20th October 2013 - reporter: John Williams
The 3rd annual Williams challenge was launched on a wet October weekend At Thruxton racetrack in Hampshire. In a departure from previous years, contenders exchanged fishing rods for driving gloves and took to the circuit for a day’s karting. And this year, some new players entered the fold: Judd’s mate Rob Douglas, Luke’s mate Chris Burnett and our own young nephew Paul Buxton.
On the Saturday we convened at our rented cottage in the Cathedral city of Salisbury and readied ourselves for the next day’s challenge the way all professional racing drivers do - with several pints of beer and a curry. We started in the well-recommended Cloisters’ pub for some lunch and a couple of pints, and here we picked up contender Adam Gibbs, the man who was soon to be married to our sister, Marie. For this reason Adam was subject to some special treatment throughout the weekend, but more on that later.
As we wondered through the damp streets of Salisbury looking for the next pub, Jake stumbled upon a sign. No, he literally stumbled upon a sign, much to the amusement of Adam and myself and a couple of old timers stood outside the nearest pub. He’d had 2 pints and a glass of red so we should have expected as much, but brother Jake’s inability to hold his liquor did not detract from him being an arbiter of fate – we’ve always said this. So we decided to head into that very pub outside which he stumbled. Inside it looked like a local pub for local people, but it also looked happy for our business and lent us some darts.
At this point more contenders arrived, Brothers Sam and Chris and Dad, and also brother Judd, fresh in from Dubai. As the night wore on, we found ourselves in several more bars, and at one point lost Adam, our future brother-in-law. There was worry that he’d succumbed to mother alcohol and was in a the cathedral grounds on his knees praying to Saint Chunder, or that he’d simply got the measure of us all in drunken disarray and simply done one. However it turns out that he had just gone to the shop for some chewing gum. So we ended up in a curry house, where Adam had song lyrics read to him, masquerading as good will speeches for the wedding, however the game was that if anybody should break into song on hearing these lyrics, they would have to drink. And this form of preparation is widely practiced in Formula 1 before any Grand Prix, so we knew we were on to a good thing.
The Racing
We arrived at Thruxton under dark ominous looking rain clouds, took our short training instruction and donned our race overalls. The clouds then emptied relentlessly for the next 4 hours. We headed out for our first practise session and all bravado and posturing of the night before was sent spinning into the crash barriers – It was clear slick tyres and a greasy track meant we were going to have to revise our ambitions; a fast lap meant simply finishing a lap.
After convening for a short break and wringing out the water from our racing gloves, we asked for some tactics from one of the stewards and headed out for the first timed practice. We faired little better this time as the rain continued to lash down, but with the help of the stopwatch, at least we could deduce who was doing the least shit and leverage a sense of one-upmanship from that.
So the results for practice 2:
In 4th place was brother Sam, a trained police driver no less. 3rd was brother Chris, 2nd was Chris Burnett and in 1st was Rob Douglas. Now the rules state that only a Williams by blood or marriage can win the Williams cup (of course others can attend, they just can’t win –seems fair, I know) so in front at this time was brother Chris, but it was very early stages.
Qualifying Heat 1:
Onto the first qualifying session for the actual Grand Prix and there is no let up in the rain; by now the track is starting to look like the lanes in Stolford, with huge areas of standing water. We headed off for more racing action again, punctuated by several crashes and spins and once out of the karts, we looked very much like we had gone fishing again this year (and all fallen in).
The Results: Rocketing up from last (10th) place in the practice session was Adam Gibbs, who achieved a brilliant 4th position. Next, making it up one position from practice to 3rd was brother Sam. Meanwhile, brother Chris, who had done so well in practice, had dropped from 3rd position to a disappointing 6th. But up the front, swapping places with each other from last time, were Rob and Chris in 2nd and 1st respectively.
At this point it’s worth noting that many of the contenders were starting to feel the strain from the previous nights preparations. Brother Luke had to make a few trips to the bathroom between each heat to talk tactics with the toilet bowl.
