Press

Australian-born Hong Kong resident Troy Williams is set to join the ranks of the Australian Manufacturers Championship with a fly-in, fly-out program – starting with the final round of the 2015 season (Sydney Motorsport Park, November 13-15). Williams has previously raced with the Historic Touring Car Association, but after being exposed to endurance-style racing in China, the Research Director for S&P Capital IQ decided to make the move to the Amchamps. A full tilt at the 2016 title is planned with an Australian-based Holden Commodore VE supported by Black Arts Racing. “As long as I can remember my Father has always raced a historic sports car, so I grew up in that arena. For the last ten years or so I have run with the Historic Touring Car Association, starting out with a ‘64 Mini Cooper before graduating to a ’65 Ford Mustang,” said Williams. “Since I have been living in Hong Kong I have flown back two to three times a year to race in the Mustang, and I have also competed in a few races in China driving a Radical, as well as some endurance races. ‘That has given me the taste for endurance racing, and while I am flying in and flying out to compete in Australia it makes more since for me to pursue the longer races – so I decided to look into production car racing as a way forward, and a new challenge that delivers great value for money.” Also appealing to Williams is the ‘team factor’ that goes into production car racing. “When I would race the Mustang in a sprint race, once you leave the dummy grid it is sort of just you and the car and the race, whereas I like the fact that in endurance racing with the pit stops and the strategy required, the whole team is more involved in the race itself and it is less of an individual sport,” said Williams. “I have a lot of mates who are keen to be part of the team, it will be great to have them involved in my motorsport and to have them directly involved in the race outcome – that team approach is very attractive to me. “I am lucky to have the support of the Black Arts Racing Team, which is a team that I have raced with here in China and who I now consider friends – they are one of the fastest growing race teams in Asia, running a driving school, young driver academy and a number of cars in the Asian Formula Renault Series in which they won all races this year. They have been kind enough to come on board with some support for me in Australia and I feel very fortunate to have their backing.” For the upcoming Sydney Motorsport Park outing, Williams will share his Commodore with Doug Westwood. “I am planning on doing all of the Amchamp events next year, but starting with the final round in 2015 to get my footing. For this round, I will be sharing the ride with Doug Westwood, who is a fellow historic racer and someone who I have known for the best part of ten years,” said Williams. “When I went through the list of who I would like to drive with and more importantly who I would trust my car with, Doug was a natural choice, and luckily for me he was keen to take part.” While the Sydney Motorsport Park round will be Williams’ debut in the category, he has been careful to do his research. “I did go for a sneaky look around at the recent Wakefield Park round – hopefully not too many people recognised me!” laughed Williams. “Starting in the Amchamps is going to be a learning experience and that is how I am going to treat this round – I am not expecting too much, but hopefully we can finish the race and learn the series, the processes, the category – you can only learn so much by reading and watching. You need to experience this first hand so I am just keen to get in there and have a go.” The final round of the Amchamps for 2015 will be held at Sydney Motorsport Park across November 13-15. For more information, please visit Amchamp.com.au For more information about BlackArts Racing Team, please visit http://www.blackartsracing.com Source: http://www.amchamp.com.au/news/89/26/HONG-KONG-BASED-RACER-JOINS-AMCHAMP-RANKS/