A FAMILY AFFAIR
Alan Mickel is chief mechanic at Mickel Motorsport, which is sponsored by K-seal Permanent Coolant Leak Repair, and his brother is the 2015 and 2016 Legends UK and World Champion John Mickel. Here Alan talks about what’s involved with ensuring John crosses the finishing line first.
Motor racing runs in the Mickel family. While John Mickel might be receiving all the accolades as the current Legends UK and World Champion, he wouldn’t be where he is today without the support of his father, himself a former stock car racer and now a member of the Mickel Motorsport crew, and his brother Alan, who is his chief mechanic.
Alan talks about how he got his start in motor racing and describes what life in the pits is like during a race.
“By day I am a joiner, a skill I mastered at the tender age of 16. I now run a successful business, Torchwood Joinery in Alford, Lincolnshire. But racing has been in my blood since I was 13, when I would spend hours in my father’s garage building his Ministox engine, repairing the car and getting it prepared for racing. My mechanical knowledge grew to the point where, after a seven-year spell of racing, I decided I worked better with a spanner in my hands than a steering wheel. In 1988, I became the chief mechanic for my brother, John.
“A good Legends team comprises of a crew chief, two decent mechanics and a knowledgeable auto-electrician. Race day starts at 7am when we get each car ready to roll out of the garage for close scrutiny. The Legend – or Pocket Rocket, as it’s otherwise known – is a 5/8 scale Bugsy Malone-style pre-1940s NASCAR with a 1200 or 1250 Yamaha motorcycle engine under the hood. It packs a punch with its five-speed sequential gearbox and acceleration that can’t be beaten by much!
“Once I’ve scrutinised the cars, I will then survey the conditions at the track, evaluating the air temperature, the track temperature and the weather conditions. This determines the set-up for the vehicles, such as tyre pressures. My biggest challenge trackside is keeping up with the ever-changing British weather, to ensure the cars remain competitive at all times.
“The cars are not only thoroughly checked before every race for fuel levels, nuts and bolts, general observations and a good polish, but also prior to any test-runs. If a car is running well on track, we might make some minor adjustments, but if it’s handling badly, there will be major discussions and plenty of head-scratching before deciding on more extensive set-up alterations. Any crash damage must be fixed as quickly as possible, because there’s very little time between races. The car parts that have to be repaired most frequently are the front bumpers – no guesses as to why!
“After the race is over, we check every car over thoroughly, making any necessary adjustments and fixing any parts that have been damaged. They are then put to bed under their cosy car covers like Lightning Mcqueen in one of the Cars movies!
“There have been many occasions when I’ve had to spend all night working on John’s race car trying to repair crash damage. One that really stands out is John’s infamous fireball incident at Lydden Hill in Kent. His car was burnt to a cinder because the fuel cell was ruptured. We had to drive back to Mickel Motorsport HQ to collect a half-built spare car and then spent the entire night getting it ready for a race the next day.
“The most difficult repair I’ve experienced to date was at Eastbourne in 1991, where John was contending for a world record. He won the first heat, but was then involved in a huge smash in the second race. The only way to fix the car was to raise it off the ground and hang it between two trees! It was worth it, though, because John made the final, took the win and broke the record!
“Would anything persuade me to leave Team Mickel? Well, if I received a phone call from a NASCAR team in the USA, requesting me to come over and be a crew chief, I would drop everything and jump on a plane before they changed their minds!” For more, visit www.kseal.com and www.mickelmotorsport.com