An Interview with BriSCA F2 Stockcar racer 464 Matt Linfield ahead of his second World Final appearance
(interview published August 31 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 37
Home Town: Horsham
Occupation: Self-employed precision engineer
Family: Wife Claire and two children
Racing career: First race was in November 1997 at Ringwood in Outlaw F2s

This will mark your second appearance in the World Final in as many years, are you pleased to be a part of the big race again?
Definitely I’m very pleased especially as this year has been such a different one for me and I’ve done more shale racing than ever before. It’s worked out quite well I supposed because I sold my tarmac car at the end of last year and when it became clear my new one wasn’t going to be ready quite as soon as I thought it would I decided to instead do a bit more work on the car I had for shale and do more racing on shale. Of course it helped with the Semi-Finals and World being on shale as well which was an extra incentive but ultimately it wouldn’t have mattered because had I not been racing the shale car I wouldn’t have done very much this season at all. The car I use on shale is basically an old tarmac car which we made some changes to so I could use it for the odd shale meeting I did each season but this year we did a bit more on it and it’s been really good racing it and I’m not looking forward to using it in the World Final.

Have you enjoyed your season on shale as a whole?
It’s been an eye opener that’s for sure (laughs). It’s been a lot cheaper than racing in tarmac and to be honest it’s been a lot less damage free that I expected and that is a common theory about shale racing, that you tend to get more damage but so far I’ve found that to not be the case but maybe I’ve just been lucky (laughs). I think the years on tarmac have helped me a bit with that though, my theory is that the racing on tarmac does tend to be a bit faster so you develop quicker reactions to when crashes happen and it’s helped me avoid them. I’ve been pretty lucky this year because there have been plenty of times when there has been a car next to me whose got caught in the crash whereas I’ve been able to avoid it and that’s the only reason I can think of as to why (laughs). Hopefully I’ll be able to keep it up in the World! The other massive difference is the tyres. Last year I did 26 meetings on tarmac and we worked it out that I used 45 tyres whereas this year I have gone through just three tyres racing on shale all season and one of the ones I punctured I managed to repair and am still using it. That is a huge positive of the shale racing and I think a massive reason why it’s so popular because the tyres are a huge cost saver and it makes the racing a lot cheaper.

Your new tarmac car is now in action, will we continue to see you shale in the future?
I plan to. I’ve really enjoyed the shale racing I have done this year and have no intention of stopping but of course I have the tarmac car now so I don’t plan on not using it but I think going forward I will probably split my racing 50/50 between tarmac and shale now.

You mention developing a skill for avoiding crashes, will that come in handy in the World Final?
I think it will. I think the race is going to be very hectic, it’s hard to see how it can be anything else with so many cars on a track as small as Mildenhall, I can’t see how there won’t be stoppages so surviving everything is going to be very important. It helped being able to avoid everything that was going on in the Semi-Final at King’s Lynn. The start was pretty manic and I managed to miss it all and got into about seventh or eighth I think pretty quickly and then when Mark Simpson and Tony Blackburn crashed out I moved up even further but I lost a few places at the end and finished eighth but I think a lot of that was from being able to keep my nose clean at the start so hopefully I will be able to do the same at Mildenhall.

Are you pleased with your grid position on the outside of row 11?
To be honest, I would have preferred to have been on the inside, just because I think when you are on the inside you have the option of leaning on the car next to you and using their nerf rail to stay out of the wall and I would prefer to be leaning on someone than being leaned on. But then, it depends on the track on the night as you never know where the grip will really be until the race starts so being on the outside may help, you never know. I hope being a few rows back might help, there are a lot of top guys up the front who will all fancy their chances and I think they could very easily trip over each other and cause a crash and being a little further back I might be able to avoid it. I genuinely think there will be a stoppage in the race, probably early on and I think if you can still be in the race on that first restart, on the lead lap and with your car in good condition you will have a chance.

Have you a target for the race?
Well last year I didn’t manage half a lap so if I manage to do more than that I’ll be pleased (laughs). Wim Peeters and Gordon Moodie had their crash and I saw it, as did Dave Polley and we would have both avoided it but someone else obviously didn’t see what was going on in front of us and then me and Dave were just passengers and in we went. To be fair, I was fairly lucky because Dave went in very hard and I avoided a big crash like that but it was a shame that my first World Final was over so soon. But it might have been a blessing as I think I had a problem with my engine and on a big track like Hednesford they could have been a problem but even so it was still a shame so I’ll be glad to do more than that! But I’m also pleased enough to just be in the race to start with. While I tried to be confident at King’s Lynn, you have to be don’t you, it’s not a track I tend to do very well at so I guess deep down I wasn’t too sure if I would qualify so just to get a top 10 was brilliant. I feel more comfortable at Mildenhall, I’d say it’s my favourite of the shale tracks, I just get on with it better and hopefully that will help me in the race. I’d love to get a top 10 finish, that would be amazing and I think with a bit of luck it could happen but I think it will be more about survival than anything else.

