Joel Williams, riding the Fireplace Warehouse/Maxilead Metals 125, netted a useful bag of Thundersport GP3 points over the Bank Holiday weekend at Brands Hatch and closed the gap to his nearest rival to 11 points.
In Sunday's Superpole race Williams made a poor start by his own admission and left himself with everything to do on his FPW/MM Racing Honda. As he struggled to bridge the gap to his team mate Tom Carne in 6th Joel took till lap 13 to make the move that brought him home in 6th. Loosing out from this move Tom finished in 7th, but continued to collect silverware as he picked up 3rd in the Cup championship.
A few minor changes were done overnight for race one to try and find that extra fraction of a second. For this to work though Joel needed to get off that line like a rocket. This task was made more difficult because of his second row start (Taken from the Superpole result).
As with the Superpole race Joel did not get the start he had hope for and completed lap 1 in 8th, with Tom in 5th fighting hard. With the bit between his teeth Joel set about clawing back places lost on that initial drive from the line. By the end of lap 2 Joel had battled to 6th and chased down George Martindale taking 5th on lap 3.
However the 5 second gap to 4th placed Simon Low was not achievable as the race was red flagged on lap 11. Unfortunately Tom lost positions throughout the race as his increased pace caused extra stress on his machine which led to handling issues. However he still managed to finish on the podium in the Cup with a 3rd place.
Race 2, was the penultimate race of the day and by now Joel was itching to make amends for his poor starts. It was not to be. Ending lap 1 in 12th Joel had set himself an impossible goal but what happened next was a true reflection of his grit and determination considering the depth of talent in this race.
Over the next 13 laps Joel made up 6 positions ending lap 14 in 6th. With 1.119mile left of the race Joel pulled out all the stops and gave everything to take two place on the last lap bringing him home 4th. With a best lap of 51.837 on lap 15.
Tom also gave everything during the final race of the day but struggled with suspension that were made prior to the race, his finish of 9th was a testament to his skill to ride round the problems he was having.
“I am really annoyed at how the starts went. After loosing so much ground before the first corner it was never going to be more than getting as many points as possible. I have reduced the margin to Arnie Shelton by 11 points over the weekend which is good for the team. As for the bike it was rapid all weekend and ran perfectly. Hopefully I can work on the starts and get away with the leaders as I know I can run their pace," said Williams.
