Pilkington’s shale tester at Belle Vue

MOTOR SPORT ANDREW COLLINSON BACUP businessman Carl Pilkington will be racing in the World of Shale Final this Sunday at the Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester.

Since the first qualifier in March, Carl has taken part in 12 rounds of racing will be going up against 35 other drivers, 8 of whom are Dutch and who have qualified after 10 rounds in Holland.

Carl said there isn’t much opportunity to practise: “There isn’t anywhere to prepare on shale tracks unless you travel to an open day in Suffolk, which is the only place to practise.

“So all we can do in between races is repair the car and hope you’ve got the settings right. If after the first stint it’s going all right, then you don’t need to make alterations.”

Belle Vue is renowned for being particularly unforgiving to cars that stray near the outside the track and the Bacup born racer is all too aware.

“At this track there is the dreaded rope and post, if you go into that wire cable you’ve got to hope it doesn’t wreck your car because it can make a mess,” he said. “It’s a final so everyone wants to try and finish in the top three, but it’s just an achievement to finish the final because there’ll be loads of carnage.

“In this sort of race there aren’t any tactics, there are 36 drivers all bumper to bumper, so when we set off it’ll require a bit of luck to get through the bends. The first two bends are the worst of the lot because you might have no control of your car when you’re going into that bend as everyone is pushing for that corner, so you just hang on and hope for the best.”

But he added: “We’ve got quite an expensive seat, similar to what are used in Nascar, so when you get seated it just sucks you in, it is very comfortable.”