Who do think the biggest challengers are for the win?
I think it could be a shock winner you know, don’t ask me why, I just think the winner might surprise people especially because I have this feeling that the front runners might trip themselves up. But Mildenhall is such an unpredictable track, add to that the race is 30 laps and there are so many good drivers in it who will really fancy their chances and you’ve no idea what’s going to happen. I think someone like Steve Wycherly could surprise people. He is as good as anyone around Mildenhall so why not someone like him, I think he has every bit as good a chance of winning than anyone else. Personally I would love to see Rob Speak win it again, especially now he’s announced this is his last season. I was a huge fan of his when I was younger and it would be the icing on the cake to see him end his career with one more World win, especially if he wins the F1 World the week before at Coventry. I don’t think the consolation semi-final qualifiers can be discounted, it would only need a stoppage or two and they will be right in there and there are some excellent shale drivers in that race, if Mark Simpson qualifies I’m sure he’ll find a way to the front of the race and I think the Dutch will be a big threat as well. I’d also like to see Toon Schut win it after all these years of trying, I’d imagine this could well be his last best chance to do it and he would deserve it.

You have been instrumental in introducing the Zetec engine into the sport, how pleased are you to see this happen?
I’m very pleased and while I do think it is something that should have been done a few years before I think it will be a great thing for the sport in the long run. It happened by accident really as I was out of racing for three months which ruined my season and during that time I thought about it and basically I think I went on about it long enough in the end (the promoters) just gave in, I don’t think I gave them a choice (laughs). It’s funny because the engine hasn’t caught on as quick in F2s as it has done in Saloon Stockcars where nearly everyone has them now but hopefully it won’t be long. It does surprise me the amount of people who keep repairing broken Pinto engines rather than making the switch but I can understand it as drivers who have the Pintos will want to get everything they can from them because they cost so much in the first place and making the switch isn’t the cheapest thing because of the cost of the conversion kit so it’s understandable if you have a perfectly working Pinto or one which can be repaired why you’d stick to that rather than fork out to run Zetec. But the conversion kit is brilliant value for money, to be honest I’m amazed BriSCA were able to do it so cheaply and they deserve a lot of credit for that, and once you have it, that’s it. All the Zetec engines I’ve used, I’ve had three and still have them, have come from scrap cars and I’ve just done a little work on them to make sure everything is ok and that’s it and they have been as good as anything else, especially on shale.

Much has been said about the state of the sport in 2016 and the moves to try and improve it, how do you feel this is going?
I think the sport is in a better place that it was 18 months ago, that’s for certain and it’s good that there is now a group of drivers involved but we have to always be careful that the decisions made are for the benefit of the whole of the sport rather than just a small portion of it because sometimes one mistake can cause years of damage and this is something which has happened in the past so we do need to be careful moving forward but so far, so good. The biggest issue on tarmac really is the engines and the tyres. The answer to the engines I think is obvious which is for more people to use Zetecs which would allow them to be competitive for a lot less money but I’m not sure what the answer is to the tyres. I think the tyres we have now are great and I’m not sure there is anything better out there but we should always be looking.

There is also talk of a Shootout style series to decide the National Points Championship much like BriSCA F1 Stockcars, is that something you would be in favour of?
To be honest, and I love Gordon Moodie, I think he’s a great bloke and an excellent driver, but the fact is when he is racing, no-one else even bothers with the National Points because they just don’t think they have a chance. Last year when Chris (Burgoyne) and George (McMillan) were going for it, it was brilliant and the best year since 1997 when Bert Finnikin had a go at Rob Speak for the title and even with just those two, look at the buzz and the interest it caused so I think a shootout series would be good for the sport after the World Championship to keep the interest alive to the end of the year, much like it has for F1s but personally I don’t think it should be for the silver roof, it should be for something else because the driver who scores the most points in a season still deserves recognition.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad, without him I wouldn’t be doing this, he’s a real start and my mum and my wife for letting me spend all the time on the car and racing and the kids who love coming to the meetings, Steve, Ellie and Zach and all my sponsors because without their help I couldn’t do all this, Linfield Precision Engineering Ltd, Geoff, Bill, Wilf and Alec at GW&G Bridges Vehicle Recyclers, Neil and Natalie at Neil Dunne Welding Fabrication, Terry at Elite Racing for building my fabulous new tarmac car, Steve at SJ Ryan Groundwork and Building, Scott at SMC Vehcile Detailing, Mike from Edards Motorsport, Pete at WG Tires, Exhausts and Servicing, Mike at MDP Services, the Autospeed team at Ovalshop and PMA Motor Factors.