Williams makes most of tough situation: First-year Indy Pro Series driver Marc Williams had 13 laps on the 7/8th-mile Iowa Speedway to prepare for the inaugural Iowa 100.
“It was a crazy weekend really, ” the 18-year old from New Plymouth, New Zealand, said the morning after posting his best finish with an eighth place in the No. 6 www.purenz.com TARANAKI car for Michael Crawford Motorsports.
Ah, youth. Williams’ understated tone belied the ups and downs facing the indefatigable spirit of the hungry group of drivers in the Indy Pro Series paddock. Because of sponsorship issues, Crawford initially had to break the news to Williams that the car would be parked for the weekend after arriving at the new venue in Newton, Iowa.3
No practice, qualifying or racing.
“Turning up at the track and not actually getting to run and then sitting out there watching qualifying was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done as a driver, ” said Williams, who tested at the facility two weeks earlier.
His fortunes turned as quickly as A. J. Foyt can say, “Girls and boys, start your engines. “
“Then to wake up Saturday morning and have Michael Crawford come down and say, ‘You’re driving today so you better get ready, ’ and jumping in the car last minute and having a few problems in the warm-up (completing 13 laps) was making things even harder, ” Williams said.
Starting 21st, Williams acquitted himself well. He stayed clear of trouble and recorded his second top-10 finish in five races. Ben Petter’s 10th place made it a prosperous weekend for the second-year team.
“It’s an awesome circuit, really fast and I enjoyed it out there, ” said Williams, who last year competed in the New Zealand Formula Toyota series. “There was a lot of action. I had to take it gradually, take it quicker and quicker. We passed a lot of cars, made up a lot of ground.
“Every time I get in the car I’m learning something new. With the track being so small, there was a lot of passing and dicing. It got me used to having the aero package and how you lose your front grip when you’re following a car. The more and more I can do of it obviously the better I’m going to get. ”
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