NEW: An Interview with BriSCA F2 Stockcar Grand National Champion 823 Sam Wagner
(interview published September 7 2016 in the lead up to the BriSCA F2 Stockcar World Championship weekend on September 10 and 11)

Age: 27
Home Town: Darlington
Occupation: Non-destructive testing
Family: Girlfriend Becca and daughter Lila
Racing career: Startin racing in Ministox aged 10 at Barford

This will be your seventh World Championship appearance in a row, an incredible feat, underlined by the fact that only Gordon Moodie (who has raced in the last 12 but has yet to qualify for this year’s race) can match, are you pleased to again be in the race?
I am but you would have thought now with all these World Finals I’ve been in I might have won one by now (laughs). Of course it’s great to be in this race, it’s the biggest one of the year and every driver would love to have the gold roof and you have to be in it to win it, so I’m pleased to be in it again and have another chance at is.

Does having so much experience of the race now help your chances?
I think it does. The first few years were tough on me and the nerves and pressure really got to me. My first World Final was in 2010 at Skegness and on the first bend (Dave) Polley buried Moodie like a lot of people thought he would causing a big crash and I came out of it in the lead and straight away I thought’ wow, I’m winning the World Final’, and that was it, I went to bits after that and started making silly mistakes I’d like to think I normally wouldn’t make in a race and soon enough I got taken out. What made a big difference was the year it was at Barford because I only qualified on the day and so I started pretty much at the back and there were so many good drivers at the front that I thought I had no hope and that took a lot of the pressure away and that was the year I finished third. It didn’t work so well the following year at Taunton when Chris Bradbury was meant to be on the front row but was ill so he didn’t race and I got moved up to the front row. I remember being so nervous and I looked across to Rob Speak who was on the front row with me, and there he is, elbows on the cab, completely calm and relaxed and that made me even worse (laughs). I’m hoping Andrew (Palmer) isn’t ill this year as I’m quite happy on the second row but I think the more you do these races the easier it gets and I try now to look at it and treat it like any other race, my attitude is that if it’s meant to be, it will be.

Given the importance of the night does this mean extra time on the car ahead of the meeting?
It does but with the way the dates have fallen it won’t. As much as I love my racing, I admit I hate the time we have to spend in the garage on the car. Now, I try to spend two nights on the car and three at home with the family and if we have a weekend where we aren’t racing that is more time I can spend with them. Usually before something like this I would spend more on the car but it has fallen quite nicely this year that there is no shale racing the weekend before the World Final weekend. I did Stoke and Belle Vue over the bank holiday and then it’s a weekend off so the plan is to spend a couple of nights on the car each week before the World which means twice as much work but no extra time and hopefully that will make sure everything is as good as it can be. I even got the scale out for it the other day (laughs).

Mentioning the bank holiday weekend, you ended the weekend winning the Grand National at Belle Vue meaning you go into the World Final having won your last race, does that help?
It does but it was a strange turn of events that day really. At Stoke the day before I won my heat and finished second in the final. I made a move to try and win but Billy Webster came through so to be honest the second was a good result. At Belle Vue I cocked up in my heat but the car was good and had pace but in the final the engine went sick which was the last thing I wanted. My plan had always been to not do the Grand National, to do the final and load the car up in good shape for the World Final rather than risk damaging it in the last race but with the engine issues we had to try and sort it. We figured out what was wrong and in the Grand National it was flying and I won the race. The car felt amazing and it was a big shot for my confidence, it was a weird day as I went from a real low to a massive high and I think the weekend as a whole will help me at the World Final. In any race you have to believe you can do well, if you have any doubts in the car or yourself you’ve already lost haven’t you and having a weekend like that, ending with a win after some problems helps give you that belief in yourself.

As a Mildenhall regular and just outside of the top 10 in the current track championship despite not being able to attend all the meetings this year, do you think it gives you a better chance this year?
I hope so but at the same time if you look at the grid there is probably the best part of 20 people on the grid with a chance of winning the race and I reckon there will be even more by the time the consolation semi-final is done. It’s definitely a very open race with so many good drivers on the grid and a lot of them are good around Mildenhall and even the ones who don’t race at Mildenhall so much you can’t count them out because they are such good drivers.

