An Interview with National Banger driver Thorpey 183 Karl Thorpe
(interview published November 26 2014 in the lead up to the Micro Banger Best Pairs and Brian Pfender Memorial)

Age: 26
Home Town: King’s Lynn
Occupation: Butcher
Family: Fiancé Lauren and daughter Imogen
Racing career: Started racing in 2013

You were among the first to book in for this years Micro National Banger meeting, is this one you are looking forward to?
Definitely. It will be a year since I became an RDC driver as the Micro meeting was when I licensed with RDC for 2014 and it’s been a good season and I’ve really enjoyed myself and the Micro meeting was excellent last year and I think it will be really good again this time, I can’t think why it wouldn’t be.

What is the appeal to this meeting for you?
There are quite a few to honest. One of the biggest is that there is a fairly big group of racing at this one. I’m not sure Team Bash is really a thing anymore, I’ve never actually raced with the team but I race with the same group of guys if that makes sense and all being well there should be a few of us racing at this one and even though you don’t race together as such whenever there is a group of you racing at a meeting it does make it a lot more fun. There might not be too much difference on the track but there is a huge difference off the track and it’s always more fun the more of you that are there. I also like the smaller car meetings, mainly because I think with meetings like this you don’t tend to have much of a difference between the top drivers and everyone else, everyone is on a much more level playing field and I think a lot of that is to do with the cars we are racing because they are all pretty comparable and no-one really has fancy stuff for these kind of meetings, you just put them together and smash them up and have lots of fun on the way. I think that is especially the case at Mildenhall because the track is that bit smaller. It makes all the meetings a bit more level and takes away some of the advantage some cars can have, so even if there is a Micro car that is better than another the advantage it has is reduced at Mildenhall and everyone is pretty much the same. That really helps a guy like me. I don’t consider myself one of the best drivers out there and I certainly haven’t got the best equipment but the size of Mildenhall and the shale really helps me compete and that is especially so at something like a Micro meeting, it’s one of the main reasons why I switched to RDC and Mildenhall for 2014 because I just think it is better suited for me and the racing I do.

You are currently not booked in with a team mate, are you hoping to have a team mate for the Best Pairs event?
All being will I will be racing with Jim Jam (Jamie Childerhouse) but he’s not quite got everything sorted yet. Aside from me and Darren (Fendley) none of the boys in the Team Bash camp did too much last year for one reason or another so we are hoping to get everyone out again for this one and since it’s been a while for some of us it would be great if that happens but if it’s not to be, it won’t matter too much because we’ll still enjoy it. So hopefully I will have a team mate but if Jim Jam can’t get there I’ll just race on my own. I shouldn’t think it will make too much difference because I doubt we would have stood too much of a chance anyway and it’ll still be a good fun meeting, which is the most important thing.

It’s just been announced that the Brian ‘Bumper’ Pfender memorial trophy will be presented to the top scoring white or yellow grade driver of the meeting, is that something you approve of and will it be a trophy you may give a little extra effort to try and win?
I think it’s great to have something for the lower graded drivers like me to try and win, anything like that is always nice because the top drivers certainly have more things like that through the course of the year to try and win which they deserve, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to have something which is specifically for the lower graded drivers, I think that’s really good and absolutely I will be trying to win it and it would be an honour to win it. I can’t see that being very easy because there are plenty of drivers booked in and I suspect most of them will be in the lower grades so it might be down to luck more than anything on the day but it would be fantastic to win something like that, memorial trophies are always a special thing because of what they represent.

You mention the entry and at time of writing we have over 140 drivers booked in to race, does the popularity of the meeting surprise you?
No, not really. Again these meetings are great fun and that is what banger racing is all about, having a laugh so it’s no surprise to me that loads of people want to do meetings like that. It helps as well that these kind of cars are pretty easy to get hold off and build so people hopefully won’t mind smashing them up and it’ll be a lively day again like it was last year. I really enjoyed last year’s meeting, being my first for RDC helped, but it was a good day and I’ve been looking forward to the meeting again ever since so I suspect that will help because I’d imagine a lot of those who did last year will be back again.

You supported the whole of the Winter Series last year, are you aiming to do the same again this year?
Yes I am if I can. Again I like the smaller cars so the winter meetings are pretty well suited for me but it’s not just the Micro meetings which are fun, all the winter meetings are fun. Yes, the weather is usually a bit grotty and that can make the track pretty wet or a bit muddy but I think it just adds to the fun and those who do these meetings seem to enjoy them. From what I can remember, all the winter meetings last year were pretty good and the weather was really rubbish some of the time. You also get a lot of different drivers race at these meetings and that is enjoyable in itself, many of the top drivers have a break which is perfectly understandable and again it gives drivers like myself a greater chance of some glory, I had my first win at Mildenhall in the Winter Series so I’d love to do that again.

Speaking of success, you qualified for the British Championship this year via the last chance races and also qualified for the White and Yellow Grade Series Final, were these highlights of the year for you and targets for 2015?
They were big highlights, especially the British. That was my first meeting at Mildenhall after I had a break from racing when my first daughter was born so to come back after a little break and not only qualify but get a one-two with Darren (Fendley) and for us both to qualify for the Championship was just amazing. It’s the biggest race I have ever been in and it was a real buzz being in a race like that and something I really enjoyed. And I was really pleased to qualify for the White and Yellow Grade Series Final as that had been a goal of mine when I registered with RDC. I didn’t think I would be able to do it as I missed a few meetings while we concentrated on Imogen so to still make it on the grid was excellent. Unfortunately I had a terrible time in the race itself but it didn’t matter too much because I was in it and that was the main thing. I would love to do those races again, certainly the White and Yellow Grade Final is a big target, it’d be great to get in the British again but I know that won’t be easy but I’ll still try.

Looking back have you enjoyed your first full season at RDC?
Very much. Like I said it’s mainly because of the track. The first time I raced at Mildenhall, I really enjoyed it, I just think it’s ideal for me because it’s not too big, not too fast and so someone who is racing with a fairly limited budget like myself has a better chance to compete and that in itself helps you enjoy it and we always enjoy it when we visit, we just seem to have a good time so it’s been a really good year but I’m hoping 2015 will be even better.

Have you any thoughts or plans for 2015?
I’m hoping to do as much as I can. I doubt I’ll ever be able to race each and every weekend but I do want to try and do a little more if I can. One of the things I want to do is some unlimited meetings. I’ve got a couple of cars for unlimited meetings and I’m really looking forward to trying that. The unlimited meetings at Mildenhall always seem to be pretty good so it will be cool to try out a couple of those and see how I get on.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Ian and Darren Fendley who do so much to help me with my racing and make it all that bit more enjoyable, without them I wouldn’t be able to do anything like I am able to, Lauren for being so supportive, her brother who helps me a lot with my cars and everyone else who lends a hand.