Will Power

Driver Profile

Name: Will Power
Born: March 1, 1981 - Toowoomba
Lives: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA and Toowoomba/Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia
Profession: Racing driver
Hobbies: Squash, Go-karting
Favourite Track: Brands Hatch GP, Bathurst
Sporting Heroes: Ayrton Senna, Steve Waugh
Favourite Food: Sushi
Drink: Pineapple Juice
Favourite Movie: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Favourite Music: Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Favourite Road Car: Porsche 911


Racing History

2000
Formula Ford State Series
QLD State Champion, qualified front row for every race entered, 18 podiums out of 18 starts (seven wins, nine 2nds, two 3rds)

Formula Ford National Series
Racing an Australian made Spectrum 07 in the factory team, 7th overall, 5 podiums

Formula Ford Gold Coast Indy Support Race
Pole both qualifying sessions, lap record, won race 1, 4th in race 2 (with gearbox failure)

2001
Formula Ford National Series
Competed in 1994 model car against more current machinery, 2nd place overall, 5 wins, 10 podiums, from 16 starts

Honda Indy Young Guns
Pole position by one second, won race 1, 2nd in race 2, 2nd overall

2002
V8 Supercars
Queensland 500: qualified 11th out of 32, finished 11th out of 32
Bathurst 1000: qualified 16th out of 38, finished 18th out of 38

Formula Holden
1st overall: The Australian Gold Star Drivers Championship, rookie of the year, 7 wins out of 12 starts

Australian Formula 3
2nd place in the championship, missed first 4 races, 6 wins, 10 podiums out of 12 starts, pole position and won both races at Surfers Paradise Indy 500 street race

2003
British Formula 3 Championship
- Diamond Racing/Ralt-Honda Mugen
Will struggled with a car that was under-developed compared to the new technologies of engineering giant Dallara and after three rounds of championship, Will decided to further his career elsewhere

- Fortec Motorsport/Dallara-Renault
Will entered the championship at the sixth round, was new to every track and had limited testing opportunities pre-season but despite this achieved a 2nd place podium finish at Thruxton

Bathurst 24-hour race
Will drove a 911 Porsche with three co-drivers and was the fastest of the four, posting a quickest lap time that included him in the top six Bathurst contenders

2004
Alan Docking Racing
Will contested the British F3 season with the Australian owned, Silverstone based team, running twelve race meetings and enjoying five podium finishes

European F3000
One day test at the Misano track in Italy for Euro F3000 champions Draco Racing, ending the day fastest of the four Draco drivers

Minardi F1
Will completed twenty-two laps in a Minardi F1 car in Misano, being the fastest of the three drivers testing on the day

World Series by Renault
After completing 40 laps on the first test day, Will was second fastest and only a tenth off topping the time sheets, placing him seventh fastest at the end of the three days testing

2005
In Will's first test in Barcelona, having never visited the track before, he clocked a time of 1min 28.774 which put him fastest at the test and beat the 2004 pole time by 1 second. Following this he joined Carlin Motorsport to run the World Series by Renault Championship for 2005

Three races, two poles and four podiums ensured Power was near the front of the championship all season, with wins at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit in France and the Bilbao street circuit in Spain showing his class. Power missed the final two rounds of the championship when he was recruited by Team Australia to make his Champ Car World Series debut at the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast.

Power qualified 11th on debut and was well on the way to a great result on debut until being hit from behind by Alex Tagliani. Power followed up a few weeks later with a top ten finish in Mexico City at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriuguez.

2006
Power became the first Australian to win the Champ Car Rookie of the Year Award in 2006, as well as winning the Bridgestone Passion for Excellence Award for the fastest accumulated lap time across all circuits for the season.

The Australian had a very strong second half of the season, finishing sixth in the championship while scoring his debut Champ Car podium with third in the season finale at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriuguez in Mexico City.

The season highlight came at the scene of Power’s Champ Car debut 12 months earlier, when Power secured his debut pole position at his home event, the Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of the Gold Coast. It was the first time an Australian had scored a Champ Car pole position since Geoff Brabham in 1981.

2007
It was a breakthrough season for Will Power in 2007, with the Team Australia driver claiming his first Champ Car win in the opening race of the season on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Power would end the year with a further victory in Toronto, Canada as well as winning five pole positions and five podiums. It was only mechanical failures that prevented the Queenslander from challenging Sebastien Bourdais for the title.

Power gained pole for his and Team Australia’s home race for the second-consecutive season in 2007 but again had luck go against him when contact in the pit lane with another car ruined his race. At season’s end Power also earned the Performance Friction Pass of the Year Award from the event in Mont Tremblant, Canada. .