home (laughs) but that’s how it goes sometimes. I’d like to travel around more but it all boils down to time, my plan for this year is to do as many of the National Banger meetings as I can at Autospeed and then just see what else I can squeeze in in between those meetings.

You mentioned starting your career on dirt tracks, do you think that experience might help you in the Supreme Championship?
I don’t know but I’m guessing it can’t hurt (laughs). I used to do ok on the dirt tracks and I know that shale will be different but I’m hoping it might be a little bit similar and hopefully I will remember how to do it as well (laughs). I suppose it does give you a little extra confidence going into this because if I’d only raced on tarmac before I’d probably find this quite daunting but hopefully it won’t be quite as far out of my comfort zone as some people think.

What are your goals for the race?
I would be really happy to finish it, I think that would be a quite an achievement for me, being my first time in the race, first time at Mildenhall, first time on shale and all the rest of it. I guess you could say it’s a case of being in at the deep end, I’ve been looking at the drivers booking in and there are plenty of big names expected so hopefully it will be a good meeting, but if you are going to start, you might as well chuck yourself in at the deep end and see how it goes (laughs)!

Have you decided what car you will be using in the race?
I’m using the Scorpio I first raced in the Taunton World Final. It’s done a few meetings since but it’s still in a good condition and I think it will be absolutely fine for this. I last used it at the Winter Open at Taunton which was a pretty quiet meeting for the unlimited bangers but I think to be honest it did me a bit of a favour because again I’ve been so busy at work it’s done me a massive favour having a car which is ready to go rather than having to get a new one ready. It also helps knowing you have a good car with you before a race starts, that helps sometimes and with everything else being new for me at least having a car I’m familiar with might help a little bit. I think the Scorpios are among the best cars for unlimited meetings these days and they’ve done well in this race before. A Scorpio won last year when I went to watch and Brett (Ellacott) won in one the year he won so yeah, I think it’s as good a car as any.

Last year’s championship was one of the most destructive title races of the season, would a similar race benefit you?
I think it probably would. If it became a race where it’s more about picking your gaps and finding holes and ways through, I think that would be better for me but at the least a race like that is much more exciting and enjoyable to be a part of than one where not very much is going on. Last year’s race was pretty good to just watch so I would imagine the buzz of being in it would be really great.

The 2015 construction rules have recently been announced, what are your thoughts?
It was brought back in last year but I’m very pleased you are allowed fabricated drive shafts again, especially as I race Scorpios and the ones on the car are like toffee. The ones I’ve made were made from other cars I’ve had in the yard and didn’t cost me any money and where just a bit of time and if that can stop a car breaking down from a silly little tap, I think that is a great idea. The engine guards has been a big talking point but I think they did need bringing back a bit because some were getting a bit over the top, we can still protect the bottom of the engine which is the most important thing I think. The thing I’m quite interested in is the new restrictions on cams in Zetec engines and I’ll be quite interested to see how that plays out.

The Banger fixtures at Autospeed have been a talking point in recent times, last year seeing a big drop in National dates and the introduction of their Old School format meetings but this year sees more National meetings planned, are you happy with the balance of fixtures?
Personally I would prefer there to be even more National meetings so I’m pleased to see more this year. I think the Old Skool format was a good idea and we did see a few of the (Rookie) Banger drivers having a go but the trouble was a lot of them only did the limited contact races and then they would load up before the full contact races which wasn’t really the point I don’t think. I actually won the 2litre Old School points last year. I never set out to but for quite a lot of the meetings I had a car left over from a National meeting and decided to race it and it went from there. They’ve changed the rules this year so I wouldn’t be able to do that without making several changes to the car to be allowed to race it at an Old School meeting and then back again for a National so I’m not sure I will do it so much this year, I don’t know if the changes will help the formula, I know they won’t help me (laughs) so I suppose we will have to see.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
Benny and Marmite for everything they do to help me.

Click here to return to One Wild Night page