An Interview with defending BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Champion 101 Kelvyn Marshall
(interview published August 16 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 35
Home Town: Macclesfield
Occupation: Fix trucks and build stockcars
Family: Wife Emma and two children
Racing career: First meeting was in BriSCA F2 Stockcars at Buxton in 1998

How has your year as World Champion been?
It’s been really good. There have been some ups and down which I think you have to expect, nothing is ever good all the time (laughs) but I’ve been fortunate and I’ve had a good year as champion and I’ve really enjoyed it. It was strange when I won the World at first because I don’t think I really had much of a chance to let it all sink in. We just painted the wing gold and away we went and because I was on such a high we just dived straight into everything and I guess rode the wave of momentum winning the title gave me. I think I managed to win the next five Grand Finals I was in, it was an incredible time, just everything I did went perfectly, it was amazing, just mega. Then this year started and things weren’t quite as good. I don’t know if I lost a little of my pace or if others found a little extra but I was just a touch off and if I’m honest where I was chasing it so hard, to get back to being as good as I was and finding it quite hard, I did get a little depressed with it and there were times when it was hard. I guess being (World) Champion added to the pressure really because I so badly wanted to be as good as I could be and be the best World Champion possible so it was hard for a while. Then all of a sudden things started to click again and things have been going well again so it’s nice to be heading into the Semis and the World knowing that I seem to be back to where I want to be and regardless of what happens in the World Final it will be nice to know I ended my year in good form, it was just a shame the middle bit wasn’t quite as good (laughs).

Did you ever expect to be World Champion?
No, I didn’t. I had a chance in 2010 at Skegness and I made a mistake and that was the end of it and I always thought that had been my chance and I would never get another chance like it again. I was on the fourth row of the grid and as many expected the first bend saw Dave Polley go hell for leather and he pretty much wiped out everyone in front of him so it was just me and Chris Bradbury and we were about half a length of the straight in front of everyone else. Everything was going pretty well but I let it get into my head that I was winning the World Final and every time I did I would make a mistake, it got so bad at one point that my leg was physically shaking in the car. I had an advantage on Chris but the nerves got to me and I made some mistakes and he closed in. The first time I was able to get myself together and opened up a gap again but then it got in my head a second time, even worse that the first time, that I was winning the big race and the nerves got to me. I clipped the kerb and Chris went for it and he wound up taking us both out. I remember retiring from the race and I parked on the infield facing the start line and I couldn’t get out of my car, I had tearing rolling down my face and I had to leave my crash helmet on because I didn’t want people to see. I couldn’t even watch the DVD, I only watched it for the first time after I won the World last year, before that I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. It was just that feeling that I had blown it for myself and always kicking myself over it.

What are your lasting memories of the World Final last year at Hednesford?
(laughing) That apart from about the 30minutes after the race had finished that it was one of the worst days of my life. I have never been so nervous in my life and I was actually sick at least 20 times before the race. It got so bad that I must have had nothing left inside me so I was trying to drink water just to try and least stay hydrated and I couldn’t even do that, every time I had a drink I was sick, it was absolutely terrible and at one point I remember saying to my wife that I didn’t think I would be able to do the race because of how nervous I was and what it was doing to me. I hadn’t felt like that until the day itself and to be honest what actually started it was the day before when I went to Buxton with Willie Peeters and a couple of the other Dutch drivers for testing. They had come over to me for the weekend and wanted to do some practising so I went with them to Buxton. They practised all day, in the end they must have done about 150 laps but the main thing was trying to get the car to go well round the pit bend as it is banked a little like Hednesford is. We tried all sorts of things and in the end we found a set-up which worked really well so when we came home I did the same to my car. I still never really considered myself as having a chance, even though I was on the front row, I still guess I felt my chance had been and gone in 2010 and I honestly thought being on the front row simply meant I would end up in the wall on the first bend (laughs). Then there was practise in the afternoon at Hednesford and I went out to do some laps and shortly after a friend came bounding up to me and said that not only had I set the fastest lap but that I was three tenths of a second up on the next fastest and that was when the nerves started and the pressure started to build. I think the biggest problem I had was I was panicking at making myself look like a muppet (laughs). To be on the front row and then set the fastest lap in practise, I guess I was so worried about only making the first bend or something like that but also I suppose deep down there was also that feeling that maybe I had another shot at winning it. I’d honestly not considered it before then so when it happened it hit me so hard. One of the things which made a big difference was my friend Sam who came and sat with me and spoke to me for a while and he made such a difference in calming me down. In fact he did similar earlier in the year when I won the European at Northampton. I was nowhere near as bad as I was at Hednesford but I had started to doubt myself that day and he spoke with me and whatever he said got through and he did the same at Hednesford and honestly I don’t think I would have won without that chat.

