MARK & FINN SARGENT - F2s, F1s & Ministox

We chat to Mark Sargent, The East Coast Legend & Finn Sargent all about their racing careers. The ups, the downs and their best memories as we chat about F2 stock cars, F1 stock cars including the 2023 British Championship win and their future plans.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Right, welcome back to another episode of the Scott Car Podcast today. We have got two special guests, not just one, we've got two. We have got Mark and Finn Startman. We need the uncle. Right, thank you very much for doing this. Thank you for inviting us into your home with a nice stock car behind us. We've got another one out the back, and we've got another for three new ones just over there off camera. Four new ones I couldn't quite see all the way back there. Thank you very much for coming on, I do appreciate it. Uh the beginning of the podcast, I like to tell the guests what I know about them. Start off with Mark. I don't really know too much. All I know is the smile.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

It's not a bad thing. Can I stop you for a second though? Just for a step, can just give me a minute.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I'll know.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

I've got something for it.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

You don't want to wedge yourself in the corner, don't you? I told you we went to it.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

I've watched many of these. And you always do them in your crocs. I bought you a pair of interviewing shoes. What have we got in it? You've got to wear them.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

Where did you find these? Well, the power of the internet. So you have to wear them. You've got to take your cheese shoes in. You don't have to wear them. Do not approve them on crocs. You do what you like, but nobody's picked up on it yet. And I wanted the garment to be a little bit different.

SPEAKER_05 1:17

You don't have to wear them. It's not like a thoughtful thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Just a little summer that you might remember us by.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

We're gonna have to do the podcast on all of these things. Well, it's entirely up to the podcast clippers.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

You know, but there could be yeah, podcast clippers. And I could have got you some really weird ones, but I thought your toes might be similar. Can we see them in the camera? You are helmet. So I just wanted to thank you very much. And we'll burn them on the way out later. I should have got you a present now. You don't have to. You don't have to do that. Any wrinkles can't summon it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

I'll need some of that.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

But no, that's I just I did mention it to him. It's what's that way? I've just got a little prezi for you could have bought the muzzle out of big autumn duct tape. But that's from us.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Oh thank you very much. I think it's just remembering to be there.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

So yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Right, cool. As we continue then with my nice loose clip of Crocs. No more surprises. Right. I don't know too much about your career. Obviously, watching the F1s recently, I've seen you here and about on track, not much. Always got a smile on your face, always having banter with someone, even when we come see Karl Grey, all I could hear was Mark over in the lorry next to us. Turn around and the big smile next to us. So that's probably about as much as I know. So we're getting to your races, it's probably not a bad thing, though. And then Finn, obviously, I know you've done the mini stocks, moved up into the F1s and British champion, and I know that you won it in your own car as well, which is very, very impressive. Which we will get onto all about that, and that's about as much as I know. So we'll make a start. Mark, talk us through from the beginning. In the beginning, from the beginning, the beginning the earliest youth racing memories, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

About 70 1974. That's a long, long time ago, trust me. He wasn't even thought of you was wherever he was. I definitely were out of it. We live we live 10 miles from Boston Stadium where it used to be. Dad used to go every week, never missed. You know, mum and dad, mum lives in there now, obviously. Um and used to take me on a Friday night in his little red mini, and it was I can still see the sign now as you go in, adults five quid, under fives, well couldn't uh OAPs, it was on a white board with red writing, and it was kids 50p. That was a long time ago. That was a long time ago, and everybody knows who raced at Boston or New Boston, post and wires, but two foot behind the post and wires was the speedway boards, so they did come through, and then there was a white barrier that you used to stand on, and whatever. There's a picture I put on recently. Obviously, me and Dad stood at Boston near the start and finish line. And to be honest, I wasn't massively interested in the racing because there was banking where you used to stand, and I used to run up and down the hill making car noises thinking I was Jim Welsh, just like the rest of us, just like every kid has done, and Dad can have some money for some peas and mint sauce, and that's where that started, and obviously we kept going and going and going. Boston sadly shut, but when Boston shut, it was my first year on the stadium, 93. But dad used to take us every week, but I've never ever been to Speedway, never ever been. Boston had a team, whatever. You've got a few round here, aren't you? Yeah, Lynn and all locally, but yeah, people well that's gone now, I think. Right. Um, but that's really my first memory of going. Me and Dad just going racing. Um, mum never used to go a lot, to be fair. Um, but that was our thing we did pretty much like obviously this is totally different scale. It's just a bit you're not watching anymore. No, but I do not watch him, yeah. Um, but that's the sort of earliest memories, and then see my hero, the guy you used to look up to was Jim Welsh in the Formula Twos, but then it was Brisker and Speed Ruff, or three star promotions as it was back in the day. What brisker? Yeah, well it won't brisker, it was pretty three-star promotions, right? Um and uh Steve Markham, the starter, lives in a couple of villages like Mr. Starter, and he used to stand, I you never forget stuff like this. He used to stand in between the cars on the rolling lap, do his hands like the boys do, and walk in between them for up to like the whites and yellows, and then go on his podium. But for the Alter Skelter, which is now the national, he used to stand on turn one, clutch start, stand on turn one, one foot on the speedway boards, and one foot on the fence. And he used to be there with his yellow and his green, and he used to drop it, and as they was coming round, he could get from turn one in between the speedway boards and the fence and get to his bogey. But you don't forget stuff like that. No, you know, and that sticks in in your memories. Um making models of cars for Paul Cherry, Kevin Fitter, who's boys who used to race Formula Twos, GT yacht rods, bolsterwood models, and giving them them, and they think the world of it. I've got a scrapbook in the house. I need it, I should have got it really. We've got some pictures of it. Of that era, yeah, of that era of me doing the drawings and getting the lads to sign it and everything, you know. But that's what you did as a kid because there's no social media, there's no nothing. As a kid, if you were lucky enough, you went racing or you went fishing or you played football. That's all there was really, and that's it, and you used to bike five miles to go see your mates after school. But it's true, that's all there was. No, it's click, click, click, and you can talk to them. Oops, but there was nothing else. So me and Dad used to go racing um to watch and watch and watch and watch, and then obviously, um I used to play football quite a lot, to be fair, quite a high level of football. Um, got married. As soon as he was born, I stopped playing football and just did a little bit of racing that was Formula 2s. But as soon as he was born, I stopped. Well, you just started racing? No, yeah, pretty no, because I've been racing about nine years, then I started racing in 91 on the grass at Hurdle Tree.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Um how did that come about then? Because you'd gone from watching all the time to then watching all the time a dad.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

Taking the plunge and doing it. Me and Dad used to work for the same no dad was at GFP then, so that'd be earlier than that. 91 1991 I used to um lay concrete blocks, driveways for a guy, and he used to race on grass, um, and he had like a 1480 mini, which was ridiculously fast. And tucked away in his shed wasn't a really old Formula 2. So I said, Can I? He said, Oh, come on, then we'll we'll take it to Bluebell at um Skeggy Grass track thing. He said, Have a go in the mechanics race. In an F2? In the F2, but they had no bumpers. They had no bumpers, cut-off bumpers. They scoot their way around it there as well. Yeah, other way around. Yeah. That's a strange old thing. Yeah, other way around, um, and um MS tyres, wooden jit tires, we used to call them. And um he took it, and I had a go, and that was when I first met one of my oldest friends, Alan Veal. We call him Gringo, and he used to he raced 515, and he had an old higgy with the big arches, and he used to race it on grass with a screamer in it, 1300 screamer in it, and that's where we first met him. So, anyway, we had a go in the mechanics race, and you're there trying to get your belt and get your belt. Oh, fuck it, it'd be alright. And I think there was 19 of us all lined up. Clutch start, five laps, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce. And I come about fourth, I think, with no belts on. Because there was bouncing all over like a cake and a tin on its own, you know what I mean? I don't want to go with this anyway. Um, somebody told me of this old stock car parked in this guy's shed at Wigtoft. So I went to go have a look at it, and it did look a sorry old thing. Uh said, How much do you want for it? He said, Saj, I'll take 30 quid for it. So I said, okay, I'll give you a shortcut. And she was a relic. It was a relic, honestly. So um I was the I was working for Parkho then, delivering I was 18, 18, 19, and I was delivering motor parts for a motor factor Parko. Um and I had a word with a lad up the road and I could put it in his barn because mum and dad didn't know. Um surprisingly enough. As you do, like you do, um, but I'd written it in a notebook and we used to have an old soda stream at mum and dad's, and I put it behind there. Mum mum found it when she's cleaning. Obviously, and she went in and she went, I know about your book. So I said, okay, don't tell your dad. So I didn't. Um and we got talking one day. I said, Dad, I've got a stock car. I have a mum's kitchen table. We just had our tea, dinner, whatever you guys call it. I said, I've I've got a stockcar to race on the grass. And he just went, right? So what are you gonna do then? I says, Well, we've got a trailer being built. Can I put a tow bar on your mouth for a escort gear? Yeah, right, and okay, alright. So we did it. I got eventually got it home, and he helped us do it. We didn't know what was doing, you know. We just don't. You still don't curly and special. Um, and ma'am, mum and dad bought me a stick welder, stick welder. Well, I could put Lego, the best thing I can do is put Lego together. Um, and this guy, Malk Judd, helped us and his brother Cliff and his dad, his late dad. Um, and somehow we cobbled this car together. And it was 298, like Jim Welsh. And sure as you have it, off we off, we went the following year to Holbeach Hurdle Tree Grass Track. 298, sat there. Everybody else was running two-litre pintos, and I had a 1600 because that's all I had, you know. Um, and loved it and won my third ever race. But then you once sorry, once you'd won one, you started further back, and then you started further back on the on the gridding grass. Is it does it still work like that? I don't know. I've not done for a long while, but if you won that, it's like you all start in the line together, yeah, and obviously with the the boys that spend the money, it's race to the gate in it, as they said. Yeah, and we did that. There's about six or eight of us, there weren't many, and then somebody won the first one, somebody won the second one, and I won the third one. You just go further, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um and did that for about for 91 and then half of 92. Um 91, I bought a car off Trevor Clare, um, an ex-crawling jackdaw, which some of the old F2 boys will know, Will Cole and and Justin Cole and people like that, and and the boys at Femfab. Yeah, speedreath superstock guy, Hell Cole, you read him. Yeah, it was um related to him to the Crawl and Jackdoors, it was the same team in the 70s, and that um and he helped me do that one for the grass, which was a lot better. Um 298, did it in red and yellow and I had it airbrushed. I was one of the first to have them airbrushed. What were they before? Just paint, just hand painted. And this was airbrushed by a guy at Wizbeach called Paul Dennis. And he was one of the first to do airbrushing. And it was 200 quid, 20 car airbrushed, it was 200 quid, and he was brilliant at airbrushing. Big fisherman, covered in tattoos, little guy, got the twang, leave your car there, couldn't get it the next day. Yeah, 200 quid size, that's it. And he airbrushed it. Um and we started doing writing it to be fair. And then it I got it rolled over. It rolled over. I rolled over in a big way, and it just fell over, rolled over, it just rolled over. We had a racing incident and it rolled over and it made a mess, and I was all right, you know, you just get out and whatever. And then um I got banned. I don't know what I got banned for on the grass. Probably, I don't know what it was. Not being aggressive, alright, just probably a fair pain in the official pain in the ass, probably. So I didn't race no more, and then we sat at the kitchen table in the 92, the good old kitchen table. I said, Dad, I want to race on the stadium. And again, he had a fag on because he's on more than often not had a fag on, and went you bloody kill yourself. And I went, right. Well says Boston. Boston, yeah. Sure enough, first meeting at Boston that year, Formula Two, Mum and Dad's there. Same car, same trailer, obviously different spec because we just spec'd it up to the Formula Twos. So you put a bumper on it? Put bumper on it, put bumper on it, yeah. Painted it black, green chassis. Look well. Looked like a real look like a real bad polo. Did you put a two-litre in it? Yeah, right. Yeah, um, two-litre. Paul Fisher built the engine. Um, used to work at Vegan Toon, then some of the people who might watch this can remember Vegantoon because they built Jim Welsh's engine back in the day. Not there anymore. Paul, I don't think Paul does engines anymore. Um and went to Boston. And the person we part next to was Steve Maidlow. Um and he was how can I put it? Shit up around Boston in his um Pete All car. So anyway, he um first meeting of the year, March, whenever it was. I think I'm doing not too bad. And Alan Veal comes up behind me and gives me the tiniest of taps. Tink and I'm going towards the fence at probably 10 miles an hour, okay?

SPEAKER_05 15:14

Grassing would have been non-contact. And it went, yeah, Grassham was non-contact. And it just went tink up the fence.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

The slowest crash ever.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

The slowest crash ever, but it felt like your world had ended because when you're going in, you obviously that won't go in, but when you're going in, you just slow motion, isn't it? And I hit the fence and I'm sat there. You could get out of your car then, but I decided to sit in it because I was shacking like a shitting dog. And they carted the car off, and I walked, this was on turn one, and Boston Pitgate was there, and it was about here. And I walked off, helmet on, NFR overalls, piss pot, goggles, everything, and you're walking off thinking, What the fuck am I doing on here? And you're like, and you're you're 20 23 years old, and you're like what do I say to them when I go back to the bits?

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah, fucking hell.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

We're not we don't it's not like we've travelled miles or anything, it's only 10 miles, and you're like feels a long way on the way home, though. Anyway, got to a meeting that meeting. Um I went out again, obviously. Consolation and and and and national didn't qualify, obviously, because I was shit. Um I'm going round, and Steve Maidlow comes by me as if I'm in reverse, drifting off the corner, no wheel guards, no nothing. Post and wires, puts his back wheel into the post. Oh no, spins it round, no, and I can hear the crowd cheering because they hated him because he was that good. Yeah. Him and King, he and King, bless him, he's a real good friend. We'll go on to that in a bit. But them two used to have some really good battles, and they at that time they hated each other. Now they get on really well because they come down here. Um and I heard the crowd cheer when Steve took his back axle off. Pat next to him. Me, we got no damage because obviously I'm not gone fast enough. Or a little dink in my front bumper. Steve's dad, Alec, bless him, is a lovely fella. He's revving like a two-stroke chainsaw. And you don't forget it, and we're still real well, he's one of our best friends, isn't he?

SPEAKER_05 17:33

Yeah, Steve comes and helps us now as well.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

He's nice, he's good. He's very good, he's technical. Slavs is a mechanic, he comes and helps us. Yeah. His dad comes and gives us some grief, bless him. But they're part of what we do.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Is that all sort of like the Boston boys?

SPEAKER_03 17:48

And that was from well, they're from Newark. Right, yeah. Um, but that's built up for over 30 years. Um, slowly but surely, as you go on. I started my business in 33, in 93. Um 33. It looks like it. And yeah, yeah, thanks. Yeah, thanks for that. Because it does it do black and white, yeah. Change it in black and white. Yeah, changing the black black. Yeah, putting him in colour. Yeah, just with a crayon or something. And you slowly, if if if you you know yourself, if your kit is bigger, then you can buy better equipment. Yeah. And slowly I I then the next year I bought HCD off 80 Blackburn, Blackie, 684, and it was one of the budget dozer chassis, which is probably before your time as well. No, I know about them, yeah. Um HCD is um Chopper. Will's dad, yeah, it is now, but it was Justin Cole and Tim Cole, Dibble, and uh Gordon Randall, which um I think Brooke did an interview with Gordon Randall a few weeks ago, and they was all together. Um and then obviously they separated and what have you, and went to move Chopper work for Dibble. Um and I've known them for many a year. I've known Chopper since he was 16 when he first started at HCD, and he went to school with my mum, didn't he? Yeah, went to school for himself. And if you'll never meet a nicer family. They'll always ring you, they'll always talk you. Borrow loader. Yeah, they've used their low loader more, they've revealed it. But the quality of that people like that, you can't buy that. Do you know what I mean? They are true friends. Um even now, you know, we speak weekly. I spoke to Tommy this week. You know the true honesty and generosity of certain people who you associate with, don't you? Um, and they're certainly one of them. Yeah. Over over the years. Yeah, I've been there for them, they've been there for me. Yeah, you know that. And you get that, you know. So anyway, I got one off Chop. Um we used to work in the fields then. So Chopper used to um give me some bent rose joints off other cars. Out of the scrap bin. Out the scrap bin. And I used to give him a bag of edge in return. And he used to come and have tea at mum's, mum and dad's. Blackie used to come and have a cheese sandwich at mum and dad's back in the day. Um that was me at dad's funeral last year. Mum stood there with mum and Finn and everything, and this bloke Blackie stood next to in front of mum. And mum obviously blessed her, she didn't know what was what that day. Um she went, I don't know ya. I'm sorry, I don't know ya. And I went, cheese sandwich, she went, Blackie. Straight away. And I was talking to him last week, his name's on the shower. Another old school lad from Turkey. Um so I bought that off him. There was a picture actually on the internet of it through the post and wires at Skeggy not so long ago, all the way up to the camshaft and the cage. That's first race, first lap of UK Speed Weekend. That was it, the end. And that was when the bar is where the workshop is now.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

So that was early beer time, in there till five in the morning until the sun came up. And if you gauged it right, you could walk past the dike and not fall in it because there were several people who fell in the dike and they stayed there, and it was full of green shit. They've been that pissed and fell in the dike. Oh, and it's full of green Lurgy, in that. But I've known people to fall in there and stay there and just fall asleep because they've been that pissed, and it's it used to get kicked out when it was daylight. But then when we going back to Boston, when you lined up as a white top at Boston, Billy store used to do the watering, he's still racing there, Skegy. 3-2-3 in a banger. You always just had triumphs. Billy did the watering, and um used to back up to the dike, suck the water through it, and you sat there as a white top.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

Open face, goggles, right? Pole white, because you wasn't told where to start. First come, first uh pit lane racing for it. Pit lane racing, yeah. And you sat there, show you and you yeah. It's easier to pass him in the pits than what it is. Just with the ability I've got, he's a bit better than me, isn't he? And you sat there, you strapped in, you goggles on your choppy helmet, and Billy backs up to you. And he's two foot off your bumper. Wave yellow, right there, boys off a guy. And all of a sudden the water comes out. Okay? But you can see all the green shit come out with it. And it's coming and coming and coming and coming and coming. That's what Dan's be doing, Northampton this year, isn't it? Yeah. But you don't you'd never bothered.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

It was just part of being a white dog.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

Do you know what I mean? And you just sat there thinking, you know, you're more concerned that if you parked in the pit and somebody left it running, you'd carbon monoxide poison you. You weren't bothered about the green shit. And you pulled your goggles on and uh and off you went. Yeah, and it was green shit. It was literally plankton, do they call it? I don't know, but algae. Algae, it was proper green thick. You actually sat there for a while. But then the people will know Boston, they'll I never went up the stairs to the box, but the stairs looked like you were going to the clouds. There must have been 200 rungs on that ladder to the to the box at scale at Boston. Like Stoke was like the vertical ladder. Worse than Stoke, and it was up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up. It was like um what's that kid's story where it's Jack and the Beanstone.

SPEAKER_05 23:17

Yeah, that one. That's it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

I told you I had a shit memory. It was like that, and everybody will relate to it. And they go, Yeah, Sagis, alright. And you could see him getting caught. Right, you gotta come to the box and fucking clean up.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Scared of ice.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

Yeah, and it was up there, but then once you got down there, there was your hamburgers, sausage, hot dogs, and your peas and cockles and welks and all that lot. But two yards around there was your toilet, which was a concrete block with a drain in the floor that stunk a piss. And the toilet door never had a latch on it, and it never had no toilet roll. Ever, ever. And you and you're like, you know, that's the memories you have of Boston. But the pits was always flooded and it always smelled cash-la, always, religiously, and that was hot rods. But then there's people still racing today. I can remember Diggy racing at Boston, um, to name one, you know, as I was saying 17, 18, 19. I don't know how old Diggy is, he's probably a smidge older than me. But you remember that, you don't forget that. That's logged in here. Um going on, I'd like to from the White Roof then. Did we we progressed in Blackie's car to a yellow? Right. And then we dropped down to white again. Because that was the days when you used to get 90 cars at Northampton. Yeah. And there was Saudon, Batten, Morris, all them boys, and used to have 25 red tops, 30 car heats, 40 car constellations, and then as it sort of progressed on. I remember counting 51 in the constellation at Coventry, and I never counted them all. I'll wait for a gap, there is no gap. But that was when Formula 2's was at the height, I think, and Formula Ones was struggling. I never looked at a Formula One for years, I thought fucking trap did. Never looked at them. Never looked at them. Yeah. Because the thing is, your hero was an F2 driver. Well, yeah, in in theory. Um you always knew of Frank and Andy and and and boys like that. Um Willie Harrison. Um used to watch them, but I never used to be really interested in them. And then we had a few years on, we had a brand new HCD, my first ever brand new car. Chopper and Dibble built it, and it was a beautiful thing, wasn't it? Purple one, purple one, showering, deep chassis. I could definitely get some pictures.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

It was time to definitely get some pictures because I'm gonna have a picture. Yeah, I'll have to have a look. And yeah, they'll put them over the top, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

Um it was a beautiful thing, and and um yeah, what did assholes go around on tarmac? So we tried and we tried and we didn't get it to go. Was you doing tarmac and showing? I was I was doing both with one car, yeah. It was still at the one car sort of time. Skeg was on a Wednesday night, so you're looking. He was born, weren't you? So it must have been uh was you born when I can't tell you it might have been late 90s. I weren't born, he wasn't born, it was still he was still living here. Um and then we had that, and then we put it on show because I bought I was one of the first to have an RCE. I think my RCE was number 13, right? And now there's been 300 and ridiculous. I don't think we went down one that did ask, and he doesn't know. The contrast back in the day was chalk and cheese, yeah. Um the boys ran Skeg, who was the fastest at that time was the Greens. His father and son, bless him, Steve's not here no more. But Steve Senior was them boys were shit out on a Wednesday night, you couldn't catch him. Um and then I think it was Chad sort of built one, didn't he? Chad Harris had one. Chad Harris sort of had one, Tim Pull and one. And Tim Pullen had one, and then um Thingy from RCE, Dave from RCE asked Gordon to go in Chad's if that's the story correct, something like that. Yeah, yeah, on earth if it's wrong. Um Gordon had one that was just before yours, didn't it? Gordon had one, Gordon had the blue and silver one, you might be able to remember that, and it was really wide, yes, low and wide, and it was just untouchable.

SPEAKER_05 27:17

I think for sort of like size comparison, it's as wide as what an F1 is now on because there was no width, there's no width rule, and there's no inside rule, yeah, and it was just Unbelievable Ferrari to Mini.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Yeah, um that was sort of the start of the RCs then, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 27:33

Yeah, early 2000s, I think.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

They just took off. Well, Mick was saying he was late, he didn't jump on jump on the bandwagon, did he?

SPEAKER_03 27:40

No, Mick was Mick was more a Kitson boy. That's it, that's what he was saying. Um but you see I had number 13 um and had it all painted up, went to Skeg on a Wednesday night. Oh, I'm sure it was a Wednesday night, it's purple and yellow, red chassis, blah blah blah. Um, and started at the back, because you don't know. And the thing with the RCEs back then is you could go as fast as you like down the streets. You stood on the brakes and it turned six inches. Did you get it built up, ready to go? It was ready, it was on the button. Right. We we put the engine in and all that lot, but you picked it up rolling.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Yeah, um so you haven't got to mess about trying to sell it up or no, he couldn't actually want to done that. No, I don't just thinking like you didn't get it as a rolling chassis, you got it as as like a kit form, yeah. We put it together and everything there wouldn't it be?

SPEAKER_03 28:26

It was sign written and everything, yeah, and done, and then Dave came and set it up. Dave messes at the track and set it up. Yeah, um so you're in good hands then, and back in the day he could do because he he didn't he's a very clever man, but he didn't dilute himself because there wants so many. Obviously, Gordon was always his favourite because he's winning everything, and you get that, and that's still his today. I get that. Um so we had that, come to the track, practiced on the day, went at the night, started at the back behind superstars, Thomas Matt was superstar, Matt Simpson. Um I guess Gordon was there as well, I can't really remember. And I was yellow time, and I kept up with Smarty all night and his random. I think he might have been European champ at the time. Anyway, the last race came, starting at the back thinking I'm having a good night, and chaos 362 Dave Arley lost the wheel, and it came bouncing down the track. Oh straight in the fucking wing. Brand new box fresh, straight in the wing. That's the look we tend to have, mate, innit? Yeah, it's sort of continued. Chuffed a bits of the car. Yeah. Um wing didn't look great though. Wind it looked great. No, we could fix the wing, didn't damage anything else. Um you had a good spell with wings on RCEs, didn't you? Yeah, we went through several at one point. Three and three bits. Borrowed Mickey Brennan's roller. Borrowed Mickey Brennan's and roller at the same meeting. Um that ain't that's not clever. Give me few minutes. I took the wing off, this is no word of a law. I took the wing off, took it back to Dave, and put a sticker on it, damaged in transit and put it back in his van.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Mickey was red, so it was alright.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

Called DPD, damaged in transit blue one, but that's that's how it was back in the day. There was loads of us. It always used to be like it is to an extent now, father and son. Simo and his dad, Smarty and his dad, Parky and his dad, Steve Maidlow and his dad, Shad Bolt and his dad, my best friend Johnny Hall and his dad. And we all did it, and we all did it with bits from the scrap meant Fiesta Calipers, Fiesta Discs, Escort Archive, Escort Discs. Jobs moved on. I get the evolution bit, but for me they were the best times. And then you got paid from 10, 1st to 10th. You got paid from first. Yeah, you had three people getting for nothing, and you had prize money from 10 to 1. A bit like the F1s are now. Yeah. I don't know what probably. You got three to get in. I think your license, I can't remember how much your licence was back in the day. It's probably 10 bob and a meat voucher. I can't remember, it's that far back. But you got three three in and the driver for free, and you got paid prize money all the way down.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

That's crazy. I mean, obviously the F1s you say that's now, but to any of us that race, you didn't see people don't never even heard of it.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

No, you see, that's because it's it's that far back. Obviously, this will be in better thing.

SPEAKER_05 31:19

But for the for the ones, it's a historic thing. I think they've always had star money, prize money, and things like that, just as far as I know.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

But yeah, um, and then they stopped it to eighth, and now I think it's first three in the final, like the Dutch, the Dutch do that.

SPEAKER_05 31:33

I think you get like 50 quid if you're in the final, but I might be completely wrong.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

Yeah, I think the Dutch day at speed worth, so it's probably something like that.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Yeah, but now I don't know, I'm not up to it. I've not gotten it. You don't do it with the manier, you're not gonna make any but now I think it's do the shale have to pay to race now. I think it's like 25 quid or something to race.

SPEAKER_05 31:51

I don't know, I don't uh I don't know if that's shale or blanket. I don't know. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Um you're not in the two, so it don't matter.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

Well, no, but it's still the racing family in it. But no, that's sort of where that went.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

So there's a load of you all with sort of fathers and dads.