Qualifying Heat 2:
So now to the final qualifying session and the race that would determine our positions for the Grand Prix. By now the rain had subsided, but there was still plenty of standing water on the track. We started from the grid this time and after another rain soaked action packed race, the final positions stood thus:
In 4th pace, clawing his way back up the pack was brother Chris, a much-improved performance from the previous race. In 3rd place with very consistent racing was Brother Sam, but in second, making significant progress up the rankings was Adam Gibbs –were we about to see a sneaky triumph from the back of the grid from our new brother-in-law? Only time would tell. Up in first was the consistently well performing Rob Douglas, who a betting man would put odds on for victory in the Final. The surprise here, however, was Chris Burnett, who after achieving podium finishes in all previous races, was now languishing down in 9th, only beating our youngest contender at 16, Paul Buxton. Now Paul deserves special mention here. Last place, may sound like a disappointing result on paper, but if you could see the style in which it was attained, you would see his efforts were extremely worthy and aligned with the ethos of the AWCC. That ethos is that above all else, the AWCC should be a bloody good laugh. And when Paul explained the look on Marshall’s face when he jumped for his life, you could see that he’d nailed it. While consistency and clean driving were winning the races, Paul selflessly treated the crowd to what they’d actually come to see - a spectacular crash. And by losing it at the fastest part of the track, wedging his car under the tire wall, nearly wiping out a Marshall and giving us the only Red flag of the day, Paul was in many ways, winning.
The Grand Prix
So to the final, the decider that would determine this year’s winner of the AWCC. Was two times winner brother Jake going to be handing over the cup to a new reigning champion? Of course he was, he hadn’t even made it into the top four during the previous races. I don’t mean to be harsh, but facts are facts and the clock doesn’t lie. Rob Douglas was looking like the bookies choice to win, but his bloodline unfortunately excludes him from the ultimate prize. So would it be between brother Chris and brother Sam, or would Adam Gibbs, come racing into the family covered in glory (and possibly a little resentment). Anything could happen.
So we started from the grid again, and this time the track had dried out a bit more. The result was that all achieved better times and faster speeds. However, this is my time to gloat a little, as the chief reporter on the days activities, I’d like to point out that the fastest lap time and fastest speed during the final was achieved by me. (1.20.06 and 37.6mph respectively) A little consistency may have seen me closer to a podium finish, but hey. So let’s run down the complete grid from last to first and reveal the winner of this year’s Annual Williams Challenge Cup.
In 10th place a surprising result for a very credible contender for the podium, Adam Gibbs. Adam claimed that his car was significantly slower than everyone else’s, and having driven the notorious number 18 kart myself, I could confirm that his car was in fact a heap of crap. However the fact remains that a bad workman blames his tools, so better luck next time.
In 9th place was nephew Paul Buxton, who being the youngest racer of the day and continuing after a huge accident in the second qualifying heat is to be applauded for his result. No doubt in a year or so, he’ll be whipping our arses and will consequently be disqualified from future challenges for taking the fun out of it.
In 8th brother Luke, who despite being so hungover his own driving made himself vomit, achieved a reasonable finish on the day.
7th was brother Jake, winner for the last two years who would now graciously hand the cup over. Again I think he was suffering from overdoing race preparations the previous night.
In 6th place was Chris Burnett, who was doing so well with two podium finishes in the earlier races. Settling in the middle of the results table, it is suspected that he also was victim of a delayed hangover.
In 5th place was Brother John with a few moments of brilliance, but not enough of them to get a sniff at the podium.
4th place, and a surprise here, a contender who has yet to get a mention: Brother Judd. Returning a middle of the table performance in the previous sessions, Judd turned up the heat in the final to finish a whisker off the podium.
So to the podium. In 3rd place it’s a Williams, but have they won the Cup? All the way over from Australia it’s brother Chris. A consistently good performance throughout the day secured him a superb result. Well done. So two positions left and two drivers: Sam Williams and Rob Douglas. I don’t know why I’m trying to rack up the tension at this point, as you were all there and so you all know the result.
Sam wins the 2013 AWCC,
But does he win it with a 2nd or 1st place? Well it was neck and neck until the last corner, Rob slightly had the edge, but as he felt the grip of his back tyres vanish, he knew that he’d over cooked it. And it must have been with a tear in his eye that he saw Sam sailing past to take the chequered flag. All that police training finally won out in the end and Sam was crowned the winner. Champagne was sprayed, hands were shook and we all headed back to the cottage for a Roast cooked by the team Chef, Dad.
