Pikey Looking to Double Up - Hear from 190 Steve Bailey!

With only days to go until the Unlimited Banger Icebreaker find an extract from an interview which appears in the Raceday Programe from 190 Steve "Pikey" Bailey

Following on from a great performance in the 1500cc Banger Icebreaker we caught up with winning team captain – D W O’s 190 Steve “Pikey” Bailey.

190 Steve "Pikey" Bailey - Looking for a double Icebreaker title on Sunday

You must have been chuffed with the way both teams performed at the 1500cc Icebreaker? 

Yes definitely. As a captain I couldn’t have asked for more. I put two teams together of really talented lads and they delivered. I put one team together that I thought would score points and they did, and I put one together to crash and they did so yes I couldn’t have asked for more. 

It must be good to have talented drivers on board with you? 

Yes it is. They are all still young lads and still learning. I think I am the oldest and I’m only thirty.  It’s great to see that they are always improving and anyway I can help them I try to.  It’s also good when you get to team events because we go as a force and if one of us is in we are all in so we stick together as well which is good. 

After winning pretty much everything there is to win, do you still have goals left in your banger career and if so what are they? 

Yes I still have goals but they have just changed a bit. When I first started out it was all about me and making me a better driver and getting my name out there and to win big titles - now it’s about the team and making the team the best they can be and taking on the best teams together to making us a force and making us the best team out there.  There are still plenty of goals for me as an individual as well - when there are no goals left that’s when I will stop racing but I still have a lot I want to do - not just for me but the team as well. 

The current rivalry between you and Bro is an interesting one, where did it all start? 

I think it started back when I was leading the English and he was behind me for a long time and decided to leave it until the last couple of laps to spin me out. That’s when it all started and then I got him back then he done me, then I done him and it’s just carried on, but we share a hand shake when we get out of our cars and there are no hard feelings between us it’s just a bit of rivalry. 

A lot of people get it wrong when we talk about rivalries, because you always seem to have a lot of respect for your rivals? 

Yes people said I should have been banned for the incident at Lynn with Michael Allard but I didn’t go in to hurt Michael at all. It’s just the only way to bend the Mondeo because they are so hard is to hit the car over the front wheel and sometimes you catch the door but unless you race Mondeos you don’t realise how hard they are.  I respect any driver who gets in to a banger and carry a lot of respect for certain drivers. Going back to the Allard crash I did say to Jonesy at the time I thought it was out of order but he had our on board camera on with him that day and all he could see was head on and not the state of the car at the time, so I don’t think anyone goes out to hurt any other driver. 

Is Michael Allard or anyone else on your radar on Sunday? 

Just anyone really. As long as we get out shake hands and don’t hold grudges then that’s all that matters.  I try to teach the lads in my team two things – one is not to hold grudges and the other one is not to get out of the car, just sit there and take it as it’s best to do that. Going back to the 1500cc Icebreaker and it is a perfect example. In the first race I was running well and ended up finishing second then in the second race I just hit anything I could - so it depends on how I feel but anyone who is there I will crash in to if I can. 

You have traded some massive shots over the last couple of years - how much does it hurt the next morning? 

If anyone tells you they don’t suffer then they will be lying to you, but it depends on how you deal with it.  Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I can’t even walk then other times when you think you will struggle in the morning and you get up fine, but I’m a builder and an active person so I can’t afford to let it get to me. 

Will you be looking to double up with a second Icebreaker win? 

I’ve always said we have no set plans to win either of them but we shall do the first race and if we score well then we have a good chance to push on.

TOMORROW - Norfolk N Good Champion 730 Deane Mayes gives us his views on Icebreaker 2012!!