SPEAKER_03 32:04

Yeah, Johnny's my best mate, and I'll talk to you about the number and that later. Um but we all just end up at the chippy on the way and wherever he was. Long Eaton Chippy, another good truck used to be on the corner, Bellevue Chippy on the way, um Grantham Chippy, such as life, stuff like that. Um you did pretty much stick with RC until you finished, didn't you? Yeah, I was one of his. I had four. You had four? I had four. You had that first one, didn't you? I had that one. That was the best one. That was the best car we ever had. Yeah. Um well not ever had it, but was that the most successful we've done?

SPEAKER_05 32:33

That's probably because nobody else didn't have them at the end. Because you had the advantage.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Yeah, because you had an advantage because his technology was that so far. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they did inboard years ago, but nobody probably had like Batten did it. Yeah, bless his soul, he was miles ahead of his time. And Dave came along and he did it, and then they couldn't touch him, could they? There was a second faster. No, not a second faster. But there was miles faster.

SPEAKER_05 32:55

Even made you look good, so it was a half tidy.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

Yeah, so it was half-tidy.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

Yeah, yeah, they were right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Radio controlling or not, I don't know. But the difference was chalk and cheese.

SPEAKER_05 33:04

Yeah, you followed on from that had a a shale car, didn't you?

SPEAKER_03 33:07

That's it. I mean, everybody else had a Randall or an Elite, wasn't it, at the back in the day? Terry George was a double general. Um Mick had an elite, didn't he? And then he had a Kitson, then Kitson sort of came on board with his style of it. And I can remember Daz going to Barford and he had a lorry battery in the side to get the inside weight, and it was that long, and there was no inside weight rule, was there? And he and they put the pod on, and he'd got the cover of it, he took the top of it, and it's got a massive lorry battery on it, so it's going to turn around on its own, isn't it? Don't charge up in the wake on the phone. But Daz didn't like RCE and he used to wreck everybody, didn't he? Didn't he? On a wrecking spree at one point.

SPEAKER_05 33:45

I do remember it as a kid of Daz smashing RC. Smashing everybody up.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

He never smashed me up. He went for the rental. He went for the big boys, yeah, not a little cheese. But then he he that's Daz. Yeah. Daz is old school. Um tough as old, but it can't be him, I'm gonna wreck him. Wreck him, but he did, he wrecked he wrecked everybody. Um and then sort of got from yellow and one year, I can't remember what year it was. Um we're in the 2000s now. Yeah, yeah, probably eight. You had your first seven, eight, something like that. The wink I had back surgery. Was that before the RCE? No, I won Heat at Lynn, which was a regular occurrence in the twos when they first started at the first meeting. No one though. Uh yeah, you was because there's a picture in the kitchen. Um you look so cute. What went wrong? Is that in an RCE on shale? That was no HCD. Won that, and then I got well placed in the final, won the heat at Skeg, and got high placed in the final. This is sort of 2007. Seven, it was seven because um I was national points champ for a week. I've been that twice. Is that the beginning of the season? Yeah, and I had it on the car twice. And sticker and everything, yeah. Sticker and everything, and he's got it noise. He had it on his mini because he did it in the last year of your minis, didn't you? I think, yeah, when you had the bread van. It's on the back down there somewhere. The bread van. The bread van, Bobby the bread van. That's long story. Yeah, I hope you got your comfy because it could be long. And I had a national points champion for a week, and then I went in for back surgery in the march the day after I raced at Skeggy, and I was pointing that's why you didn't keep it, wasn't it? Yeah, not bothered. Yeah, basically. I couldn't, I was in that much pain, Tebs. It was like sitting on that all the time. Oh, it was horrific. Um was that from racing or just um I don't probably picking veg in the fields to be fair. Picking veg in the fields, playing football. I did a little bit of training then. Um, and if I'm honest, I slipped on the Smiths machine. I thought I had some weight, you're there, and you go down, obviously, and you hook it over on the Smiths machine, and I thought I'd hooked it over with a lot of weight on, and I hadn't, and it squashed me. And I think that's where it started. Um, but I had um my muscle and my discs was doing this, which is normal, but I had a nerve going all the way through it. I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. I had to push myself out of bed in the morning, still embracing, but it didn't hurt because it hurt all the time, so it's irrelevant. I had three epigeroals, they never fixed it. Um I used to sleep in my socks, I didn't have to put them on in the morning. It was that I remember sitting at Sheffield once once you'd gone to sleep, you'd seized up, and that was but if you moved, you woke up right, and it was it's like that all the time. Went to America when he was four, so it'd be yeah, 2004, 2006, yeah. 2007 I had it done, and it's just like sitting on that all the time. So um his mum used to be a beautician or still is or whatever, and somebody came in and said, Have you I've had my friends have back surgery? There's a place in Peterborough, doesn't it? A private guy, so we we went to see him on my birthday. I managed to get an MRI scan, still in there. Um took it to him, passed it over, says, Um, you're right, yeah. Can you fix me? Yep. Okay, that's a good start. Yeah. When can you do it? In two weeks. I said, okay. I'm points champion, hang on a minute. Points leader. I wasn't really worried about that. I was dumber one pair of socks though. Uh much is it? And he went, Treasure I'll see you in at the hotel. This is gonna hurt more than the actual operation. He says, right, I says, it's 14 grand. He says, right, this is 20 odd year ago. He said, You love two rods in your bank, 18 inches long, and you love six screws, and your screws are 500 quid a piece, titanium. So I always had used to have a joke with his mum. If I go first, weigh me in and buy yourself an handbag. Yeah, you're getting you're getting cremated, not buried. Yeah, however, that was that anyway. So I says, Right, my I thought, fucking hell. When am I gonna find that money at home? My instant reply was, do you do club book terms? Can I pay you two pounds a week for the rest of my life? He said, Would you want me to do half the operation? I went, No, not really. So we went away, come back and ring him up, says, Yeah, I'll have it done. So we went in, and um there were six of us go in on the Monday. It's next to the creme, so if you got it wrong, you ain't got fire to go, to be fair. The window. Yeah, just yeah, you'd just scoop you up, put your way. Um some lads was in for knees, and some lads I never see anybody. So I went in, signed in, got your gown on, um, nil by mouth, obviously. And there were six of us in there for various reasons. All all surgeries used to be on a Monday. I was last. I went in at I think I went in at two. And I come out at past six. Four and a half hour off. So anyway, I laid down, lay down, I come in and sleep. I can't move. He promised me, his words was, I promise you you will walk tomorrow. And I'm like, shit. That was polite. Anyway, I woke up and I've got a massive pad. I've got a massive pad on my back where they've cut me. He said, Yeah, Mark, everything went alright. Hiya, you're alright? I said, Yeah, not too bad, I'm just a bit stiff. He said, Yeah, you will be. He said, um I sat on the foot of the bed and he said, I need to talk to you. I said, I thought he said, um it was a little bit more intense because your MRI was slightly out of date. Not out of date, but towards the end of six months. He said to the surgery was a bit more intense. Um I said, you ain't took somewhat off that you shouldn't have took off at you like this. You didn't turn me over on the front and I injectured me into Marie. And he said, no. He said, We we took you in. I can remember distinctly going in on my back, Mark count three, one, two, gone. Okay, so they turned me over and they scrunch you up like that, so you put your head in your knees, and he said, We just sliced your back like that. And we took your muscles and we put them on your back like that. Yeah, he's a bit grim.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Yeah, he's grim.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

Okay, we fixed you, two rods in, we fused you, you bought them two are fused, six screws, blah blah blah. He said it took us nearly as long to match your tattoo up, which is somebody's name.

SPEAKER_05 40:24

He's cut it between the letters as well, he's done a good job to be fair.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

Yeah. Then it wouldn't be. Why couldn't it be something short like Joe or something? It'd have been a lot easier, wouldn't it? Not Finley, yeah. But that's another we'll tell you about why he's called that. And he stitched me up and he says, right, I'll come see you tomorrow. So I said, Okay, fair enough. Sky TV, everything. Woke up Tuesday morning, it's me and another guy there. That's it, that's all that's left in this hospital. That guy's then gone on at 10 o'clock. So it's me. Four nurses, me, the anethicist, and the surgeon, if he's about. So every two hours, the the the chef brought my food in three course meals every time. Three-course breakfast, three-course dinner, three-course. I swear 14 grand's gone. There you go. Yeah, the anethicist was five grand. I've got five grand in your back, and I'm getting berries and yogurt. I've never seen berries and yogurt. Um, but while I was in there, old sunshine boy, yeah, he had a little hamster or guinea pig.

SPEAKER_05 41:26

Oh, it's a bit, yeah. Uh you tell the story then. If you can remember it. I had a hamster, and um it's not really relevant to racing, man.

SPEAKER_03 41:34

No, but it was at that time.

SPEAKER_05 41:36

I was obviously upset because you'd gone in for back surgery and I had a hamster. And during the time you've gone in, I've gone to school, mum's come back, and the hamster's died. Oh no, sorry. This is serious. This is obviously like life. As a kid, I obviously like the door this is a little pet in it, you love it. Um, so mum's had to go out and basically thought, I don't know what to do, I can't tell him that the hamster's died. And his dad's in hospital. And his dad's in hospital, so obviously there's preference. We've gone out to buy a new yeah, hamster. Uh gone out to buy a new hamster. Some love in the butt obviously as a kid you don't really understand. And there's hamsters I've come back home and looking at the hamsters all playing about in the cage, and it's gone up the tube, and I'm like, Mum, hamster's not very well. She's like, what do you mean? I was like, it's got chicken pox. I was like, what do you mean, hamster's got chicken pox? And she's had a look and realised the hamster that had died was a male hamster, and she'd bought a female hamster. Same colour, same elephant. She took a picture of the hamster to the pet shop. Yeah, she went running around. It's quite funny now I know about it, but obviously, as a kid, I thought this hamster's like seriously unwell because it's got all that little spots underneath it. Nipples, yeah. It's it's obviously a female hamster. So I'm sat there thinking my hamster's ill, my dad's in the hospital.

SPEAKER_03 42:45

My life's over. She made it work. It's gone up the tube, and you can see its tits.

SPEAKER_05 42:49

It'd have been better off just telling me it died, to be fair. But no. So that was the relevant story to that. Um you did end up coming back racing after that, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 42:58

Yeah, I come home. I had three months off. Um he told me I'd walk the following day, and I did. Like a penguin. And he said, sit up in the old waddle, sit up in bed, and I'll you push your fist through the mattress and you waddle. And slowly you you if you oh you'll see the hallway when you're in the eyes. An ambition was to walk to the front door and back. And I could go for a wee. This is quite personal, I could go for a wee. And I never went for a poo for three weeks.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

Lovely note on the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 43:30

Why? Because you couldn't sit down. Because I had no muscle reaction. Oh it's not like I was blocked up or anything, I felt alright about it, but the muscles obviously they've been retracted and put back in. Mick had the same Mick Mick came to me years ago because he had back surgery and I explained it to him, he went, you're not making it. And he came back and went, You're right. I ain't shit in three weeks. That's like stocking up for Lent. But I it and when I did, it was shut the lid, put tape on it, do not flush, new world record. But that was that. I come back, then I come back racing. Got hurt at Skeggy. I'd sold my RCE by then. And bought another one. And then one Saturday night of a speed weekend, it was wet. We stayed at the caravan park. Yeah, we stayed at Simbo's caravan park where mum's got the static now. And I got put in backwards. I think Polly put me in, but I ended up Polly hit me and it was wet, and I ended up going in backwards. And knocked out, didn't you? No, well, yeah, and then backwards is the word. Backwards is not funny. And the art the second RCE I had wasn't as comfortable as the first one. Because I like to sit laid down. I mean, you'll sit in that in a bit and you'll see you're like fucking hell, it's like an armchair. That's disgusting. And I got hit in the side. I think Justin Fisher. Fortune tried to kill Justin Fisher, I think. Or the other way round, and hit me straight in the side, flat out, just as I've gone in backwards. And I don't wave my hands and cry wolf or nothing like that. And I had to that time. I was like, uh fucking hell, fucking hell. And Ellen Kalita come running over. I said, you're right, you're right, you're right. I went, I cannot feel my legs. Oh no. She said, right, take a minute. I said I'll take three or four if you don't mind. And I couldn't feel them. I could not feel them. Couldn't move them. Couldn't feel them. Couldn't do nothing. Fucking hell. So anyway, I managed to get out after about five or ten minutes. And that I didn't race much after that for a bit. Screwed me up, didn't it, big time?

SPEAKER_05 45:29

We went back to the caravan park and you obviously couldn't drive anywhere, the lorry. Um I think Glenn who was having mechanics. Glenn was there mechanically. He couldn't drive at the time because he was having he had uh surgery, didn't he?

SPEAKER_03 45:41

Yeah, lymph node surgery. And then I don't know whether Jay drive the lorry back. Jay Wilkinson, one of my old scholarships. He must have dropped it off and then drive it back, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:49

Yeah. Because I was thinking I was the only one who sort of fit to drive. Obviously, I was eight or whatever, so I'm not gonna be piloting the wagon to the caravan park.

SPEAKER_03 45:55

Even the seven and a half tonner. And that sort of hammered me mentally for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

Went how long do you till they come back then? You're feeling in your legs? 15 minutes. You sat in the car for 15 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

15 minutes, yeah. The throat was gonna cut it off, and I said, No, no, no, and you just felt like a warm sensation come down your legs. So I managed to get out and had a massive bruise on my knee. Helen walked off for me, Helen helped me walk off. Bless her. Um, and that sort of mentally made me feel as if I didn't want to get in one for a long time. I was scared to death to get in a race car. Um hundred percent. And stiller. And Dave got Gordon Moody to come to Skeg to try and help me. Gordon took his car, Dave told me to take my car. I don't whether you come with me or not. You want to.

SPEAKER_05 46:48

I sort of remember it, but I think I probably would have scored.

SPEAKER_03 46:50

Um or not. Um and Dave tried to help me sort of gain your mojo back, do you know what I mean? Um get back on the orange. Because it's sort of I know they'll say you had a bad crash, you should get in it straight away. I was scared to death. Absolutely petrified of getting in it.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

Thing is, it's meant to be just one having one crash, but then having the factory you've actually generally lost feeling in your legs thinking this could be me for me forever.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

What would I be? You'd have been mid-first, mid-late 30s. Yeah, late 30s.

SPEAKER_02 47:18

Yeah, thinking this could be me forever. It's gonna be a good thing. The operation that's gonna set you back. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

The operation was I was 37 when I've been up, so it's 18, 18 years ago now. Um didn't really do much for the rest of the year because didn't want to. Um I think at that time you was just sort of was you going into ninjas or was it after that? I'd have probably no, I probably would have just started just started ninjas, because I had the first RCE shower car with a radiator at the front, like they all run them now. Me and Dave sort of devised one and it was at the NEC because your ninja was at the NEC. Yeah. Same colours and seven, yeah, 2009. Um and then obviously you started, so I sort of dackered off a little bit then.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

So it sort of happened at the same time then yeah, probably a year before.

SPEAKER_03 48:07

Um I had a shell car RCE, then a tarmac car RCE. Um, then later on sold the shell car to Kev's lad. Kev North's love, Steve North. He had it. Um you had another one. I had a HCD then.

SPEAKER_05 48:22

Oh, I had another, I had another RCE. It was a bit of a tarmac sort of transition to a shell car, it sort of weren't weren't as good as the old one, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 48:30

No, no, that was the yellow and pink and purple one.

SPEAKER_05 48:32

It looked like a sprint car, yeah. It was made to like a sprint car exactly. I remember that, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:36

Yeah, real nice looking thing. Yeah, um, and then that was with Chopper.

SPEAKER_05 48:41

Um no, it was with Dave, and then you had it.

SPEAKER_03 48:44

Chopper helped us with it, and then the next one I had was the green one off Chopper, which was my last Formula Two, um, which would be about 14 years ago.

SPEAKER_05 48:54

13 ago you kept you had a two and a one at the same time, yeah. Yeah, I had the green one.

SPEAKER_03 48:59

Um Chopper built the two, which was a green with a gold livery on it. First meeting at Lim one eating final.

SPEAKER_05 49:06

It had a weird thing with a link bar from the axle to the wing, so like I I don't know why you did it.

SPEAKER_02 49:11

We did it like a wound 'em up. It from the where?

SPEAKER_05 49:14

I had a link bar from the wing that wing cage and it would come out to the axle. So when the car went up and down, the wing would move. I'd I yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

They nearly pulled me off at Stoke because they thought it was loose, yeah, and it was connected to it. Obviously, it was Stoke, it's going to be a good one. Yeah, you'd like a BMX drag, wouldn't you? Um they sort of said, Someone's short with your wing, I said it's connected. They said, Well, can you fix it?

SPEAKER_05 49:35

I said, Well no, because it's there, because I think some people did it on a super stock as well. Yeah, so I was the first to do on the superstock. When the car braked or whatever, the wing would like the RS if you I didn't even know that. No, I didn't know they'd done that. Yeah, yeah, I think I think you know that. I think Ryan did it in an F1 and we sort of got the idea from that.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

And we did it. Yeah. Um and then um went to the NEC with it, didn't we? Yeah. Because of the live action. I don't think you even finished the year in it, did you? Yeah, went to the NEC in it um to do the live action and got talking to Tony Smith. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:06

Because you had two F2s at the time. Two F2s at the time. One was gonna be a hire car, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 50:09

Yep. Um and said to Tony Smith, said Tony Emmett's one of them tires. He said, You can have a hire any time you like.

SPEAKER_04 50:16

Never did. Never did, no.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

And thought, you know what? And then spoke to Mick Harris and said, Mick, just thinking about going into Formula Ones, this would be 13 years ago now.

SPEAKER_05 50:27

Yeah, 20, end of 2010, uh January 2013. No, later than not, it'd have been January of 2013, 14.

SPEAKER_03 50:34

Yeah, because it's 101.

SPEAKER_05 50:35

Because I eyed a mini at the time, so I was definitely racing minis.

SPEAKER_03 50:38

Um, and which would an half tidy one cost? And he said, I said, well, 10 grand bar, and he said, Saj, don't buy a piece of shit. He said, because you'll think the shit. So 15 grand or get you an half-tidy one to start with. We was crabbing it. Wells. It was on another day trying to buy stock cars, and Mick Rings will be back about an hour later. Sag your fenya Formula One, Rudy Calinos. Um he was 15 grand for it, and at the time he was married to Chazoff Emberdale. Um so we arranged it to go have a look. Went and had a look. Um, as you all do in a Formula One, you stall it to start with, don't you? Every bloody time. Yeah. Um she's watched me do it a couple of times.

SPEAKER_05 51:20

They are a dog and the only person who's actually driven one and and didn't stall it really annoyingly. I got Emily to drive mine down the road one day, be like, oh, you'll see how hard it is. I think she stalled it once and drove off down the road, and I was like, they are a pain in the ass.

SPEAKER_03 51:32

It's all or nothing, isn't it? You know, but until you get used to them, then did that. Went in, um, went in the house, and his mum and Chaza sat there in the kitchen having a fag and she's on Emmerdale every week. Um agreed to buy it, didn't we? Luxury life from the start for F1s. No hairy slippers. Um and then that time at that time bought uh this was the sort of deal we had to buy something to cart it with because we only had a did we have a wagon? We had a wagon then, didn't we?

SPEAKER_05 52:00

I think you'd sold the wagon to Ashley Rundle. That's it. Down south to pay for one. And we had nothing.

SPEAKER_02 52:04

The idea sold the wagon to pay for the F1 and realised you ain't got wagons.

SPEAKER_05 52:07

Yeah, but we went we went I remember one day as a kid we went and we drove up and then you had to buy the lorry. You got there, the lorry was like, Yes, yes, alright, we'll we'll have it. Bought the lorry, but then you had to buy the lorry to pick the F1 up because you couldn't buy the F1 if you didn't collect it, you had to buy both. So I had to buy it in the end.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

Um yeah, then bought it and come back. And the first meeting was Cov. Cov.

SPEAKER_05 52:30

You had it all painted. I think you went testing at Skeg one day.

SPEAKER_03 52:32

All painted, all done, tested, uh painted, went to Skeg, and I'm like, these brakes are dog shit in this. Wouldn't stop shit.

SPEAKER_05 52:39

Well, you you basically did it like an F2, didn't you? You decided that why has it got four brakes on it? You don't have four brakes on the stock car on shell, so you took the outside front brake off. Didn't really know what we know now on an F1.

SPEAKER_03 52:48

It's not really no appropriate, no, limited maximum.

SPEAKER_05 52:52

Oh, I think you no, you went out you went out for your five laps, didn't you? And the pan abro but on the way to the track for the five laps, they had the telly under cov. So I remember like, oh that's gonna go to his five laps, and you stood there on the side watching him do his five laps. But I was like, it looks a bit different as you got on track and when you went off, and you'd driven it into the forks of the telyunder.

SPEAKER_03 53:15

We were packed in the bottom pits, yeah, undercover.

SPEAKER_05 53:18

Nobody knew was there, you see. He'd driven the wing and the wing had hit the telly under the forks and bent all the wing button. And then the panard broke on track on lap fork.

SPEAKER_03 53:27

Like three or four laps, didn't it? He did that, but I'll tell you about that another time. So the wings that it don't happen here. So we could have a wing sponsor, it'd be great because it'd help us wings. Um went to Cov, started off yellow. Yeah, he was yellow. Mick Soda was I think he was European champion at the time, or I've known Mick years since these kids. It was definitely top of the game, wasn't it? It was top of the game. These kids used to make it around uh yeah, commentary, wasn't it? It was like in the in the in the ninjas, it was Finn, Ginch, Young Root, and Soda. I mean, you'll you'll come into that more. Mick come up to me, I'm lined up there, and I'm thinking, fuck it.

SPEAKER_07 54:06

We went, go enjoy yourself, mate, don't kill yourself. Nice quite dickhead.

SPEAKER_03 54:18

Uh didn't qualify for the heat. Final. Didn't qualify in the consolation. Probably wouldn't have qualified for the heat. Didn't qualify for anything, really. And that's the end of Speakey, Johnson. Oh yes, all the boys, the proper lot, you know. Uh I'm not saying proper lot, not a lot, this lot where you get some not the you know, but them lot then getting. He's getting points tired. Them lot, then should I say? Yeah, it was the higher F ones I think in the recent times. Get flicked round going into turn three, and I'm sat up the fence watching everybody coming this head on. Yeah, and I'm sat there watching him like just come on. And I'm sat there like that, and you're thinking, please don't hit me, please don't hit me, please don't hit me, please don't hit me. And survived. And we've done it.

SPEAKER_05 55:09

I think we it's quite funny. We got locked in the pits that night because we'd had the transporter and it's got an oven in it. It's like, oh, this is nice. And sat there having food having food in the pits before we went home and then we went to leave and was locked in. Yeah, we were. We had to ring them, like, you let us out, please. Yeah, we start eating chili and I'm making the most of this transporter. Yeah, so happy they've got an F1 and you got locked in the pits at Cove because you didn't realise you're smiling from here to here at the end of that.

SPEAKER_03 55:34

You know, it was the start of something else. You never looked back.

SPEAKER_05 55:39

No, no, I don't think you ever go no you ever had to go in a two again, did you?

SPEAKER_03 55:43

No, never had to go on a two again. Um I've raced the 1300 and Ovi many, many years ago, done at the odd bangers at Skeggy Boxing Day and stuff like that. Um got given a Ford console many years ago. You weren't very old. I do remember it. It was a piece of shit. But we put a brand new thing. Yeah, we put a brand new East Lynx two litre in it, put a Cortina back axle on it, and she was tender, so we put some 40 by 40 in the sills and plated over the sills, um, and did a Halloween night at Lynn. Passed it scrutineering, it had two working brakes on it. That was it, and would it stop shit? Got picked up by two trummies, got put in the fence, and I think that's the hardest of it, the fence by two trummies and a console, and squashed all the front of her. I think dad's words was it parked next to the edge where the scrap bin is there, you parked next to the edge of it. If that's your F in bangers, you can you're F in bangers, right? And that was the last time I raced a banger. Run into it, no, no, this was a bit before 2014, like yeah, pretty much. Yeah, um, you painted it with a brush, yeah. Um, and that was about it, really. Obviously, there's many stories I can tell you with the F1s. We have I will say that we've got some really good friends and some really close friends with the F1s. Um Pascal and his brother and all the crew at Texel, phenomenal people. Um that year we got the F1, it was the first year we got the F1. Um and this it just popped up on Facebook Texal Speed Weekend, July 2021, or whatever it was, many many years ago. Um so I put on Facebook to Dale Centershaw, do you fancy having a go at this? And he thought, yeah, let's have a let's have a go, right? So we went anyway. Half hour later gets his phone call. Sat on the settee watching tally with his mum, I don't know where he was. Um Mark, yeah, Pascal from Holland. And he spoke like we do. Sounds like it's from Birmingham. That's a strange one, isn't it? Yeah, hello, yeah, blah blah blah. You come to Texas, yeah. You do realise you can't stay at the track, don't you? I went, nope. He went, right, okay. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Sort your ferry out. He said, You have to then catch a ferry to go to the island. Um I'll meet you at the port, come stop at the farm, where my mum and dad's farm is. Um, and look after us. No problem at all. So off we pop, me, you come with us. Yeah, I went to the first one. You went to the first one, you, me, and Dale. Off we went. Drives up to the port. There's this six foot six long-haired Dutch bloke, no wooden shoes, so I'm not sure whether it was Dutch or not. With a Brummy accent, with a Brummy accent. Hello! And that was it, right? Hello, mate, Pascal, blah blah blah blah blah. Follow me, yeah. Off we went over the little boat to his mum and dad's farm. Beautiful, wasn't it? Yeah, lovely. It's a lovely island. Um and then went to Texall. There was 114 Formula Ones at Texas that year.

SPEAKER_05 58:43

Their racing over there is mad for especially like that sort of time.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

114. One English. Yeah. Yeah. They didn't know who we were, but do you know what? They all come, they all help, they all come and had a chat. Yeah. Beer, you know what it's like. Oh, you look thirsty. There's one.

SPEAKER_02 58:59

And and oh, you ain't got nothing in your hand. There's one.