Until next year…
On the Saturday we convened at our rented cottage in the Cathedral city of Salisbury and readied ourselves for the next day’s challenge the way all professional racing drivers do - with several pints of beer and a curry. We started in the well-recommended Cloisters’ pub for some lunch and a couple of pints, and here we picked up contender Adam Gibbs, the man who was soon to be married to our sister, Marie. For this reason Adam was subject to some special treatment throughout the weekend, but more on that later.
As we wondered through the damp streets of Salisbury looking for the next pub, Jake stumbled upon a sign. No, he literally stumbled upon a sign, much to the amusement of Adam and myself and a couple of old timers stood outside the nearest pub. He’d had 2 pints and a glass of red so we should have expected as much, but brother Jake’s inability to hold his liquor did not detract from him being an arbiter of fate – we’ve always said this. So we decided to head into that very pub outside which he stumbled. Inside it looked like a local pub for local people, but it also looked happy for our business and lent us some darts.
At this point more contenders arrived, Brothers Sam and Chris and Dad, and also brother Judd, fresh in from Dubai. As the night wore on, we found ourselves in several more bars, and at one point lost Adam, our future brother-in-law. There was worry that he’d succumbed to mother alcohol and was in a the cathedral grounds on his knees praying to Saint Chunder, or that he’d simply got the measure of us all in drunken disarray and simply done one. However it turns out that he had just gone to the shop for some chewing gum. So we ended up in a curry house, where Adam had song lyrics read to him, masquerading as good will speeches for the wedding, however the game was that if anybody should break into song on hearing these lyrics, they would have to drink. And this form of preparation is widely practiced in Formula 1 before any Grand Prix, so we knew we were on to a good thing.
The Racing
We arrived at Thruxton under dark ominous looking rain clouds, took our short training instruction and donned our race overalls. The clouds then emptied relentlessly for the next 4 hours. We headed out for our first practise session and all bravado and posturing of the night before was sent spinning into the crash barriers – It was clear slick tyres and a greasy track meant we were going to have to revise our ambitions; a fast lap meant simply finishing a lap.
After convening for a short break and wringing out the water from our racing gloves, we asked for some tactics from one of the stewards and headed out for the first timed practice. We faired little better this time as the rain continued to lash down, but with the help of the stopwatch, at least we could deduce who was doing the least shit and leverage a sense of one-upmanship from that.
So the results for practice 2:
In 4th place was brother Sam, a trained police driver no less. 3rd was brother Chris, 2nd was Chris Burnett and in 1st was Rob Douglas. Now the rules state that only a Williams by blood or marriage can win the Williams cup (of course others can attend, they just can’t win –seems fair, I know) so in front at this time was brother Chris, but it was very early stages.
Qualifying Heat 1:
Onto the first qualifying session for the actual Grand Prix and there is no let up in the rain; by now the track is starting to look like the lanes in Stolford, with huge areas of standing water. We headed off for more racing action again, punctuated by several crashes and spins and once out of the karts, we looked very much like we had gone fishing again this year (and all fallen in).
The Results: Rocketing up from last (10th) place in the practice session was Adam Gibbs, who achieved a brilliant 4th position. Next, making it up one position from practice to 3rd was brother Sam. Meanwhile, brother Chris, who had done so well in practice, had dropped from 3rd position to a disappointing 6th. But up the front, swapping places with each other from last time, were Rob and Chris in 2nd and 1st respectively.
At this point it’s worth noting that many of the contenders were starting to feel the strain from the previous nights preparations. Brother Luke had to make a few trips to the bathroom between each heat to talk tactics with the toilet bowl.
