Rob Speak
Encyclopedia
Robert Speak is a racing driver who started racing at the age of 12 at Long Eaton
in the Ministox formula. He has since gone on to become the most successful driver in F2 Stockcar racing history having won the National Points Championship 11 times, The World Championship 8 times, as well as the 2001 BriSCA Formula One Stock Car Racing World Final and European Final in hid second full season in that formula.
In 1988 at the age of 16, Rob moved up to F2 Stockcars (the lower budget option than F1 Stockcars). He went on to be regarded as the sports Number one driver with records that may never be beaten. He won 147 races during his best season, even in 1999 when he was establishing himself in F1 he still got into three figures.
At Cowdenbeath
he became the first driver in Scotland to win all his heats, final and GN races. In his first full F2 Stockcar season in 1989 he became the youngest National Points Champion at the age of just 17 . He then went on to defend his title a further 10 times making it 11 successive National Points titles. During this time he also won 8 World Championship titles in the sport.
In 1999, while still racing F2 Stockcars he started to pursue a career in F1 Stockcars. With just 11 appearances (out of approximately 60) he finished the season in 24th place with 247 points.
In January 2000 Rob made the pages of The Sun Newspaper when in a nationwide poll to find the world's top 100 drivers he was voted 47th place. The poll was taken by readers of Motoring News as they searched for their all time list of motoring heroes. He beat names such as Nelson Piquet
, Jacques Villeneuve
, David Coulthard
and Mika Häkkinen
.
The highlight of his first full season in F1 during 2000, was winning the European Championship July 16 Northampton using his new Frankie Wainman Jnr built tarmac car for the first time.
In only his second full season in 2001, he did what many said would take years. Winning the BriSCA F1 World Final. The season started badly at Coventry with the loss of the engine. After 7 2nd places & 4 3rd's it wasn't until August 12 Skegness at the East Coast Finals that he won his first feature final. This consistency had kept him in the top 3 of the National Points. To add to his World final result he successfully defended the European Championship in July.
2002 saw a new space frame tarmac car built by legendary Stockcar builder 'Cecil'. First time out was at Barford in the rain where he won the Final, second time out was wet again at Birmingham with 2 heat wins & the GN. Unfortunately that was to be the only final it won & by June and the Scottish weekend Rob reverted back to Jamie's car. 2002 was to be the first year he didn't win a major Stockcar title, he did come close though, 2nd in the British Drivers Championship after leading up to the last lap. In the lead and cruising in the European Championship only to get a puncture, and then finishing 2nd in The World Final, if he hadn't have been involved in every major incident in the first half of the race many say he would have won. Rob took the decision to leave the sport after some controversial disagreements with another driver.
2009 saw the much anticipated and talked about return to F2 Stockcar racing. Robert was asked by Terry George to race his new Elite as a test bed for future cars. The intention was to do the remaining tarmac World Qualifying Rounds but first he took the car to do the National Championship at Cowdenbeath. The car was a real handful to drive and was taking all of his skill just to get round he still managed 3rd in the National and a 2nd in his next heat. He did six more meetings which included a Final win at Buxton 4 July. This got him into the Semi-Final with a fantastic drive and came in 2nd behind #7 Moodie. The World Final was at Buxton on 13 September 2009. With the car still not fully on the pace he went into the 3rd turn with the intention of removing Chris Bradbury #886 and Moodie #7 he didn't get 886 as clean as he had hoped but he did take them out. It was a huge hit causing a pileup. To cheers from the crowd Rob looked to be able to continue, but the nerf bar was fouling the tyre, he pulled to the center and using another cars front nerf bar he reversed and pulled it away to even more cheers. But as he re-took his place now on the front row he was told to pull off for what the Race Steward deemed as 'outside assistance' much to the argument of his fans. Rob then used the RCE of John Fortunes at Arena Essex 25th Oct braking the track record 15.643. The next meeting at Skegness 29th Oct another Final win, the last meeting was Hednesford 8th Nov where he almost had a clean sweep, winning both heats, the Final and a 3rd in the GN.
with 2 races for the Colin Blower team, in the second race he finished in 4th place a seasons best result for the team.
At the beginning of the 2002 season, Rob was given a fulltime drive with the Colin Blower ASCAR team, it turned out to be a frustrating year with no podiums. 5th place in Round 2 was to be his highest finish. He finished the season in 9th place.
