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]
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]
Referencesedit
^ abcde"Where are they Now? Simon Wills". SpeedCafe. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
^ abGreenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN978-0-9805912-2-4.
^ abcNoonan, Aaron (28 April 2018). "Saturday Sleuthing: Simon Wills". Supercars.com. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
^"About Us". Sinch Creative. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
simon, wills, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, talk. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Simon Wills news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Simon Wills born 3 October 1976 in Auckland New Zealand is a former racing driver who currently runs a graphic design business 1 Simon WillsNationalityNew ZealanderBorn 1976 10 03 3 October 1976 age 47 Auckland New ZealandRetired careerDebut season1993Championship titles19961998 19991999 20002001British F3 Class BNew Zealand Grand PrixAustralian Drivers ChampionshipKonica V8 Supercar SeriesAwards1996 2002Jim Clark Trophy Bruce McLaren Trophy Owen Steel Trophy NZGP 1998 amp 1999 2x NZ Gold Stars 2x Australian Gold Stars 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 linksRacing career editFormula cars edit 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 edit 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 edit nbsp Wills won the 1999 and 2000 Australian Drivers Championships in a Reynard 94D similar to the example pictured above nbsp Wills and David Besnard won the 2002 VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 driving a Ford Falcon AU The car is pictured in 2018 Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F laps Podiums Points Position1995 European Formula Ford Championship 19 8thBritish Formula Ford Championship 59 7th1996 British Formula Three Championship Z Speed Racing 0 1996 97 New Zealand Touring Car Championship TSW Alloy Wheels 12 2 1 2 3 216 7th1997 British Formula Three Championship Intersport Racing 14 0 0 0 0 22 13th1998 Australian Drivers Championship Greg Murphy Racing 3 1 1 23 8th1999 Australian Drivers Championship Birrana Racing 13 11 12 235 1stTasman Cup 1stShell Championship Series John Faulkner Racing 2 0 0 0 0 192 42nd2000 Australian Drivers Championship Birrana Racing 16 8 13 239 1stShell Championship Series Stone Brothers Racing 2 0 0 0 0 236 25th2001 Australian Drivers Championship Birrana Racing 4 3 3 60 9thKonica V8 Supercar Series Team Dynamik 17 10 2 3 10 1272 1stShell Championship Series Briggs Motor Sport 2 0 0 1 0 416 41st2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series Briggs Motor Sport 22 1 0 0 1 496 20th2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series Team Dynamik 22 0 0 0 0 1059 22nd2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series Team Dynamik 23 0 0 1 0 929 26th2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series Team Dynamik 23 0 0 0 0 437 34th2007 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 45th2008 Commodore Cup National Series 2 0 0 0 0 102 32ndV8 Ute Racing Series Nandi Kiss Racing 3 0 0 0 0 82 36thFujitsu V8 Supercar Series Eggleston Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 63 44thBathurst 1000 results edit Year Team Car Co driver Position Laps1998 Gibson Motorsport Holden Commodore VS nbsp David Parsons DNF 571999 John Faulkner Racing Holden Commodore VT nbsp John Faulkner DNF 652000 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon AU nbsp Craig Baird 7th 1612001 Briggs Motor Sport Ford Falcon AU nbsp John Bowe DNF 1242002 Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore VX nbsp Jason Richards 11th 1602003 Team Dynamik Holden Commodore VY nbsp Jason Richards 22nd 1392004 Team Dynamik Holden Commodore VY nbsp Paul Stokell 13th 1592007 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BF nbsp Andrew Jones DNF 52Business editIn 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 edit a b c d e Where are they Now Simon Wills SpeedCafe 27 August 2010 Retrieved 19 September 2015 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 a b 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 a b c Noonan Aaron 28 April 2018 Saturday Sleuthing Simon Wills Supercars com Retrieved 28 April 2018 About Us Sinch Creative Retrieved 19 September 2015 External links editSimon Wills career summary at DriverDB comSporting positionsPreceded byBrady Kennett Winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix1998 and 1999 Succeeded byAndy BoothPreceded byScott Dixon Winner of the Australian Drivers Championship1999 and 2000 Succeeded byRick KellyPreceded byDean Canto Winner of the Konica V8 Supercar Series2001 Succeeded byPaul Dumbrell Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Simon Wills amp oldid 1161228369, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