What do you remember about the race itself?
It was a little strange. Chris Burgoyne was on pole and he went a bit earlier than I was expecting him to. Because he was on my inside I couldn’t actually see the starter so I was pretty much relying on him and then his wing was half way up my car and I figured he was going (laughs). But he had a small misfire going into the first bend and I wound up being on his bumper and then Micky Brennan gave me a big hit and I think any nerves left me with that hit. I was completely unaware of the pile-up behind and before I knew it the yellow flags came out and the race was restarted. I had Micky behind me and I could see what he was thinking so I decided to let him through and he charged into the first bend, hit Burgoyne and they both went wide and I went into lead underneath them. The only other driver to get near me really was Graham Fagen who got my bumper a couple of times and as he’d caught me I thought it was going to be a real fight to hold him off but I managed to keep my calm and edged away and he just fell back, maybe his tyres had gone off in those opening laps where he had pushed so hard to catch me, I’m not sure but after that it was pretty surreal. I remember looking in my mirror a few times and wondering to myself where everyone had gone. Although I tried really hard to not keep looking behind, I’ve always said you go in the direction you are looking but it’s hard sometimes (laughs) and that race was especially difficult to keep looking forward. I was constantly trying to not think like I had done at Skegness and let it get in my head what the race was, I just kept telling myself it was a normal race and just to keep doing what you are doing and amazingly this time it did get a little easier. I guess when I got to half way and dared to look in the mirror and could see I was clear it took the pressure off and when it was the same in the final five laps, again the pressure just eased and taking the flag was the most incredible feeling.

What was your immediate reaction when you found out you would be defending the title on shale at Mildenhall and that the semi-finals would be on shale as well?
My immediate reaction was I’d better get a shale car built (laughs). It’s been interesting this year as you do hear the odd comment every now and again from people saying I’ve no hope this year because the race is on shale but as others have said they have obviously forgotten the years I raced on shale all the time (laughs). It’s been good doing a bit on shale again this year and I would have liked to have done some more really but there never seems to be the time. Shale racing is in a lot of ways better than tarmac, I would say it’s more enjoyable. Tarmac racing is very serious and you spend a lot of time making sure everything is absolutely perfect and while I’m not saying drivers racing on shale don’t make just as much of an effort I don’t think it is as essential for the car to be perfect, shale is a little more forgiving like that. And of course you spend most of the race sideways and who doesn’t enjoy that (laughs). To be honest one of the biggest reasons I switched from shale to tarmac was more because of the mess. I don’t enjoy racing in the rain regardless of what surface it is. It’s just a personal thing for me, when I don’t have the grip I want I don’t feel as confident in the car and then I don’t perform as well but it was even worse on wet shale and then there was the mess (laughs). I guess in the end I just hated the fact that after any meeting on shale you had to spend so long cleaning everything and it wasn’t just the car and your equipment, it would be the van as well, it would always come back from a meeting on shale absolutely filthy! I’ve enjoyed doing some shale again this year and I think having the semis at King’s Lynn and the World Final at Mildenhall has probably in a way made me a better World Champion because it has given me that kick to race on both surfaces whereas had they both been on tarmac the truth is I probably wouldn’t have (raced on shale) this year. I wanted to be a good champion, I had hoped to race at every track as World Champion and I’ve not been far off. Unfortunately I didn’t get to Mildenhall in the end but at least I will at the World Final and the only others were Crimond and St Day but at least I managed everywhere in the middle (laughs) and I’ve managed to get to Holland a couple of times as well and again had it not been for the World being on shale it’s possible I wouldn’t have done any shale racing at all so I’m glad it was and that I have. At the end of the day BriSCA F2 Stockcar racing is a shale and tarmac formula so really to be a good driver in the formula, you should be good on both surfaces and not just one or the other.

