An Interview with Unlimited Kent Champion Muttley 346 Scott Saunders
(interview published March 4 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship)

Age: 35
Home Town: St Mary’s Bay
Occupation: Machine driver
Family: Partner Mel and son Austin
Racing career: Started racing Junior Bangers at Dover in 1992

This is the second time you have qualified for the Supreme Championship, having debuted in 2012, were you pleased to learn you had qualified and are you looking forward to the race?
I was pleased to be told I was in the race, it’s always nice to qualify for one of the big championships and this one is right up there as one of the best championships of the year I would think. It helps with me being at Mildenhall and now being unlimited which is better for me so that makes it a little special for me personally but any time you get in a race like this you have to go for it I think. I’m looking forward to it, I had a pretty good race the last time I was in it and although we had some problems I enjoyed it and so it will be good to do it again, hopefully it will go well.

What memories do you have of the 2012 race, which was the first time the event was held under an unlimited format at Mildenhall.
Like I said we had some problems that night but they were all with my brother Lee. It was the first time the meeting had been unlimited and it was quite a big deal and there was a great turnout and a lot of cars and top drivers and there was a real buzz about the meeting and we both qualified that year so as great as it was for me to be in the race for the first time it was even better because Lee was in it as well. He built a Jaguar for the meeting and the car was absolutely fine when we left home but by the time we got to the track it just would not run and we couldn’t figure it out for the life of us and it was so incredibly frustrating. It didn’t help that it was my Jaguar engine he was using so I couldn’t help but feel I had let him down a little bit as well but I just felt so sorry for him because we’d both been looking forward to the meeting so much. Unfortunately this also had a knock on effect to my race because I’d been pushing his car round the pits for quite a while before the championship to try and help get it started. I think we finally got his car running just as the cars were going out for the parade lap and so we never had time to change the water in my car and unfortunately because of that my engine got so hot a few laps in that I had to pull off. I was having quite a good race until that point and to be honest I think that might have been helped by the problems we’d had with Lee’s car because it did fire me up a bit. I remember the race starting and seeing him pulling off because obviously we’d not sorted whatever was wrong with it like we thought we had and I was so gutted for him but I think it also fired me up and I have a habit of doing better when I’m a little wound up (laughs). The car went really well, better than I thought it would and it was pretty cool to be up near the front until the engine got too hot. Hopefully I can do just as well again, especially because it’s actually the same car that I’m using this time that I used the last time (laughs).

Can you explain why you’ve decided to keep a car for racing for such a long time?
Well it’s a bit of a funny story with this car and why I’ve kept it for so long because I’ve actually not raced it that many times. I think this is only the fourth time I have raced it so it’s averaging about a meeting a year at the moment (laughs). As much as I like unlimited meetings I don’t tend to do that many anymore and when I do I really like to build the older cars if I can because that’s what I enjoy. For example when we did the Steamer Memorial me and Lee built Westys and the Ian Mallion Memorial at Dover we both had old Jaguars. The modern cars don’t excite me as much as cars like that so any excuse I have to build and race an older car I’ll take it because the truth is a lot of the unlimited meetings now just aren’t suitable for the older cars so you have to make the most of the ones where you can. So I think the only other unlimited meetings I have done in the meantime have been the unlimited meetings at Dover either side of the Ian Mallion Memorial where I’ve used this car. The other reason is it’s been such a good car, I’ve won the Kent Championship both times I’ve used the car at Dover (in 2012 and 2014) so it’s definitely a good one and the trouble is when you have a good day with any car you get to the end of the meeting and think you’ll keep it for another meeting because it’s going so well, trouble I don’t then realise it’s going to be so long before I will do another meeting where I can use it (laughs).