In 2003 Rob decided to leave the world of F1 Stockcars and fully concentrated on his ASCAR racing. It was to be a frustrating year with many races being dogged with car trouble. But in a rain shortened 40 lap 3rd round of the Championship Rob produced his best race result winning his first race. It showed what could be done when the car was right. Starting on the 3rd row he took the lead on lap 16 to the flag. Results: RD 1 8th - RD 2 8th - RD 3 1st - RD 4 4th -RD 5 14th - RD 6 DNF - RD 7 18th - RD 8 DNF - RD 9 11th - RD 10 DNF - RD 11 DNA - RD 12 6th - RD 13 3rd.
The 2004 Days of Thunder Season
was to be the final season he took part in the ASCAR racing with team mate Ben Collins
He started well from his 16th position on the 40 car grid. Driving a Granada under the GMP banner and was soon up into the top half dozen but progress was stopped when the engine packed up and that unfortunately was the end of his night. Next stop Ipswich where he won a heat & started from the back of a 70 car final, he led with a quarter of a lap to go when he was T-boned by a rival from the centre green. He still managed to finish second. Then to Birmingham on cold wet night he came 3rd in the final.
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in Derbyshire, England. It lies just north of the River Trent about southwest of Nottingham and is part of the Nottingham Urban Area...
in the Ministox formula. He has since gone on to become the most successful driver in F2 Stockcar racing history having won the National Points Championship 11 times, The World Championship 8 times, as well as the 2001 BriSCA Formula One Stock Car Racing World Final and European Final in hid second full season in that formula.
Stockcar career
Rob has been racing since he was 12 and began his career in a £50 Ministox at Long Eaton racing against who was to become his arch rival in later years, Frankie Wainman Jnr. In his 3 seasons in the Ministox he went on to win every major title.In 1988 at the age of 16, Rob moved up to F2 Stockcars (the lower budget option than F1 Stockcars). He went on to be regarded as the sports Number one driver with records that may never be beaten. He won 147 races during his best season, even in 1999 when he was establishing himself in F1 he still got into three figures.
At Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is 5 miles north-east of Dunfermline and 18 miles north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a Police Burgh in 1890...
he became the first driver in Scotland to win all his heats, final and GN races. In his first full F2 Stockcar season in 1989 he became the youngest National Points Champion at the age of just 17 . He then went on to defend his title a further 10 times making it 11 successive National Points titles. During this time he also won 8 World Championship titles in the sport.
In 1999, while still racing F2 Stockcars he started to pursue a career in F1 Stockcars. With just 11 appearances (out of approximately 60) he finished the season in 24th place with 247 points.
In January 2000 Rob made the pages of The Sun Newspaper when in a nationwide poll to find the world's top 100 drivers he was voted 47th place. The poll was taken by readers of Motoring News as they searched for their all time list of motoring heroes. He beat names such as Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...
, Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...
, David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
and Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
.
The highlight of his first full season in F1 during 2000, was winning the European Championship July 16 Northampton using his new Frankie Wainman Jnr built tarmac car for the first time.
In only his second full season in 2001, he did what many said would take years. Winning the BriSCA F1 World Final. The season started badly at Coventry with the loss of the engine. After 7 2nd places & 4 3rd's it wasn't until August 12 Skegness at the East Coast Finals that he won his first feature final. This consistency had kept him in the top 3 of the National Points. To add to his World final result he successfully defended the European Championship in July.
2002 saw a new space frame tarmac car built by legendary Stockcar builder 'Cecil'. First time out was at Barford in the rain where he won the Final, second time out was wet again at Birmingham with 2 heat wins & the GN. Unfortunately that was to be the only final it won & by June and the Scottish weekend Rob reverted back to Jamie's car. 2002 was to be the first year he didn't win a major Stockcar title, he did come close though, 2nd in the British Drivers Championship after leading up to the last lap. In the lead and cruising in the European Championship only to get a puncture, and then finishing 2nd in The World Final, if he hadn't have been involved in every major incident in the first half of the race many say he would have won. Rob took the decision to leave the sport after some controversial disagreements with another driver.
