At Barbagallo

In two weeks, Barbagallo Raceway, Perth, will play host to an exciting milestone for the small town of Kalgoorlie with former Kalgoorlie Junior Go-Karters Michael Patrizi, Paul Williams, Dean, Paul and Todd Fiori all racing in national categories. Patrizi will race in the V8 Supercars Championship whilst Dean Fiori will run in Porsche Carrera Cup, Paul and Todd in the Mini Challenge and Paul Williams in the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series. “I think it’s great for the Eastern Goldfields Car Club to have all these guys doing well in cars on a national level” explained Paul Firori “to have my two brothers, Michael and Paul all down at the track, it’s just like old days.” When Kalgoorlie hosted the 1999 Australian National Karting Championships, there were only 45 members of the Club and it’s an outstanding conversion rate that 5 would now be on the largest and most professional motor sport stage in the country. Paul Williams making his debut in the V8 Ute Series will be steering the Charlie O’Brien run, number 45, Ford BF Falcon XR8 that was formerly driven by Rhys Hansford. Hansford is unable to compete at Barbagallo due to a dislocated shoulder injury he sustained in a hit during the final race at Round Two’s Eastern Creek. “In regards to Paul and his first run in the Utes, I am a bit sad in a way that we can’t be racing against each other but I’ll be out there cheering him on and hoping he does bloody well” said Fiori.  Williams the Kalgoorlie Karter showed obvious talent during a recent test at Queensland Raceway, when he set equal times to that of Former V8 Ute Series Champion Marcus Zukanovic, who was also testing a Ute at the same time during the day. Dual V8 Ute Series Champion Damien White, who arranged the Barbagallo drive for Williams, was impressed with the rookie’s efforts, “for a first timer, especially one who hadn’t been to the circuit before, Paul has displayed plenty of potential.” Williams is also confident following the test stating “I really think it’s possible that we finish the weekend around the top 10. In saying that though, I'm under no illusions that this my first race in over a year and also my first race in this category, so the second aim for the weekend is just to get as many laps in as possible and hopefully set something up for another race in the near future.”  Williams started racing in Kalgoorlie when he was only 7 years of age, however, as one of the only younger drivers he spent many races doing laps alone, as he had no one to race against but the clock.Williams made the natural progression to seniors and into CIK Karting where he raced against the likes of Michael Patrizi, Mark Winterbottom, Jamie Whinchup, Michael Caruso and Ryal Harris to name a few. After many successful karting years, in 2006 Williams stepped into the Australian Saloon Series, for his first taste of ‘tin top’ racing, running with the Strategic Racing Team under the watchful eye of Clint Harvey. Harvey is also a V8 Ute Rookie planning his first assault on the category at Barbagallo. “Clint has taught me pretty much everything I know today about racing cars and I'm glad to be sharing our debuts in the category together” said Williams. Round Three of the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series takes place from May 9 – 11 at the Barbagallo Raceway in Perth.