Interview with 217 Sid Madgwick by Mark Paulson which appeared in the 4 April programme
Tonight’s meeting will feature the fifth staging of the annual Two-Litre Saloon Stock Car 25-and-under Championship of Great Britain, an event Trackstar has been proud to host since its inception. The roll of honour is an impressive one, with the current champion being 306 Daniel Parker. Being just 19 years of age, Parker has plenty more attempts left to take the title for a second time, something no one has yet achieved. But hoping to prevent a successful defence on this occasion is one of his Ministox contemporaries, 217 Sid Madgwick.
Madgwick, 18, has hit a rich vein of form in the opening weeks of the season that has already taken him to three race wins, two at Mildenhall and one at the Saloons’ last meeting here, three weeks ago.
“Yeah, three wins,” he said. “That was my first win at Lynn the other week. I don’t normally go well at Lynn, I never really liked it, but at the moment I’ve sort of learnt a bit how to drive it and it’s going well. Hopefully that’ll help me out [tonight]. I’m looking forward to it – should be good.”
With such a vibrant local scene for the Saloons in East Anglia, there is no shortage of potential winners of the race.
“I think Daniel Parker, he’ll be a good one to watch,” considered Madgwick. “You’ve got Jamie Sampson, I think it’s his last year. He’s always there or thereabouts, isn’t he. Ryan Santry might even surprise you – he’s getting there, just having a bit of bad luck at the moment, I think.”
Madgwick looking forward to a meeting here at the Adrian Flux Arena and being tipped as a contender for the title is a far cry from a year ago when he didn’t even contest the race. In fact, he only raced here twice all year, after struggling to get dialled into the shale surface.
“I didn’t do many meetings full stop really last year,” the Cambridgeshire driver confirmed. “I had a real steady season. I think I did about six meetings throughout the whole year. So we weren’t really racing a lot but this year we’re hoping to be a bit different. It’s started off real good so hopefully it’ll keep going well but you never know!
“Me and Dad had a sit down and talk about it [and decided] it’s pointless going out of your way and missing the tracks that are on your doorstep really. And with the shale [at King’s Lynn and Mildenhall], it is pretty much every weekend so I’m going to concentrate on that. I think that’ll be the cheapest route for us.”
Madgwick grew up racing on the much smaller shale track at Mildenhall – as well as visits to plenty of other tracks of both surfaces all across the country – in ORC Ministox. He has fond memories of his very successful days in a formula that has produced many drivers who have gone on to success in the adult stock car classes.
“I loved the Minis,” the welder/fabricator confirmed. “We did alright in the Minis. They were just a lot easier, weren’t they! They were good fun, we did a fair bit in them. We went everywhere really. Really enjoyed them. I’m hoping I’ll do the same in the Saloons.
“You’ve got Parker who’s the main one,” Madgwick continued, recalling his fellow graduates from Ministox to Saloon Stock Cars. “Thomas Parrin as well; Jake Swann, he did race a Mini for a little while; [Daniel] Petters, Georgie Boult, Tristan [Claydon] – well, Tristan doesn’t race at the moment, but he was.”
Those days were spent racing under the numbers 355 (when representing RDC) or 155 (when representing Spedeworth). So how did the #217 in Saloon Stock Cars come about?
“To be honest, that was a funny sort of story,” Madgwick chuckled. “I hated my Ministox number the whole time – I didn’t want it as my number. I wanted 357 but that was taken in the Minis so I had the next one and that just sort of stuck. Then as soon as I got in the Saloons I wanted 257 but that was taken and then it sort of put me on the spot when we rung up because my car was going in the [Autosport] show. Dad just sort of shouted out ‘217 cos it’ll look nice’! But I like 217 and Dad had it in a Super [Superstox] once so it went like that really.”
Father Dave, his brother Gary, and the rest of a racing family also played a big part in Sid taking up racing in the first place.
“My whole family have done it,” he explained. “Gary did a lot of Bangers and bits and pieces. And my Uncle Richard, he does Historic Stock Cars at the moment and he’s done a bit of racing. Dad’s obviously done pretty much every formula. When I was young, before the Minis, he said ‘Shall we get one and try it?’ and we sort of went alright and so we stuck [at] it really. But he loves the stock cars so that was the priority to go into them after Minis.
“I love it, I absolutely love it – I don’t think I could do any other formula really now. It’s like family!”
For a man who won umpteen titles in Ministox (see below), Madgwick is still seeking his first major success in Saloons. But he rates his starring role in the 2013 World Final, having qualified via the last chance races, as his biggest achievement in the formula to date.
Said Madgwick: “I’d say the World Final in Cowdenbeath. That was really good because I started out at the back of the grid and ended up getting sixth so that to me meant a lot.”
His lack of activity last year meant there was no King’s Lynn World Final place for Madgwick in 2014. But the big race in 2015 is at his other local track, Mildenhall. Is Sid aiming to secure his place on the grid for that?
“I’d like to but I won’t be too disappointed if I don’t,” he replied. “I’m not going for that sort of thing this year. This year’s just for a bit of fun, you know. I’m not going for points or going for specific championships. If I’m up there, in them, then I might as well. If I get in, then I get in but if I don’t then I’m not too worried.
“I just see it like I’m only 18 – I’ve got plenty of years in front of me. So take it steady and then later on, when I’ve got a bit more money towards myself, I’ll try it.”
Of course, that first title may well come tonight – keep an eye out for the smart, green machine.
In closing, Sid offered the following words of thanks to those who help keep the 217-car on track: “I’d like to thank my dad (Dave), Beck Row Car Spares, my girlfriend Emily, the Plumbers, my Uncle Richard for helping me out on the engine, AMS Electrical – he helps us out a lot; Kyle Overy – they help us out a fair bit; and Carl Green and Craig Green, they’re my two little helpers.”
Sid’s Success – the Madgwick Honours Board
Saloon Stock Cars
2013 Ray Gunn Tribute (Skegness) – 2nd
Ministox
2009 Arena-Essex track champion
2010 London Open champion (Wimbledon)
2010 & 2011 Mildenhall track champion
2011 Devon champion (Taunton)
2011 Southern champion (Aldershot)
2011 Coventry track champion
2011 RDC National Points champion
2011 Spedeworth National Points champion
Plus countless more top-three finishes...