Was trying to qualify for the race a target for you this season and are you pleased with your grid position, on the inside of the second row?
Yes and yes (laughs). It’s a race that I always want to be in but I didn’t have the best of qualifying series and I only did four qualifying rounds. I got a racing ban from the wife, the thumb came out and pressed down on my head (laughs). We had our baby this year and of course it got to a point where the racing had to take a back seat, the day of the Mildenhall qualifier Becca was ready to have the baby and the last thing I wanted was to be four hours away from her when she went into labour, I also missed the Sheffield round and nine times out of 10 I do well there so I didn’t qualify for a semi-final that well, I guess only doing four rounds I did well to qualify as well as I did but I always wanted to be in the semis and then that race went really well. Before the race I would have been very happy to finish second, a top 10 would have been good enough really but to be that far up the front is excellent.

You also start on the inside, will that help?
I don’t know. I’ve started on the inside and the outside of big races at Mildenhall and both times I’ve done no good. I was on the inside for one of the last World of Shale Championships at Mildenhall and I didn’t make it past the first bend and in the semis I was outside and I got taken out on the last bend so I’m not sure it makes any difference but someone has told me that the position I’m in has produced a lot of World Final winners so hopefully I won’t mess that tradition up (laughs).

Have you a target for the race?
I’m in it to win it and that is my goal but I believe you have to have that mentality with our racing if you are going to do well. I read a story about Paul Harrison who said the year he believed he could win the World Championship was the year he did and I think if you have any doubt in yourself or the car, you’ve already lost so I believe I can win and that is what I’m going for.

Who do you think are the other leading contenders?
Me (laughs). There is a lot of them and I think that is what is going to make the race so good. Andrew Palmer, Rob Mitchell and Dave Polley are definitely going to be in there, I think Chris Burgoyne could be one to watch, he was good at Stoke and Belle Vue on the bank holiday weekend. The only thing going against him is he has a new car and he’s not raced it at Mildenhall but if he gets it figured out he has just as much a chance as anyone else. I also think the qualifiers on the night will be contenders, certainly if someone like Mark Simpson gets through, I still think he has a great chance especially at somewhere like Mildenhall which is uncertain at the best of times. The Dutch are also going to be strong, guys like Wim Peeters and Barry Bauer and Michael Schutter was rapid at the weekend meeting before he had engine problems. Toon Schut is also very good and apart from Rob Speak has probably been in more big races than anyone so they are going to be in the mix. It’s also good that we see so much of the Dutch at our meetings regularly now so it would be good to see them do well to be fair.

What kind of race do you think we are going to see?
I don’t know. It’s funny because races like this, when people expect a blood bath it’s the opposite and when people expect it to be tame, it’s crazy so I don’t know but I don’t think I have ever been in a tame race at Mildenhall, I’m not sure one is possible, especially with over 30 cars in it and the World Championship on the line. I think what will make this race so special and unique is that you are not going to be able to back off at all. It won’t be like some races where you can pace yourself and even back off a bit, you are going to have to be giving it 110 per cent the whole time, especially as I’d imagine the leaders will be in amongst back markers with a couple of laps, I doubt there will be any time when you won’t be racing someone

Do the Mildenhall regulars have an advantage?
Maybe but I honestly don’t think anyone who races at Mildenhall will see it as an advantage. I think if you think like that you create a danger of taking it a little easier and that will hinder you so I think all the Mildenhall regulars will know they can’t treat being a regular as an advantage so I don’t think it will help so much but it could hurt you if you think it will help you.

Much has been said about the formula in 2016 and the moves to try and improve the formula, how do you feel this has been going?
I’ve been quite involved with the driver’s forum and I think it’s going ok but none of us have a magic solution or answer to the problems, especially on tarmac. If the tarmac scene was as good as the shale one there’d be no issue but it will take time and I think working together will help in the long run. It’s been a bit of an eye opener for me with regard to the work the promoters put in as I think have been guilty for assuming they don’t do enough so that’s been interesting but I think it has also helped them hearing more about the work we do as well so it’s improved our appreciation for each other.

There is talk of introducing a shootout style series to the National Points Championship much like BriSCA F1 Stockcars has, is that something you would like to see?
My personal opinion is silver roof should be decided over a whole season and not just a few at the end but I wouldn’t against some kind of series at the end of the season to keep the interest up after the World Final but it would need driver support. They tried it a few years ago with the 50th anniversary series and that really didn’t work so it would need a big prize and there is no denying the silver roof would be a great incentive but I personally think that should go to the guy whose been the top scorer the entire season.

Is there anyone else you would like to thank or mention?
My dad and his business, The Car Shop as without him I wouldn’t be racing, it’s as simple as that. My other sponsors, A and D Transport and Wagners Aerospace, all my friends and family for putting up with what I make them put with and everyone else who helps or contributes, no matter how small it is, it all helps and it’s all appreciated.