Do you think have a good chance of success in this race and if the race proves to be a lively one again does that suite you?
I definitely prefer a livelier kind of race myself. When it’s rough and there is a lot going on it levels the playing field for everyone I think. Shale does that anyway really but even on shale there is an advantage from better cars and equipment but when it’s a rough race that advantage is reduced again because you can be the best driver and have the best car and one bit of bad luck and that’s it, your race is over. It can happen so easily in a race like that but I like those kind of races, to me that is proper banger racing, where it’s about the guy driving and their luck on the day, a good race is one where anyone can win it and this is definitely one of those races. It’s going to be more about who can get through the gaps and stay out of trouble I think rather than who is the fastest on the night. I’d like to think I could do ok, it helps doing well a couple of years back and having the same car because you know you have a good car under you and that makes a difference heading into a race like this, whenever you have a new car there is always a bit of uncertainty about how it will perform. The first few laps are definitely going to be important, you’ve got to go for it when it starts. I would think almost everyone in the race will want to try and do well so the start is probably going to be quite manic with everyone trying to hang in there, if you come out of those opening laps in the frame then you are certainly going to give it a go but to be honest I think it’s more a matter of just coming out of those first few laps in one piece, if you manage that then you are probably in with a shout. I don’t have a specific target or anything, I think doing that for a race like this is probably a bad idea because there is no way of knowing what’s going to happen but I hope I can at least enjoy the race a bit more this time because last time was a bit stressful with everything that was going on. I remember the atmosphere being really good last year and that build up to drive onto the track was really cool so I’m looking forward to all that again and hopefully just being able to enjoy a little more without having to worry about other things. Hopefully I will have a good race, it would be a little disappointed to get knocked out of the race early on, but if I have a chance to enjoy the race that will be good enough for me.

2014 was a pretty successful one for you, did you enjoy it?
I’ve had better I think. It didn’t start very well for me, I missed the first meeting at Dover because I was ill, then I couldn’t do the second meeting for some reason, I couldn’t find anything for the van meeting so it really wasn’t a good start but I had a brilliant second half. There were some good meetings at Dover, I won the Kent Championship again which was good, even though it was such a horrible wet day. The unlimited at Dover is usually a good day, we don’t race RWD cars there often and it’s such a challenging track for those kind of cars so that is one I tend to enjoy. And the Masters was a brilliant day for me, just everything went right and that was one of the best meetings I’ve done in for a long time and I also really enjoyed the vans at Mildenhall, that was the first time I had done that meeting and it was fantastic.

Have you any plans for this season?
I want to try and do a whole season at Dover, that is always my plan at the start of the year and I want to try and do all the meetings I usually do. I had such a good time at the Mildenhall (unlimited) van meeting last year that I want to try and do that again this year. Lee has already got vans for Dover and Mildenhall so we are now looking for ones for me, I’ll do the Granada meeting again I would think. I still have the hearse from last year because the engine blew up but it’s so rotten I’m not sure waiting until then to race it is a good idea (laughs). I did think about using it in the Supreme but decided against it, I might take it to the Dover unlimited yet, I’m not too sure and the Mildenhall pre 70 is one I’ll do again as I love the old cars. Apart from that I’m going to Stoke again for the Stan Woods Pre 75 meeting, that’s a highlight of the year for me now, I love the old car meetings and I like that track, it’s almost like going back to the 1970 when you go and everyone is so friendly as well and it’s a great weekend away. We are also planning to do the old boys meeting at Yarmouth. It’s been a while since I’ve been there and I’m planning on building my DS420 hearse for that which would be great, I had a look at the entry list for the meeting the other day and there’s loads of old names meant to be racing so that should be good. It’s a shame it’s the day after the (Unlimited Suffolk Open and Steamer Memorial Trophy meeting) at Mildenhall as I want to do that as well so we might need to try and figure out a way of making a weekend of it. I’m also thinking of doing the opener at Mildenhall (on March 7). I normally wouldn’t worry too much about (National) meetings at Mildenhall but Lee is going because he has a car to use and I’m thinking it might not hurt to do a meeting before the Supreme as the last meeting I did was the Granada meeting in September and I keep thinking doing a meeting first might help me a little bit in the championship so I will see if there is enough time to throw something together quickly for the meeting.

Is there anyone you would like to thank or mention?
Lee, Ian and my dad mainly for everything they do to help me with my racing.

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