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Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
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October 20, 2011
Published on tags: Superleague
As the starting lights go off one last time in this 2011 season tonight, Williamson Dynamics caretaking manager Adam Smith released the following statement on the future of the team.


"It was a warm spring evening, I'd walked in from the garden and I didn't have much time. I'd spoken to Ben a handful of times and had been told to jump in the car the next evening and race in Melbourne. I'd managed to get on the server early to be greeted by around 10 people, I began to lap, having no idea what I was really doing. It was a start though, the start of something that would occupy most of the next year for me.


From what I understood at the time, Williamson Dynamics was a new team in the league and eager to make a great start. From the outside, it appeared to be a well run team, there was lots of coordination, input from managers, development looked like it would be a success. As the year progressed, many things changed, drivers came and went and eventually even the team owner went. I took it on myself to run the team for the remainder of the year and I began the search for a new driver. Tim was hired and towards the end of the season, it looked promising for both SC and SL as the team set their sights on the next season and scrapped their 2010 campaign.


I gained contact from Ben in Singapore, so handed the reigns back to him for the off season and began to assist in decisions for the next year. WD would be in its second year and had plenty of cash reserves.We gained a new driver in the form of Ojay, who looked promising in aiding development and racing. We gained a technical advisor. Tim signed for another year, Roy agreed to test for us and Sam re-signed for supercup. Things were beginning to look up and it finally felt like a team again, something which it hadn't done since Australia 2010.


The season started with a full grid in Australia. I was ready to watch it all unfold in the commentary box and we still had contact with Ben. The car had been heavily developed in overtaking and during practice it looked like the focus had helped. We didn't get the results that we wanted in Oz and we soon lost contact with Ben in the coming races. 2011 was becoming an exact replica of 2010. Commentating soon became an issue and I had to stop racing supercup, Sam and I refused to race while an owner wasn't present. The team began to show cracks in itself. Tim had to stop racing over much of the summer due to exams and a replacement couldn't be found. I became principal of the team again but it was too late.


Fast forward to early September. I had been told that after the team funds had been updated, Williamson Dynamics would be so close to debt that the next race would kill them. After nearly 7 months of no contact with Ben, I decided that WD would fold in Singapore. I immediately told Ojay, who was still racing, he agreed that it was the only option come October. It was a weird feeling having to tell the only two remaining drivers to find a new home for the next season after managing the team for two years and putting so much effort in.


I received a message from Ojay while writing this today, September 9th, telling me that he no longer had the time to enter races in the WD car. This symbolised the end of Williamson Dynamics as we knew it.


This evening in Singapore I will be stepping back into the car for one last time to give the team the send off it deserves. As the lights go out in Singapore tonight, it will not only be the end of another GPVWC Superleague season, it will also be the end of a team that had aimed high but never aimed high enough.


Thank you and goodnight."