SPEAKER_03 59:01

There you go, yeah. Or a Barmy or a Freakandale or chips and monets or whatever. And they were all so welcoming. They are. And that's how the text all started. Obviously, Pascal's one of my best friends now, and his brother Jerome. Um good lads, aren't they? Really? He he sadly lost his dad three years ago. Me, Craig, and Woody. Robin went to the funeral, drive to the port, did it in one day, did the funeral, come back. Um made us very welcome. He then came to Dad's funeral last year and I asked him if he would carry Dad in. And he did. You know, it's it's that mutual respect. You can't buy Tabs, you know, you have it with your people. Um and he messaged me, obviously, it's just recently since Dad had gone and everything. He messaged me on that day and everything and that. And you can't buy that. That's true friendship. Same as Chopper, same as Jay Wilkinson, same as Johnny, same as Steve Maidlow and they're great people, and Matt Warren, and they're there for you, you know, and you need people like that. Otherwise, it's very, very tough. It's tough anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:06

Um I feel like your character, you you allow people to be like that as well. You need to let people in your life who are like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:14

Yeah, but the right people, and you seem to find attract the right people. Yeah, well, I'd like to think I'd I'd like to think that I'm fairly easy going, fairly laid back and stuff like that. Um but you learn who people are very quickly.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:29

You can spot about egg a mile away, clearly.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:31

Um but you need them people in your life to help you survive, and then when they need you, you return it. Um I've always raced for fun. I've never bothered whether I've won or come off or four wheels off. I don't care because one, I never had the money, two, I never had the talent, and that's being brutally honest. I'll never be any good, never have been, never will be. I don't care.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:57

The thing is, you've never done it for that. You've done it for the friendships.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:02

Yeah, I raced F2s once and come second by an inch in the English championship at Mildino. By an inch. No, I also thought an inch was that don't we all? That's an inch at Mildino, and I come second by an inch. But you know what? Did I care? No, do I care shit? No. You had a good race? I've yeah. I borrowed Mark Simpson's car once and nearly won F2 challenge in it. Yeah, something like something like that.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:33

Um it was like a random like old faithful one, was it random, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:42

Yeah, and everyone's just doing wonders in it. Yeah, it was a good car, I think. So easy to drive, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:47

And that was no, you borrowed the one that he put himself.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:49

Ah, that was yeah, different car. Um but that like I say, you need people like that. Um Pascal was coming over for the first lynn, I think, and he stops stops here. Um I remember once he'd come over for the first lynn or for a meeting or something, and I'd gone to work, he John Skuldy's mum had gone to work. Pascal's all here. Knock on the door, some guy to deliver some oil. I don't mate, it's Mark here, no. Is Emory here? No, it's Finn, no. And the oil man went, Who the fuck are you? And he went, I'm Pascal from Holland. I'm from Birmingham. Oh Birmingham! Yeah, and he just filled it up, and but I let him in my house and leave him the keys, and that's how they are over there. Yeah, no, they're all good people, they are really good. We have many friends over there, don't we? Joey and Wendy and that's just naming a couple, you know, the guys who we do the show for in Louden, fabulous people. Um sorry, I'm not getting robbed. Um, but they want you to go, they look after you to go, they can't do enough for you. Like we're doing the show in two weeks, we've done it four or five times now. I think I've been twice, haven't you? You've been twice, haven't you? We're doing the Loarden show.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:09

It's like a Dutch sort of Dutch. Dutch NEC, simple.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:11

But it's so more laid back. Um and you go and you you get the ferry, you come over and you you drive there on a Friday. Matt, do you want a free lapse? Yeah, okay, no problem. Blah blah blah. He binned it, he binned it on the practice though, we'll tell you that. You think everybody everybody thinks the sunshine's out of his ass, but he does have like his moments, he does crash. Um that's someone you know that's just put stand down. And there's a Matt or somebody. That's good talking for a week. Let me just see who that is, is that sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:46

Yeah, so recently we're moving on to now more recent time. No, we were in we were in Holland. Did you do any other racing in?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:54

We do, we've always done we've always done Tectel. We've done Tectil for probably not the furthest one away. Yeah. Yeah. It's more close to it. There it is. Yeah. Um we used to go over we went to Blauhouse when it was just a dike down the back straight in the twos. It still is, isn't it? No, it's a proper track now. Right. We touch right under the book. Me and me and Joe Wilkinson went with Andy Palmer, Oil Light, and Alan Cooper in the seven and a half tonnet, and that was when all left two boys. We left two boys, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:23

High left twos. They all went individually.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:25

We all went individually, and that was when Blauhouse had a dike down the back street, and it was full of frogs. Um me and Jay went and we stayed at the we got there on the Thursday night, went with Andy Palmer and Cooper, went to the French way. I never had a Tom Tom. And you get off in Calais and all the roads are like a figure of eight, ain't they? And they all drive on the wrong side of the road, and you get off the ferry, and you just caught, was lucky we just caught a glimpse of Cook. Alan Cook, one up there. Follow him, don't lose him. Seven hours later, you're at Blowhouse. Thankful. Um parks up, eventually finds the track, we pull the letters park in the fields and what have you. Um go race, do you think great, and you park in front of the dike that goes onto the track, which is the other side. Anyway, me and Jay, me and Jay's in the lorry and it's after the meeting, we've had a few beers and something to eat, and blah blah blah, and you get get in bed, get settled down, and there's this and we've only gone and parked near the dike with about 400 horny frogs because it was spawning season. All night. So you got Mr. and Mrs. Frog doing the thing, and then you got the neighbours. There are other neighbours, they're all the neighbours, all night. You look like Rocky Raccoon when we got we looked at each other and went, We can't stop it here. So that was how we just laughed about it all the time. Come back, obviously. Um now we go to we've been to Texas for 10 years. You do the shower ones, don't you? I do the shower ones. Yeah, I'm not ever so keen on Venray for one, it's time act, and two for two or three other reasons, which is political, but I won't go into that. Um he loves it, so he goes. Um the shower job is just Emman we used to go to. I went to Emmons with Johnny Lawrence and Steve Lawrence and Cameron Pew. That's P-U-G-H, not Pooh, as the Dutch commentator called him. Cameron Pooh, line up, Cameron Pooh. And we was crying. But they took me two months after I had back surgery. I didn't have to pay, didn't do nothing. Just came along. And just went with them. But that's the old school F2 lads. They never did it again. No, they didn't. They never did it again. No, they never took me again. They never employed them again. But then we do that, we do blah, we try and do Blauhouse, but we've always done Texel. I missed Texel last year because um just finances really. He's as you was it not a semi as well? I know you went and I had a semi-final. I didn't go and you had a semi-final, and then obviously, like with my stage of the career now, I'm still not going to win nothing at 55. Do you know what? I'm not bothered.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:19

The thing is, you're not doing these meetings to go and win. You're picking and choosing them, your ones you want to go to. Yeah, to go and enjoy yourself the most. Um as you say, you're going all the way over there because of the people that are there.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:31

The the banter, the fun, the people, the racing. Win, lose, or draw, I don't care. Never have done. Really don't care. Um some people have got to win, and I get that. And some people thrive to win and they need to win, and it's their business. Totally understand that. I took my hat off to them. Frank, Tom, Ryan, people like that. The boys are gifted, and they can all build a stock car. Um that's their livelihood, their lives, their everything. This has always been a hobby, it always will be a hobby. Um, I was pretty good at football. I was half sharp at fishing. Have I been any good at this? You left after the people. We've had a moment. I'm not bothering when I was in F2s. I had put on my wing once because I couldn't get above yellow. Yellow is the new red. And I've had it on twice. You've always loved the bullshit sticker. I've always loved the bullshit sticker, yeah. Um I don't care, Tebs. I really don't. I'm just in it to try and something to do. It's just have a release, have a release. It's to have a release and have a social. Um, and obviously, people who have got kids, like you've got a little one there, but you'll see as they grow up. Somebody once told me never miss a second of your kids growing up because of work, because of whatever, and this and that. And I think that's the truest words I've ever been told. Because it's it's just how it is. You you pair like you're young, you've got a young family and everything, you're doing this. I'll take me out after you pair of you, because it's a lot of time, a lot of effort, and it's like having royalty here with some slippers, and it's but you are because you've hit something that nobody else is doing, and people will want to come and do this for you because not everybody sees what we do, what we've got. Some people, in their wisdom, still think you drive a car in and next that you drive a car out. Hopefully, they don't now take it. I think I think you think that sometimes back in the day it used to work, trust me. That don't work no more, but it don't work no more, but then and the garage ferries don't fix it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:43

No, we wish they did. But hopefully nowadays people don't just think that. That's why I like to like we speak to very soon. Like I like to listen to people's schedules as well, the weekly schedules. Because to run one of these cars nowadays, it's not it's not leave it in the lorry until the next meeting at all. No, because you just be at the back.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:01

You know, just it becomes a chore then, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:04

It is, it is a chore, and it very quickly becomes a chore if you're and then you don't want to be carriage. You have to have a ritual, don't you? Really?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:10

We've got we've got four, haven't we? Technically, four, you've got two, and I've got two. Yeah. He's away all week till Thursday night. Three and a half at the minute. Well, three and a half, because my three and a half, probably three, four stock cars, but the one complete, one. Yeah, yeah, technically. But I get up at four, take staff in, do that, do the office, pick them up again. And I've I don't want to be in the workshop every night because it's you need to have a life. This is why it's a hobby. But when you get to the level that he's at, you have to be in the workshop every night. Yeah. And I'm not knocking him for getting up there, it's always a struggle now, isn't it? It's because he's really, really good at it. So he must I'll show you the birth certificate. He is adopted because there's no way he can be mine and be that good. It's as simple as that. Because I ain't got it in me. Well, obviously, I ain't because I met him, but mum must have been a fucking exceptional. She must have been an exceptional. Should have tried to see what she had. Um But that's how it is, it is it is your life. Yeah. It's a lot of our lives. I've done done it since 91, so you can say 35 years, that's it. Constant. Not stopping. And the more like the minis, you did this this kid had a spanner in his hand at three months, and then it was six months, and then he was crawling, and then he was walking, and then he was pelting spanners across the gravel. And then you used to come in here, and I used to start the four-inch grinder up and used to go running out, no dad, no dad, no dad, no dad, no dad.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:42

I'm going running out.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:44

Now it's the opposite way. And they were deliberately turning it and burning me, and and and that's but that goes back to never miss your kids growing up. And that's the only advice I can give anybody, really, because them we're you know, we've been really close, haven't we? Yeah, best mate, we're best mates. Um until Saturdays, until Friday nights sometimes. But then that's what I tried to have with my dad, and I did have that with my dad, and now I've lost my best mate, do you know what I mean? Which is it really hurts, mate, to be fair. But hopefully I've got it with him, and I know I've got it with him, definitely. And you're gonna cherish every moment of it. You try and teach him what your dad teached you, and I may not be the best stockard rather, but I've tried to be the best dad. Do you know what I mean? Um, and you try and influence them. And and when we was building this, dad, what do you think? Should we do this? Should we do that? And and I say something, you went, No, I'm doing my own thing anyway.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:46

You ask for you ask for like approval and then you just ignore it.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:50

Which is you can't Bus banter as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:53

Yes, best banter, and that's a father and son team. That's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:56

Me ra me racing, I don't know. I'm doing the show and I'd like to think about it. I'd like to think I can do a few more. Not me, and I only did five last week. Yeah, there's a tarmac car. There's a tarmac car, and um dad's got a memorial meeting Good Friday at Skeggy. Should have put that on show, really. That'd have made a lot more sense for you, really. I blew my engine up that meeting, um, but it gave me a chance to watch him, which gave me immense pride. Um, Mam was there, she gave her um trophies out, and it was still raw, you see, because it was only like April and Dad passed in January. Um wow, and Mam kissed all the trophies, and everybody who won gave her a hug. Um because when we was at Dad's wake, I didn't know nothing about this. Pascal come over from Holland and and there's about 140 there, only 130, 140 come to Dad's funeral. Um and we went for a meal on the Tuesday night, didn't we? And Dennis Middler drived down from Scotland. He tied in, didn't he? Went to real good friend, yeah. He took a saloon off at Lindale or something and came to Dad's funeral. Well, he did the same to Johnny's dad, never told Johnny, Johnny all Johnny lost his dad two years ago. Dennis, I think, lost his dad last year or the year before. Um, and I was away um in Benedome and it was fucking microphone. Dennis's Dennis's dad's funeral. Keep your arms in. Um so I couldn't go, but Dennis surprised me. He told Johnny, and then um he came and met us for a meal, and then he came and did that. Again, you can't buy that. Nah. Um so we stood at the wake, and obviously we've done the thing, and that was like it is what it is, in it, you know what I mean. Um Pascal stood up, said right, I'd just like another few words, blah blah blah. Obviously, um all us a lot have been talking. And um Mark sort of organised a race for his dad at Skeggy through Paul Brown, which is I'm going back to the 90s now when he used to set take pictures, and now we help Rob run Skeg. I said, Have you got any finals left, Paul? He says, Yeah, I've got a good Friday. He said, Can I have it for dad's meeting? I'll buy the trophies. I says, It's just something to give back. Done. Speaker, you don't care, no, you know. Rob's Rob. Rob started the same year I did, but he he won a bit, I think, apparently. Something like that.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:06

They started at the same mate, they've had very different careers, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:10

He was fast because he was ginger. No, not anymore. Not anymore. Um so Paul agreed it, um, and the lads have been talking. And Pascal said, I didn't know nothing about this. Um, and they've all chucked some money in. Uh Darren, Darren chucked some money in, and Chris Kaley, he's a good mate. Pascal, Craig Finnegan, Mavis Finnegan, and and people like that. Um, and they got the prize money, so first place won 798 quid, which was my old FM number. Yeah, second place got 526 quid, yeah, and third got 326 quid. That's cool. And what was left got split best white, best yellow, best blah blah blah. A bit like Gallonite. That's cool. Everybody got something. That's cool. I don't it'd be struggle to do that. It would just be just I think it's just gonna be a normal format this year, just normal prize money. We just wanted to do it, and I bought Shield and everything to do nine years. I spoke to to Brisk on that, and they was okay with it. Um to do that, that was nice, and the Yellow Top won the final.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:13

That's cool. And then Henry won it there.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:16

Henry won it, Henry Robson won it, and he'd come over to me and give me a nugget and that, give me my mug and a kiss, and and and that was just nice, you know? Yeah. Um to put something back into what's been my life for 35 years. But for the people to let that happen, you can't thank them enough, can you? You know, they didn't have to, did they? Don't get me wrong, it's still raw, it still hurts, it always will do. Um because he used to come in here and take the piss out of all of us. Something nice to do, innit? And this is his chair, nobody sits in it, and this is the first time I think I've ever sat in it. So that's just everybody loses somebody, and it's a shit club to be in. But you've got to remember otherwise. Does that make sense? So um and he used to rip you terrible, didn't he? Yeah. You built that and he never we always had mum and dad on the car. And he he forgot. And he sat here down there in that chair. Oi, George, what pops? Can't see my name on your stock, can't you? Well, you know, where's my fucking sticker? Well, yeah, pretty much, yeah. He was trying to be polite. Well, yeah, well, yeah, well, I've got it on my phone. Where's my fucking sticker? Fuck you, I'm done with you. And that was it, what it basically. And he sat there, seeing them sat there. He told me he reckoned it was shit. It was shit, new shit. What you built that for you. Finished the brand new F1, he went, it's fucking shit. Shit, fucking shit. Nothing but a wanker. That's what it was, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_05 1:17:39

Finished F1, you're well proud of it as shit.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:42

But he came, his last race he came to was the world final when it was at Skeggy, so we see him in the world final. Um, and then he went and won the next race afterwards. They've gone home by that point, though. And by that time, I've got him in the VIP bit. Brandy got him in the VIP bit, and they didn't think, and he went and won the next race, and they're never six at the back of the truck. But mum still comes every now and again, doesn't she? She has a static caravan at Simmo's and she came to the world final and she comes to Skeggers.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:06

She's gonna go to Lynn, didn't she? This year, she'd not been to Lynn for 20 odd years, and I said, Oh, sure, it's a good idea. Take her to King's Lynn World Final, it's gonna be quite quite busy, quite dusty. Yeah, no, I'll be fine. I was like, alright. And then spoke to after and was like, Do you enjoy King's?

SPEAKER_03 1:18:18

She went, Yeah, bit dusty, bit dusty, yeah. But you know what? Everybody knows her, yeah, and everybody looks after her. If shey Julia, you're right, come and meet you all out, and people have brought her back to the truck, aren't they? And the old boys that you race with and stuff like that, haven't they? Yeah, and again you can't buy that. No, and you appreciate that more than anything because it's your mum in it, you know what I mean? Um definitely. But considering this year, I don't know, mate, we'll see. I'd like to think I could do a foo, but the position this lad's got himself in with that and the shower car, then I would be a fool to do more and take more harbour his chances of progressing. But you know, he he he come on leaps and bounds that's two, three years since we've built that. Don't get me wrong, he is clever, like I said to him, he must be adopted. He is it's such a different level to when oh that'll be alright. When I raced, yeah, and there were several others, that'd be alright, that'd be alright. But that was the norm, and now it's just not. And now you've yeah 80% of it's one in here. Yeah, yes, you've got to have ability, and yeah, you can pedal. Um a little bit of luck, but yeah, it's you do like you know, the day of the British when we was travelling to Ennisad. I didn't make my own luck that day, that was just sort of luck, really honest. Oh you you look back at it and and we was driving to the British. Um we'll get on to that, we'll leave that then. But then but then we don't have a lot of luck generally, do we? We ain't done.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:50

I certainly ain't you probably you do make your own look though, as you look back at it and you think, ah, I'm unlucky, and then you think, oh, I probably wasn't that unlucky, I probably should have done this or that. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:58

But for me, I just I love watching him. He's fucking frustrating sometimes, yeah. Because he drives completely different to me or what I would do, but that's probably why he's doing a lot better than what I did. Um but that's that's it, mate, really. I I I'm getting towards the end, shall we say? He'd probably want me to pack up tomorrow so I can see look. You're the only one with a finished car. I am but I enjoyed doing the shows.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:30

I enjoyed that side of it and the you prefer the social you'd be happy to take the car to the meeting, unload it, sit on the front of it all night, and then load it back up rather than take it out and just talk to the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:41

That's what I got at Hennisford anyway when I come. That's what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:44

Yeah, so you're looking quick and your shit happy.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:47

Which is nice, but it's really frustrating when you're trying to get really into it. Yeah, you sat there gym wagging and you got front court.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:53

But you can't, like I said to you before, you can't from a very early age, like I've said to you, like we said earlier, always be polite in the pits, always be sociable because you they they think they know you, but they do know you to an extent, the fans do, and without them you've got nothing. But one fan might come up to you and go, Hey Finny, alright? Can I buy your tire? And if you'd have gone, hi Finny, alright, you go, No, and walk off. That's not the attitude, that's not what to do. That's not that's manners cost nothing. You gotta get everything done, but you gotta have time for everyone. Yeah. Rule number one when you're brought up, manners cost nothing. Yeah, 100%. And that's what I've tried to explain to him, and he's he's grasped it. Don't get me wrong, everybody goes in moods because it's not going where you want it to go.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:38

What's that moments where you chuck the toys out there?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:40

But yeah, we've not we have words. However, generally it's gone by the time you get to the kebab shop on the way home.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:48

We don't actually travel home a lot together a lot now, so it's actually not a bad thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:52

On a good meeting, though, you'd be on the phone, on a bad meeting, you just go your separate ways, that's it. Prick. Talk to Wednesday or something.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:00

Yeah, don't talk till Wednesday, it's like you're right, not bad. Um, but that's that's general, that's normal, I think. Yeah, 100%. If you've had a bad meeting, you just pray the radio don't pack up on the way home because it's a long ride. Yeah, but uh I'm yeah, I enjoy it, but it's not I haven't got to race every weekend, and I can't race every weekend, it's as simple as that, purely because of the finances. Yeah, um sort of sums the question.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:23

It wasn't you don't do it seriously as a never have done. No, you do it as a fun bit of fun. That's it, and that's so now the more serious them.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:32

We're moving on to Finn. Obviously, you're saying you mentioned the ninja carts, so it weren't even the mini stocks, you've been racing probably even longer than me.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:41

I started when I was seven. Seven, wow, 17 years. Yeah, if you do the math, yeah. That's crazy, no, yeah. It's 17 years. How old are you now? 20, I'll be 24 next month. So 24 and you've been racing 17 years. Yeah, that's a long time. That is mental. He's had a race car 17 years. I didn't probably start racing until I was about maybe 14, 15. We were shit. Yeah, I went, but I won't weren't very good at it. He was shit in a mini. He was shit. You were only as good as you thought, though, aren't you?

SPEAKER_02 1:23:10

Meow Ninja Clark then. Well, you probably you remember a few things for your dad before that, anyway.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:17

Yeah, briefly. Uh sort of first memories is going racing and watching dad. Bit a bit weird when obviously we've got Skeg and Lynn really local, but I sort of remember Mildenore more than anything.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:27

Your first meeting was Milden Hall, you got bottle fed.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:30

Yeah, I sort of remember Mildenore more than anything. Um, watching Dad in the twos and growing up and things like that, and obviously UK weekends and stuff. So I think I went to every I went to every meeting as a kid, and um I've been to nearly every meeting ever since there's not many that we missed as a proper family affair, always always going.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:46

He was being bottle-fed at Mildenhall at three months old or two months because when he was born, I had three months off. Because his mum went very well, and I had three months off, and then we took him to Mildenhall in a caravan with mum and dad, and he was being bottle-fed by his mum while I won the consolation at Mildenhall. Nice, yeah, um so that's my first sort of memory of him going out of me, shall we say, but you know what I mean? Yeah, and it carried on from there. And then when when did the ninja come about?

SPEAKER_05 1:24:17

Was it a Christmas present or something like that? Uh I've never really been in the garage, but I never really went off, didn't he?

SPEAKER_03 1:24:24

Ginch started going to Arena in a ninja, then Charlie had the early doors of the arena of the ninjas, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_05 1:24:29

So the ninja cards were at Arena, and I think on the Rolling Thunder show, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I think Ginch sort of had one, and obviously you knew Mark through the F2s, and then Charlie had one. So it seemed like a good idea. Obviously, he raced with Mick and Mark. So for me to have one, it made sense. And I think Chopper built it at HCD, and I raced that until I was obviously 10. You could raise minis at 10. I was never really very good in it. I don't know whether well, I I I we didn't go practing or anything, even though Skeg Sandra didn't go practice, just took it for a bit of fun. Was it just arena? It was a we just did arena, so the ninjas weren't very big then, no, and then we sort of I think me and Charlie did a thing at Skeg. I think it might have been the first time I'd ever driven it was at Skeg and like it was in front of a crowd at a UK weekend or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:15

An exhibition race, you and Charlie had done one.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:17

Yeah, but Charlie had been doing it for maybe a year or whatever, and I'd never driven it, and I trundled him around Skeg in this ninja car, and I was like Do you remember it?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:24

Yeah, I do really got me and Mick out on some mobility scooters and we had a race.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:29

Yeah, trying to push the ninja carts around.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:31

No, it's a separate race. Me and Mick had a separate race, and then the end both of us abandoned the um had a run, didn't you? Abandoned the mobility scooters and both run across the line and we crossed the line at the same time. It's brilliant. I have some pictures.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:44

They had a bit of a it was like was it pre-meeting? It's pre-dreamed pre-meeting entertainment. So they did that, and I had uh me and Charlie had a race, and I think afterwards they me and Charlie got out and did the commentary. Did the commentary for them? Mickey Brennan and Nigel Green went out in the ninja carts. Because they fitted because they weren't not necessarily very tall, so Nigel Green and Mickey Brennan went in our ninja carts.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:07

And they wow. They got in. They got in because the roof's lifted off.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:12

And so they had a race round in our ninja carts. Um that's brilliant. Because they're both dwarfs. You'd probably you'd probably be able to do it again now to be fit. Some I don't know, but someone like Tom Bennett is probably fit. He's not he's not very tall, so he'd probably he'd probably be able to do this now, isn't it? It'd be nice to do something like that again. It's a good laugh for the crowd and things like that, isn't it? So that that would be quite fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:29

They loved it. I'd I'd me and Mick are going down the back street on um mobility scooters, and I've got all the mixed ear, and I'm twisting it and twisting it and twisting it, and I haven't let go. And we get around to turn three and four, and he gets off and starts running, and me and him just run and run and run across the line at the same time. Richard Collita would know more, but I think I've got a DVD with some footage on somewhere.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:48

So yeah, no, it was ninja carts then for sort of three years, and then we I went testing at Skeg in a mini, so Jacob Downey had a mini stock at the time, yeah, and he was nearing retirement age. So we went testing at Skeg in that to see if I liked it, and I think like I did my first lap around Skeg, and he was sat. Obviously, you sit in the middle of the mini, but he was sat in the bar work next to me doing the clutch for me because I couldn't drive. So I went round, and I think my first lap time was something was like 24 seconds around Skeg and a Mini. It was a lot more than that, it wasn't very fast, it was a lot more than that. So mini sort of started from there. It was to see if I liked it. I didn't necessarily like it, but it was sort of you're having a mini.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:32

You liked it good enough for to not cry about it, basically.

SPEAKER_05 1:27:34

No, I did a bit of crying to be fair, yeah. And we come home, and then I remember seeing Dad pass the money over the table, and it's like, what two grand? No, two grand two grand for a mini at the time, which nah was like don't do it, Dad. Yeah, so then you're having it, son. Then we had a mini and I painted up and everything like that, and it was looked quite nice. And I remember doing the first three meetings, and I remember some someone coming to talk to dad at Kings Lynn. And I still have an obvious sports on, obviously. And I was in the van, and then I heard them talking about money or something. And I said to Mum, I was like, he sold my mini. I didn't really necessarily want it, but I was like, upset that he sold your mini. And I was like, Dad sold him a mini, and I'm like crying. He sold my mini. And Mum's like, he's not sold your mini. And I come back and I was like I think I must have said to you, have you sold it? He's like, No. And I was like, oh. And I was like, okay, maybe it maybe you do actually like it and wanna wanna do the minis. And it's sort of we carried on going, didn't we? But for the first the first two years, I wasn't very good. And it wasn't necessarily I wasn't very good at all. On my first meeting, I remember going around in practice and all your family came, and it was only a couple of days after my tenth birthday, wasn't it? Yeah, you was only a ween, he was younger, wasn't it? Yeah. So young. So it was a Skeg, and I probably would have been like maybe a week after I turned 10. And I remember sort of pulling off in practice, and Dad was like, What's the matter? And I was like, too loud. Don't like it, it's too loud. So like I remember watching the Jacob Bromley thing, and he says, like, oh, it's too dark or whatever. It was sort of like that. It was like it's too loud. Like I think one of the red tops came by me and he had loves you know bat box on it, whatever. It was so loud, and I was like, didn't like it, too loud.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:11

So I was never he had a book of excuses, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:29:14

It was never gonna be there's a noise, yeah. Didn't like it.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:18

Somebody's hit me. Or the stem wrong with steering, or the this yeah, and you went through a phase of steering wheels. I don't like steering wheel. Yeah, it's fucking round. Yeah, but I don't like it. I'm gonna get another one. I want a new one. So I've got another pink one next. Yeah, but there's an orange one, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:29:33

There's there's uh fetish with steering wheel. There's a thing though, to be fair. If you've got a steering wheel you like, it's you've got to have you gotta like it.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:39

Times it's not weirdo, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:42

So I never had that, but no, I've never had that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:46

But yeah, it was too noisy, it was too the track was too wet, or it was too grey, or the wheels were too round, or I just didn't like it, or and and oh what excuse number 357.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:56

So dad's just constantly changing stuff to try and shoot you, and then there's another thing you're like, what? Alright, let's change that.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:02

Probably would have been better off sacking it off until I was about 12, wasn't it? 21. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:08

But I'll give him his do, he's in the garage all the time with it.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:11

I would go in the garage and do it, then we just get to the weekend and be like, don't we want to do it?