What are your thoughts about the World Final and the Semi-Finals being on shale?
I guess it would be better if one was on shale and the other on tarmac and I think there are a lot of people who would say that when that is the case it’s the best kind of World Final, both because you have that real mix of drivers on the grid and whoever wins the final has had to do well on both surfaces and again F2s is a shale and tarmac formula so the World Champion should be able to perform well on both surfaces.

How do you feel about your chances in the race?
I think mine will depend a lot on the weather. If it’s wet I think I will struggle because as I said I don’t like racing in the wet conditions at all, when the grip isn’t there it really affects my confidence and I guess I lose a lot of confidence in the car so it is something I struggle with so I’ll be hoping for good weather at least (laughs). I’m not sure if grid positions will make a big difference, I think it will all come down to what happens on the day as to who has the best or worst position, you won’t know what happens until it does but I think at a track as small as Mildenhall it is less important to be near the front as it would be at a track like Hednesford, as long as you are in the race that is what matters the most, everyone in the race will have a chance I think.

You have confirmed you will not be taking part in the consolation semi-final and instead will start as defending champion from the very back of the grid, why is that?
I think I have very little to gain from doing the consolation semi-final. If I was to win I would only start three rows further up and compared to the chance of damaging the car in that race and then having to try and fix it for the World Final, it's not just worth it, especially as if things go to plan I could pass six cars in one bend anyway, at least this way I can't go backwards. Starting at the back means there are just more cars I have to smash up to win it (laughs), if I have anything to do with it I think there will be a few stoppages (laughs). The car was performing well in the Semi-Final despite not finishing so I want to take that into the World Final and not doing anything to risk it.

Were you disappointed with not finishing the Semi-Final?
Of course but there was a lot to be pleased about as well. The car was performing really well and that is our department whereas the engine is down to Redline (laughs). These things happen and I'm sure they will have the engine sorted for me for the World but I at least know the car itself is going well, hence why I'll sit the consolation semi-final out and take a car which I know is handling well into the big race.

Can it be won from the back?
I think so. I've won plenty of races this year from the back which have had all the top drivers in them. Admittedly not with some of them starting at the very front but when I won the European I was 21st on the grid and especially at a track as small as Mildenhall with a lot of cars, it's likely to be carnage I think so anyone can win, you never know starting at the back might even help (laughs).

Now the semi-finals have been run, who do you think are the favourites?
Based on how he went at the semis you have to fancy Andrew Palmer but I think he would prefer the race to be more settled and less of an action packed one, I think anyone at the front would probably want that, it's the guys at the back who need the carnage to help them so it's still going to be hard for him, even from the front because at such a small track you are going to be in amongst it almost immediately, I also think Wim Peeters is a good bet. He's been going well on shale and I actually raced his car recently and it's a great car and boy, he knows how to drive it!

Will a lack of recent experience at Mildenhall hurt your chances?
Again it’s funny because I seem to have a really good memory when it comes to tracks I’ve not raced at in a while but that only seems to work on tarmac tracks (laughs). Recently I went to Mendips and I’d not been there for a long time but I remembered exactly what to do to the car and what I needed to do myself and the car was excellent and I won the heat and Grand National and nearly the final as well. But then I went back to Belle Vue for the first time this year in a while and it was nothing like I remembered. The last time I’d raced there I’d done pretty well but this time that surface was completely different and I struggled and that is the thing with shale, that the track changes so much so that could put me at a disadvantage when it comes to Mildenhall, I guess it depends on how much the track is like I remember it (laughs).

