The inside scout: Calan Williams

Jenzer Motorsport have snapped up Australian racer Calan Williams for a second season at this level. We get to know the 20-year-old a little better with an inside look at his biggest achievements, his racing heroes, and his favourite tracks.

NAME: Calan Williams DATE OF BIRTH: 30/06/2000 2021 TEAM: Jenzer Motorsport

FIRST RACING MEMORY

“Going to watch the V8 Supercars at my local track in Perth when I was around five or six years old. It was literally just a case of going to the local track and sitting at the hill of the last corner where we watched the cars go down the hill.

“I remember being fascinated. I picked one of the drivers to follow, I can’t remember who, it was whichever driver was running the number 1 car in 2005/06. I had no idea what was going on at the time, but there was just something that drew me to it.”

RACING STYLE

“I tend to not be too aggressive. I try to look after the car in a way, I don’t like being too aggressive with the kerbs and with gear shifts. For me, the time comes with having a flow and an understanding of the circuit, as opposed to being aggressive and trying to push too much. Feeling the circuit and adopting a natural rhythm is something that I feel is important.”

BIGGEST RACING ACHIEVEMENT

“Winning the 2017 Australian Formula 3 Premier Series is certainly up there. Qualifying third in the last round of the Toyota Racing Series was also brilliant. I qualified directly behind Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong, two very successful drivers at the moment, so I was very, very happy with that.

“Then, last year in the Euroformula Open Championship, to get two top five finishes at the Red Bull Ring in Austria was brilliant. I am excited to add more things to that list in the future as well.”

RACING HERO

“That would be Daniel Ricciardo at the moment. Coming from Perth in Western Australia, to have a hero up on the big stage like that is absolutely incredible. He is such a great driver, with such an admirable personality and he is 100% the driver who I look up to in motorsport.

“I met him in 2019, we sat down and had a chat together for a bit and that was incredible. He had some great advice, mostly about the way that he approaches things, some things which switched his mindset at points in his career and things like that.

“It was a great insight because a lot of sport at this level is about your mindset and having the ability to identify where you can improve. Not just on the track, but off it as well. Everything has an effect on your mindset and the way that you perform on track.”

FAVOURITE TRACK ON THE F3 CALENDAR

“I would probably say Spa, I really like the circuit - I think everybody does. It has got the fast first sector, up Eau Rouge and Raidillon that everyone loves and then sector two, which is very technical and very difficult to get perfect, while still being fast. Then in sector three, you have the long sweeping corners and a difficult last chicane, it is just such a fast-flowing circuit.

“I really like Austria as well, it is a short circuit, but it has got fast sweeping corners, slow corners and overtaking opportunities.”