SPEAKER_02 1:30:14

So you was preferring early doors to garage work. I still do now, really. Rather than racing it. You come to the weekend, you're like, no, we leave this one dead. We racing next week. But he doesn't know. He doesn't.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:26

No, I'd back when I started, I probably enjoyed the garage and being in here. But I think I probably enjoy it more now, like the fabricating.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:33

Well, you just because you actually know what you're doing. Well, well, yeah, dad'll probably say otherwise. Um no, he does. But way more than I do. Say, like I was speaking to Charlie Saudor, and we was more like into the Xbox, was you not, was you out here?

SPEAKER_05 1:30:45

So, yeah, I did really. I like Charlie said the R Factor thing and things like that. So I always used to do the R Factor with Ginch and Charlie and everybody like that. And that was sort of from ninja carts and minis. But I think I sort of got to the age of about 12, whereas I think we had an Xbox, but that was it.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:59

I think I just we didn't do a lot on it, did we? Really? In the front row off one day, and yeah, so that's more out here in some cloud.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:06

It's definitely the better way to do it, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:08

And then certainly in here from an early age, and I've taught some you teach him some things, but some things I can't teach him. Yeah. Um we had a lad come with us then who was a fabricator by trade one he called Paul. Paul used to call it you taught me how to weld, but I taught you how to weld. Paul taught you how to weld properly.

SPEAKER_05 1:31:26

Yeah, so I remember sitting down there, we had a lift down there at the point, and Paul told me he goes, Don't listen to what he said.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:32

This is what you did. No, no, because I've never been a fabricator. It's self-taught, you know. I had a stick welder when I started, and Finn Paul taught Finn to fabricate.

SPEAKER_05 1:31:42

Because you don't you don't not everybody spare his time. Like you hear a lot of the stories with Frank and that don't spare time for the kids with the minis. It was sort of the other way around, really. Paul sort of spared his time for me in the mini. I think he'd done a bit of racing before as well when he had minis on grass and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:58

So he had a knowledge of racing and was into racing, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:32:00

A couple of years, yeah, not a lot a couple of years. So he he he sort of gave me the the heads of the skills that I needed to learn how to weld and things like that. Um you don't do it that way. Like it might take longer, but you do it once, you do it right. Yeah, and that's sort of that's his bench, actually. Yeah, that is his bench. I think there's a few bits in there that still pulls.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:18

Probably the yeah, that is his bench. And when he's fabricated the place to the road.

SPEAKER_05 1:32:22

Um Paul sort of showed me the ropes with that, didn't he? And then I enjoyed the garage side, obviously. But after probably sort of 12, I started picking I had a bit of a crash when I was about 10 at Barford, and um I think I was winning the race as a little white top and going around, and I was sort of getting the grips of it. And the car had stopped down the straight, but obviously, like you as the older you get, the more experienced you look further ahead. Well, I was only looking at times on and quick. No, I was looking at the end of my bonnet and I'd just drove straight at the back of it, like flat out. Mini stop wheel final weekend. Yeah, and um I still got on with the like Brett and everybody, uh Brent, sorry, and it's all a good like you laugh about it afterwards, but I think uh Hazel versus she went off with an air ambulance. And I was only I was only 10, and that like scared the life out of me and minis.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:10

Yeah, watching some one of your other drivers getting air ambulanced away, and that's never gonna be good, is it, at that age? No, which definitely probably didn't help either.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:19

No, I sort of probably around the age of 12 or sort of picking it up a bit. We bought a different mini and knew was picking up a bit better equipment, yeah, yeah. And we got on a bit better with that, but still That was when the bread van started, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:31

So it was the estate traveller mini that um nobody'd done one, nobody'd done one, but it's it's the one with the doors on the back of the room. Yeah, the estate, yeah. Yeah, the estate. Yeah, we've still got bits of it. I still I remember a picture of it like a mini. What is that? Yeah, Bobby the Breadvan.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:49

So that sort of started we'll have to get a picture to show Charles because it is quite unique. Bobby the Breadvan. He's got one on his face. There's part of a mini shell still down the bottom, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:56

Um there's some and then well he'll tell you, but we had a Riley Elf as well.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:00

Yeah, so cool. That sort of sort of started from dad wanting different things. So necessarily, uh as a kid, you you must have understood it. You want what everybody else has got, like you want to be normal, yeah. So it was like you the first mini was a clubman, which was just a bonus, that was alright, yeah. And then after that, it was like, right, we're gonna do like a mini estate. I was like, oh okay. Well, no one else has got an estate, then I was like, alright, let's do that. So we had the mini estate, and then I never had a normal mini shell ever. I wasn't allowed. Never. Um so we followed on from that mini and got to probably about yellow blue with that one.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:38

Um first went at Bathford, didn't it?

SPEAKER_05 1:34:41

Yeah, and then we had another one. So we we never really kept them very long, which was probably a mistake. Um the shells. No, the minis. No, we'd sort of ended up changing nearly every year, which probably wasn't a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:52

Yeah, once you got to grips with that one, all the cars are gonna be slightly different. The last one we bought was off Ian Venables. Venables, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:59

Yeah, so that that one was the yellow and purple one that I had first, and then we progressed to another one which was Amy Webster's old car. Is it? Yeah, and that was all purple and white car, yeah. That became a tarmac car at the time.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:11

Yeah. And um because Matt Webster was the boy of the minis then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:35:15

Everyone had a Webster car, didn't they? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we we took the purple and white one, and that we got better and better, and that I think I probably we kept that one until the end actually. Um as other cars come up for sale, you sort of put that one on sale, buy a new timeout car, is sort of how it works, doesn't it? And um that one then stayed on sale. And by the sort of the end of minis, we had two good cars and we kept them for the last two years, and that was probably the best thing we did. Just keeping the same minis, you're used to them, you're comfy in them, you're not getting used to something new. But no sort of real major success, did we? It was uh second in the British. Second in second, I got second in the British, and then that was the year that Courtney had won. I was gonna say you're up against some tough, tough name zone. So my my era of minis was was just heaps of talent.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:03

I I had a conversation last night with somebody and said I think that was the best group of kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:07

There was a there was some proper talent talent.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:09

When you look at us all now, we're probably like nearly 10 years on for some of them, and like what they've done and what they've won is just so many top names, but it was also like it was really weird. I think I guess because the generation had passed on from like maybe 20-30 years ago. So like when I raced, there was Smiths, Wayman's, Amy Webster, and then there's Wits's and loads of people that were like uh Catherine Harris, Charlie Sauder, Ginchard, and and Harry Peel and people like that. There's just like normally you get like one top dog. There was never one top dog, there was all as good as they are, and obviously that near at the end.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:43

Anyone from 10 could have won it, weren't they?

SPEAKER_05 1:36:45

Yeah, Ginch sort of uh like pulled away, Courtney had pulled away.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:49

Ginch and Wits, weren't it them two? Yeah, but I do remember But the rest of them were still top topic exactly. There was ten or twelve where you never become generally really hard to be, yeah, depending on whose track was who was having a good day on the right track. Yeah, and then that's that's never gonna help you maintaining a red or superstar, is it, when you've got massive names like that.

SPEAKER_05 1:37:06

Well, the worst bit was as well, like when Courtney had finished, Jack started, so then like you think, oh, we're gonna have a break, and there's like, well, Jack's 11 of them, he's somehow ridiculously talented. And he's got five years or six years of Courtney's secondary school, yeah. I do remember there was a Thursday night on the way back from uh Skeg, and we'd had this mini, and like you're near the end of the thing at the time, and you're starting to try and push on and try and do a bit more. And I've gone to a Thursday night at Skeg the week before the British at Skeg. Well the the Thursday two days before the British at Skeg. Yeah, and I I was absolutely dog shit. And we're coming back, and Dad's had a go at me all the way home from Skeg all the way up to like past Boston. That's a good half hour, and we just didn't talk like the whole I didn't talk, I proper revd at him.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:51

So it was like you were getting beat by a fucking ten-year-old. I'm like, yeah, but he might be ten, but he's actually quite good. And he's like, You're getting beat by a fucking ten-year-old. I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:38:01

And then I think it came to the British afterwards, and I sort of I didn't really say anything the whole week, and then come to the British, well, yeah, the whole rest of the week, and then the the British come and it rained, and I was always quite good in the rain, and then I remember I sort of got up to about third or second, and Courtney was winning, and I put Courtney right out wide on the start, and I was like, oh my god, I'm winning the British. Pulled the straight, didn't you? And then I think there was another wave yellow, and Charlie sorta. Uh Charlie, yeah, Charlie put his thumbs down actually, and Prince Miles in front. I was I was winning and Charlie. Charlie had got put in quite hard. Yeah, I think Charlie never did like Charlie. Charlie, I think Charlie was hurt, so they they took Charlie up. No, he didn't, he got out! Well we um didn't win it, obviously, but uh didn't learn that was like sort of from then on when we started confidence boost. You kicked it like you you actually can do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:52

You can hear that cheer when you put Courtney what? Because Courtney was winning everything, yeah. Yeah, and you went up the inside and you gone, mate. You pulled and pulled and pulled and you gone, and then Charlie was like, uh I got a cramp.

SPEAKER_05 1:39:05

Charlie wasn't very big, so he probably had a it wasn't very big, no, he wasn't very big. It's like a coffee stirring stick, it was very big. We we sort of progressed on, didn't we? After that, it was just we tried. That was a turning point as such, and then I think that was two years to go. Um, and then my last year we sort of tried and tried, and I was getting more into it. So by the time I was 14, I was bumpering my own cars and things like that, and trying to you sort of hadn't it?

SPEAKER_02 1:39:28

Yeah, it was very good. Yeah, it was very good.

SPEAKER_05 1:39:29

Well, I kind of had to really because greatest respect to dad, he's not a well-der fabricator, so it was either you have to learn how to do it or you have to rely on the stuff. Paul gave us a lot of help with that and took me under his wing, and it was a case of you'd come home from school on the Monday, you'd scale the car after the weekend. You'd but because it's a two-post lift with a mini, everything's rubber, you leave it up in the air all week. By the time you put it back on the floor, it's all changed. So we used to weigh it on a Monday, work on it all week, and then weigh it and scale it again on a Friday. And you're getting to the point where you split in hairs, and I think at one point I was like trying to scale it here, but then I realised the concrete at the neighbour's yard over there is flatter than ours. So we used to drive it down there with like the scales and the camper. Well, we didn't do that. Um used to drive it down there with the camber and cast a stick and the scales and scale it on his yard out there. Yeah. Um but I it just by that time there were so many young kids that were talented, and like the Evans twins, Jack. Yeah. And they're they're probably 12, 13, and I'm 15. And I was a I was probably got a good 20 kilos heavier than them, and so you're always fighting that.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:36

And they're probably they're in good kit, and they can obviously this is when the mini jobs sort of evolved. Yeah, your seven grand, your ten grand, your twelve grand, your fifty.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:45

Very, very quickly, they're very expensive.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:48

Yes, they're right. Yeah, now they're 25 grand. Oh, I wouldn't know that I don't know if they're that bad. But I've heard 15s anyway. I heard 25s last year for a mini. I think people have bought them for that. We paid I don't know. We paid eight for your last hammer car, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:41:02

But it was in the school holidays, I obviously enjoyed being in here, so I'd come out in here and I'd basically do a full-time job in here. And I remember by then just prepping your car, you're just prepping your mini carrier. Somebody just prepping a mini fabricating, prepping the mini, yeah. And I remember sort of by the end of my mini career, obviously school holidays in Femway was coming up for the European, so I'd I'd had all the all the suspension off new polybushes and full new set of dyno chokers and things like that, and valved all special what whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:30

Is it you doing all this?

SPEAKER_05 1:41:31

So I didn't I'd rebuilt all the car, but the shockers were done by a good friend of ours who lives close. Yeah, but Shu putting them all on the car budget. Oh, yeah, yeah. I put it all back on and set it all up and whatnot, and decided that these were the tires we're gonna run and bedded men the week before. Okay, you had a really easy time in Minis, necessarily not mentally, probably not financially. Financially and mentally, no. You didn't have to do a lot of the work, you drove there, you drove back. Yeah, I I I sort of had to do the majority of the work, didn't I? Is your car?

SPEAKER_02 1:42:03

Yeah, that that is brilliant. I mean that that's that's worthwhile now, especially. Yeah, yeah. Doing that and obviously leaving him to it, obviously he needed the motivation and the urge to do it. But the fact that you didn't go, no, I'm gonna do that, I'll do that. Stick of a ten-year-old beating him, I think, was the motivation. I'm sick of you telling him a ten-year-old's beating him, yeah. Oh, yeah, sorry for that. But no, that's quality, that's good's really good. It's it's always been like that, really, isn't it? I I've I regret now, like I said to Charlie, I regret now not doing that more. And my dad was out there every day, and I was like, he would have to force me to get out there for a few times. Otherwise, if we're not going, we'd always go, but no matter what.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:41

But there's a lot of people like that. Yeah, a lot of people are not technical.

SPEAKER_05 1:42:45

You don't appreciate it until you're older and you're sort of times like now where dad might not come to every meeting or whatever, and you thank yourself for taking that time and doing it. You have to do it, yeah. You don't realise how valuable it is when you're younger. Like, oh, I've got to get out of bed and oh, I've got to go and do the car. It's not a morning business. Oh I'll give him his do, but he's a late night. Yeah, you did while I was up this morning, to be fair. Um, yeah, go on. So Vemray. We did all this prep for Vemray, and I'm I'm going on the internet and I'm Googling brake pads and things like that to put my mini. I was like, oh, that'll stop better, and that'll be better. And we're messing about with bits and bobs like that. And um, we did all this work to go to Vemray, and it was one of the fastest cars there's me and Jack Ritz were probably the two fastest cars that weekend. Yeah, yeah. And I did all this work and all this effort, and we're probably maybe two tenths faster than everybody else. And it comes to the European, and was just he pulled a bit of a gap on me like within the first couple of laps, and it stayed like that the whole way around. Ray laughs about uh laughs to me now. He said, Had Jack not have been 11 years old and really little, and everybody's like, Oh, I was only little Jack, he said you'd have probably nailed him and come across the grass for him, but he said you you thought, Oh, I can't do that to an 11-year-old kid, can you? And he was like, Well, yeah, you're probably right, actually. But all that effort, and I I didn't win. I think by that point I'd sort of said that.

SPEAKER_03 1:43:58

It mm minis are really good, and they're great for the kids and great for the families, but once you hit the red roof, you're chasing.

SPEAKER_05 1:44:06

Yeah, it's a chore. Well, it's not a chore, it's like anything. If you want to be at the top, you've got to put loads of effort in, and then it's not always fun. And when it doesn't pay off, and especially in a mini where you've got six years to fit it all in, and you don't get out of it what you want, you sort of not give up, but I sort of had half an eye on we're gonna do something after, yeah. I think a lot of kids do get by that.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:27

But at that point, he'd already been round Skeg in his Formula One, right? Yeah, there's an F1 there.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:31

That is massive because your bug is the same. Yeah, he'd given up in his last year, really. It's like I couldn't. I wasn't not really, can't be honest. Yeah, I just want to drive the F1 now because he'd had a go. Yeah, so but especially someone that's doing it themselves and you didn't always get the payoff, or you didn't really get the payoff for doing it yourself at that age, is you probably got a bit disheartened as well, and you thought, you know what, I'm ready for an F1 now.

SPEAKER_05 1:44:52

Yeah, it would probably got to that point, but if you wasn't doing all that work, I don't think you would have been like that. No, I'd probably put 100% in when we got there. Uh it sort of got to the world final that year. Bookstone, wasn't it? And like I I'd I'd got like fifth in the end, and I think after definitely after that, you said to me you was like, you're not interested, are you? I was like, nothing off kind of back. You can tell in my office, you're not you're not putting tires on it anymore, and you're backed off.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:15

You wanted to cut the F1 up and start doing stuff to the F1, but we was we was I I was under Matt's wing then and I'd already had one car off Matt. Um and you come down Matt's yard with me one day, didn't you? But we used to go most Saturdays, didn't we? Yeah, do bits of things. And you you just hunting round and it's like the scrap heap challenge. Yeah, okay. There's cars everywhere, and there's loads of cars there. Matt, what's that one? And said, Oh, this is such and such car, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_05 1:45:41

Yeah. Which was my first one in the world.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:43

Which was his first one, ended up being his first one, yeah. I said, Oh well, how much is that, Matt? And blah blah blah. We sort of the deal out. And you Matt took it to Skeg, didn't he? He took it to Skeg, uh, was it like it had engine lifting in it?

SPEAKER_05 1:45:56

I think it'd been rebuilt for somebody and they never really raced it.

SPEAKER_03 1:45:58

No, right. Um, and they took it to Skate Pierre, didn't they? And you just took to it like a duck to water.

SPEAKER_05 1:46:03

Really? Oh, I had to go in that I'd had to go in a one before that. I had to go at Swatham in dad's F1 when I was probably 14. Yeah. And it was alright, I was driving around, but I didn't really know what to do, so you feather in the throttle, and then F1 you can't be an F1 expert. No, you can't have a you know, you know what I mean. Yeah, you can't like stab at the throttle, and I didn't necessarily enjoy it really, did I? I didn't want an F1. You didn't go on about it. I didn't I didn't want an F1 because you were zooming an hour and about a two, weren't you?

SPEAKER_03 1:46:30

That oh what that'd be having two lots of spares.

SPEAKER_05 1:46:34

There's a you're having an F1 or you're not racing. Yeah, so that was sort of the push I needed. Be like, okay, I guess we're having an F1. He's gonna be F1, yeah. Yeah, so we I had to go in that car at Skeg Matt had brought it, and I had to go in it, and I think you'd brought yours, and I was like, Yeah, I like it. They dropped it off, didn't they? And I think we kept it, yeah. They dropped it off. Bugsy dropped it off. Yeah, so by by that sort of point, it was like, right, well we'll we'll do F1s, we'll modernise it. So it had a new front axle in it, and a new We took it to Lewarden Show. Oh no, before that, it was all we had new front axle, new back axle, new suspension. I decided I want you did what you want. Suspension on it like this, and yeah, it wasn't anything revolutionary, it was just basically what other people were doing.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:18

And we took it to Lewarden Show on display, and it was a day before your birthday.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:24

Yeah, otherwise you could do a day before the 16th, day before your 16th birthday.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:28

Uh, because they said, Can you do the live action? And I said he's 15, and we went we can't do it for the insurance, and we have it on display. He's 16, so we said, Yeah, I could have done the Monday, but it was a Sunday. Anyway, there's just me and you, weren't they? Me and you went, yeah, and um we didn't know this, but we got travelling back from the expo to the hotel, and we had pizza and a beer in the hotel room, didn't we? But going back to the hotel room, the cops pulled us over. Oh, we got outside the hotel and they pulled us over in the hotel car park. At the end of the drive, the cops pulled us over. Ah uh, these lights are no good. I got different coloured ferry lights on the front of the lorry, you're not allowed them in Holland. Well, you wasn't, you know. You only allowed red and white or something like that.

SPEAKER_05 1:48:07

So we got pulled. Finn got the snips out.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:09

No, no, no, you must have cut them, you must have cut them.

SPEAKER_05 1:48:11

I had the snips on the wire, and I was just gonna cut the wire. And he was like, No, no, no, no, no. He's like, I've got to take a picture. And I as a kid, you thought, oh okay, the policeman's got to take. I should have just yeah, oh sorry, mate.

SPEAKER_03 1:48:21

Yeah, but no, and we got fined 160 euros for it. Oh, we got the paperwork through, and if we didn't pay the fine, the next time we went to Holland, we would do a straight round. Yeah, but just rubbing some blue lights on the front. And we sat in bed on your 16th birthday and we both had a pizza and we both had a pint. Yeah. Didn't we? And then start of F ones. Drive home on the Monday, and that was it. But painting your car, Jim Bob come and tried to paint your car because the originally it was going to be white.

SPEAKER_05 1:48:52

It was painted white. I've got a picture of it on my phone, it was on the left there, and it was painted white, but because it was so cold, the paint wouldn't go off. So it was like this is in between Christmas. So we quickly it got changed, and it was like, right, we're gonna have to do it all black because for whatever reason the black went off. And then was on the way to the signwriters, and I said, I hope this doesn't make a massive difference, but the car's not white anymore. He's like, What do you mean? What colour is it? Like grey, or I went black, and he was like, All the stickers are black, right? That's when Alan did them. So yeah, we that was the first one.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:27

That was the first one, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:49:28

And then we sort of got it all done, didn't we? And I went testing at Skeg and Kyle had started racing F1s as well. He'd done the gar night the year before because he's a little bit older than me. And we went to Skeg testing on a practice day, and he'd brought his car that had been re panelled and whatever, but just before it'd been painted, and I'd brought mine that we'd chopped up and changed the axles and there's levers in it, and I've seen a mini, he didn't have the levers and stuff like that, and I didn't necessarily know what one did what, and nobody had ever told me when the brake piped. So we went skeg and I went down the straight at Skeg in it and had a steering quicker on. I hated it. Well, you just turn like that and you turn a little bit in it like turns low. Yeah. So I was dealing with that for the first day of testing. But you know you put yourself in the top of it. Span out that the straight, yeah. Span out down the straight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:50:15

I should have gone fishing.

SPEAKER_05 1:50:19

I decided down the straight. I was like, oh let's see what these levers do. Pulled a lever. I didn't know which one it was, I just thought I'd pulled it and I was like, oh, I won't do it, I'll do it all the way. So I hadn't known, but obviously I know now. I'd turn the left front brake off. So I went into the corner and brake, like brake, put myself straight in the fence. Just the right, right broke, right, straight in the fence, bump around in practice. I was like, we'll go home then. So I hadn't raced it. Port powered the bumper out, didn't we? And went to my first meeting, which was Good Friday at Skeg. And I went off the back and it was a rainy meeting again. And some I I always enjoy racing in the rain.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:00

I don't know why. I'm the same. I love the rain, but I hate everything else in the rain.

SPEAKER_05 1:51:04

Yeah, I like being in it and going round.

SPEAKER_02 1:51:06

I like racing, but I don't like the pit and stuff like that. Strange, innit, epic are different. But love the rain.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:10

I always used to love wet shalomer too. Yeah. Really good in the wet shalom. Well, average.

SPEAKER_05 1:51:16

So we we did the Good Friday meeting and managed to qualify from the final with the back of the superstars. That was that was good. Did the final did the national, but I didn't want to take my boards off, thought I'd need a bit more track time, you're not learning a massive amount of the back. So I went to Birmingham, it was Birmingham Hansford weekend, and we did that. And I did the heat off the back, didn't qualify, and thought, right, I'm gonna take my boards off. So I've got the front of the constellation, it's been a good idea. And I lined up with the front of the constellation. There's probably about 10 white tops. I was like, you do about that thing to be there. And then I think I crashed straight away. Or was it oh no, did I do the constellation off the back and took the boards off of the national? Boards off of the national. Boards off of the national. And obviously, there's like 10 white tops to the front, a straight in the fence, nothing. So I was like, okay, boards are off, we're going to Hennersford. And I went to Hennesford, and Hennensford for me in a mini as a kid, I hated Hennisford. Quite ironic now. But I hated it. US Ray Wights. We used to park next to Ray, and I honestly we'd get off and I'd I'd probably about 12, I'd cry. I'd I don't want to do it, I don't want to race at Hensford, hated it. So we'd load it up and it'd be like, and so someone would come in and Ray said to me, He said, Well, just try it, he'd try and have a word me. I'd go out, heat two, load up, don't like it. This happened for probably two years, two or three years.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:33

It was on and off the trailer, it wasn't even straight. Probably when it was on and off the trailer. I think it went on and off the trailer one meeting.

SPEAKER_05 1:52:39

I don't think we even strapped it down because it was like, Well, you're gonna pull it back off.

SPEAKER_03 1:52:42

I don't want to let my dad down, he told Ray.

SPEAKER_05 1:52:44

Yeah, so we ended up doing it, didn't we? But yeah, we did it. We went with the F1, and Kyle had just gone up to yellow at that point, I think. Because he'd won the final at Skeg, so he went up to yellow. And because he was sort of fresh to F1s, he'd never really hit a car or anything like that. And he hit I mean first car he came across going off yellow was me properly off the front from a first time. Well, he's hit me like you would do in a mini, but in a mini, because they're quite light, you have to hit people quite hard. So he's hit me like I would do in the mini, and I've gone wailing straight into the fence at Hennesford, and then there's a picture. I think we're both looking at each other going around the corner, and he's come off and he's apologised.

SPEAKER_01 1:53:18

I'm like, what the fuck you put me in for?

SPEAKER_05 1:53:20

He's like, honestly, I don't know how I did it. No, I'm not sure. He's like, honestly, I'm so sorry. He's trying to help me fix it, and I'm like, right. But I think I got like a you qualify for the final, I qualified for the final and got like a fifth or whatever in the national. You drew you was leading the national until about three to go. Yeah, and I got like a probably a top five four, something like that. Yeah, you drive ever so well. That was enough points or whatever to get me upgraded to yellow, so I did one meeting off the front of white properly, and then straight up to yellow for UK speed weekend. It's probably better off yellow than white, anyway. Yeah, it won't go very well off white. And um we went out at Speed Weekend on the Saturday night, and I'd we'd been picked the wing up from getting stickered, and we had a laugh and a joke because the blokers of Simur had like a little arcade game in the garage, and I said a laughing joke, I went, Oh, eating final after this on Daytona, what it's a little Daytona, twin daytona arcade game that he had, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:54:18

Um but it was a proper one at the arcade, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:54:21

Proper one, wasn't it? And we joked, I was like, Oh, we're gonna eat in final after this, no problem, loads of practice. I managed to get second in the heat, and then the final absolutely lashed it down for the final, and I um I got a really good start, and I think obviously because you're at the front you can see, and I enjoyed racing in the rain, obviously. So it was we managed to get to the lead of the final, and I'd never led a final, absolutely shitting bricks in an F1, and I'd gone really early on the start, like coming into turn three, and I'd I'd gone around at one, and I was like, Oh my god, but he lap me. I'd I'd lap dad me. Everybody moves out your way when you're lap dad in England, don't they? Apart from my dad, and sat in the white picture.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:00

There is a picture somewhere sat in a white. There's a picture. I'm in Paul, I'm in the ex-Por Lions car, yeah, the yellow one, and there's a picture of Finn behind me going into turn one, and you've got the bar, yeah, and you can see dad sat in the bar watching as he's come up behind me and leathered me.

SPEAKER_05 1:55:19

That's a cool picture, but didn't move, didn't move, stayed in the way, and then I come around. Got out of the way, got out of the way eventually, and then um I come around, and then I was getting out my car, I'm like, You're gonna give it the big roof stand, aren't you? You just want to find the NF1's your first race win. And then Helen Colita said to me, He's like, Steve wants to see you in the box. I was like, Oh,'s he gonna take the fiss out of me? Or like say well done or something. I got up to the box and Steve went, Uh I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna have to dock you. And I looked and I was like, Oh, this is a joke. Oh, yeah, that went down the tree. I kind of should say this is a joke, isn't it? Good wind up. And he's like, No, you don't. I was like, You're a joker.

