CALAN Williams is off to a record-breaking start in his debut Australian Formula 3 season.
The Edgewater 16-year-old is in second place heading in to round three of the Premier Series at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.
It follows a strong performance in the second round in SA earlier this month, where he qualified in pole position by more than one second before winning the first race and rewriting the Formula 3 lap record for Mallala Motor Sport Park, which stood at 1:04.32 on the final lap, clocking in at 1:03.84.
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READ NOWThis put him in good stead for race two where he went on to break his own lap record with a time of 1:03.40.
With two wins and two lap records, the Gilmour Racing driver hoped to continue his streak in race three but “a very poor start” saw him drop back to third position.
By this stage, main rival John Magro had worked out Williams’ technique and was able to defend his winning position, with Williams coming in second.
However, Williams still went on to win the round, a result he was “very pleased” with, particularly following round one in Queensland where he again broke a track lap record in the first race but crashed in race two, causing damage “beyond repair”. He was unable to continue the round.
The win has allowed him to make up some points; now sitting on 56 and just 10 behind first place.
“I didn’t come into the season with any expectations in terms of results,” Williams said.
“My aim was obviously to be at the front and going quick but I didn’t have expectations because this is a learning year.
“It’s perhaps a little surprising to be so competitive so early but I’m really happy about it.”
WILLIAMS TO HEAD TO UK
CALAN Williams will head to the UK after this weekend’s 30/6 third round of the Australian Formula 3 Premier Series to meet with top EuroFormula team Fortec Motorsport.
“Our plan at the moment is to race in the EuroFormula Open next season,” the 16-year-old said.
“We’ve looked through a few of the key contenders and Fortec really stood out for us, particularly with (engineer) Mick Kouros involved.
“Through our research we were really, really impressed with Fortec’s driver development program as well; it seems like a real focus for the team.”
The Edgewater resident said he would not be driving a car as part of the trip so he could “focus on what we’re doing here in Australia” but it would be a “great opportunity to see how it all works, meet the guys at the team and have a good think about the 2018 season”.
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