Simon Wills

































Simon Wills
Nationality
New Zealand New Zealander
Born
(1976-10-03) 3 October 1976 (age 42)
Auckland, New Zealand
Retired career
Debut season 1993
Championship titles
1996
1998, 1999
1999, 2000
2001
British F3 – Class B
New Zealand Grand Prix
Australian Drivers' Championship
Konica V8 Supercar Series
Awards
1996–2002
Jim Clark Trophy, Bruce McLaren Trophy, Owen Steel Trophy, NZGP 1998 & 1999, 2x NZ Gold Stars, 2x Australian Gold Stars

Simon Wills (born 3 October 1976 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former racing driver who currently runs a graphic design business.[1]




Contents






  • 1 Racing career


    • 1.1 Formula cars


    • 1.2 Touring cars




  • 2 Career results


    • 2.1 Bathurst 1000 results




  • 3 Business


  • 4 References


  • 5 External links





Racing career



Formula cars


Wills finished runner up in the 1995 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. He had gained a large lead in the series, but left the championship two races early to attempt to launch a career in Europe.[1] He won Class B of the British Formula 3 Championship in 1996. However, he didn't have the finances to continue his career in Europe and decided to focus on racing in Australia and New Zealand.[1]


Wills won the 1998 and 1999 New Zealand Grands Prix. He was the Australian Drivers' Champion (Formula Holden) in both 1999 and 2000, and New Zealand Gold Star Champion for 1998 and 1999, including winning the 1999 Tasman Cup. He also holds, or has held, the outright lap record at several tracks, including the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Hidden Valley Raceway, Pukekohe Park Raceway, Manfeild Autocourse, Canberra Street Circuit and Queensland Raceway, which were all set in a Reynard 94D.



Touring cars


Wills won the Konica V8 Supercar Series in 2001.[1] In the main V8 Supercar series, he also competed in nine Bathurst 1000s, debuting with Gibson Motorsport in 1998, and finishing in 2007 with Brad Jones Racing.[2] Wills also held the lap record of the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst between the 2001 and 2002 races, having set the lap record during the 2001 Bathurst 1000. Following Bathurst in 2001, Wills completed the remaining rounds in the 2001 season with Briggs Motor Sport, and then drove full-time from 2003 to 2005 with Team Dynamik.[3] In 2007, he drove the bulk of the rounds with Brad Jones Racing after team owner and lead driver Brad Jones retired mid-season.[4]


Wills' most significant achievement in V8 Supercar was winning the 2002 Queensland 500 endurance race for Stone Brothers Racing, co-driving with David Besnard.[3] Wills went close to going back to back at the Bathurst lead-up event, with co-driver Jason Richards going off late in the 2003 Betta Electrical Sandown 500 while attempting to overtake Mark Skaife for the lead.[4] Wills was also the driver when Team Dynamik infamously ran a test session on an airfield near Woomera, South Australia in 2004, which resulted in significant penalties for the team.[4]



Career results




Wills won the 1999 and 2000 Australian Drivers' Championships in a Reynard 94D, similar to the example pictured above















































































































































































































































































Season
 Series
 Team
 Races
 Wins
 Poles
 F/Laps
 Podiums
 Points
 Position
1995
 European Formula Ford Championship
?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 19
 8th

British Formula Ford Championship
?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 59
 7th
1996
British Formula Three Championship
 Z-Speed Racing
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 0
 -
1996-97
New Zealand Touring Car Championship
 TSW Alloy Wheels
 12
 2
 1
 2
 3
 216
 7th
1997
British Formula Three Championship
 Intersport Racing
 14
 0
 0
 0
 0
 22
 13th
1998
Australian Drivers' Championship
 Greg Murphy Racing
 3
 1
 ?
 ?
 1
 23
 8th
1999
Australian Drivers' Championship
 Birrana Racing
 13
 11
 ?
 ?
 12
 235
1st

Shell Championship Series
John Faulkner Racing
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 192
 42nd
2000
Australian Drivers' Championship
 Birrana Racing
 16
 8
 ?
 ?
 13
 239
1st

Shell Championship Series
Stone Brothers Racing
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 236
 25th
2001
Australian Drivers' Championship
 Birrana Racing
 4
 3
 ?
 ?
 3
 60
 9th

Konica V8 Supercar Series
Team Dynamik
 17
 10
 2
 3
 10
 1272
1st

Shell Championship Series
Briggs Motor Sport
 2
 0
 0
 1
 0
 416
 41st
2002
V8 Supercar Championship Series
Briggs Motor Sport
 22
 1
 0
 0
 1
 496
 20th
2003
V8 Supercar Championship Series
Team Dynamik
 22
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1059
 22nd
2004
V8 Supercar Championship Series
Team Dynamik
 23
 0
 0
 1
 0
 929
 26th
2005
V8 Supercar Championship Series
Team Dynamik
 23
 0
 0
 0
 0
 437
 34th
2007
Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series
Team Dynamik
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 -

V8 Supercar Championship Series
Brad Jones Racing
 29
 0
 0
 0
 0
 12
 45th
2008
Commodore Cup National Series
2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 102
 32nd

V8 Ute Racing Series
 Nandi Kiss Racing
 3
 0
 0
 0
 0
 82
 36th

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series
Eggleston Motorsport
 2
 0
 0
 0
 0
 63
 44th


Bathurst 1000 results











































































Year
 Team
 Car
 Co-driver
 Position
 Laps

1998
Gibson Motorsport
Holden Commodore (VS)
Australia David Parsons
 DNF
 57

1999
John Faulkner Racing
Holden Commodore (VT)
New Zealand John Faulkner
 DNF
 65

2000
Stone Brothers Racing
Ford Falcon (BA)
New Zealand Craig Baird
 7th
 161

2001
Briggs Motor Sport
Ford Falcon (BA)
Australia John Bowe
 DNF
 124

2002
Team Kiwi Racing
Holden Commodore (VX)
New Zealand Jason Richards
 11th
 160

2003
Team Dynamik
Holden Commodore (VY)
New Zealand Jason Richards
 22nd
 139

2004
Team Dynamik
Holden Commodore (VY)
Australia Paul Stokell
 13th
 159

2007
Brad Jones Racing
Ford Falcon (BF)
Australia Andrew Jones
 DNF
 52



Business


In the latter years of his racing career, Wills launched a graphic design and signwriting business in Adelaide, South Australia.[1] Formed with his wife, Sinch Creative focuses on motor racing designs amongst other areas.[5]



References





  1. ^ abcde "Where are they Now? Simon Wills". SpeedCafe. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ Greenhalgh, David; Tuckey, Bill (2013). The official history of The Great Race Bathurst : 50 years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 9780980591231.


  3. ^ ab Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.


  4. ^ abc Noonan, Aaron (28 April 2018). "Saturday Sleuthing: Simon Wills". Supercars.com. Retrieved 28 April 2018.


  5. ^ "About Us". Sinch Creative. Retrieved 19 September 2015.




External links



  • Simon Wills career summary at DriverDB.com


















Sporting positions
Preceded by
Brady Kennett
Winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix
1998 and 1999
 Succeeded by
Andy Booth
Preceded by
Scott Dixon
Winner of the Australian Drivers' Championship
1999 and 2000
 Succeeded by
Rick Kelly
Preceded by
Dean Canto
Winner of the Konica V8 Supercar Series
2001
 Succeeded by
Paul Dumbrell









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