An Interview with former neight time BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Champion 218 Rob Speak
(interview published August 23 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 44
Home Town: Manchester
Occupation: Scrapyard owner
Family: Wife Asha, three children and two grandchildren
Racing career: Started racing in Ministox at Long Eaton aged 12

Congratulations on qualifying for this year’s World Final, you are set to start the race on row four having finished third in your semi-final, are you pleased with your grid position and do you think it gives you a good chance of victory in the World Final?
I was pleased all things considered. My target going into the semi-final was to finish in the top five, I thought that was where I needed to be to have a chance at Mildenhall and if I could finish in the top three I’d be really pleased but to come third with everything that happened, I’m over the moon.

At one point it looked like you would be out of the race before it even started as your car came to a halt on the rolling lap and it was only because of a race stoppage you were able to contest the race, what happened?
My fuel pump just stopped working. I’m making a habit of this at King’s Lynn as I had problems before the BriSCA F1 Stockcar World Final last year and I could do without it really (laughs). I couldn’t believe it when the race started and I was breaking down, it’s crushing because you just think of all the work you have done to get that far and that it is all for absolutely nothing because you can’t even do the race so I was pretty gutted at the time but then the reds came out and I jumped out and a marshal said it was a complete restart so I started to see if I could fix the car and basically I just started whacking the fuel pump as hard as I could and it started working again.

How tense where you in the race over whether the problem would come back?
It was a big worry at the start and I was pretty anxious for the race to get going because with something like that what usually happens is once it is working, it works. It’s when you stop you have the problem so the rolling lap was pretty tense for me and when the race started and the car went, that was a big relief. The first few laps were a little worrying but I knew the longer I went the less chance there was of the problem coming back so with every lap I got a little better but it didn’t really make any difference to my race. I can’t use it as an excuse for my result because as soon as the race started there was no time to worry about anything else that the race itself. Third was a good result for me, especially as there was the point where it looked like I might not have even been in the race at all (laughs) but to be honest I didn’t think I was quick enough. There was certainly others out there who were faster than me and at a track as big as King’s Lynn, especially with 28 cars not being the biggest of grids, it’s easy for the field to get spread out and then a lack of speed becomes a real handicap so I think to finish third I had with the pace I had was a good result. Hopefully it might be a little different at Mildenhall, while I hope the car will be faster, being a smaller track will make a big difference because if you are a little slower than some it’s not such a big handicap as it is at a track like King’s Lynn.

This will actually be your first time in a World Final at Mildenhall, is it something you are looking forward to?
I am as it goes because I really like the track, I just wish it was 200miles closer (laughs). For F2s, I prefer the smaller tracks and being shale as well, it’s ideal for me and I think whatever happens it will be an exciting race but I think you are going to see a lot of yellow flags and stoppages, with that many cars and such a small track, I think it is almost inevitable to be honest and there is little chances of it being a clean race that goes flag to flag, especially with a lot of the mid-pack fancying their chances and they are going to be eager to get going. I think you are going to see a real stockcar race and that’s something I enjoy so I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

Mentioning the mid-pack, do you think starting towards the front will be a big advantage?
I think it will help but at the same time I think the winner could come from anywhere on the grid, the race has the potential to be such an unpredictable one and you won’t know until it happens where is a good place to start on the grid but I think being at the front is probably one of the better places, that or at the back, from there you have a bit more control over what happens at the start and what you do whereas those in the middle will need a bit of luck and a certain amount of what happens will be out of their control. But the thing with Mildenhall, being such a small track and with so many cars in the race it will be very easy to lose time but just as easy to make it up again. A mistake at Mildenhall and you can lose half a lap in the blink of an eye but you can make that time up just as easily if someone else makes a mistake or gets caught up, that’s what will make it so exciting because you never know what is going to happen.

Andrew Palmer won the Grand Final at King’s Lynn on August 13 which means you will start on the inside row of the World Final, is that something you are pleased about?
Yes, to be honest I think that is an advantage, especially being at Mildenhall because being on the inside will give you a little extra space at the start. Obviously those behind you will be trying to get up your inside so having those cars on your outside between you and the fence will help a lot, I think those on the outside will be at a disadvantage at the start because their priority will be trying to safely get round the first bend and get into the race and that might see them sacrifice a few places at the start. Again I don’t think it matters so much at Mildenhall because it’s easy to make up ground with the track being smaller but I think the inside line will have an advantage, especially at the start where there is a chance to gain some positions on those starting on the outside.

