An Interview with BriSCA F2 Stockcar young gun 124 Ollie Skeels
(interview published September 7 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 21
Home Town: Wisbech
Occupation: Electrician and mechanic
Family: Girlfriend Lauren
Racing career: First raced in Ministox aged 10 at Yarmouth

Congratulations on qualifying for the World Final for the third time, are you pleased to again be in the race?
I am, especially as we only really decided to pull my finger out about half way through the year and actually try and get in the race. In all honesty, I think I’m quite lucky to have qualified because a couple of months ago I wasn’t even close to being in with a chance of getting into the semi-finals so to now be in the big race is really cool, especially because this will be my first shale World Final and that makes it a lot more exciting for me.

Can you explain why you only decided to commit to the qualifying series at such a late stage?
There wasn’t any one reason, just a few things and mostly it was because I guess I was spending more and more time dabbling with my Saloon Stockcar. Having the Saloon and F2 has been good because it allows me to do plenty of racing without travelling to far from home and sticking mainly to shale but I’ve also been playing with my F2 and trying to get it going better and when I suddenly got it where I wanted I thought I best get on with trying to get into the World Final (laughs). I’d been making developments with the F2 every time I raced it, just to try and keep making it a little better each time and trying to find more speed and when I got it to a stage where I was really happy with it, it boosted my enthusiasm for racing it. It’s like anything, when it’s going well you are keen to do more of it but when it’s a struggle it’s less fun and when the F2 was going well I was suddenly keener to race it. It did help that the World Final, and the semi-finals, were at a local track and you do suddenly thing to yourself that it’s daft you’re not trying to get into a big race which is on your doorstep (laughs). Of course by then I’d left myself a lot of work to do, I went to Taunton for the mid-week qualifier there and three laps into my heat I blew the engine so that didn’t help. Again I was lucky to even get into a semi-final as I think I was eighth reserve or something like that.

Mentioning the Taunton qualifier, you would have still received your attendance points from that meeting, are attendance points at World qualifying rounds something you are in favour of?
Yes, I think they are a good idea. Take me and Taunton, it’s a whole day away to go there and back and in truth, you are pretty ruined for the following day so for me to do a Tuesday night meeting there, really takes two days and if you come back with absolutely nothing it would be a real blow, at least with the attendance points you come back with a little something for your effort.

As you said you have been dividing your racing time this season between BriSCA F2s and Saloon Stockcars, have you a preference between the two?
It’s hard to compare because they are so different and not just because you race in opposite directions (laughs). I really enjoy them both but for very different reasons, I think the Saloons are more all round, what stockcar racing is meant to be but the F2 is more about racing and it’s a bit more about finesse and skill rather than just brute, stick the bumper in and go for it. You do have to be more careful in a F2 than you do in a Saloon, being open wheeled I think it’s much easier to get taken out in an F2 race, you have to try and not make mistakes whereas in a Saloon, the cars is so strong it can take almost anything. I’ve also enjoyed racing the Saloon a lot because my brother races one so I’ve enjoyed racing with him a lot, that’s good fun and I guess with him in the Saloons that is a big reason why I’ve been pulled into the formula as well.

You’ve enjoyed success in both stockcar formulas this season including winning a race in both cars at One Wild Weekend at Mildenhall in July, was that a special achievement for you and will we see you in both cars at the F2 World Final weekend as well?
It was really cool to get those two heat wins especially as they were my first races of the weekend in each car so it got the weekend off to a brilliant start but winning in one car and then jumping in the other and winning in that was pretty amazing really, especially as they are so different. But it was hard that weekend, even harder than I thought it would be and for that reason I will only be racing the F2 at the World Final weekend. Me and (brother) Marcus are having a little break from the Saloons just to get everything ready from the World Final at Skegness but I think I’d probably only race the F2 this weekend anyway just because I want to be fully committed to it and really put everything into the World Final and the rest of the weekend. It’s a big weekend for the formula so it’d be good to have a good weekend and with Marcus not racing as well it will mean everyone can concentrate on me and the F2 and that makes such a difference, having that extra support and everyone being focussed on me and what I’m doing.

You’ve also qualified for the Saloon Stockcar World Final making you possibly the first driver to qualify for the F2 and Saloon World in the same season, is that something you are pleased about?
(note, since this interview was conducted the Saloon Stockcar World Final grid has been revised meaning Ollie is now first reserve for the race rather than seeded into the championship)
It’s really cool and we’ve actually been trying to think of someone else whose been in both a Saloon and F2 World Final and we couldn’t think of anyone. I know you’ve got guys like Rob Speak who have been in the F1 and F2 World Final in the same year like he has this year but you don’t get many drivers race Saloons and F2s, I guess again because they are so different and let alone in the same year so I don’t know if it’s been done before but either way it’s really cool and I’m looking forward to it as I’ve not been in a Saloon World yet. It’s also good because I never really chased qualifying for the race, I just did what I wanted to do and it’s been enough to get me on the back of the grid which is nice.