Can you tell us about you first got involved in the sport?
My dad had taken me a few times as a kid. Mainly to Buxton with the odd visit to Hednesford but it was never something we did all the time, just every now and again. We weren’t a particularly well off family which was part of the reason why we never went regularly and it was also a reason why I never raced when I was younger. It was never an option so I never gave it any kind of consideration at all. Then one day my dad was asked to clean out these lock up garages near where we lived and in one of them was an old Hotstox. My dad wanted to just weigh it in but I convinced him to keep it and I would try and race it. I decided to make it into a F2, I think mainly because of the engines. We had an old Pinto engine but I didn’t have any kind of V8 engine so racing it as a F2 seemed the best bet but I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing so it took a good while to do everything which was needed and then when the car was ready I used to have to beg and ask for so many favours from people to take me and the car to the meetings because all I had was an old Escort which wasn’t really suitable for towing a stockcar (laughs).

When did things change and become a bit more serious for you?
I don’t know how much longer it was but one day at Buxton John Ward, whose two sons raced, came over and spoke to me and asked why I was racing such a heap of rubbish (laughs). I basically explained that it was all I could afford and he said he had a car for sale and that I should come and have a look. So one day I drove over to their place which was in Manchester and he had an HCD ‘Dozer’ for sale which at the time was pretty much the state of the art car for the formula. I obviously really wanted it but never dreamt I would be able to afford it. When we were talking about I said I didn’t have much money so John asked what I had and I told him I had £1,100 in the bank and he said he wouldn’t take everything I had so offered the car to me for £1,000 and even though it was pretty much all the money I had saved I had to have it. I’ve always been a bit like that, my brother was the opposite, as soon as he got his pocket money he would spend it on sweets whereas I would try and save mine in a jar for something a little more special and at the time I’d been saving to try and buy a van. Don’t ask me why, but I had always wanted a van on the road (laughs), bearing in mind the Escort I was driving at the time cost me £50! So we did the deal but I had to go home and call in another favour with someone to go back and bring the car back home with a trailer but that was the minute I started to take my racing a bit more seriously, when I got that car. The next car I bought was an HCD from Barry Goldin and that was another turning point because one of the first meetings I did with the car was at Skegness and I won the final and after that I decided I wanted to try and concentrate on tarmac racing because I felt it was harder to get success on shale because it wasn’t enough to be a good driver and have a good car. Everything needed to be as good as it could be. Of course this did mean investing more money into my racing. I’m very lucky to have such amazing support from my wife and she was always happy for me to pump my money into the racing rather than luxuries for ourselves but she was also a big reason why things went up another level for me. One day we were at home and she was just looking at my car and started asking why my car didn’t look as good as the other ones she had seen and I basically said it was because I didn’t have the money to spend and she said to me that if I was going to do something, then I should do it properly (laughs). After that we really stepped things up. I started working longer and using all the overtime money I made to go into the car and we really put everything we had into the racing and that was how I was able to improve and get to where I am now. It’s why winning the few titles I have done recently are so important. For a while, especially after what happened in the 2010 World Final, I started to think I was destined to be one of those drivers who was good, but never good enough to win a championship and it bothered me if I’m being honest. Winning the English Open in 2014 was special because it was my first true title but I think it took away a lot of the pressure which helped me win the European and World last year and I’m so pleased to have done that because in a way it justifies all the sacrifices we made and the support my wife has given to me and my racing.

Much has been said of the state of the sport in 2016 and the moves to try and improve it for the future, what are your feelings on this?
I think things are going well to be honest and things are getting better, certainly with the communication with drivers which has been a lot better this year and has made a big difference. I think one of the biggest issues is the size of the rule book and while I understand why it is like that, I think maybe it is too big for its own good and that has been a problem, especially for new drivers so the moves to try and simplify it a bit will be really good. The other main issue I thing is the volume of meetings. Drivers can’t race as much as they maybe used to be able to but I don’t think the amount of meetings being held reflects that and instead the drivers are being spread a bit too thin which makes for some poor meeting so I would like to see maybe a few less meetings being held.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
There are so many, my wife for her amazing support, everyone who has ever helped really but especially Big Baz, Redline Engines, Matt Painter and PVS, a big up to my mechanic Dan, Willie Peeters for the fantastic weekends in Holland and Sam for the pep talks before the European and World, he must some kind of mind magician.

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