Simon Wills is just one of many New Zealand-born drivers in the V8 Supercar Championship Series. After racing with Briggs Motorsport and Team Dynamik over the years, he was signed to join Team BOC in 2007 as Brad Jones’ replacement.
With his 2008 plans firming up in both V8 Supercars and other categories,
Matthew Agius spoke to the Adelaide-based driver about 2007 and his immediate future.
Q:
You returned to full-time racing during the 2007 series, replacing Brad Jones after Pukekohe. It was a difficult year for you and the team though. How would you evaluate your performance?
Simon Wills:
Brad really asked me to come on board and evaluate where the team was at, the performance of the cars and what he needed to change to gain some more performance out of the whole operation. So from that point of view, I suppose I did a reasonable job, I guess we will find out this season. Throughout it all I basically evaluated the problems that I thought were involved in the team, and it was pretty much confirming what Brad had said. He’s gone about rectifying that and now has his year planned for this season and I think he’s looking pretty strong.
Q:
You were out of the series for over a year before taking up driving duties again, and the last time you drove a Ford was back in 2002 with Briggs Motorsport in an AU Falcon. Is it difficult for drivers to reacquaint themselves with a V8 after a stint on the sidelines?
SW:
I suppose for me it wasn’t too bad because we’d been running in the Development Series and I actually go out and help them with testing. I’ve also been working with some V8 Utes and have been doing a bit of development work for that category – so I’ve kept my hand in it anyway, even though it isn’t racing.
I’ve done enough racing in V8s to know the cars inside out so that wasn’t too much of an issue. The main thing when I stepped back in was that the racing had gone up a level, it was a lot tighter, so just trying to refine myself there was probably the toughest aspect.
Q:
Team BOC did it tough in 2007, could you identify any major areas that restricted them moving forward over the course of the championship?
SW:
I suppose a combination of things – budget is always going to be a big issue in the category. The teams with the most money are the teams that are winning, so the best thing for the others is to do the best with what they’ve got.