SPEAKER_03 1:55:55

But they took so long to deliberate it, the crowd were booing. Because nobody went round, nobody went round. We didn't have a parade lap or anything, no parade lap for the final, no nutrition.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:06

So yeah, to get out your car and go straight to the box.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:08

Yeah, and they gave the final to Lee Fairhurst.

SPEAKER_05 1:56:10

I think Lee came over and gave him the trophy, didn't he? Yeah, but he didn't it was it was a bit weird, it was awful. It was it wasn't an enjoyable first win because you you go through the whole thing of you put an appeal in, put an appeal in. Steve was like, Okay, I'll review me and Steve sort of have a laugh now. Like when I go up to the box, I'd normally just take Mick out of him now because he might he never changes it never changes his mind. So I think that's the only time I've ever known him to overturn it. So we put the appeal in, and then on Wednesday afterwards, I've obviously not at school at this point because it's holidays and stuff like that. I think I got a phone call from Brownie and said, Can you come to Skeg on Wednesday? I was like, Why do I need to go to Skeg on Wednesday? It's a bit of a strange asking, right? Came to Skag on Wednesday and they said we've overturned the results, so you did win the final. So I got my final win in a one. And you had a parade lap. And I had a parade lap and nobody there. I was just did you actually have the parade lap? Yeah, I did I think I did actually just drive round enough.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:08

We went on the back of the Merck.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:09

Yeah, no one there, nobody did a parade up and they gave us a parade lap. And then yeah, I think Rob owned it, and Robert apologised.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:15

And it was but neither of us neither of us raced on the Sunday because it was that fed up with it.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:20

I I'd done my clutch and I just uh atmospheric disheartened. I was like, I'm not changing it. Yeah, you can kill it.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:26

To be able to do that, you need to be motivated, and if that's pissed you off that much, you shouldn't be doing that. It killed it, Tebs.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:31

Yeah, so you laugh about it now, it doesn't really matter now, does it?

SPEAKER_02 1:57:35

But when is your first final win? At the time, I was like felt like crying.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:38

We then yeah, and I was livid, and then it turns out that he would have but he was the second youngest final winner.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:46

Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:47

Frank beat him Barb out of food out a couple of days, a few days, whatever it was.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:51

I don't know the number, but yeah. So um we obviously got it back on the Wednesday, but then by that point, because I'd won the final and the second in the heat, well, you're at blue now, so it's like one metre white, one metre yellow, right? You're blue top now. That's where you're gonna be in training because of a half-tide average, we're back. You're back of the blues. Do they do it like that?

SPEAKER_03 1:58:12

And yeah, 16 and three weeks.

SPEAKER_05 1:58:14

Well, uh, it's your grading points in the surface. So I'm starting like middle blue, mid blue, back blue, and then behind me is like Luke Davison. In front of me is some someone who's just come down from red, and I'm like, oh my god, I am one. I've only got two meters. Massive jump. Yeah, that's hard work. It it's a lot better now. They do look after the younger lads a lot better now. So, like people like Tom Holcroft, Lewis Hunter, they they held them at yellow. You get your track time, and like they're they're more than good enough to be blue, them lads. And they well, Lewis is blue now and think that both of them are blue.

SPEAKER_02 1:58:42

Yeah, but they they spent just chuck them straight. You're not straight in the deep end now, no. So because that that disheartened you very quickly.

SPEAKER_05 1:58:49

Yeah, it did. I well, I was crap off blue and I but realistically, the car probably wasn't there. The car probably wasn't good enough to run off blue top and get to the front. It was a good white, yellow, maybe blue top car.

SPEAKER_03 1:58:59

It means it's you as well, though, it's not just a car. Yeah, I was nowhere near ready for it. Eight races in and you're blue, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:59:06

Against you know, there's some top reds and even the blues, the blues ain't missing about a lot of them have been racing 20 years, some of them that have just had a bad mum.

SPEAKER_05 1:59:13

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:59:14

And you've got to try and beat them.

SPEAKER_05 1:59:16

Yeah, so that was nothing else, sort of really happened for that year. Oh, I qualified for a semi after one qualifying round, I think, didn't I? Because the most hit the second hit won the final. That's loads of qualifying points. Put my last car on the grid for a semi. What year is that, dude? 2018. 2018, 2018. First season, yeah. And we was gonna take that car on shale for the semi, and we asked Matt, and he was like, wouldn't even bother. Ah so I was like, I'm gonna have to do something with a shale car.

SPEAKER_02 1:59:38

Because if you said to him, I want to take down shale, he would have gone to you, right, do this, do this, do this. But the fact that he said don't bother, don't bother.

SPEAKER_05 1:59:44

Yeah, if he's telling you that and he ain't doing the work, we could have quite easily just missed it and just said, Oh, don't worry about it. But it's like, oh, I would really like to be in the world final. Of course, of course, yeah. So we we bought a shale car, put an engine in it, and we my first meeting was uh Texel because it timed up right and it was good practice practice for things. For the semi well, because it was put off Tony Smith. So Sean Blakemore had it built new. I think he did one meeting in it, then Josh Smith had it, and he'd done two meetings in it, maybe, and then we bought it off Tony. Oh, so it's a pretty new car. Yeah, nearly new car. But we cut it off because I've I've I'm not very tall, like mega tall, and I've I've got quite short legs, so I couldn't get I couldn't get my legs on the floor of it round, although it's built for Sean Blakemore is not mega tall. I couldn't get my legs around the like all the suspension that comes through the cabin them. So we had to move the steering box, move the suspension, change this, change that. And eventually we went to Texel and there's like a hundred cars there, and they're like, right, you're you're your pole blue. I'm like, I am not. And he's like, You're pole blue, you're not racing. I was like, I'm definitely not racing off pole blue, I've never raced shale in my life. I went around Swaffin with it for like 25 apps, and then um never done shale having a net. Never done shale.

SPEAKER_02 2:00:57

Oh no, so Texel.

SPEAKER_05 2:00:59

I managed to get off the back, and I basically just used it as a bit of practice, really, didn't we? I was red then, by the way. Yeah, was you racing? Yeah, it was red. Blew the engine up, I think actually.

SPEAKER_03 2:01:10

Matt was using it because I broke my arm. I was really poorly with my arm, wasn't I? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because I had I had sepsis, um, and I had a really poor arm, so I didn't race a lot for two years, did I? Because Matt used the car and nearly won the British in it.

SPEAKER_01 2:01:24

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:01:25

That's when Stuart Smith was like, nearly won the British from Bellevue, yeah. That was your car, man. Matt was using my car, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:01:31

I was off. But no, we we went to Lynn, didn't we, for the semi-final. Never. How much your practice was it right? I was like 100 cut. I was alright. I think the best I went was like on the Sunday morning. I'd they'd they'd take because I was 16 or whatever, that the the lads who raced like Bobby Griffin and that took me out when we went out for a beer, and I I was absolutely like hanging. Oh no. I was only 16. You obviously can't handle two beers, can you I was absolutely written on Sunday morning, like being sick down the lorry steps and everything.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:00

Um you was yeah, because I said you better get out of bed.

SPEAKER_05 2:02:02

So like you need to race it in a bit. Somebody else took it scrutineering for me.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:06

We was yeah, we were couldn't get out of bed.

SPEAKER_05 2:02:08

I was absolutely hanging.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:09

We went out with Bobby Griffin, Daz, Grenella, Bowser. Bowser, Bowser, yeah, because we stopped at Texel and there was a pond when we used to stop at the hostel, didn't we? Yeah. And Bobby Griffin pushed Bowser in the pond, and it was thick, black algae. Algae. Awful. So Bowser got out of the pond, Bobby got his power washer at no Daz got his power washer at power washed him down. But we all went to this club after Texel, and it's rammed, right? And Bobby Griffin had sliders on, didn't he? He's chucking sliders about it. And I got hold of his slider and threw it into the dance floor, right? And he's like, you're all having a drink. Bowser goes, I'll get it. And all of a sudden, Bowser's gone through the crowd, and it was like a shrine. All you could see with this was this slider come out the top, like a golden slider.

SPEAKER_00 2:03:01

Oh we was like, he's fucking found like this.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:05

And it was five, six o'clock in the morning, wasn't it? Because the island's wonderful and brilliant, but the taxi service is whack shit, in it. There's like one taxi for the whole of the island. Oh no. We obviously got up in the morning, everybody's fine because uh they're adults.

SPEAKER_05 2:03:20

Well, they're usually hanging it, yeah. And I was trying to get strapped in for this heat, and I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna kept ratcheting it. The ratchet belt clicking. It was it went alright. You drive every juju really well on the Sunday. I think most people tend to do better when you're hanging over when you're racing. Yeah, you drive ever so well. You got out of the car, went straight in bed. Got straight out, went back to the bed, went to sleep, got out for because the racing's so spread out. I got I did the first eight like two hours, yeah. I had a couple of hours' sleep, got out and did the rest of the meeting. I was mint. You got better and better as a in your health as a as you had more sleep as the day went on. Um yeah, but that was sort of I bet that was an experience though, wasn't it? It was a good laugh, yeah. And then we had the Kingsly in semi, and I think I I hit a tire and it broke one of the Ali Lin carms on the front, and I managed to limp home like 11th. I think they take 10. Oh yeah. That's sort of my semi-finals like all over, really. I've only ever qualified for one semi-final. Uh I've only ever qualified for two world finals, but that's one more than me. Yeah. No, you oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:04:19

I never qualified for a world final in a two. Never twenty odd years of trying. Never qualified for a world final in a two. And I qualified for Ipswich World Finals, my first world final. When he took me around on that little one. When the two nine won't win. When I I um because I had that fun with John Lund and Frank at Bradford. Yeah, line a world final. Because we played the game because Bradford had just come back, yeah. And to get John Lund back at Bradford, because we had the semi-final where Frank won it, John was second, and I was third.

SPEAKER_02 2:04:56

Oh, and you let him you let him through, didn't you?

SPEAKER_03 2:04:58

No. No, I couldn't catch him. Oh terrible fuckers I couldn't catch. I hated Sheffield, even in the two. I remember hearing about this though, and John Gullet in, didn't he? John got second. Frank won and John was second. And all three of us, and I was third, and all three of us were on the start-finish line. Yeah. And then obviously, because Bradford was back and it was Bradford World Final, they wanted to do a big thing. We kept it all undercover. That the somebody had got the marquee car, the gold one, the gold one, like the icon. And they'd undercover it, they'd hide it until we played this out. So they said John pulled up to the pit gate, lifted his bonnet, made out there was a problem with the car. So they dragged me on, told me to come on. I'm in a pair of gold shorts and the cape that hangs up there.

SPEAKER_05 2:05:46

It's sort of related to the Dylan thing, right? Yeah, we're Dylan thing.

SPEAKER_03 2:05:49

I love 259 with makeup on my chest because me and Einzie was having the banter because of the COVID stuff and the online stuff. Did the parade lab and then oh John's got John's got four, what's this, what's this? And John comes on to Bradford in the gold car. Well, you can imagine the atmosphere, the crowd mental. Um and there's a picture in my house, I'll show you. Um John signed it. John signed it, and he comes around and he comes up and checks me out and I bow down to him. I don't know if you've ever seen it. I bow down to it.

SPEAKER_05 2:06:23

I wasn't there.

SPEAKER_03 2:06:24

I had COVID and I couldn't go. Yeah, COVID. And he come, he came to him as he said, and his words was as true as I said here. The guy's so humble. He shook me and he said, Sarge, I'm so sorry. I said, What for? He said, I've took your space, and I said, John, I said, Great, then enjoy yourself, my friend. And shook his hand and off he went. And that to be a part of that, that was as close as I'd ever got. Then obviously the following year I um qualified at Bradford at Bradford for the first time ever. My wheel fell off.

SPEAKER_05 2:06:57

Same semi-final, like a row behind each other, and then I clipped a dial and I don't know what happened, we all just came straight off.

SPEAKER_03 2:07:03

Um then obviously we did the little car, and he told me the little car was due to go on a pull cord, and me and me come on in the Baza outfit, padding me and drive on behind him or in front of him. Pull cord snapped in the ones, and it started first time and it every time started. And I says, I've just chucked this strap in just in case. Towed it. And you towed me around, and the crowd went mental. And the Baz outfit somewhere. I didn't know nothing about this. You didn't know nothing about it. I didn't know nothing. Nobody knew nothing about it. I had the outfit, I got the outfit off the internet, and and we're quite chalk and cheese with stuff like that.

SPEAKER_05 2:07:39

So dad enjoys all of that. He hates it. I I just I just I can see that he hates it.

SPEAKER_03 2:07:43

And I had Baz Rach got me Baz on the front. I think she put a picture of it on for my birthday or something, baz across the front, and I'm on this little car that's built for a six-year-old, it's around the back. Um, and he told me on well the crowd went mental, didn't he? It pissed down, and he got to turn three, and he he often thought, I'm having you for this, and you just revum and nearly went off the back of it.

SPEAKER_05 2:08:06

Trying to like blip it so that come off. Well, that's it.

SPEAKER_03 2:08:09

I did about three laps.

SPEAKER_05 2:08:11

Yeah, it'd been better if I'd have done that and I was first reserve or something like that, because that would have been a way to get myself in the world final, but but I would rather not entertain, but have a laugh.

SPEAKER_02 2:08:21

It is entertaining, yeah. It is entertaining.

SPEAKER_03 2:08:23

Finn's very focused and serious, and so chalk, like he says, so chalk and cheers. I'd sooner make somebody laugh at a race meeting. Not by racing. Not by racing, but do that, and then they would remember me because of that, and that's probably why a lot of people do remember me because of it, and it's not certainly not through my skill in sitting in one of them, no, but I'd try and make people remember for smiling and and having a laugh and remembering that he wants to win. I totally understand him wanting to win. Look at today, I'll bought you that's me being honest with you and having a laugh with you. Um but that's what I'd rather do. You know, I've never been, like I said to you before, I've never been good enough to be an issue. Never will be. Not bothered. If I can make somebody laugh, and they've probably spoke about me for two minutes on the way home, I've done my job. In my opinion, might be the wrong opinion, I don't know, but that's what I try to achieve. Not so much now because I don't do so much, but people don't forget, they'll never forget the COVID stuff with IND. No, uh that was brilliant. Um we still have people come to us now and say thanks for COVID Sarge. Because they we used to get texts in the week, Sarge, can you do this? Can you do this? Can you do this? Can you do this? And we sort of we had no idea how that was gonna go. The video I did in my tarmac car, you videoed me in here. The tarmac car was facing forwards, and we had um I call it Ric Flair music because it's the wrestling music.

SPEAKER_05 2:09:57

It's the one that's on R Factor, like you know when the car spins around on the thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:10:01

It's Ric Flair's wrestling music. That's the only way I can remember it. Dance of Summit, I think it's called. And Finn, I'm sat in the car and Finn lowers me down, and I'll write an a this online thing, blah blah blah blah blah. And it got 30,000 views. And that's 2020. And we're like, we don't know whether there's gonna be 10 people watch it, they don't know if there's gonna be 20 people watch it, and everybody's rigged up whether online stuff, because you couldn't do nothing, could you? You could either drink, go to the gym, or or whatever. You couldn't do nothing else. Stop cars, stop cars, and then somebody got the idea of oh maybe we could do the online thing. And with a series of people getting online and doing it, Saturday night after the video, blah blah blah blah the Sunday after we just see the viewing figures and it was ridiculous. And the second week I think was the worst one because we didn't know shit, I mean what's gonna happen this week, who's gonna happen, what we're gonna do, this and this and this. And we tried to have a different story every week. Yeah. One week it was you gotta wear orange, one week you've gotta wear blue, one week this, one week that. I think one week I swore it slipped out and I was in the naughty corner. So I did a video just for placards. And then the summits attack the mic during COVID. And just summons attack the mic during COVID, but people look forward to it because there was nothing else. And they the amount of the gratitude that me and Einzie got, Heinzey went to Skeg when it first started again with Carson on a Thursday night. Just him and Carson, I remember him telling me and he walked around and they gave him a round of applause as he walked around and he went to watch. He said, Sarge, you should have been here, and I didn't yeah, I don't know whatever we didn't go. He said, Sarge, give me a round of applause, Sarge. He said, Because the COVID thing. Now the banter's still going between me and Paul. But there's nothing ever malicious in it, is there? No. We rung him Friday night, didn't we? We spent time in Friday night. The window's broken. The food hatch is broken.

SPEAKER_02 2:12:03

He sells windows, by the way. And it don't work.

SPEAKER_03 2:12:05

That's why it window boy. And that's why it's broke and I wrung him up.

SPEAKER_02 2:12:08

Can you fix my window or something?

SPEAKER_07 2:12:09

Can you fix the twin risk to take the paint out? I mean, you're taking the piss. Because if I take that out, it's going to be really cold so we've left it.

SPEAKER_03 2:12:15

That's normally where the tea comes through. Oh right. That's why I have to walk around. But that's That is the kitchen window. That is the kitchen window. Not a bathroom, no. We can use a bathroom. But that's evolved. You know, he sent me a message on Wednesday because it was obviously Dad's funeral, and I'm thinking of your mate, and blah blah blah. And that's the respect. But the banter was brilliant during stuff. And and looking from the outside in, it's good to see. Sadge, do this, you've got to bury him with this, and it's all firehead and stuff. And I've wrapped his car up at the NEC before, and he's like Klingfilm. Klingfilm just got a picture of me having a poo or something like that. And and and he starts. And and and it's sort of he's pretty good with it as well, isn't he?

SPEAKER_02 2:12:59

He's very dry. Yeah, very clever. Yeah, very yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:13:01

He doesn't swear. If he has full fat coke, look out because he'll put a video on of threatening somebody in his wisdom. I have fought him in a boxing ring. I know, yeah. That was quite a weird one. That was a weird one because first they fought Dylan and beat him. That was a good thing, really, for the charity. That was good for to help a lot of really poorly kids.

SPEAKER_02 2:13:21

And then Yeah, the F1 boys done a charity boxing match the whole night, wasn't it? There's two. There's two.

SPEAKER_03 2:13:27

Yeah. Because Matt was Matt nearly Matt was on like Matt was on his deathbed the second one. Yes. And I had to step in and fight Einzie and David, obviously, sort of organised it. I hadn't trained or nothing because I was too old. I was probably 50 at that point. I did it the first time, did it with Dylan because Ryan rang me up and said, So do you want to do a boxing match? So do him a fight. She said, Fight me if you like. I went, I said, why don't I fight Dylan? I said, because I've had my arm done, Dylan's had his knee done, it could be for the disabled championships, couldn't it?

SPEAKER_00 2:13:58

And that was the exact words I used.

SPEAKER_03 2:14:01

And you train 12 weeks for it because the last thing you want is having the piss took out of you while all your close people who you see every week are watching you. So anyway, that I trained really hard for 12 weeks, and there's that no way I'm gonna I train anyway some days, and there was no way I was gonna lose. And Dylan Dylan's obviously 6-6, and he was 18-19 stone, and he'd be what 25 maybe at the time. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 2:14:27

I just know I know he'll have a beer in his hand anyway. Yeah, he did that.

SPEAKER_03 2:14:30

Half me, and anyway, um he did have one leg though. He did have one leg and I had one arm. And anyway, Hunter rung me up. Um Lewis Hunter's dad rung me up. He said, Saj, I said what mate? He said, I'll pay I know it was Will. Will rung me up. He said, Saj, I'll pay two grand to the charity if you do your ring walk in a hunter-pack carrot suit. Like a cart, like a complete carrot. Yeah. Said, yeah, gone on.

SPEAKER_05 2:15:00

Deal. Deal.

SPEAKER_03 2:15:01

And I had him and Kyle at the side. He'd have done it for a five or a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_05 2:15:04

He wouldn't have had to pay him.

SPEAKER_03 2:15:05

I had him and Kyle at the side of him. He could have saved himself. You've got grey suits, red ties, and my sunglasses. And it worked out that we was the first one after the break. And I had purple and yellow trunks doing with ECL on. They're hanging in the in the in the gym. And I walked on with these two at the side of me, like these two walked in like that, didn't you? To um Venga Boys. Yeah. Famous box. Which one? We like to party. No problem. No, I don't know. Fucking hell. I don't know. The the fa the best Venga Boys one. Boom, boom. Yeah, boom, boom. And we walked onto that, and people are just looking and laughing and everything. And anyway, I'm stood in the room, in the ring with this carrot suit on. Dylan comes in, I let the ring go down for Dylan. He walks in, gives me a kiss on the lips, hello princess, and off he goes. Right? So me and Dylan. The hardest thing in the world to do is punch your mate in the face. Him, easy. Not that I have done, but to punch your mate in the face is so difficult. But because you're doing it for a charity and the kids, I don't know whether some of them made it or not, bless them. But we raised about 15 grand, I think. They're punching each other in the face and saying, sorry, is that who knocked Rick did uh Chris Chris Cowley knocked Ben Urdman out? Yeah, uh I think it was that, yeah. I think Chris knocked Ben Urdman out, literally knocked him out. And there was a bit concerned at the time. I stopped Dylan after halfway through the second round, and we had a pint afterwards, and that was done and sorted. But the following year, Matt was really poorly. And he had we went to see him afterwards, didn't we? Dave Durand said to me that it's not a pretty sight because he got some viral thing and we went pneumonia. Yeah, yeah, and we went to see him and he had a machine for every organ on him. And his we were really, really good friends with Matt and the Time I built at the time as well. Yeah, and we went to see him and and he came with me, and he just kind of went fucking hell, dad. And I went, he had a pipe for every organ. Oh mate, he was in a proper mess. Um he came back later that year and nearly won the bridge. Yeah, he did, yeah, in my car. Yeah, that was a different time. Oh, and then um Dave says, Will you fight? I said, Yeah, I'll he said, I'll stand, don't do you stand. So I said, Am I fighting? He said, Einzie. I said, I'll do it, don't worry about it. So I ain't trained enough, and he got some gloves and shorts and whatever. And Dave went to tell Einzie and he just went white. I ain't fighting him. I'm not fighting him. You killed me. And I went, I said, you want to do it? And the words I said to him, I said, You want to do it? Let's do it, let's have a play for three rounds. And if you ask him, he will genuinely tell you that was the words. I don't want it in, I don't want it. Paul does actually go to the boxing gym and stuff now. Paul rings me on a Monday and says, I've just thought about you, I've just come out at the boxing gym every Monday or Tuesday. Is that since then? Yeah, yeah. And that's and we did it, and we raised some money, and and he wanted to do it, so I did it. And we just that was it. But how Matt recovered from that, I don't know, because he was in a mess. He was really, really poorly, mate, wasn't he? Recovered better than ever, isn't he? He's probably one more since as well. Yeah, but the like when he had when he borrowed my car probably before that, he I think the lowest place he got was a fifth, wasn't it? That's the one that's outside. That's the one that's the one that's outside when it was black because I had sepsis in my arm and and I'd have operation or whatever, and and he arm wrestling Benadon. Yeah, dick in a bit in Benadorn and tore my bicep.

SPEAKER_02 2:18:34

Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 2:18:34

And then got he was he was racing at Coventry one night and um my arm started to go black. Swell up, and started to go black because Glenn took you. Yeah, Glenn took Finn racing because I didn't feel very well. I laid down the city and his mum came home. He said, What's the matter? I said, I don't feel so good. I said, Come on, we'll go. And speaking was world champion and I walked through the pits and Rob went, Oh right! I went, Rob, don't touch me out. I said, 'Cause he said that it was as black as his time. He said that ain't right, you've got to get yourself off, you need to go to the hospital. So I said, I'll watch him, I'll watch him, it'll be alright. So my arm was that size all the way down to and it was black and anyway. We come on, we fed the mum says, Oh, let's feed the dogs. I was like, Oh great. We fed the dogs. I went to pilgrim, and this woman, bless her, I'll never forget it. She sat me down, she goes, You sit down there, I'll be back in a minute. And she went, You don't look very well at all. And she put your hand on my shoulder like that. And I went, I don't feel very well at all. Right, let's get you in, get you an x-ray. We think you got pneumonia. Comes back from an x-ray, there's a bed waiting, get on that bed. So, what's the matter? She went, You got a sepsis because you are in the ship, basically. Plug me in, I was in there four days, wasn't I? Yeah. Jesus. And she said when they did the surgery, there was 180 milliliter blood clotting. So they re-attached my bicep. We did loads of mini racing there.

SPEAKER_05 2:20:06

You did what? I did loads of mini racing.

SPEAKER_03 2:20:09

Because I couldn't I couldn't do nothing, could I? And I had it across there for four weeks. And when they took the cast off, my bicep was as big as my wrist. And I couldn't take the tag off the bread. I had no strength in that emotion. And that's a three-year-old can do that, yeah. I couldn't take the tag off the bread. But he obviously went racing for minis and months and months. I didn't do it. But that was, you know. You had the elf then, I think.

SPEAKER_05 2:20:39

Yeah, that was a good idea, wasn't it? We had a we had the elf shell that was like, oh, that'd be cool. It was like that. Apart from it was like a 40 kilogram mini shell on most of the stuff. We went Scotch Cornered Face. Oh, terrible idea. Sexy as hell that cat wasn't. I loved it.

SPEAKER_02 2:20:54

I do like the elf. He hated it. He hated it. Definitely. But that's like it.

SPEAKER_03 2:20:58

Minis. Formula ones? Formula ones still.

SPEAKER_05 2:21:00

Formula ones.

SPEAKER_03 2:21:01

Shower car.

SPEAKER_05 2:21:02

We did the shower, didn't we? And then we kept that car for it's out of sync now, isn't it? But we kept that car for a bit, didn't we? And um I'll try and remember where it was.

SPEAKER_03 2:21:12

Yeah. Were you doing Texel? Yeah, we finished Texas semifinal.

SPEAKER_05 2:21:15

Yeah. Yeah. And that was sort of obviously coming 10th at 11th in the semi was sort of the thing that happened. And from then on, I've never really done any good in semi-finals. Um after that, I think the year after in the semi.

SPEAKER_02 2:21:27

Qualified for every one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:21:29

Qualified for a semi-final every year race, yeah. Sheffield was the semi-final the year after at Sheffield, I think 11th. I got 11th or something like that again, or what or ugh. And then one year they took 12, I think, because it was Covid. And then I got 13th that year. And then I think that's sort of the first one I qualified for was 2024 world final. Um and we had the I I'd just lost the British at Bradford the week before. And then we did the Lynn semi, and I was probably the most nervous I'd ever been because I thought I've had a shit year as British champion. I really need to qualify for the world final to sort of save it. So I started like eighth row outside, and I was like absolutely I was so nervous about it, and I'd I'd put a tire on and was sat like grid not doing the you asked me about that. I've got the wrong tire on, like, because we've got different compounds and things like that. It's too soft, it's not gonna last.

SPEAKER_03 2:22:24

You asked me, didn't you? Dad, what do you reckon?

