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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