An Interview with 433 Ben Smith
(interview published February 11 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 Unlimited Banger BBA Supreme Championship)

Age: 28
Home Town: Norwich
Occupation: Runs an export company
Family: Girlfriend Moranda and sons Dillon and Alex
Racing career: Started racing in National Bangers at Swaffham in 2000

This will be your first time competing in the Supreme Championship, is that something you are pleased about?
I was more surprised to be honest when I found out and when I got the message I wasn’t sure how I had managed to qualify but I didn’t realise that my result in the (Spedeworth) World Final had been good enough because it never dawned on me that people in front of me might have already qualified earlier in the year. To be completely honest I had such a good night at the World Final, qualifying on the night and then coming from the back of the grid to come fourth, I think I would have had a job doing any better than that so I was on such a buzz that night I never even considered anything else but the fact that result has now got me a place in this race is a massive bonus and I’m looking forward to it, it should be good and it will be different because I’ve never been in the race before.

You were among the first to confirm your intention to race, was there ever a question of accepting your spot on the grid?
No, not really. It’s always great to qualify for races like this and especially when they are local to me. It’s hard for me to travel all around the country now although I like to try when I can so when something is close to home that’s a big advantage. This is a tough race to qualify, I’ve been racing a few years now and it’s the first time I’ve got in even though I’ve been in other big races elsewhere so I was definitely going to give it a go. It’s a massive plus for me that the meeting is now unlimited because that is pretty much what I race now. Had it still be a Mondeo type meeting I doubt very much that I would have done it but being unlimited was a different story, I think moving it to unlimited has been a good move because I think most drivers prefer unlimited meetings now and that includes a lot of the top drivers who travel around the country so hopefully they will come for this one and it will be a good race again.

How do you rate your chances?
I think it will all be down to luck really and everyone probably has the same chance as the next guy, it’s just one of those races really. If we get 35 to 40 cars again then that is more than enough to fill the track at Mildenhall and when you have a track full of cars at somewhere like Mildenhall it becomes something of a lottery. Chances are there will be a pile-up or a blockage at some point and that could happen at any time and take anyone out, you could honestly go from 10th to the lead in one lap if things go your way. Then you could have someone stop you by going the wrong way because that is allowed so you just don’t know what is going to happen. But I like that about a race, it’s always a great feeling going into a race not having a clue what is going to happen. That is how it should be but sometimes things get a little predictable but this isn’t one of those races and again anyone can win I think. I usually do ok at Mildenhall and have had some good races and meetings there so I hope I can do ok but again it will all be down to luck on the night really.

How much would it mean to you to win this race?
It would mean a lot, of course it would although it could be a pain because I would need three colours to pain my roof (laughs). If I won I might only be able to paint the roofs of my car for a year! The championships with a roof grade on them are always the ones you want to win and it would be excellent to win one at one stage in my career, it is a goal but at the same time it’s not the be all and end all of my racing to me, if it happens then brilliant but if it doesn’t then as long as I enjoy my racing that is the most important thing. I don’t seem to have too much luck though in big races. I was winning the Hot Shots championship at Mildenhall and someone took Deano out (730 Dean Mayes) which took me with it, I was doing well in the British Championship once and I span someone out and they backed me into the wall and I blew an engine while winning the World Final at King’s Lynn so these races haven’t been very kind to me so far and I’m usually the nearly man (laughs). But then the (Spedeworth) World Final was a great night so maybe my luck is starting to change for the better, we’ll see what happens this time!

Have you given any thought to the car you will race in the championship?
I reckon it will be a Soarer. They are pretty good cars, they aren’t quite as quick or handle as well as a Scorpio but the main problem with the Scorpios is they break front wheels and legs so easily and I think you will need a tougher car for this race because I would imagine it’s going to be quite lively. Again I would think they will be some sort of pile-up at some stage and there will come a time where you are going to have to force your way through something and so having a car capable of doing that is going to be essential I think. There is no point going into a pile-up or getting rubbed up the wall and coming out the other side with only three wheels on your car because that will be as far as you are going to go and that’s the problem for me with the Scorpios, you go into a pile-up, catch a car going through and tear a wheel off and that’s it, game over. The Lexus’ are better for that, they are just that bit stronger but they aren’t as quick as a Scorpio or handle quite as well but I’m not sure that will be quite as important in this race, survival is probably the most important thing. I like the Soarers because they are a little more nimble and handle a bit better than the other Lexus’, probably because they are a little smaller and I’m hoping that will give me a bit of an edge and help me compete with some of the faster cars.

You raced at last year’s meeting, admittedly not in the championship, piloting a Rover P5 where you had a very lively night, did you enjoy that meeting?
I did, I had a great night and the Rover proved a great deal better than I ever thought it would be. The car came from Ben Collins who was going to weigh it in because he was finished with it but I thought it still had some life in it so I got it from him and did a bit of work to repair it and took it there thinking it would be good for one crash and that would be it but instead it kept going and going and I got in loads of hits. The final was the race that was easily the best. It went to the last car running and I was one of the final few cars, the track got blocked and because I figured every hit would be my last I just kept piling in trying to make sure the hit was at least a good one but the car keep plugging on until almost the very end and I almost won as the last car running. That in itself would have been cool but doing that in something like a (Rover) P5 is extra special so yes I really enjoyed that.

One of the big talking points at the moment has been the announcement that Chrysler Imperials and similar cars are to be banned by the ORCi while the Toyota Previa has been permitted once again, what are your thoughts on these cars?
Personally I don’t have a problem with either of them but then I don’t worry too much about stuff like that. Admittedly the Imperials are a little bit of a sore subject because I have friends who are battling with the drivers who have been racing them and so I can see where they are coming from, I think the bigger problem has been that the drivers have been allowed to turn these cars around, I’m not sure they would have been such a problem if they couldn’t, after all they would have a job to catch you in one! If you get stuck and a car wrecks you, then they wreck you, I’m not sure it matters too much what the car is hitting you and it’s your choice whether you want to fire up the back of one, personally I just try and avoid them but I would probably do that with any Yank unless I was racing it. I was actually interested in buying an Imperial but there was so much talk of them being banned that I didn’t and obviously I’m glad now. As for the Previas, again I’m not too worried, the thing is they aren’t very fast so I don’t see them as a great problem myself but again I don’t tend to worry about these things too much.

Closer to home a talking point at Spedeworth has been the lack of a Banger World Series round at either of their East Anglian tracks. As an East Anglian driver, how do you feel about that?
I actually didn’t know about this until recently when I bothered to look at the dates (laughs). It is annoying because I do most of the meetings and travel around to the others so it would be nice to have one at home but it’s not the end of the world for me because I will probably still go to the other meetings anyway but I was surprised there wasn’t one at Yarmouth as that’s been a good meeting the last couple of years, to be honest I can’t see me doing much now at my local tracks because I tend to stick mostly to unlimited meetings and I’m not too keen on the front wheel drive stuff and most of the meetings at Ipswich and Yarmouth are for those kind of cars.

Have you made any other plans for 2015?
Well I’ve been talking about cutting back a bit but then I say that every year (laughs). My plan is to mainly stick to the unlimited meetings that I want to do, I would like to go to Cowdenbeath for the World Cup and there is a few of us planning to go to Ireland in June for the unlimited weekend and (Banger) World Series round they are having and we are hoping to go to Emmen as well for one of their team meetings if the dates fit in.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad and Paul.

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