SPEAKER_05 2:22:26

Yeah, that's how you knew I was getting desperate. And this chance saloon that wasn't everybody else was busy. Yes, mint mate. It's been black in the back. And I managed to managed to get up to second. I think Charlie had knocked a shocker top off or whatever, and Lee Furst his car had died, and I managed to get up to second, and Tom had won it, and I obviously couldn't see Tom, but I was like, uh how have I managed to get second in this? And I'd never obviously qualified, and then I'd like it's right, aren't you? Second row of the world final at Skeg. And I was like and then um we we did quite a bit of prep to the time at car, things like that. I went to because of because I go into New Zealand earlier that year, I had no holidays for work, so I couldn't go testing or anything before the world final.

SPEAKER_02 2:23:10

Hang on, we'll bring it back then, we'll bring it back because we've we've skipped past the main yeah, we have yeah. We've skipped past it. So 2023, leading up to that, when did you build this car? Because you thought uh what car did you have before that? So I is the X Heinz car. That was my second time.

SPEAKER_05 2:23:28

Which you've still got by the way. Yeah, for sale, yeah. Full sale for sale, please buy it. And then we I I got approached by uh a man called Ivan Bedford, and I was sort of getting to the point of that Heinz car where I was cutting bits off it, welding shock my own's panard brackets, things like that. And it was so many times, yeah. Yeah, the stuff was working. Um, I'd come to the following meeting, and I think Matt had welded a bracket on, and I was like, Where'd you get that idea from? And he'd I'd welded this panard bracket on and then he'd done it the same and things like that. Two or three of us did it. Um and then Ivan approached me and said, We'd like to get into F1s, and I was like, right, and he said, But we don't want to buy a car. I was like, okay. He went, we'd like to build one. If we help, if we build one, will you help us? And I said, yeah, and he said, then in in return, we'll build one for with you, um, like a sponsorship deal. But he said, You tell us how you want it, come down and help us, and we'll do it. And so that started when I was 19. 18, 19, no, 19, uh 18 or 9, 2021. I started it, so I'd have been 19, just 19 that year. Um, so we was at Skeg, I'd I'd come back from work, and I was We'd go every Saturday, wouldn't we? I yeah, I was working shifts and things like that, so I'd get back from work at like half one in the morning and then get up on Saturday at like seven, seven, half six, seven, drive to Skeg, which is an hour, to go work and start building the stock car, which is where they are, which is where they were, and I would I'd sent them a load of drawings like I want it, I want to do this, this, and this, and they'd cut the stuff and we'd weld it together, mount it. And we got to the point of the roll cage hoops. Um, I'd bent the roll cage hoops, we'd done the the chassis, the undercarriage, and the roll cage hoops. Uh, and then they were like they were too busy, so in the end, there's never another one built. This was the only one that we'd ever built. This was meant to be his one. Well, no, the first one was agreed to be mine, right? Yeah. Um, and the next one was gonna be his and was gonna use this as like a trial car. So there's some bits on it now because obviously they helped sponsor it, so they wanted the better one after. Yeah, he had to go in mine, he had to go in mine, potentially. Yeah, yeah. So we were gonna build another one after, but obviously they were too busy and they they'd never ended up doing another one. So I brought it home as a chassis rails and roll cage hoops, and I'd done the shock mounts on it, and because this is now maybe like a year on after doing it and things like that, because it was just so busy. Um down the end of the shed, yeah, down the bottom end, and I finished it off down the bottom end there. Yeah, um, but because I'm away in the week, I couldn't get everything done, so it's sort of like I was sending it to have bits done to it that I couldn't do, so like the bits that I wanted to do, which was suspension, engine mountains, um, and bits and bobs like that. So I had the cage plates done.

SPEAKER_03 2:26:19

HCD did the cage plates and roof plate, chopper did them, didn't he?

SPEAKER_05 2:26:23

Because that's just a weekend of work that I couldn't do. Yeah, Chopper did them for us. So that came along, uh, and it probably took me 18 months to do it, really. Wow. Um, and in that time, the suspension mounts have been on, been off, truck mounts been on, been off.

SPEAKER_02 2:26:35

You had been learning more and advancing yourself, and you can't try keeping up, catch up with how much he was learning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a problem in itself as well.

SPEAKER_05 2:26:44

So we we got it finished, and I wanted to finish it and do the whole year with it, but we never got it in done in time for Good Friday. So I debuted it UK weekend. You did debuted it at UK weekend.

SPEAKER_03 2:26:55

We went testing the day before, didn't we?

SPEAKER_05 2:26:56

We went testing on the third uh the week in the week before. So you'd been 20 when this came out? 21. 21. 21 when this came out by the time I'd finished it. Um and I couldn't get brakes the whole day. I never had a everyone thinks like when you debut a car, it's like oh, we've had loads of testing, it's it's gonna be it. Didn't work like that. I had no brakes the whole time, I couldn't fix it.

SPEAKER_03 2:27:15

We had nine seven hours comeback. I'm at seven hours doing the brakes a year.

SPEAKER_05 2:27:19

Pressure gauges in the after every join, every I couldn't find it, I couldn't find the problem. So you had too much travel, didn't you? We eventually got somewhat sorted and went to the meeting at Skate UK weekend and went around in practice. I'm still double pumping the pedal. I couldn't find the issue, but it was which is not ideal. No, you're just gonna have to deal with it. But I was so adamant that I it needed to be good because I said as long as it looks nice or it's fast, somebody will buy it when I'm done with it. And then the first race we went out, meaning you were in the same race, I was in the same race, and I managed to get into the lead, and I was like, this is going alright, but you're still double pumping the pedal, it's not great. And um, they caught a wave yellow with like one lap to go. And there was two actually, there's two wave yellow. A wave yellow about four to go, and then the stops. And I thought I said we're in it, and then there was another wave yellow and one lap to go. And I don't normally get that stroppy, but I'd like waving your arms about you.

SPEAKER_03 2:28:14

Was winning, then it was Webster, then it was Carl Orkins, then it was me.

SPEAKER_05 2:28:17

There's some red tops as well, I think, behind us. Yeah, so it was like quite a relatively difficult grade to come off as well, like blue. And I managed to win the first race out in it, so that was a big achievement for me. Massive. I there's a picture of me when I collect the trophy, and it's like just a massive sigh of relief that it's not a turd.

SPEAKER_03 2:28:33

Oh, I tried really hard for second dinner, yeah, and got fourth in the end.

SPEAKER_05 2:28:37

I said I just really wanted to win a race in it by the end of the year. Um and you'd done it in the first meeting. The first race. First race, yeah, yeah. And then the rest of the weekend didn't really go very well. There's a bit of a noise coming from the engine and things like that, so we we sort of parked it up and then we did Ip switch, but I hadn't had a chance to prep the car all week because it'd been Smat added to fix something on the engine, so it had not been prepped. I think we put the gears in at the track, yeah. We did, and then um I went out in the first heat, got spanned out, whatever, and damaged on the nerf rail. Next heat, probably like a fifth or something, I think. And then put some like some good tyres on for the final, and it was like this feels really good. And I think my transponder was playing up, but by the I managed to win the final. But when I won the final, I think the lap time in it was like two-tenths faster than everybody else in that race that day, and I had like an intermittent transponder, and I was like, This is this is really good, and I was I was buzzing with it, but at that point the engine was like really rattly, like it didn't sound great at all. She was loose, yeah. She was loose, I tried to spin the wheels, bottom end rattle. No, and I tried to spin the wheels like afterwards and do a load of tires makers, nothing. I couldn't couldn't smoke the tires because it just seemed to be so far down power. Um, and you were still two times quicker. I think that was probably why it was so quick because you couldn't spin the spin it like having traction control, yeah. Yeah, putting it through it um with the perfect amount of uh acceleration. So the following weekend was uh with June, and I couldn't race it because I had no engine for it, so we raced the other car, but then we decided I was like, I need to take that to the British. I was like, I really want to take that to the British, I don't want to race the other car. So we swapped an engine, raced it to the British, and then we got there in the first race, and the left front caliper was sticking on, so that was no good. Um, not gonna get many points for a qualifying spot for that. Radiator had a hole in it. I was like, this is really not going out very well.

SPEAKER_03 2:30:31

Who parked next to us and told us about the radiator? Somebody's parked. I'm sat on the wheel. No, Jack France was parked next to us, and his dad said, Sad, your rad's leaking. And we changed it. We did change the rad.

SPEAKER_05 2:30:47

We did change it, we changed it. I sort of I was just I just wasn't getting on very well, I didn't drive very well, and I had one more heat because the British normally get like three heats.

SPEAKER_02 2:30:55

Yeah, nice points accumulated, ready for the grid in the final.

SPEAKER_05 2:30:58

Yeah, that's it. I had a bit of a talking to Emily's mum, Sarah, gave me a bit of talking to and was like, you need to sort yourself out. You could that car's really good, and you're not driving it very good, basically. I was like, that's your bottle. I'll give them a proper ball. And I was like, okay, yeah, maybe they're right. And I got fourth in the last heat. I think I managed to maybe come home behind Tom in the heat. So that put me like eighth row inside, and I was like, Oh, this is just you come to me with a grid, didn't you?

SPEAKER_03 2:31:25

I was like, I'm eight throw inside, this is a waste of time.

SPEAKER_02 2:31:27

It's about mid-pack.

SPEAKER_03 2:31:27

He said, Dad, you took a picture on your phone, didn't you? He said, Dad, look at this. Yeah, and my words to him was right, mate, he won't let him win, he won't let him win, he's gonna kill him.

SPEAKER_05 2:31:38

As it turned out, like it was the best place to start.

SPEAKER_03 2:31:41

And I said, That's that. I said, if you're still going in the top eight at halfway, you've got a chance.

SPEAKER_05 2:31:49

It was relatively alright in the end. I was far enough back that when all the carnage had happened, you'd pick the places up from the carnage. So by the time I think I got into about sixth, I think I got pit wide come around turn three and four, and I saw Danny Wayman coming up the inside of me off the corner because see there was like a train of red tops lining up behind him. And you just moved that one. I looked at it and I thought, oh no, mate, you can take that. That could have been me. And then we I dived under and managed to get through, and I come up out like third or fourth, and then we come around on the way, and Danny's like, wheels gone, end of the axle's gone.

SPEAKER_03 2:32:24

I'm like, yeah. See, Antwort Neels was killing Tom. Yeah, yeah. Matt had already been put in by rubber, rubber and Tom, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:32:32

So they were slowly depreciating the plan was working so Ryan and then Catherine and then me. And I'd I'd raced with Catherine since I was like 11, so I knew she was never gonna like shit up or back down. She ain't no second.

SPEAKER_02 2:32:48

No, she never was. No, not with Tom and your brother and all. I mean no chance he was not leaving.

SPEAKER_05 2:32:54

Yeah. And I was sort of like I I saw it and I saw Ryan's tires were going off. He'd been in the whole race at the front, the pair of them had, so your tires are sort of spent up, and I thought I'd just back off a little bit, save my tires for the last. Oh, you did back off? I backed off for a little bit, yeah. Because you've you lost a bit of ground, but that was you. Yeah, I backed off, and I saw the five lap boards come out after that, and I was like, right, I'll try and catch up. I reckon I can get to them. And I was catching, but it wouldn't have been enough to like get onto her on the last bend. But then Ryan started trying to break Catherine up and trying to play a bit of mind games. Went out wide a couple of times, didn't you? Yeah, trying to invite her inside, and then he could have Yeah. And I managed to I could see it happening because you can obviously watch so much when you're behind them.

SPEAKER_02 2:33:33

You're not even driving your machine, you're watching them just doing it like right when's my spot.

SPEAKER_05 2:33:38

You're just trying to think, oh maybe. I was like, I'm in for a podium here. This is this is amazing. And then um I watched Catherine come down the back straight and I saw it go for riot, and then part of it like the stock car fan in, you sits there and you go, Oh, and then you come around the corner, and the thing's a picture. I'm around the corner, I'm like, Oh fuck. I've nearly missed the corner. I've come around the line, I've Oh fuck, I've won. And then you didn't realise you've won. And then you try and celebrate, do a big skid, and then add to stop. And they're going to the race here with red flags, red flags. And I was like, Oh no. And then they're gonna go back one. And then they're gonna go back. I said to the marshal, I went, Can I get out? He went, No. Oh no. And I was like, What do you mean no? He went, You can't get out yet. And I could hear people cheering. I was like, or is it finished? Or obviously Catherine's getting out of her car. And um was your heart racing, or you just didn't really like you can't even talk properly. And then he he said to me, He's like, I was like, Can I get out? He's like, No, I don't know if the race is finished yet. I was like, I'm telling you now it's finished. Like we we are done. I said, I've just gone past the checker flag, we are done. And he's like, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 2:34:42

It's the first race win all over again, and it's like the first final. Here we go again.

SPEAKER_05 2:34:46

I was like, we're done, we're not doing another lap. And then in the end, they said, No, it's finished, you can get out. Reading checkers. So that yeah, but you sat there for so long while they're trying to clear cars up because you're not allowed out of your car and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 2:34:56

It's all dying down by that point as well.

SPEAKER_05 2:34:58

The first person who spoke to me was Dylan, and he shouted through the fence, he was like, Oh my hair, and I'm like, Who's that? Okay, you can't just see it. Yeah. On your own. I'll just sat on my own. Down the back straight. There's no one down the back straight.

SPEAKER_03 2:35:13

If you watch the videos, you'll see it.

SPEAKER_05 2:35:14

I'm like sort of on my own down the back straight. Like you you got loads of time to sort of gather your thoughts and stuff like that. And I was just like, I've got to go.

SPEAKER_02 2:35:20

I've got one crowd's going for one mental one.

SPEAKER_05 2:35:23

Well, they weren't, I don't think they were going mental for me, I think they were going for mental because somebody just drilled Ryan.

SPEAKER_03 2:35:27

But you watched somebody videoed it out of the stand, yeah, and they're all cheering because Catherine's done Ryan, and one bloke goes, fucking Finn's one, Finn's British champ.

SPEAKER_05 2:35:38

Yeah. It was a bit of a mental first three meetings.

SPEAKER_03 2:35:41

Now it's like But we were stood just past the start and finish line. And you're like, go on, mate, go on, mate, go on, mate. Five to go, and I was like, I said to Matt, I said he's he's eased off because you could hear the engine tone. And I said he's eased off. Um still and um he won and I dropped to my knees gone, and they're picking me off like this, and like it still gets you now, do you know what I mean? It's just mental. But on the way to the track, we left ease in the back talking to Emily and blah blah blah blah blah. I see two magpies. No, I drove.

SPEAKER_05 2:36:23

I drove to the track.

SPEAKER_03 2:36:24

You drove to the track, yeah. I drove to the track, yeah. Because I was going to work on Monday, so I had to drive. So you drove, so we're all in the in the truck taking the the car to the track and whatever it is. I don't know. You see two magpies one for sorrow, two for joy. Then this car pulls out in front of me five, two, six on the number box. S26.

SPEAKER_05 2:36:44

S26 on the number trucker, and it had the same number plate basically.

SPEAKER_03 2:36:48

And you lie, and you're driving it, I think. I wonder.

SPEAKER_05 2:36:50

It's weird. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:36:51

And then that happens.

SPEAKER_05 2:36:52

Well then it's a really weird thing. Like, you get you don't notice it, but like in the week at work, we have like the work orders and stuff, you get they have numbers on, and the numbers, that series of numbers were coming through was like 526, blah blah blah blah blah. It was a bit weird. So we won, didn't we? And come off and add the celebration and stuff. But then because it's a Sunday, it really dies down really quickly. Like by the end of it, everyone's just disappeared. Yeah, so no one no one's around, and it's quite humbling actually that we did all that, we had a hug, we had KFC. Oh, bought KFC, don't know. Everybody KFC and then because because we couldn't do donuts on the track, I had a Shrocko and I decided I was gonna do donuts in the car park at KFC. So I thought I was valid. Did you unload it? No, no, no, with the Shrocko. Oh, with Shrocko, right? Yeah, trying to do like reverse donuts on the car park. And then we weren't going to Venray, was we? We weren't going to Venre, and then we decided we were going to do Venre, didn't we? Yeah. That was prize when he gone, wasn't it? I no, I was very lucky that people actually sponsored me. Um some people, uh Emily's family and you and a lot of the people that help us sponsor me and paid for a new wing and things like that. Milden all the following week, wasn't it? Yeah, it was Milden All the following week for the semi-final. And I I don't like I'll talk to people at racing things like that, but I'm I don't do like he don't do my side, don't do what your dad does. Your dad does enough for you. Yeah, he does, yeah, he picks up a slack.

SPEAKER_03 2:38:17

Yeah, pick up the pieces.

SPEAKER_05 2:38:18

Um so everybody's coming up to you saying well done, blah blah blah. And you I didn't it's a semi-final day, I didn't have a spare timer for anything. So I was like, Oh, I can't can't do this. And uh I I just went and sat in the back of the trailer, so we used to take a little trailer with us for spares, and it was parked like toe bar facing the pits. Yeah, I just went and sat in the back of the trailer for probably a good hour, didn't I? Yeah, you did, yeah. Just get away from everything and try and let it all die down and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 2:38:42

They get your parade lap, didn't they?

SPEAKER_05 2:38:43

Yeah, they get your parade lab. It's very it was a lot to take in, especially if like I was only 21. Second youngest British champ. No, I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_03 2:38:50

Oh, you are, yeah. I thought you was the youngest one. I think Frank's youngest one. I think Frank, no, I don't think it I don't know whether it was Frank or Paul Harrison, I think. No, it's somebody else. I think somebody else is the youngest British champ, but I think you're definitely second because I asked Nigel.

SPEAKER_05 2:39:05

Yeah, but I just it was so much to take in on the day at after because I'd had all week at work and nobody necessarily don't necessarily speak to everybody about stock cars at work or come to work and go to probably come home. Yeah, and then one of the one of the lads at work went, that you was like on his phone. It was like TikTok of oh Fin Sarge and British Champion, it's a big like montage that somebody's done. I went, Yeah, he went, So you you're British champion? I went, Yeah. And he went, Why didn't you say anything? I was like, I'm just just don't mention it. It's just something I do at the weekends. And he was like, Is that quite a big deal? And I went, Yeah, the lads who I live with they didn't really get it until like I think it was the Monday. I come back after work and we sit on the sofa and like my phone kept ringing like all day. I had like probably five people ring me.

SPEAKER_02 2:39:49

What the fuck is that with your phone? That's what he said to me.

SPEAKER_05 2:39:51

He's like, Why are people keep ringing you? He said, This is quite a big deal, isn't it? And I went, It in terms of our sports, yeah. And he went, Why have you not mentioned it? I went, I was just didn't bother. Because nobody necessarily gets it at work. They do now, like the people who get on with the work, they get it. Um but from that, that was like a massive that was probably like a a launch pad, really, for the rest of the year and my career. That that that car really was like a if I'd have not built that, I don't know what I'd you probably won't be talking to us. No, no, you won't bother.

SPEAKER_03 2:40:21

You'd have gone fishing, Tebs, or took you out for dinner. Oh no. Don't tell her that. That's on the way home. I know whether it's a good car, Brick. Yes, fine.

SPEAKER_02 2:40:32

So it was a good moment. It was a brilliant moment. Well you see Eric got me then. Yeah, exactly. That's crazy, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 2:40:39

Unbelievable, Tabs, unreal, sort of.

SPEAKER_02 2:40:42

Like I said, in I'll speak to him in a minute when he comes back, but in your own car as well, it's you know, you haven't spent a hundred grand on a m on a motor. No. Do you know what I mean? No. Um which some people do, and you know exactly. But that's and you've beaten a load of people that have. It has to run your way a hundred percent. If it's your day, you'll win.

SPEAKER_03 2:41:02

And if it's not stock home. And if it's not, you'll be sweeping it all, putting it in the truck, and getting some chips. Um but no, that's it was his day. You know, it's Tom's day when you survive the last bender at Frank event. If it's your day, you'll win. There's a lot of lured as well. Um unbelievably proud of it. Um still there, every day. You know, he's he's I know he's my kid and I'll always bring him up and I'll always look after him and support him. But his knowledge is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02 2:41:37

Right, so winning the British the rest of the year, because British is early on, aren't it? Is British early on? The British was about June, I think.

SPEAKER_05 2:41:45

Right, so mid-season. Mid-season, um, and following that we had the Mildnore meeting. Yeah, uh, and that was a Milno Northampton meeting, and we was obviously loads of people coming up to me, and someone said, Well, you go to New Zealand, won't you? And I was like, laughed off. I was like, why would I go to New Zealand? And he was like, Well, you get invited, don't you? I went, do I? Or it might have been a couple weeks later, somebody said that. And I was like, No, obviously I'm not going to New Zealand. I'm like, that's pfft, that's way out my range.

SPEAKER_02 2:42:15

Yeah, not really thought about it either.

SPEAKER_05 2:42:16

No, and he was like, Well, you get invited to go. And I was like, Okay. So I was in a hotel bar after, and the people, like the that side of the lads who organise New Zealand, not the drivers and stuff, as in the English lot. Yeah. I was like, Do I get an invited New Zealand? And they went, well, uh Yeah. I was like, well, I'm going. And he was like, Right. He went, How are you going? Don't know, but I'm going. So I was like, I'm gonna make a plan and I'll go. And I was like, okay. Um and I asked the people who organise it normally over there, can you help me out and sort a car? As in the English people that can you give me a hand to do it. I'll come, I'll mechanic at Teams, I'll do this, I'll do that. And he was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll help you out and sort it. I messaged him, I was like, Have you had any luck over the car or somewhere to stay? Because originally it was going to be me and Dad that went, and um dad bailed out, which didn't help. So I was like, Alright, fucking hell, I'm going to New Zealand on my own at this point. Literally on your own. That was the original plan. Um, and it was getting up to the point of like three or four weeks before we fly. And I was like, I haven't got a flight booked, or when I was meant to fly, I didn't have a flight booked, I had the time booked off work, but I didn't have a flight booked. Um and I said, Any better with a car? And they was like, Oh no, these NZ guys are just so laid back. And I'm thinking, at the minute I ain't gonna be going. I ain't spending all that money on a flight if I ain't got a car sorted. Well, I didn't have a flight booked, didn't have anywhere to stay, I didn't have a car, I just it was a bit of a pipe dream, really. Um I was very fortunate that uh me and Emily went to Mick and uh Sharon Harris's uh anniversary pie at their house. And Mick said, Well, you got yourself sorted for New Zealand, and I was like, nope. I said toe and toe's not really done a lot. I said, Yeah, no, basically. I said, I've got absolutely nothing sorted. So this is what I've tried, this is what I spoke to. And he was like, Yeah. He went, I'll sort it out. And I was like, Oh, yeah, I thought he was just having a laugh or whatever. Yeah, yeah. I was like, alright. And then he went, nah, he is he'd had a few beers or whatever, and um I thought that's rustling straight down the mic, isn't it? Um and he said to me, he said, I'll I'll sort it out. So Mick said, come here, dragged me off into another room at his house, and he went, Um, this is Russell Joblin. And he's on the phone to Russell Joblin. He said, This is Russell Joblin, Russell, this is the this is our British champion. I was like, Alright. And he went, I'm just like, hi. And uh he's like, he's got an invite, but he's got nowhere to nowhere to go, nowhere to stay, blah blah blah. Russell's like, yeah, it's right, you come stay with me. Like I'd never met him, just over the phone. Um and then probably Mick was like, well, I sort you out a car, got somewhere to stay. He said, I'll help you out. He said, I'll come with you. So me Well, Mick's coming with you. Yeah, wow. So me, Mick, and Emily went to New Zealand. Um it was just one of them things, it happened like I'd been waiting since maybe August to try and get sorted out to go over, and then within two weeks, Mick had done Mick and Sharon, had got everything booked, said this is the car that you'll race, this is where you'll stay, this is where you're flying, we'll fly out with you, done all that. Um, so I was like, wow, okay. Is this flying out for the same time as the teams? So or not, because of Mick coming back to go to Florida with Tom, I had to shift it a week, so I couldn't stay out for teams basically. Um, because I could only have three weeks off work because it's the busiest time at work, so I couldn't have all that time off. I was very lucky they'd give me the time off anyway. So was it before teams? Before teams. So I went out. Normally they go out the week of 240s and fly back the week after Teams. I went out two weeks before 240s and flew back the week after. Right. Um, so we got out there. Mick into well, Mick couldn't fly out in the end the same day as me and Emily. So me and Emily flew out on our own, and because of building the car and things like that, I took all my holiday off work to build that. Me and Emily had never been on holiday, so our first holiday was to New Zealand. Uh, was on a plane for like 30 hours total travelling together as a first holiday. I was like, this is either a make or break thing, really, isn't it? Um hundred percent that he's a make or break there and then. To be fair, she could look all the rod up. She's got the rough end of the stick, really. The first drivers do. I asked her on the morning of drivers do, do you want to come drivers do with me? Oh, right. And was in Sheffield, she's like, Well, I haven't got a dress. Four years down the line, she's still stuck with it. Yeah, poor Emily. Yeah. You've done alright so far.

SPEAKER_00 2:47:04

We've spoken about going, didn't we? You said you know, Dadham. I said that you couldn't come in the end, I couldn't come in the end because purely because we were having engines done.

SPEAKER_03 2:47:13

You just you couldn't have engines. We've just gone through a period where we were having engines rebuilt.

SPEAKER_05 2:47:19

That year was the year we blew about five engines up or four engines up.

SPEAKER_03 2:47:21

And I said to him, Yeah, I'll go with you. I said, but the money I'll spend in it, I'd love to have gone, trust me. But the money, it's either go to New Zealand or or have an another engine built. So I have two engines, one for his shell car, one for his tarmac car.

SPEAKER_02 2:47:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:47:36

Whether you call it an executive.

SPEAKER_05 2:47:37

But it started on the start of the year with the engine issues in this and it's spelled on. I blew that that one was got blew up, and then I blew another one up at Millden.

SPEAKER_03 2:47:44

Yeah, and then and and I said I said I'll try and save some money. So um yeah, but if if I'm on if you can call it, you can say what you want about this job, but I think you might not want me to say this, but I think he didn't get enough support from certain people who go to New Zealand because he asked, he didn't he got told by a member of the public that he was entitled to go to New Zealand but then he asked a certain person about it. I ain't gonna say no names, and they said, Yeah, we'll look after you, we'll sort you out, correct? We'll look after you, and we'll do this, and we'll do that. I've done that bit. Has he done it? I don't know, sorry, I was making a drink. But I feel very let down by it. And the poor old boy, he was 20 what, 22? No, still 21. 20, 22. Still 21 to go out there, I thought I think it's disgusting. But massive thanks to Mick Harris for taking them under his wing, yeah, yeah. And doing it, got the job done. Yeah, yeah. But the question I'll ask is, why did the not help him?

SPEAKER_05 2:48:55

So me and Emily flew out to New Zealand uh together through China and things like that, and we got there and had a night in Auckland and Mick North Island.