You finished sixth in your World Championship semi-final, an especially impressive result given you started the race stone cold last on the grid, were you pleased?
Yes, very. My goal was to just try and qualify but even that was always going to be very hard from the back of the grid. It’s hard at King’s Lynn sometimes to make up ground because the track is big and the cars get spread out and sometimes that means less crashes and accidents for you to take advantage off and I think that was the case in my semi-final. There wasn’t any cautions and beforehand I figured I would need at least one to get me in with a chance but I just tried to keep calm and keep pushing forward and hope it would be enough. To be honest I had no idea where I was in the race, it was hard to keep up because you lose track of who you’ve already passed and who you haven’t and also I wasn’t fully aware of how many retirements there had been which obviously helped me a lot in the end. I think if there had been a yellow flag I might have been able to get a little further forward but without one I was over the moon to do so well.

You start on the outside of row eight, is that a good place to start?
I think so. I’m not sure there is a bad or a good place really but hopefully I can do some damage from there (laughs). I don’t know if starting on the outside is good or bad, at the end of the day it’s a stockcar race and it’s down to you to make gaps and get on the inside or where you want to be but in races like this, so much of it is down to big race luck, something I don’t usually have (laughs).

What kind of race do you think we will see?
Big races like this tend to be one extreme or the other, either really hectic and full of action or very boring and I can’t see this being boring but you never know do you, it’s all down to what the drivers want to do on the night. I do think it’s more likely to be a hectic race though which I prefer myself but I hope we put on a good show and it’s a good race.

You’ve yet to register a top 10 finish in this race, is that your goal here?
It would be nice and I’d be happy to get in the top 10 and I think I’m capable of it. The car is certainly good enough but again I think so much of this is going to be down to luck, especially being at Mildenhall where you always need to have some luck on your side.

Who do you think are the leading contenders for the title?
I honestly think it’s such an open race and anyone who is in it could win it, hopefully including me (laughs). You have to say Andrew Palmer is a favourite, starting on the front and being so quick at Mildenhall, I think it’s all down to how he gets through the traffic. With so many cars in the race, everyone is going to be in traffic almost immediately so I think the ability to get through the back markers is something whoever wins is going to need and I think that will favour someone like Rob Speak who’s so experienced and so good at getting through a pack of cars. I don’t think you can count out the last chance qualifiers, especially if the race is an action packed one and there is a lot of crashes and also the overseas are going to be good, certainly the Dutch who race on dirt a lot more now but I don’t even think you can count the Irish guys out because they are still really good drivers.

Will the Mildenhall regulars such as yourself have an edge?
I think so mainly because Mildenhall is such a different track to almost everywhere else. I really like it, because it’s still very quick despite its size but it’s size keeps all the cars together and makes it a good stockcar track. I think the guys who race there a lot will know that and know what it takes to win there so that will help them, I definitely think the race will be suited more to the stockcar drivers who are good at using their bumpers rather than the ones who try and race round cars.

Much has been said about the formula in 2016 and steps to try and improve things, how do you feel the sport is right now?
It’s really good on shale but tarmac needs some thought, I think personally more needs to be done to stop any cheating, especially with fuel or tyres or at least more checks need to be made and be seen to be made because if it’s being seen to be done it would hopefully deter anyone whose trying their luck and also reassure everyone else that the rules are being enforced. The trouble is when checks are clearly not being made it’s easy to assume the worst in others so I’d like to see more of that go on.

There is also talk of introducing a shootout style series to the National Points Championship, like BriSCA F1 Stockcars has, is that something you would like to see?
I would, 100 per cent. Nothing against Gordon Moodie because I think he is the nuts of a driver but a shootout would be really good for the formula and I think it would be a big boost the season after the World Final where things do die down a bit. It’s done wonders for F1s and I can’t see why it wouldn’t do the same for F2s, but it would be important for the number of shale and tarmac rounds to be similar to give all drivers a chance of winning and it would also mean that the silver roof holder would have to race on both surfaces equally as well because under the current system it is more than possible for a driver to win the points without racing on shale at all.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My mum and dad and Froggie, Lauren, the whole Nichols family, Kelven, Rachel, Ben and Lauren who have been a massive help to me and Marcus this season and all my sponsors.