2009 saw the much anticipated and talked about return to F2 Stockcar racing. Robert was asked by Terry George to race his new Elite as a test bed for future cars. The intention was to do the remaining tarmac World Qualifying Rounds but first he took the car to do the National Championship at Cowdenbeath. The car was a real handful to drive and was taking all of his skill just to get round he still managed 3rd in the National and a 2nd in his next heat. He did six more meetings which included a Final win at Buxton 4 July. This got him into the Semi-Final with a fantastic drive and came in 2nd behind #7 Moodie. The World Final was at Buxton on 13 September 2009. With the car still not fully on the pace he went into the 3rd turn with the intention of removing Chris Bradbury #886 and Moodie #7 he didn't get 886 as clean as he had hoped but he did take them out. It was a huge hit causing a pileup. To cheers from the crowd Rob looked to be able to continue, but the nerf bar was fouling the tyre, he pulled to the center and using another cars front nerf bar he reversed and pulled it away to even more cheers. But as he re-took his place now on the front row he was told to pull off for what the Race Steward deemed as 'outside assistance' much to the argument of his fans. Rob then used the RCE of John Fortunes at Arena Essex 25th Oct braking the track record 15.643. The next meeting at Skegness 29th Oct another Final win, the last meeting was Hednesford 8th Nov where he almost had a clean sweep, winning both heats, the Final and a 3rd in the GN.
ASCAR career
During the 2001 season, Rob debuted in the new ASCAR series racing at Rockingham Motor SpeedwayRockingham Motor Speedway
Rockingham is the UK's most modern motorsport venue and Europe's fastest racing circuit, hosting corporate driving days, driver training, conferencing & exhibitions, vehicle manufacturing events, track days, testing, driving experiences and motorsport...
with 2 races for the Colin Blower team, in the second race he finished in 4th place a seasons best result for the team.
At the beginning of the 2002 season, Rob was given a fulltime drive with the Colin Blower ASCAR team, it turned out to be a frustrating year with no podiums. 5th place in Round 2 was to be his highest finish. He finished the season in 9th place.
In 2003 Rob decided to leave the world of F1 Stockcars and fully concentrated on his ASCAR racing. It was to be a frustrating year with many races being dogged with car trouble. But in a rain shortened 40 lap 3rd round of the Championship Rob produced his best race result winning his first race. It showed what could be done when the car was right. Starting on the 3rd row he took the lead on lap 16 to the flag. Results: RD 1 8th - RD 2 8th - RD 3 1st - RD 4 4th -RD 5 14th - RD 6 DNF - RD 7 18th - RD 8 DNF - RD 9 11th - RD 10 DNF - RD 11 DNA - RD 12 6th - RD 13 3rd.
The 2004 Days of Thunder Season
2004 Days of Thunder Season
The 2004 Days of Thunder season was the fourth season of the SCSA and the only one under the Days of Thunder banner.-Driver and Team Lineup:-Calendar:All races were held at Rockingham Motor Speedway.-Championship standings:...
was to be the final season he took part in the ASCAR racing with team mate Ben Collins
Ben Collins
Ben Collins or Benjamin Collins may refer to:* Ben Collins * Ben Collins * Ben Collins , former Ubuntu Linux kernel lead, former Debian Project Leader...
National Hot Rod Career
Another formula Rob raced in 2002 was National Hot Rods driving Dick Hillard's spare Peugeot 205 - Heat 1 10th - Heat 2 11th. Despite the none finish in the Final due to a 15 car pile up.Banger Racing Career
Rob continues to entertain in banger racing. One of his typical best nights was the Belle Vue Charity Banger meeting. Rob went to enjoy himself and did just that winning the charity final and the Demolition Derby. This led to a drive in the Banger World Final at Wimbledon.He started well from his 16th position on the 40 car grid. Driving a Granada under the GMP banner and was soon up into the top half dozen but progress was stopped when the engine packed up and that unfortunately was the end of his night. Next stop Ipswich where he won a heat & started from the back of a 70 car final, he led with a quarter of a lap to go when he was T-boned by a rival from the centre green. He still managed to finish second. Then to Birmingham on cold wet night he came 3rd in the final.
Stockcar Major Titles Held
- NATIONAL POINTS CHAMP 11 TIMES - 89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99
- WORLD CHAMP 8 TIMES - 91,92,94,95,96,97,98,99
- F1 WORLD CHAMP - 01
- BRITISH CHAMP 4 TIMES - 89,92,98,99
- EUROPEAN CHAMP 2 TIMES - 94,96
- F1 EUROPEAN CHAMP - 02
- GRAND NATIONAL CHAMP 5 TIMES - 90,93,95,96,98
- NATIONALS CHAMP 2 TIMES - 96,98
- BEN FUND CHAMP 2 TIMES - 93,96
- ENGLISH CHAMP 2 TIMES - 93,98
- SCOTTISH CHAMP 2 TIMES - 95,97
- IRISH CHAMP 5 TIMES - 92,94,96,87,98