SPEAKER_02 2:49:05

North Island, yes.

SPEAKER_05 2:49:06

We flew into Auckland, we stayed over in Auckland for the night, and they said to me, I think Mick told me, This is the bloke's phone number. He's got a car that you can borrow to drive around. Road car, yeah. Yeah, get out of the airport, uh, got a taxi to the hotel, dropped the bags off, got a taxi in the morning. I think at the following morning, picked this road car up. He said, Go meet uh this bloke here, he'll give you a road car. So I knocked on door at this guy's house. I was like, hi alright.

SPEAKER_02 2:49:34

Random, hi mate.

SPEAKER_05 2:49:35

I was like, hi mate, I'm in the car, I'm uh I'm I'm Finn. And he went, Yep. I went, uh I'm here to pick the car up. And he's like, Yeah, right, there it is. I'm giving a car, and I was like, Alright, do I need to do anything? He went, No, you don't do anything. I was like, Well, he's like, No, there's no insurance over here, you don't need insurance. I was like, Oh, okay. So I'm driving around this like V6 thing, what like saloon Holden thing, not Holden, Ford or something, yeah. And then it wasn't the best car in the world, but it was a car to get around and things. I was grateful for it. 100% anyway. Mick flew in the next day. I come around the airport bit, like you know, the drive bit. It's like I can't be late. Oh no, sorry, before that, we I'd been told by Lloyd, who was borrowing the car off, you go to Cardwell's, which is like a race park shop, a bit like Speedworth's one, but it's like the main one, I think. I'd been and picked up six tyres, two rims, a brake disc, something else, something else, and I was buying bits for here, and I'd shoved it all in this saloon car with my bags, so two big bags, my bag, Emily's bag, another bag, and then like your hand luggage, and this car is like rammed. And we've gone around to the airport, picked Mick up, and as I've come round to pick Mick up, the I've gone over a speed bump and I'd not shut the boot properly. So the boots giving it that in the airport, and mate boy said, Are you staying too long? I have to go do a UE and do a loop again. We picked Mick up and he told me it's not a it's not a long drive from Auckland to uh uh Taranaki where you're staying. I was like, Alright, I'll drive it, don't worry. He just got off the plane. He said it's about three and a half hours. I was like, Alright. So we started driving. I put the satin over and I said, Mick, this is five and a half hours. And he was like, Oh yeah, it's a bit longer actually than what I said. So there's five and a half hours, this car full of just full of bags and stock car parts and things like that, and we're going down hills and it's going and down the hills. And Mick said he was absolutely knackered, but he said, I was so scared of you driving this car. I couldn't sleep going to Joblin's house. So we pulled up at Joblin's house, and they're very grateful for them. They took us in and um looked after us basically. And the week before, uh the day after we got there, went up to the garage and met uh Logan, Regan, and everybody was looking after the car and gave them a hand to put it together. Um Regan's girlfriend, Kayla, like very kindly took Emily off, and so she got to actually have a bit of a holiday. Yeah, not stuck in a workshop. I did I did have a D sticker and a wing and a body ready for it to get painted so I could have some input. Um so she was pulling stickers off, and then I think uh Regan's girlfriend was like, Emily, you don't have to do that. And then uh so Kayla took Emily to like go a bit of sightseeing and a bit of a holiday and things like that. Uh while I did the car for the week. And um stayed at the Joblins and things like I've not really got a great sense of direction. So their their yard, like where I was staying at Joblin's house, and uh Logan's yard was probably like a 10-minute drive max. And I I had to ask him for the postcode like most days. I was like, mate, I'm lost. He's like, you literally turn left out of Joblin's, keep going straight, and then you turn right. And I was like, they were following me one day, and they was like, You were indicating here, you're in he's like, Why are you indicating? I went, mate, I've got no idea where I'm going. So that became a bit of a joke of uh me getting lost like on a 10-minute journey every day, yeah. Um but no, we got we got sorted out, and then eventually got the car somewhere near Riley, and me and Emily headed off to Taupo, and we had a bit of a holiday a couple days before 240s and things like that. The lads brought the car up, and then we got there for the first night, and it was rained off. So nobody raced on the first night. It's a bummer over there, isn't it? Yeah, well, it if the wait happened this year is then got pushed back to the Friday, I wouldn't have made it. Um so we went to race the next night, uh, and a lad who does the interviews and stuff come over there and said to me, was like, I know how to do an interview. I was like, Yeah, yeah, of course I can. More than happy. So I sat there doing an interview, and then suddenly I heard a load of cars. So what's going on? And there was all the British lads going around on their practice, and I was sat there, I was like, Am I meant to be in that? He's like, Yeah, I think so, actually, mate. Yeah, yeah, you should probably get going, mate. Yeah, so got in the got in the car, missed the first practice, said to the bloke who runs the track ring, can I can I get in for like just 10 laps, like you've opened the and he went, No. Okay, so they went out for the second practice, and um I went out in it, and I'm trying to drive it like my shale car why like you're backing it in on the right rear all the time, trying to make it work. But their right rears are only like half as wide as ours, so there's you're not getting all the grip out of it like that. And I come back and I've got a front wheel over the curb trying to hold it in and things like that, and I come back and Mick said to me, He's like, What are you doing? And I'm like, What? And he went, What he said, mate, he said, he said, I've had the fucking uh Sonia who runs the track saying, Mick, you better tell him he can't be on the pole. And I've because I've hooked the wheel over the curb and you're not allowed to do that's a big no no there. And he's like, What he was like, What are you doing? You can't you can't do that. No, he's like, You can't do that. And Asher Reeves was parked a little bit further down. He went, go talk to Asher and had to drive a car. So talk to Asher and I was like, Do you not need all the brakes on the back? Then he went, No. I was like, Oh. I'm like getting the brake winder and clicking it a little bit on the back, and yeah, and he's like, No, drive it nice and steady. And I was like, Okay, so that was my my 10 laps or whatever I got in this car. I'd never driven it all week apart from till then, yeah, never been strapped in it or anything. I had to move all the seat, the guys made me comfy in it, which was good. Um, couldn't see anything out of it because I'm not very tall. Um we went up and Mick was like, right, you gotta do grid draws. And so he went up there, they pull your number, you pull your uh sash with your numbers on, and you want a nice rear grid draw for your first race, just get you settled into it. I'd never done I'd done one clutch start, which was in practice and things like that. I'd never done anything like that before. And I come back and he went, What did you draw? And I went, uh six, uh ten and eighteen. He went, Oh no. Oh fuck. I was like, What do you mean? He went, You rode three outside for the first race. I was like, Oh, he went, What do you reckon? He went. Nah, not good. I was like, Brilliant. So you you do the parade, you line up, and you got strapped in. And then I was like, You alright? And he went, Yeah, someone strapped me in. I think it was the guy who's wearing the car, went you please just put another click on the ratchet. I was like, please make sure I'm tightening this. And then you pull from the back straight to the home straight, and then they're coming here. Nobody had explained a lot to me. Well, a couple of people had, and I'd either just completely forgot all the time. Or you've got too much going on. And I'm sat there and I'm dimensional.

SPEAKER_01 2:56:35

Whoa!

SPEAKER_05 2:56:36

And I'm thinking, and they're just about to drop the green flag, I'm like, I've not even got in first. I was like, we're gonna drop it in first, got it in first, like after they dropped the green flag, but I was way too hesitant, and um got shoved out wide, and then I'd come around the first corner in the big turn, I'd write up the fence, and then there's just got shoved way out wide, and they told me all week, I was like, you will not bend this car. This car is like ridiculously strong, it's like a teams built car. I was like, okay, and I I'd hit a post down the back straight, like gone up the concrete, and I think I'd like hit a post or whatever, and then the bumpers round, and I was like, oh fuck this. I was like, this is absolutely fucked up. And then the lads got it fixed, and Mick said to me, I think there's a picture somewhere, and Mick's like there's a big picture of Mick talking to me, and he's gone like that. And he said, just turn left off the start and don't do anything else, don't change gear, just turn left before you've even gone. It's like okay, got it. So they've come around with a portal power, the portal power's that big on the thing, it's got its own crane to move the portal power. I can imagine because them bumpers ain't gonna let them. I mean, I did I didn't I weren't very good, but there's a I did the next start and I've I've turned like nearly four lot left off the start and gone. And it was alright in the end, to be fair. I got I got a bit faster and faster, but it's just just seat time. Like the lads who the English lads have been out there, they'd all done it before, or they'd had a bit of practice and whatnot, and this car had just been put back together. It went really well to be fair to them, and I just I probably just needed more seat time in it. But it was a it was one of them once-in-a-lifetime trips. I was like, if I don't do it now, I don't know if I'll ever do it. But it took all my work holidays, so I had like worked every bank holiday. I think I had two days off for the rest of the year and things like that. That was the downside to it, mate. Yeah, but that was my year with being the British as well. But I was like, I'd give up that to go to New Zealand rather than have a great year here because I don't know if I'll ever do it.

SPEAKER_02 2:58:20

Because you you wasted like three weeks on your life, in it so three or four weeks, whether it is just away, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:58:26

So I didn't get loads of time off here because and the way my shifts worked at the time was earlier and late. So on a good day, I'd be back here at five o'clock on a Friday. On a bad day, I'd be back here at like half on a Saturday morning. So just just ruined it, really. But I think the whole New Zealand thing, I'm so pleased I did it because they're all so much appreciation for what Sharon, Mick, and everybody did for me to get there.

SPEAKER_02 2:58:51

Well, like your dad always says you never forget that. No, you never forget it.

SPEAKER_03 2:58:55

We watched the teams before you come, and I said, Would you go again? He said, Dad, I'd love to. Yeah, I'd go again. No, I'd love to. I'd love to go and say I've been once. Yeah, it's an amazing experience.

SPEAKER_05 2:59:03

It's an amazing experience. I'm sure you'll you'll find that out. But yeah, it I'd go again in a heartbeat. But it's just I wanted to go this year and things like that. It's funny in time. So much money to go. Yeah. But yeah, we we we come back and the Did you only do the 240s in this? Only did the 240s. I only only raced the two forties. I went and watched the stock car NZ's. Yeah, this is a nice like insight to it. Uh the lad's garage I was working with the car from, the stock car NZ, uh number one, Josh Walsh, was uh racing out that garage, so he worked there and and saw him and he was like, Oh yeah, blah blah blah, defending my one NZ. And then I saw him um have a crash down the back street, knocked him out and dislocated his jaw. And this was the first meeting I'd watched over there. And I come back and see him the next day and he's hobbling around and he's got like his jaws swollen. I was like, you're right, you went, yeah. I just had about 20 parasites. Okay. I'm sort of thinking, oh fuck. That could be me. I was like, oh, this is gonna be nice. But no, it was uh it was a relatively tame year, I think, that year for them. Yeah, but no, it was a great experience, I'd definitely go again. But it it just it just hammered my season over here. Yeah, I didn't have any holiday to take to sort the car out. No, the shifts weren't quite like friendly for working here, uh and just just engines, we just didn't have engines back. Like these things take a while to get rebuilt and things like that, and when they go wrong, they they normally go wrong pretty big.

SPEAKER_03 3:00:23

We we came sort of across our current engine builder, John, by chance. It's just massive stroke of luck, really. I have the utmost respect we both do. We have the utmost respect for this fella. Um and it was pure by chance, to be fair.

SPEAKER_05 3:00:37

He put a thing on Facebook asking if uh for a young driver to help and benefit him because he wanted to get his name out there into F1 engines and he wanted to help a young driver out. So I sent him an email um or a message. I'm British champ. I said Well, there's a story behind that. I uh I sent him a message and said, Hi, I'm Finn. You said to me what you reckoned, didn't you? I quite a tried to make it quite professional, like C V basically. I said, I'm Finn, I've I've won the British last year, blah blah blah. And he went, Yeah, I know you are. I was like, Oh, okay. He went, You're probably a bit too qualified for what I'm looking for. And I thought he was there when Finn was like, he was there when I won. He was there when I won won at the British, and he said, Yeah, I know you've built your own car, I know you've won the British. I was there at Hennersford. I was like, okay, because he lives nearby to Hennersford. He said, You're probably a bit overqualified for what I'm thinking. I'm thinking, I'm definitely not.

SPEAKER_03 3:01:25

I'm not, I swear. But he was there at Skeggy when you debuted it.

SPEAKER_05 3:01:28

Yes, yeah. He de he was there when I debuted at Skeg and he was there when I won the British. Um so we took all we had two bits of and uh two engines and like two bits worth of engines, one block, and we took everything to him, and he basically made one engine out of the two, which is that one. That one and all these parts we we were just sort of we didn't think they were any good or anything like that. And he basically rebuilt this engine, like resurrected it, because I guess most of it probably would have been not very good or gone in the scrap. And I I think it's probably the best engine I've ever driven. And it it by far so much more power than what I had before and the way it delivers it and things like that. It's an amazing engine to drive.

SPEAKER_03 3:02:07

The man is very precise what he does. Rare developments, yeah. He's got a page on Facebook, rare developments, and uh we've had several drivers come to us and ask us who does that, who does that? I'm not gonna mention any names, but they've come to us and now he has probably another six he's currently doing. I think he's probably done six or seven now that he's currently doing now. There you go. So he wasn't over qualified, wasn't he? But he's not done what he needs to do. Yeah, he said to me, What do I keep putting stuff on Facebook? He said it to you as well.

SPEAKER_05 3:02:38

Just get his name out there.

SPEAKER_03 3:02:39

Just get his name out there, and I said, Yes, John, because nobody else is doing it, like you with these. Nobody else is doing these. People will watch yours because they're A, they're like watching you, and B, there's nobody else doing it. So John's then putting the pictures on what he's doing.

SPEAKER_05 3:02:52

So sometimes I think people take it the wrong way, as in that he's he's slagging off other engine builders, but he's but he's not he's not slagging off other engine builders, it's sort of it's his way of working, he's he's sort of trying to say, You do you know what's in your engine, basically? Yeah, because some of the things that like you see like of people's blown up bits of engine and stuff like that thing, oh my god, why what has happened there? Like we had a we had a crank that go, and there's bits of block here and bit of crank there. So he's been a massive help for us. Unbelievable fellow would definitely not be where it is now, John.

SPEAKER_03 3:03:24

Um very clever guy, very down-to-earth guy. Don't give him too many Henry Westons. Don't give anyone too many Henry Westons. No, he's he loves a drop of Henry Westons, Jesus Christ. Yeah, he's so honest and so good at what he does. Yeah, he's good. Really nice guy, and and he's he's got a Facebook page if anybody's rare development.

SPEAKER_05 3:03:46

He doesn't just do V8, I think he's done stock road engine and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 3:03:48

So V8 Road car stuff, um yeah, but such a down to worth honest guy, and we wouldn't we'd be lost without him as a friend and an engine builder.

SPEAKER_02 3:03:58

So is it did he come on board after the New Zealand?

SPEAKER_05 3:04:00

So he came on board. Um I missed the start of the year as my British champion as in the first couple of March. Yeah, you did the nothing meetings. I say nothing missing. I did a Lynn, didn't I? You did a and then I you had the engine out of Dad's car and then put it in mine to race the qualifying rounds and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 3:04:14

So you were just doing the ones that you could really, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:04:17

Dad went on holiday. Um dad went on holiday and left me to go race him, and I took his engine, obviously, and put it in my car. We went to Northampton and I rang him, I said, You're alright? He went, Yeah, how you getting on? I went, You sat down. He went, Yeah, why? I went, just snapped your crank.

SPEAKER_02 3:04:36

Oh no, I was at Milden all.

SPEAKER_05 3:04:38

He went, You are? I went, no, it's Northampton. I went, I've just snapped your crank. And he was like, Uh right. I went, No, it's just in bits, mate. He was like, Oh, okay. Well, don't worry about it. And I'm like, What do you mean, don't worry about it? I'll see you when I come back. You texted me afterwards, you went, Did you mean you want to wine that went nah? It was in June. I was in Benadorm with Johnny and Knox. So that put an end to that, really. You killed that one after that. I think the end of the one engine. Oh, we lost the lost the British, didn't we? And then um got very close to coming on the podium and defended it at Bradford. I'd only raced the shale car a couple times.

SPEAKER_02 3:05:10

And um was it a big thing to you to defend it, or was you because of the start of the season you wasn't into it?

SPEAKER_05 3:05:17

I knew that I was gonna have a massive challenge to defend it at Bradford. I didn't race a whole I think race maybe one meeting at Bradford in the lead up to it. And um I'd cut all the shale car up after going to New Zealand and tried to make it a bit more like their cars, and um I bought the bars off Tom and fitted them to my car and sort of tried to make my own way about it rather than ask loads of questions and try and figure it out. I wanted to try and figure it out myself.

SPEAKER_03 3:05:40

I think I bought them for your birthday, didn't I?

SPEAKER_05 3:05:42

Yeah, my birthday present was some link bars off Tom.

SPEAKER_03 3:05:44

What do you want? They said I'll have some link bars.

SPEAKER_05 3:05:45

Yeah, so I'm trying with that and had a new axle fitted, and then it rained really badly at Bradford, and I'd probably qualified like worse than what I did the year before, probably like 10th row. And then it started coming on and started coming through and uh ended up near probably four, fifth, and then just about to go for fourth. I was just about I think I was about to pass Matt and then suddenly just so loose and found out that the suspension had seized up on the left-hand side. So you're coming in the corner, it's just three-wheeling, nothing. So that was the end of that, and obviously the semi-final with um coming second. Then the world final was a bit of a bummer, really, is I had uh half tidy. I didn't get a very good start before they I got spann out before they uh completely restarted it, and then after that I was running third behind Tom, then Frank, then me. Thought this is alright, I think. I'll I'll be right with this. Tom and Matt, I think. Was it Tom and Matt?

SPEAKER_03 3:06:42

Tom and Matt, then you, and then I think Frank, Frank put a Dutch lad into you.

SPEAKER_05 3:06:46

And then I got knocked, I ended up hitting the fence, come back in, and then I went for a hit over the curb, and then as I landed down after the curb, I landed on the front of like Liam Gilbank's bumper, and then I was just hooked tow vehicle, so that put an end to that, and after that didn't make the shootout or anything like that. Well, won the consolation blitz the constellation afterwards. The worst the always the way and then you look at the lap times, I know it doesn't mean anything. But you look at lap times, I was like a tenth faster than Frank in the constellation than what he was in the world final, and I'm like Yeah, be sure that you'll win tends again.

SPEAKER_02 3:07:15

At the end of the day, you've got to be there, and you'd win I wasn't there, but it's not bad. That's that's good going though. It was a good for that world final, making starting that far up and actually compete competing. I think the problem with that was in your own car. I was too relaxed for it, really. As in We weren't G'd up enough for it. Thinking if if you'd have gone in there with a mentality you can win.

SPEAKER_05 3:07:33

Yeah, I mean, like I think what happened was because it's so far up the grid, you get parked up and you just got so much time before anything else happens because all the other drivers come out, and I was just sat there and I was just I wasn't nervous, I just like mellowed down too much. You went, You're alright. I went, Yeah, just chilled.

SPEAKER_03 3:07:46

I was just so chilled.

SPEAKER_05 3:07:48

I I think I laid down on the nerf. I was just trying to go straight. Just waiting before you had to get in. I know I I just didn't make enough of it really. Um but end of the season, I put it all on for the under 25s, it was a bit a little bit greasy and things like that. And I thought I was that Skeggy, yeah. Skeggy again. And I thought, oh, this would be alright. I completely missed the start, as in like the front end was too stiff and just pushed on. I think I ended up last. And I was I was really trying. Dad had actually just come back from Benedome uh again on the in the morning, in the morning, and turned up at the track, and we had one of our mates borrowing the other car. He was like, Oh, you're right. I went and I went, yeah. I was like, I am so busy. I was changing power steering pumps and stuff, and he was on Sun Lounger.

SPEAKER_00 3:08:30

And um I mean holiday.

SPEAKER_05 3:08:32

He came back, he went, I'm just gonna down here talk to so-and-so. I was like, You are not. He was like, Yeah, I'm gonna. I went, No, you're not. I said, You're gonna sort Darren out because Darren hasn't got a clue what's going on at the minute, and he's a little bit stuck, and he was like, Oh, yeah, I went, no. You're following up there. I was a little bit raging about it. We had a we had a few words, didn't we? We went out to the 25s.

SPEAKER_02 3:08:53

This is a miserable fucker.

SPEAKER_05 3:08:56

We had a few words, and I went out to the 25s, and I came back after I'd sort of picked myself back up mid-race and managed to win it. And um you come over to me and I was like, You're right. I was like, No, I'm so pissed off it.

SPEAKER_02 3:09:08

I was like, Well, you spoke to me, you're like, sure, I'm dead.

SPEAKER_05 3:09:10

Yeah, and uh I didn't actually say it was in the it was me rearing up. Oh right, yeah, I didn't say I was having a go at Dag's to just come back off holiday for playing swamp through the pits and thought I was just gonna get on with watching. I was like, No, you're gonna do some work. Um so that that was the end of that year, really, wasn't it? And then we sort of got ready for what was this year? Uh well 2025. 2025, which was probably the although I won the British and then the 25s previously. This year just gone was probably my most prominent year, if you like. Hit the ground running more consistency as well. Yeah, so I won the better results. Before the season finished previous, I'd won the final at the shootout finale, and then I'd won the other 25s. I'd won the last two main races of the year.

SPEAKER_02 3:09:51

So you'd done well towards the end then.

SPEAKER_05 3:09:53

Yeah, so the cars were sort of there. I spent a bit of time over the winter cutting a bit of weight out of this, putting a few couple of bits right on the shale car, making a proper effort for start of 25.

SPEAKER_02 3:10:01

I was gonna say, do you think you'd done more this year because of you knew you've messed up last year? We didn't mess up, but yeah, you didn't put you couldn't put the effort in last year. So this year you was like, right. The other thing nowhere went wrong last year. Yeah, this year I'm gonna double down, get as many hours out as I can. Yeah, new ideas.

SPEAKER_05 3:10:16

The other thing that helped as well was my shifts had changed at work, so I'd gone on to Monday to Thursday, so now I have to march out every Friday here. So you'd leave Thursday night, yeah, and get back here full day Friday. Full day Friday, full day Saturday, yeah, and it was just way better, yeah, just more time, took probably about 20 kilos out of the car, lightened it up, it cost a lot. Expensive steel bills, and um you ain't had the electric bill yet. Sure don't want it. Fucking don't want it. Yeah, fuck that and um just put the car, got it in a way better state than what it was, and just sort of had a good start to the year. Um and then did you start the year blue? No, started the year red, red, finished the year, got back up to red at the end of 2024, 2025, started off red, and uh only won one race last about two races last year, but um consistently thirds, fourth, third, fourth, fifth, things like that, and the car was really quick from the off. Just managed to get to superstar, held it for the majority of the way until August time, yeah. The only I sort of dropped because it's quite hard in F1s, I didn't realise it's top four and then your average, so you have to be top four on the points, or you have to have an average, right? Or to hold top five if if world champions in it or something like that. I don't know the full details, but I I dropped out of fourth, I dropped to fifth, which was about sort of time the shootout started, so basically it made no difference. I started off at superstar anyway. Yeah, it was you were in the shootout, yeah, yeah. So we uh didn't qualify in the semi-final, your asshaft went. Oh yeah, I put it shoes. I put it on front row for the semi-final, and that was like no. I'd never had a time back semi-final outside the party. And it was good in practice, for it. I'd never had a time back semi-final for this is if there's ever gonna be a one, this is probably gonna be it. Another good top end start for the world final, and it was good in practice, and then I he's like, Do you want to do another practice session? I went, No, car's meant, leave it.

SPEAKER_02 3:12:18

That's when you that's when you know you you will, and you're like, nope, no more practice. No more practice.

SPEAKER_05 3:12:22

I'm ready, however. Uh set off for the thing and got the jump from the outside because I knew a book so I needed to lead into the first corner because the fence is a long way now, you know, right? Um so set off and I got the jump on Frank, and then it just went and I was like, fuck it's that and then uh shaft half shaft split. So that was the end of that. And I come back, had a paddy, tried to put half shaft in it, couldn't get it, couldn't get the half-shaft back in, had another paddy, went and sat down. It pissed down then, and then that left it until constellation semi, and I was probably too cautious in the Concy semi and didn't get on it enough, but managed to get myself in. I knew I had to keep my wheels safe, which is what I was trying to do, and stop a puncher. Um, because I think I'd had like five outside front punchers that this year on shale. So I tried to protect them, got secondary watch, got in and qualified for the world and went testing for the world. Uh car was good, come back, did some engine maintenance, like checked the plug leads over tappits and things like that. And somewhere within there, two of the plug leads got switched the wrong way around.

SPEAKER_03 3:13:29

Because the cam's a different ratio on different engines.

SPEAKER_05 3:13:31

No, it was it, no, it was just genuinely just like five and seven with within the wrong way around. Two of them, what when you check took them out and checked them? No, so the the like the our mechanic who did the plug leads put five and seven on the wrong way around. I think because the cam had a different firing order, he got confused somewhere, but five and seven had the wrong way. Anyway, um so that that I I said to him, I said, Oh, it doesn't sound right, and he said, I think it's just some shit coming up from the bottom of the tank. So we drained the fuel right out to go scrutiny in and things like that. And then obviously realised later on that the plug leads the wrong way around. Anyway, too too late, world final's been, moments gone. Um there's all on the shootout, really. Just put absolutely everything into the shootout, put a lot of money in it. So that's the main thing people say is the money, money in the shootout.

SPEAKER_03 3:14:15

That's the third shooter you've been in, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 3:14:17

Yeah, the problem is with the shootout, it's a it's a great tournament, but if you're good enough, you can sort of take it easy in the first two stages, like your Tom and people like that, because he knows he's gonna get through. Whereas I didn't know I was gonna get through, so I was all at it. Yeah, I did all the first from the get-go, you are but the groups you had, nobody expected you to no, I I didn't expect to get through. So the first four rounds, you didn't come to any of them. I went on my own. Um, so it was me, and Kyle was taking me racing at the time, and I did the first Bradford, and I came away with 24 points. I think Tom had had a bit of a stinker and he had 25, so I was like, I'm second in the group here, so there's only two go through. So this will be alright. Craig got stinker, didn't he? And then the next Bradford, it absolutely lashed down, and I didn't bother, and a few of the others didn't bother. Craig didn't get any points. So it's like I'm still 25 points on Craig when he decided he he wasn't going to Buxton. So I was like, this is even better. And I come away from Buxton with 40 odd points, won the national. I was like, perfect, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:15:14

So you're in. I was basically in.

SPEAKER_05 3:15:17

Uh second door on the door on the right.

unknown 3:15:22

Cut.

SPEAKER_03 3:15:25

Yeah, second door on the right. If you do the first one, you see his bed's not bed because he's not the bed it's only today. No, we don't make it anyway.