Qualifying Heat 2:
So now to the final qualifying session and the race that would determine our positions for the Grand Prix. By now the rain had subsided, but there was still plenty of standing water on the track. We started from the grid this time and after another rain soaked action packed race, the final positions stood thus:
In 4th pace, clawing his way back up the pack was brother Chris, a much-improved performance from the previous race. In 3rd place with very consistent racing was Brother Sam, but in second, making significant progress up the rankings was Adam Gibbs –were we about to see a sneaky triumph from the back of the grid from our new brother-in-law? Only time would tell. Up in first was the consistently well performing Rob Douglas, who a betting man would put odds on for victory in the Final. The surprise here, however, was Chris Burnett, who after achieving podium finishes in all previous races, was now languishing down in 9th, only beating our youngest contender at 16, Paul Buxton. Now Paul deserves special mention here. Last place, may sound like a disappointing result on paper, but if you could see the style in which it was attained, you would see his efforts were extremely worthy and aligned with the ethos of the AWCC. That ethos is that above all else, the AWCC should be a bloody good laugh. And when Paul explained the look on Marshall’s face when he jumped for his life, you could see that he’d nailed it. While consistency and clean driving were winning the races, Paul selflessly treated the crowd to what they’d actually come to see - a spectacular crash. And by losing it at the fastest part of the track, wedging his car under the tire wall, nearly wiping out a Marshall and giving us the only Red flag of the day, Paul was in many ways, winning.
The Grand Prix
So to the final, the decider that would determine this year’s winner of the AWCC. Was two times winner brother Jake going to be handing over the cup to a new reigning champion? Of course he was, he hadn’t even made it into the top four during the previous races. I don’t mean to be harsh, but facts are facts and the clock doesn’t lie. Rob Douglas was looking like the bookies choice to win, but his bloodline unfortunately excludes him from the ultimate prize. So would it be between brother Chris and brother Sam, or would Adam Gibbs, come racing into the family covered in glory (and possibly a little resentment). Anything could happen.
So we started from the grid again, and this time the track had dried out a bit more. The result was that all achieved better times and faster speeds. However, this is my time to gloat a little, as the chief reporter on the days activities, I’d like to point out that the fastest lap time and fastest speed during the final was achieved by me. (1.20.06 and 37.6mph respectively) A little consistency may have seen me closer to a podium finish, but hey. So let’s run down the complete grid from last to first and reveal the winner of this year’s Annual Williams Challenge Cup.
In 10th place a surprising result for a very credible contender for the podium, Adam Gibbs. Adam claimed that his car was significantly slower than everyone else’s, and having driven the notorious number 18 kart myself, I could confirm that his car was in fact a heap of crap. However the fact remains that a bad workman blames his tools, so better luck next time.
In 9th place was nephew Paul Buxton, who being the youngest racer of the day and continuing after a huge accident in the second qualifying heat is to be applauded for his result. No doubt in a year or so, he’ll be whipping our arses and will consequently be disqualified from future challenges for taking the fun out of it.
In 8th brother Luke, who despite being so hungover his own driving made himself vomit, achieved a reasonable finish on the day.
7th was brother Jake, winner for the last two years who would now graciously hand the cup over. Again I think he was suffering from overdoing race preparations the previous night.
In 6th place was Chris Burnett, who was doing so well with two podium finishes in the earlier races. Settling in the middle of the results table, it is suspected that he also was victim of a delayed hangover.
In 5th place was Brother John with a few moments of brilliance, but not enough of them to get a sniff at the podium.
4th place, and a surprise here, a contender who has yet to get a mention: Brother Judd. Returning a middle of the table performance in the previous sessions, Judd turned up the heat in the final to finish a whisker off the podium.
So to the podium. In 3rd place it’s a Williams, but have they won the Cup? All the way over from Australia it’s brother Chris. A consistently good performance throughout the day secured him a superb result. Well done. So two positions left and two drivers: Sam Williams and Rob Douglas. I don’t know why I’m trying to rack up the tension at this point, as you were all there and so you all know the result.
Sam wins the 2013 AWCC,
But does he win it with a 2nd or 1st place? Well it was neck and neck until the last corner, Rob slightly had the edge, but as he felt the grip of his back tyres vanish, he knew that he’d over cooked it. And it must have been with a tear in his eye that he saw Sam sailing past to take the chequered flag. All that police training finally won out in the end and Sam was crowned the winner. Champagne was sprayed, hands were shook and we all headed back to the cottage for a Roast cooked by the team Chef, Dad.
Until next year…
