Vale: Peter (Pete) Williams

by Frank Viola 23 January 2017

Peter Williams started racing Karts at the ripe age of 41. He had been involved in rallying prior to commencing a fruitful Karting career.

We used to pit together in the early years and we had a distinct advantage over the other drivers. There was a tree right in front of our bays at Cockburn International Kartway. We used to climb it to see if it was raining on Garden Island… There is now just a dent in the pavement where that tree used to be.

My second big accident in Karting involved Pete and me - it was a beautiful prang… you could still see the five or six gouges dug out (by the fins of my Yamaha KT 100 SE) on the bitumen at Canteen Corner at Cockburn as late as 2009. It’s a damn shame they resurfaced the track, the gouges are gone now.

He was a great man and a great driver. He was great friends with Marlene and Les Dean. Les taught Pete a great deal about Karts and Kart engines. Pete drove a Les Dean built Techtron Kart for many years and he improved it every time he took to the track. He won the state championships in Clubman Heavy at the ripe age of 52 and there was a huge roar and not a dry eye in the pits as he crossed that finish line.

He finally got out of the Techtron and gave it to his son Mark. Mark won a State Championship as well, with the old Techtron. Peter purchased a new Solo Kart from Les and continued having success in that same division for several years.

Pete suffered a terrible illness for many years and true to the man, he tried not to let it beat him.

His son Mark won the Grand Champion Award at the recent Summer Nationals car show. He and Peter built that car together.

RIP Peter James Williams... Drive on Driver #36.

 

Frank Viola

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