Who do you see as the main challengers to the win?
I think there are a lot and as I think it will be very unpredictable I think anyone could win it really but people like Andy Palmer and Rob Mitchell are definitely going to be among the favourites, especially where they are starting, so close to the front. Chris Burgoyne has a good chance, especially with how well he did at the semis, it’s obvious how badly he wants to win but I don’t know how he will do at Mildenhall. I think Mildenhall is definitely going to favour the shale drivers. Again being a smaller track, it’s less forgiving than say somewhere like King’s Lynn where a mistake isn’t likely to punish you as badly but also Mildenhall will be so much more hectic and you are going to need your wits about you and the shale regulars will I think be more suited to that and the ones who race regularly at Mildenhall even more so. I did think Dave Polley would be a contender but he, like myself, seemed a little off the pace at King’s Lynn but again at Mildenhall that won’t matter as much because I think it will be more of a stockcar race and, again like me, that’s what he’s good at so I think he will be in there as well.

You have a chance to make history this year by becoming the first driver to hold the BriSCA F1 and F2 Stockcar World Championships at the same time if you successfully defend the F1 World title the weekend before the F2 World Final, how special would that be for you?
It would be massive wouldn’t it but I’m trying not to look at it like that. You can’t be if you do it gets in your head, you just have to look at it as any other race but to be the first to do that would be incredibly special and I’d love to be the guy to do it.

Do you see this as your best chance to achieve that?
(laughs) It’s my only chance because this is my last year racing! (a pause follows as this was the first we’d heard of this, Rob then confirmed that while his retirement from the sport at the end of 2016 wasn’t a secret it also wasn’t common knowledge and agreed to talk about it for the first time on the record here) I still love the racing, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t but I just feel now is time. It’s hard with work and family, trying to juggle it all and without all the help I get I couldn’t do it but my kids are growing up, my daughter has a Micro F2 and I have grandkids now and I just feel it is time to move on and spend more time with them. It would obviously be a wonderful way to end my career, even without the double it would be amazing to get one more F2 World title all those years after my first, it was incredible to win a second F1 World more than 10 years after the first so to do the same in the F2s would be a perfect way to end it all, but even if I don’t, just to be in the race again and so near the front is an achievement in itself.

Much has been said of the state of BriSCA F2 Stockcars in 2016, what are your thoughts on the formula right now?
I think shale is in a great place but unfortunately tarmac racing is knackered. I don’t know why or what the answer is, I just know that when I’ve seen (F2s) on tarmac, it’s usually pretty awful and it’s a real shame but I think it can be turned around, I just don’t know how (laughs).

There is also talk of introducing an end of season shootout series for the silver roof in F2s as they have in F1s, as a former multiple F2 National Points Champion and the current holder of the silver roof in F1s do you think a similar system in F2s would work?
I do and I think it would be very good for F2s to have a shootout series like we have in F1s and I think it could work very well. The trouble with the National Points Championship is the years I won it in F2s, I did because I was able to do the amount of racing I could. It was the same in F1s all the years Frankie Wainman Jnr won them and to be honest the majority of years in F2s the winner of the points was the guy who was lucky enough to do the meetings and if you are fortunate enough to be in that position there is a good chance you will win. Under a shootout system it gives more drivers a chance because I think if you are able to be in the top 12 in the points that late in the season the chances are you would be able to commit to 10 or so meetings around the country, even in F2s where the tracks are a lot more spread out, to fight for the silver roof. It’s done wonders for F1s in keeping the season alive after the World Final and the silver roof is a big prize, winning it last year was a real career highlight for me and something I’m very proud of and I don’t so why it wouldn’t be the same in F2s.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Just everyone who has ever helped me, there have been so many, I could never thank them all, but anyone who has ever helped in anyway, I’m very grateful to them all, no matter how much they have helped, it’s all made a difference.