An Interview with BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship rookie 441 Micky Branston
(interview published August 31 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 33
Home Town: Leicester
Occupation: Fitter and welder
Family: Girlfriend Sarah
Racing career: First race was in Ministox at Buxton aged 11

You have successfully qualified for the World Final for the first time, are you pleased with this and how are you feeling about the big race?
I’m really chuffed because it’s not something I have ever tried to do before and to be honest at the start of this year it was never a plan or anything but then I started to race on shale more and before I knew it I was only racing on shale and with the semis and World Final both on shale this year I figured it was worth a go. Winning the heat and final at the qualifying round at Sheffield made a huge difference and bumped me right up the qualifying points and gave me a good position for the semi-final but even then I wasn’t sure I’d be able to qualify so to get through King’s Lynn in the top 10 was a big achievement for me and it’s really special to be a part of the race for the first time. I’m really looking forward to it but at the same time I admit I’m pretty nervous. This will be my biggest race by some way. The only other championship I’ve been in was a British Championship at Buxton where I actually started the race on pole position but apart from that I’ve never been in a championship race so this will be something very different and it is kind of daunting in a way but very exciting as well.

Is there any worry that nerves will get in the way on the night?
(laughs) No, I always get nervous before a race, I think everyone does but when it’s time to go they’ll go as well. Thankfully I’ll be kept busy before the race helping my brother (Luke) because he’s in the consolation semi-final and as much as I would have loved for him to have qualified as well, I think helping him for the first race will be a good distraction.

Coming from a very racing based family, was it especially disappointing that Luke failed to qualify for the World Final as well and how special would it be if he makes it through via the consolation semi-final?
Yeah, the whole family has raced or races including my grandad and dad, my dad did F2s as well but to be honest I don’t think he ever got beyond the white grade so I’m the first one of the family to qualify for the World Final and that makes it all the more special to be honest but it would have been even better had Luke qualified as well and when the race was over it was a little disappointing to find out he hadn’t but I think he has a decent chance in the consolation semi-final race so fingers crossed.

Will having him race in that race before the World Final possibly help you for the World Final?
I guess it might. We pretty much set our cars up the same but if he does his race and the car is really not performing well we might have a chance to try and tweak mine to see if we can get mine to go a little better but hopefully his will be good which would give me a little more confidence as then there would be no reason why mine wouldn’t be just as good, but you never know with shale because the track is different every time. Personally I hope it’s a bit damp and the track is grippy because I don’t tend to get on well with slick shale tracks.

Tell us about the semi-final because you had to work hard to finish seventh after dropping several places at the start, were you worried about not qualifying?
Yeah, the start didn’t go very well at all. I got trapped on the outside and a lot of people got through on the inside and to be honest the stoppage really helped me because I was still stuck on the outside when it did and it was a bit of a shock to see how many places I’d lost so quickly so I was a bit worried at that point and I knew I needed a good restart which thankfully I did and that got me back in the mix. However towards the end of the race I had to back off because my engine was getting so hot which was a problem I think a lot of people were having. I switched to a different gear to keep the revs a bit lower and just tried to make it home safely but it wasn’t the best feeling seeing Andy Ford getting bigger and bigger in my mirror (laughs)! I didn’t have a clue where I was in the race, I knew I’d overtaken a lot of people who had crashed out or retired but I didn’t know if I was in with a chance of qualifying but I had no choice but to take the last couple of laps a little easier if I wanted to finish at all so to find out I’d done as well as seventh was just brilliant.

The result puts you on row 10, are you pleased with that?
I’m just happy to be on the grid and would have taken anywhere on it but I am pleased I will be starting on the inside row as I think that makes a big difference. When you are on the outside you have to be wary of the cars on your inside at the start and what they do directly impacts on you whereas if you are the inside you have the upper hand straight away. I saw first-hand, what difference being on the outside can make at the semi-finals so hopefully this will be better for me.

Have you any targets or goals for the race?
I’d like to finish. That would be a really big thing for me, just to go the distance and be there at the end but even that is going to be very hard I would think, if I could finish in the top 10 that would just be a bonus but I suspect that if you can finish the race you will have half a chance of being in the top 10.

What kind of race do you expect it to be and how are your picks for the win?
I think Andrew Palmer is probably my pick, he goes so well at Mildenhall and he’s off the front so he stands a great chance but there are so many good drivers in it who are capable of winning and we’ve not had the consolation semi-final yet and I think you will get more potential winners from that as well. I think Rob Speak will be one to watch as well, he’s bound to be in there somewhere. I think the winner could come from anywhere but I’ve no idea what kind of race it will be, anything can happen.

You’ve visited Mildenhall a few times this season, is it a track you enjoy racing at?
I seem to have mixed form there and I can’t fully figure out why. One meeting I’ll do really well and another I struggle. Shale track conditions change a lot and I think that is especially the case at Mildenhall so it depends on the conditions but I’ve had some good meetings there and I usually enjoy racing there, it’s always a challenge.

How has 2016 been for you as a whole?
I’ve really enjoyed it and obviously qualifying for the World Final was a massive highlight but so was the Sheffield World qualifier where I won heat and final, that was really cool and it helped me move back up the grades. I’ve been up and down the grades a bit like a yo-yo this year and I would like to try and find a bit more consistency with that but it’s difficult because of work as we have to work some weekends, including bank holidays which means sometimes there is no choice but to miss a meeting and that sees you drop down the points again.

You mention racing more on shale this season, what brought that about?
I’m only racing on shale now as I’ve sold my tarmac. It costs a lot less to race on shale and I’ve found it more fun so I’ve decided to concentrate on that now. The car I’m using is an old one, it was built in 2008, I bought it on eBay and then I sold some bits on it that I didn’t need and fitted my own so I reckon in the end the car only cost me around £300 and it’s been good enough to get me into the World Final because you don’t need the best stuff to compete on shale like you do on tarmac. The tyres are a massive difference as well, on tarmac you could easily use two new ones every meeting and on shale you barely use new ones at all and that alone makes a huge difference to the cost.

There has been a lot of talk about the state of the sport in 2016 and the moves to try and improve things, how do you feel things are at the moment?
I think it’s getting better and I’m quite happy with how it all is right now, numbers are picking up, especially on tarmac which is good to see and we are seeing a few new drivers, there are even two new drivers who’ve started who live near me.

There is also talk of introducing a shootout style conclusion to the National Points Championship, is that something you would like to see?
I think it would be really good for the formula, it’s brilliant in NASCAR and I think that is why the idea has been used elsewhere and I think it would create a chance for more people to have a go at winning it, rather than just one or two each year.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
Everyone who helps and support me and especially my sponsors, JL Signs, Branston Tyre Services and Stakesys Metalwork Machinery.