SPEAKER_05 3:15:36

I didn't stay in it last night, so I just don't do it. Um yeah, so you threw that round, through that round, and then went to Scunthorpe and just used it to never race it at Scunthorpe for, so I just basically tried to figure out a little bit about Scunthorpe and had a pretty poor meeting. He was crap. I was crap, and then they did the next draw. My draw for the next round was Frank, Fairhurst, Newton, and me. And I was sat on my as if I've not just had a bad enough draw with Tom, Craig, me. I was like, oh, brilliant. So I managed to get a really good Skeg. I was just behind Fairhurst on points after the first Skeg on the Saturday, and then on the Sunday, I was about 10 points behind him, maybe 10 points clear of the rest of them or something, going into Kings Lynn. This is when the Matt and the Charlie thing had just started, yeah, after world final. And then I had a really bad Kings Lynn. Uh I got a puncher. I didn't make did the Matt met the final? No, didn't make the final because I got a puncher in the constellation or in the heat or something. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 3:16:34

You had a nil you had a nil, didn't you?

SPEAKER_05 3:16:36

Uh I think I got something like four points. Not a lot, really bad. But then Frank had also had a stinker, but where Matt had had a terrible skeg, he picked it back up at Lynn. It was close. So going into Mildnore, I was ten points clear of Frank and Matt, who had joined on points, and it was one of us three was basically not going to make it.

SPEAKER_02 3:16:55

Who was the other driver in it? Luperis. He had a butcher at Skeg, but he was clear.

SPEAKER_05 3:17:00

He didn't even have to go to Mildnore to qualify for so he didn't go to Milno. And at Mildnore, I was like, oh brilliant. But it turns out after Lynn, we found out that something had gone wrong with the shale engine, just like a thread had failed, or something like that. So we had to take the shale engine out, put the tarmac engine in. Mine. No, it was my engine. My time. What was your tarmac engine? Sorry. Put my time engine out of this in the shale car for Mildenor. Um, guessed on the gear set because they're a little bit different, and just had a go at Mildnorm. And I was like, from the from the off, gotta be on it. And I drew to start behind Matt and Frank. So I tried to get on it for the first race, and luckily, well, what happened in the first race? I did two laps and hit a car and the power steering belt came off. So I did the whole race at Mildenal, no power steering. I was absolutely weren't you in a different heat to Frank? No, no, because you're all starting the same grades. Oh you all start together. So the beauty of the shoot is you race with people, you raise it. Oh, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, so you've got to do tactics. Frank DNF'd in the heat and then did the constellation. Uh and he got in by eighth in the constellation, drove well, and I was sat there. Watching him, and you could see he was trying. I was like, he definitely wants this. Got him for it. Yeah. And then Matt and Charlie, you couldn't predict what was going on with them. And I sat there and I worked out the points.

SPEAKER_02 3:18:10

Come on, Charlie, just pop him in.

SPEAKER_05 3:18:12

I'd worked out the points with the I had a lead on Frank in the points of by 16. So that meant in the final, if I beat him, or neither of us scored points, because Frank was at the bottom at that time. It didn't matter what Matt did. As long as Frank didn't gain any points on me in the final, I was definitely into the last round. So I sat there and I was like, I don't know, don't know what I'm gonna do. You gotta try and take on Frank, who's like Frank, Frank's up here, Frank F1s, and I'm like, damn it. I was like, I gotta try and take on Frank. I was like, I don't know how you can do this.

SPEAKER_02 3:18:41

But how do I play it?

SPEAKER_05 3:18:43

Yeah, basically. So I thought my only opportunity is to stop him from beating me is if we both go lap down, none of us score any points. So I on the first start, I let him go, and I'd already decided that I needed to sort of sort of target him, if you know what I mean, because he was bottom of the group. Yeah. And um that was the only way I was gonna do it. So I tried to take him out in the first corner and take him around, but he stayed the right way. I had another go, and we nearly went, start got what I wanted, nearly got what I wanted, and went lap down. And then sorry.

SPEAKER_02 3:19:15

Let's get into the good part, let's get into the really good part.

SPEAKER_00 3:19:20

I love this bit.

SPEAKER_05 3:19:23

It's the best bit ever. So I'd um I'd tried stopping Frank, and I think he'd got a bit of damage or whatever, but there was a the wave yellow, I'd realised that Sorder had and Matt had had a do, and Matt had on the middle, and I saw Frank lined up and I thought, oh, I wonder if he's seen it. So I drove up to him and there's a video there, and I said, Oh, is Frank Matt on the middle? And he's like, Yeah, and he didn't really want to talk to me. I was like, fair enough, yeah. Um and I basically wanted to try and say to him, if he's on the middle, there's no point us fucking about. But he probably already knew this in his head. Because we was both last on the start, and we'd not gonna lap down now. I sort of said to him, I wanted to basically be like, let's get on with it. It came across as I was like apologising, and I don't think he ever expects me to apologise, like obviously not wasn't sorry about doing it, if you know what I mean, like because otherwise you wouldn't have done it, yeah. But basically I wanted to say to him, let's get on and race. So we did, and I managed to come home fifth or fourth, I think, and he came sixth beyond or something like that. So I don't know, he'd probably be able to call it to me and absolutely destroyed me. But managed to get through and um didn't have to do the national, so I was like, oh perfect. And I went over afterwards, said Frank, do you need anything? He said no, and that was it. But I think he I think he knew what I meant. I wasn't trying to get across like I'm really sorry for the world.

SPEAKER_03 3:20:48

No, there's a lot of people commenting on it. Oh, it's sneaky, it's there's only one person, he's a snake, and all this why has he done that? And and weasel it doesn't matter, and it was funny, but you did what you had to do, it's a competition, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:21:00

It's um yeah, didn't really come across what it was meant to, but um we did the last couple of rounds, and to be honest, there's so much racing by that point. I did I had a good first round at Northampton, I was third after the first round. There's Bradford, and I had an absolute stinker at Bradford, blew a diff, put another diff in, wasn't right, something else went wrong. Callum put you in, yeah. Callum Callum took it to me at Bradford because I think he wanted to be right up there in the points and fair play. Um and then went to Hennisford and I thought, right, I'm gonna have to do well at Hennisford because I'm right down in the points. But that first Bradford, I think, I'd just done so much racing, I just lost a bit of interest. Tired. I was knackered with just doing the amount of work and stuff. The shoot hours got to one day a week in the amount of money. Like, I think I spent probably 1200 quid on tires for the last four four meetings. That's without anything else, running costs and damage and and yeah, and ironically, like it came to the last round at Bradford, and I scored 40 points. I didn't put a brand new tire on all day, I kept the same tires on from the final for the national in the heat, and I was just like, Well, I bother spending my money on. But anyway, we got got through it and saved them tires, did the under 25s. But I just I think I got sick of probably probably a bit of reality near the end of the year. Like the lads who I live with in Oxford and things like that, they're they obviously don't race stock cars, so they're being grown-ups and spending their money on houses and things like that. And I'm sat here and they're like, Oh, I've just put a deposit down on the house today. And he's like, I was like, Yeah, have you? He went, Yeah, I went, I've just spent an en a brand new engine in my go-kart in my tractor. I was I was like, I've just just spent 1200 quid on tires. He went, Why? I went, don't know, need to, need to real world, yeah. And so I think I sort of reality, but yeah, I think it sort of got to me to the point I was like it hit, I was like, I can't do this forever. So I thought I'll enjoy the rest of the year, and then from sort of now on, I'm probably not gonna do as many. I'll next year I'm planning on doing the Vem rays, yeah. Uh to qualify this year, sorry, to try and qualify the Dutch way, because I don't think I'll do enough meetings to qualify the English way, and I enjoy racing in Vemray with that because that's pretty handy around there. Uh so that's that's sort of where we're at now, really. That's the sort of plans. Obviously, being down at work doesn't help, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:23:07

So the plans are next year, this year, not do as much, do the ones you want to do, yeah, and enjoy it more as opposed to last year, the end of last year, where it's very serious. Trying the hardest, spending as much money as you can to try and get to the front.

SPEAKER_05 3:23:21

Still do it seriously and try and compete at the meetings I'm at, like championships and things like that. Try and get another one if I can.

SPEAKER_02 3:23:26

And well, going off this last season, then you should be in for a without doing as many meetings, you should be in a better position, really.

SPEAKER_05 3:23:33

It's just it's just what just do what I can afford to do to be competitive. I don't want to go to every meeting and say, Oh, I haven't got tires to buy this meeting. I'd rather just miss the meeting now, save the tires, go to the British, two new sets of tires, or go to the European, two new sets of tires. Things like that. It's it's all right, you can do it all a quick quality, not quantity. Exactly that. I could do 40 meetings a year, that's not a problem, but I'd just I'd rather do 20, do 20 good ones.

SPEAKER_02 3:23:55

Yeah, definitely. So that's closing out to that's your future plans there. But one thing I want to talk about is your work. You keep mentioning your work. Yeah, what is it you actually do?

SPEAKER_05 3:24:04

So I work away uh for Williams Formula One in Oxford. Uh in their main Yeah, so I work in the factory during the weeks and things like that. So Monday to Thursday I'm there machining parts for the car. How how does that even come about?

SPEAKER_02 3:24:21

Somebody with comfy. Get comfy. Because we're quite a while away from uh the Williams HQ.

SPEAKER_05 3:24:27

Yeah, so this isn't I moved out essentially when I was 16 and went to a motorsport college to learn how to be a race mechanic, and that was what I wanted to do. Yeah, and then to become a race mechanic, I quite I should have realised it sooner. You don't get to race your own car at a weekend because you're a mechanic on somebody else's. That is that is exactly what it struck me out and basically didn't figure that out before it was a great idea. I can do both you know hang on, I've got to work weekends on someone else's car, yeah. So I decided that wasn't the way I wanted to go about it. But at a gala night, Ben Howard had asked if he could hire an F1, and I said, Yeah, you take my shell car. So I'd ended up breaking my wrist at college. So I went, we can just take my tarmac car if you want, you know. Which was the highest car, yeah. He ended up winning the final and having a really good do. And he said you should come down to Williams to do some work experience to help with your college. So I went down there, did that, found out they had uh an apprenticeship programme, applied for the apprenticeship programme, got in. Don't know if Ben had anything to help with, but maybe got in. Who knows? Um Ben knows uh got in and then full talent we got in. Yeah, that's why. Just Ben knows, yeah, and then um managed to well did the four years apprenticeship. So I had the the year at college three nights away from here already. Silverstone on it, and then Silverston.

SPEAKER_02 3:25:44

That's a big mate sport college, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 3:25:46

And then moved down to Oxford when I was 17. Well, they put you in dig, so we put them in dig, we have to pay for it. Yeah, you have to pay for it. You have to pay for it, yeah. You have to pay for it. So yeah, you helped me and mum out.

SPEAKER_03 3:25:58

Five years? No, it wasn't five years. It is when your first year at Silverstone. Well, I wasn't willing to.

SPEAKER_02 3:26:04

Well, so your apprenticeship, you you paid for the digs wage down at all the digs. Yeah, you paid all his digs, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:26:08

You start having to because you might be an apprentice and I'll pay on an apprentice wage, but you the landlord don't give a shit. You don't get apprentice rates, do you? No, have kids' discount, can you? No, so no, uh we were doing that.

SPEAKER_02 3:26:22

So you definitely needed help with that and you needed help. Like you said as well.

SPEAKER_05 3:26:27

So renting a room or then ended up renting a flat. I mean, I you probably could have done it, and people have done it, but then you can't really do a lot. And I wanted to come back here, and the cost of driving back here every weekend, and uh you couldn't do it, so you I had to have some help. Um so we did that, and then now I've been there for six years now and machining parts for the race car and things like that. And unfortunately, you don't get to go to the track or anything like that. But the other lad who I live with went through the composite route, so he's been to the track and the races and so he does both, so he just does the composites, so he makes the carbon fibre parts and things like that for the car, right? Yeah, whereas I chose the machine and route because I decided that if I didn't like living away from home, nobody wants a carbon fibre tractor in Lincolnshire. But you might want a bit making it. You might need a bit of machining. So I thought that is very true. Possible or negative. I thought if I go the machining route, at least I've got a job back at home if I want one.

SPEAKER_02 3:27:18

There'd there'd be plenty round here, and there's one or two five.

SPEAKER_05 3:27:21

There's not many carbon fibre tractors around here, so kind of no, no, I could do that actually, but no. Um so I went that way about it, and I've been there six years now, and probably gonna stay there for quite a bit more, hence the reason of probably racing a bit less growing up trying to save to buy a house in Oxford. In Oxford? Well, around that area.

SPEAKER_02 3:27:39

So you are planning to stay there very much long term.

SPEAKER_05 3:27:42

I think probably sort of north of Oxford sort of way, probably something like that. They are good with you then, aren't they? They look at it's a good job. I enjoy working there and they're good grounded. But the problem is it's like houses in Oxford, you don't get many places where you can look out your kitchen window into a stock car garage. No, not without a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 3:27:57

I've done plenty of what you can afford. I've done plenty of work around there, and it's it's not like this. This is very different. We when we're driving up here, we're just like, wow. Rural. It's it's good. It's good because as you say, you your houses are dotted about, you can make as much noise as you want a lot of the time. Yeah, your garage is on the side of it. It's one of them.

SPEAKER_05 3:28:15

Probably just growing up a little bit and realised I can't spend every single penny on stock cars. We try, try finally realise. Yeah, we do try. That's the main bit for this year. Just try and next few years grow up a bit grow up a little bit, grow up a little bit, and uh try and buy a house eventually. Yeah, it's called real world, it's real world. Just can't it's not like you've got Hawleidge Lar Yard or something like that where you can just stick the car in there, you can like every single, every other F1 driver there is. There's a lot of lot there's a lot of lorry people in the next cars, aren't there? But yeah, we wherever I move to, I'll have to take the car to the house or something like that, or find a cheap enough workshop there, take a V8. Yeah, somebody who don't mind loads of noise, grinding, dirt, and mess.

SPEAKER_02 3:28:57

No, so how does that fit in with the amount of work did he take then? Uh not very well. No, no, um, so I can imagine you've picked the hardest bloody thing to do while racing F1. So I mean it's a really cool job to being part of another one. Oh, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_05 3:29:12

A Formula One team is crazy. You you learn a lot and learn that things have to be a certain way. But it it probably half the reason of why I've sort of improved with these as well. It has to be right or don't bother, basically.

SPEAKER_02 3:29:25

Well, yeah, there's no there's no there's nothing else in in F1, is there? No, it has to be right.

SPEAKER_05 3:29:28

It's like micron perfect or don't bother. So a week for me sort of is on a Sunday night after a meeting, I'll go back to Emily's house, her parents' house, stay there, uh go back to the place I rent for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. There's the I will finish work, come back uh to mum's house, spend the day at mum's house, or a night at mum's house, come back here, work all day in here, then go racing Friday well Saturday, Sunday, and then repeat.

SPEAKER_02 3:29:57

So are you working on the car in a week?

SPEAKER_03 3:29:59

You were I do get text messages, he gets a list.

SPEAKER_02 3:30:02

Orders, list lists you've done all the time.

SPEAKER_03 3:30:04

There's a whiteboard there, normal list on it. We'll go with the list. Okay. I'll call a list.

SPEAKER_05 3:30:08

It's a it's a list, and then I come back on a Friday. And if if I've got enough time on a Friday, I'll I can nearly do it all in the full day, can't I? Depends on what it is. Depending on what you've got. If you've got a front corner off and you need to put new front axle in, it's not, but then I'll strip it for him. So yeah, that'll either that'll you'll normally nut and bolt it, take the gear set, yeah, and then charge. I do off. The biggest problem we've got is I not I'm the only one who does the steel work really. But you say you cut it off. Yeah, I've got anything bent. Yeah, you've got anything bent off, screw it up pretty much, ready for things to come in and but then the problem, biggest problem of these is tires. So, like you need to get your tires ready. So I'm sort of trying to work. Yeah, it's a day doing tires around.

SPEAKER_03 3:30:49

We have got a machine, we've got a buffer, and now we've got a lathe after last year. I got him a lathe. That's the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_05 3:30:56

So I try and get a week ahead if I can. Um so you're preparing two lots of tires if you get the time. Yeah, if I get the time, I'll do two lots of tires.

SPEAKER_03 3:31:03

Hence not racing so much because it's a prep time as well.

SPEAKER_05 3:31:06

Yeah, so ideally on a Friday, if the car's done, I've got sort of the idea of I have to do it all of it or do none of it. So, like if I go around and nut and bolt it and I check one bolt and it's loose, normally send a text to dad say, Have you nut and bolted it? He'll go, Yeah, and I go, like, right, I'm gonna nut and bolt the car.

SPEAKER_03 3:31:22

Because I can't on an ideal sort of Friday, it's all nut and bolted, all charged, already, and all he's got to do is tie it for when he comes to mine from his mum's Friday dinner. Yeah, yeah. And then if that's the case, then Saturday morning we can start doing the other car.

SPEAKER_02 3:31:36

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:31:37

There isn't physically time for us to do.

SPEAKER_05 3:31:40

We're working on a Saturday morning before we go racing, normally because we're luxury with where we are for the tracks, we don't have to leave to go to Skeg when it starts at when you get well. If you go to Linden, it starts at you got you got till late.

SPEAKER_02 3:31:51

One o'clock.

SPEAKER_03 3:31:52

You got until people might leave in the morning, but you ain't got to. No. But then without the people that help us, none of this is possible. No, you won't be able to do it. You know, there's little Steve and Martin who come religiously Friday night and Saturday and during the week here. Yeah, they give their time and effort up and come and help religiously every week. Steve Maidlow, Slabs, Kev, Darren Elps as well. Without them boys, it's not physically possible.

SPEAKER_05 3:32:16

Yeah. I also try and the biggest problem I've got is is just trying and sort everything out. So like if I if I break something on a Sunday, I can't then take it off on a Monday, give it somebody else to fix it. Yeah. So like it's been cases where I've ripped the back axle out of it. I'll come back or on Sunday, I'll rip the back axle out, go to work, take it out on Friday, miss the weekend of racing, drop it off Friday to get fixed, or Sunday takes a week to get fixed. By that you missed a week or two in racing. So that's that's the idea. The the moment the thing is for me is like I haven't had any of the cars really stickered or anything like that. It's just spending money on making more reliable or spares as opposed to appealing, yeah. Yeah, so get a spare back axle in for each car. I've spent some money on a front axle for the shale car that hopefully won't bend.

SPEAKER_02 3:33:01

A nice shiny body kit ain't gonna make any quicker. No, pretty cool. When you've got a budget and time, yeah, you're gonna use it.

SPEAKER_05 3:33:08

But you also gotta try and you've got to try and fit in life bit of time here, bit of time with my mum, bit of time with Emily, bit of time at Oxford. So it's like trying to be in four places at one time doesn't really work. No, that is uh you know how that feels, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 3:33:20

Yeah, it's a big ask. You say you always talk about oh yeah, racing this, racing. I'll come down doing a racing, you're like, well, where's the time for life? Yeah, where's the time for the missus? Where's the time?

SPEAKER_05 3:33:31

Yeah, but you get three holiday, you get three holidays in Skaganess a year, don't you? So it does does work out. I said so. We take it. You look forward to that, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 3:33:36

We take her to Scotland every year. That's nice.

SPEAKER_05 3:33:38

That's the trip. Most people don't get to go to Scotland ever. Well done.

SPEAKER_02 3:33:41

Yeah, mate's a Gamorca, we're going to Little Gelly. And you're gonna marry him? Oh, Cornwall. Cornwall, Devon's South Coast. We went to a caravan the other day, didn't we?

unknown 3:33:49

Yeah, and he slept that time.

SPEAKER_02 3:33:51

Yeah, I was catching up sleep from busy waiting.

SPEAKER_05 3:33:54

I hate that. I hate that I have to drive back here after a week at work for like a two and a half hour or three hour drive back from work, and then it's like get up, and then you've got to drive to the track as well, and then you've got to drive back. Sounds like a luxury issue, but I've decided that. The first problems, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:34:09

See, normally on a Saturday we're out here half past eight, but I've normally been to work then. Up at four, been to work to do some stuff and then come back. Come, George, you're not gonna learn in bed. Yeah, alright, yeah, right. And it's normal. Ten more minutes. Yeah, but it's not ten more minutes, is it?

SPEAKER_05 3:34:20

I'll get out of bed about nine o'clock on a good day.

SPEAKER_03 3:34:22

And it ain't beauty stuff. On a Friday night, I'll be out here until when we were on the he does late, I don't, you see, because I've been up dead.

SPEAKER_05 3:34:34

When I was doing the earlies and late's thing, on a Friday, on a late, I would come back. I think I'll come back in here when I got back one night. I think I was finished at five, got back here at nine and I didn't go to bed until three in the morning. Yeah. Because I'd come back, but the problem I've got is your time's limited, isn't it? The gearbox was cut uh fucked, the clutch was fucked, and the diff was fucked, and I'm the only one that does all three that night. So I was like, I'll put diff in, then rebuild gearbox and do the clutch.

SPEAKER_02 3:34:56

Yeah, the thing is because you're so motivated, you can do that. You don't even think that you're tired. No, you're just out here working. I'm the same. The limited days I get in the garage now, I I come out there as two hours late as I can be. And it gets to a point where I'm like, I should really go home now. Yeah. My dinner's in the microwave, she's fast asleep. The Bubba's probably woken up twice already, and Chelsea's like, come on.

SPEAKER_05 3:35:14

Probably works with a baby feeding though, doesn't it? When you Pardon? It works with baby feeding when you're late as well in the garage, so you can come back and you do the night feed, can't you?

SPEAKER_02 3:35:20

Uh well, I'll I'll come home and you head, Charles. I'll come home. Oh, you're screwed now. I'll come home, and if I've if I'm not working the next day, like I'll always be the one getting up. Of course, definitely. It works, it works, yeah. 100%.

SPEAKER_03 3:35:33

So I'm not having babies, don't get up. Yeah, I should have thought about that about 24 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 3:35:38

You just don't fucking earn the money. Wicked. Well, that was brilliant. Thank you very much, guys. We'll end it there. Really, really good. Good insight to the pair of you.

SPEAKER_03 3:35:49

Is it what you thought?

SPEAKER_02 3:35:51

You're a bit funnier than I thought. Do you feel? Don't blow, don't remember.

SPEAKER_03 3:35:56

I am what I am, and that's it. Pain in the cheese. But it's totally different. Yeah, chalk and cheese.

SPEAKER_02 3:36:00

It is chalk and cheese, and it's good. That's why we argue at racing. Oh, yeah, 100%, because you've got Mark that's really laid back, and then you're very serious. It's like, come on, we need to do this.

SPEAKER_05 3:36:10

Yeah, we're dirty with it. The worst bit is when you've done something to your car, like it's like, oh, I've got my car ready for the weekend. I've walked in here, no end of times, and like, yeah, I've got the car ready, and I've looked at it, and the outside front bumper stabber, his bumper's gone round, he's just cut the stab around and put a new one in, not put part of the bumper out, but then like the bumper stabber's fucking six inches in from the end of the bumper, and I've looked at it, I've gone, whatever have you done that for. It's like I'll be alright. And I've come in here after I've been to work, I'm like, I can't let you go out of that, that's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_03 3:36:36

But that's what I've been used to doing back in the day.

SPEAKER_05 3:36:39

The worst one, to be fair, is I don't know whether they did it to wind me up, but that overrider hoop that goes there, like I pre-make them, put them to the side. So if I need one, I'll have to make one. They took one and they welded it on the other way around. I don't know whether they did it.

SPEAKER_02 3:36:52

Oh, they put the bit yep, that side over there. No, they didn't have the one. No, we did it the one way around.

SPEAKER_05 3:36:55

Put the short bit on the front front. So it went like that, and then back then. I was like, Have you done that to wind me up? And they're like, No. I was like, I'm not cutting that off. I said, You can take that. So tired.

SPEAKER_01 3:37:06

We went to Sheffield and someone said to me, Why have you fucking I went I haven't fucking welded it on?

SPEAKER_03 3:37:10

Oh, I didn't do that. It does get tired sometimes, Tebs. Yeah, I can imagine a little angry man syndrome.

SPEAKER_05 3:37:15

Yeah, it's like blind leading the blind though, really, isn't it? It is, yeah. I come back on a Friday and try and fucking shed a bit of light, don't worry, pastel. And do you know what? I can't give two fucks.

SPEAKER_03 3:37:25

It's fucking stressful. Wicked. This is what this is what we do. You know, that's you know, he's a serious one, and I'm like I ain't bothered. Parker, not bothered. A really pain in the ass. Yeah. But I'm your pain in the ass. Even though you want to be adopted some weeks.

SPEAKER_02 3:37:44

I'll tell you what, you end the video for us, go on. Me? Yeah, go on. I thought we'd finished. No, we're gonna end the video now. Mark's gonna do it for us. Do you know what? It's like right, and that it's been one of them, innit?

SPEAKER_07 3:37:54

I ain't done one of them before. He hates it, innit? There's Tabs and this beautiful girl in the world. You can't say that word.

SPEAKER_02 3:38:00

You can bleep it.

SPEAKER_07 3:38:01

It's with a kicky card.

SPEAKER_02 3:38:01

Yeah, we said we couldn't say that one, that's the only one we couldn't say. It's been a joint. Um memories.

unknown 3:38:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:38:07

Yeah, I could sit here and tell you lots of stories. We've got the workshop tidied up. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:38:11

Yeah, thanks for coming, because we'd have never tidied it up, Elves. Um I said to these two beforehand, they said, Oh, we've tidied up. I said that happens a lot whenever we turn up. The workshops are always immaculate. And they're like, it's not normally like this. I'm like, don't worry, I'll This is tidy for us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:38:24

You haven't well, you haven't looked down the bottom where it's not. No, don't look down at bottom.

SPEAKER_03 3:38:28

The four cars over there. But if I'm gonna say I'll say it again without the people that help us. Yeah. It is like on the back of my shower car, it says without the people that help us, none of this is possible. The people who sponsor us, well mainly him really, because he's he's obviously he's a bit more talented. Um but the people who help us, the people who sponsor us, Pete and Sheery helped us out massively at certain points, but they're the good people. Pascal, Chopper, Steve and Martin with their relentless hours, Steve Maylo, Kevin Orf, Slabs, um Jack Warren, he's helped you out. Um Josh. No end of people. No end of people. If I've missed somebody at Darren, if I've missed somebody at then I apologize. Yeah, Kyle helped you out. Kyle took me to about five, six meetings last year. That's massive, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 3:39:24

Um that's what I'm doing with laurel license.

SPEAKER_03 3:39:26

Without without them people, then this this does not work professionally and personally. Um so thank you very much. Nice. I just mushly appreciate it.

SPEAKER_05 3:39:35

I've probably got to thank Emily as well for babysitting me.

SPEAKER_03 3:39:37

Because I can't look after myself. Washing my clothes. Yeah. At least just me. He's stopped pooing himself last three weeks, but apart from that, but we appreciate you coming, thank you very much. No, thank you. Maybe it's been worth your trip. It has, definitely. Just for the sausage rolls.

SPEAKER_02 3:39:54

Them alone, which I've annihilated the work. Right, thank you everyone for watching. And we'll see you in the next one.