Calan Williams (born 30 June 2000) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

racing driver who is competing in the

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

with BMW M Team WRT. He previously competed in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the rebranding of the lo ...

with

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

, having previously raced for

Jenzer Motorsport Jenzer Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Switzerland. Founded in 1993 by Andreas Jenzer the team is currently competing in FIA Formula 3, Italian F4 and F4 Spanish and has had a number of drivers who would turn out to be successful in ...

in the

FIA Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 Championship is a third-tier international single-seater racing championship and organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for the FIA Formula 1 W ...

during

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

and

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. He is the champion of the 2017 Australian Formula 3 Premier Series.

Early career

Karting

Williams was a member of the Wanneroo-based Tiger Kart Club, and competed in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

championships across Western Australia, and in several race meetings around the country. His karting career spanned from 2007 until 2014.

Lower formulae

2015

Having tested a Formula Ford car for the first time in December 2014, Williams debuted in formula racing the following year in Western Australian Formula Ford, where he scored a round win on debut at the Barbagallo Raceway, having finished on the podium in two of the three races. A pole position in the final round followed, as Williams ended up tenth in the standings.

2016

His first full season of racing came in 2016, where he returned to the Western Australian Formula Ford Championship with Fastlane Racing. Round 1 began with a good qualifying performance, as the Australian lined up third for the first race despite experiencing clutch issues on his flying lap, however the round would not yield a podium finish. Williams took pole for the next race at the Collie Motorplex, although he was penalized with a back-of-the-grid start following an overtake under red flag conditions. He beat the track record in the first two races, but one podium was the maximum of his weekend. The third round brought with it a second-place finish, despite a spin into the gravel in Race 1 setting him to the back of the starting grid for the following race, but it was during the next event that Williams would make use of his pace, missing out on victory by 0.08 seconds in the first pair of races, whilst finishing second again in Race 3. Another second place followed in the penultimate round, but Williams finally managed to score his first win in car racing in the second race, which he followed up by taking another victory to cap off the weekend, which he finished as the round winner. A triple of victories followed in the final round to end the season, which meant that Williams had finished second in the standings, missing out on the title by just eight points to Sam Dicker.

2017

For the 2017 season, Williams progressed to slicks and wings, driving in the Australian Formula 3 Premier Series with Gilmour Racing. Williams took eleven race wins and 16 podiums, which earned him the championship title with one round to go. During the series, he set the outright lap record at

Morgan Park Raceway Morgan Park Raceway is a motorsports complex located at Old Stanthorpe Road near Warwick, in Queensland, Australia and is operated by the Warwick District Sporting Car Club Inc. The venue features a race circuit with five different layouts. Th ...

for the circuit's K configuration, with a laptime of 1:07.948.

Euroformula Open

2018

After having a meeting with Fortec Motorsport in July 2017, Williams tested with the team in December at the

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

. He then signed with the team for the opening rounds of the

2018 Euroformula Open Championship The 2018 Euroformula Open Championship is a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seat open wheel formula racing cars that held across Europe. The championship features drivers competing in two-litre Formula Three racing cars built by ...

, and competed in the Euroformula Winter Series. He completed testing at the Circuito de Jerez and

and placed seventh and ninth in two races at Circuit Paul Ricard. Williams made his debut in Euroformula Open at Estoril Circuit in round one of the 2018 Euroformula Series. He qualified 10th for race 1 of the round, finishing 14th in the race and qualified 9th for race two in which he then finished in 11th place. Williams had two impressive qualifying efforts at the Monza round of the 2018 season, qualifying 5th for Race 1 and 3rd for Race 2. In the races he suffered early setbacks however, being taken out early in both races, but fought back to finish inside the top ten in both races. He finished race 1 in 10th position and race 2 in 8th after being relegated to the rear end of the field following the early incidents. Williams finished the season in 11th position with 25 points.

2019

Williams competed again in Euroformula Open in the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

season with Fortec Motorsport. Williams had a season best results of 4th and 5th at the 6th round of the championship at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

Toyota Racing Series

In December 2018, it was announced that Williams would race in the

season of the Toyota Racing Series, held in New Zealand in January and February with MTEC Motorsport. Williams would return to using the number 54 that he had raced with prior to 2017. The Australian finished eighth in the drivers' championship with 183, having finished all but two races in the points.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

2020

In October 2019, it was announced Williams had signed with

for the

season of the

, which he stated was "a huge opportunity". He didn't manage to score any points throughout the campaign however and finished 31st in the standings, with a highest finish of 14th. Despite a number of successful qualifying performances, such as qualifying fifth in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, he ended up behind both of his teammates,

Matteo Nannini Matteo Nannini (born 10 July 2003) is an Italian- Argentine racing driver who currently competes in Indy NXT for Juncos Hollinger Racing. His father is a first cousin of former Formula One driver Alessandro Nannini and of singer Gianna Nannini. ...

and

Federico Malvestiti Federico Malvestiti (born 12 June 2000) is an Italian racing driver who most recently competed in the FIA F3 Championship for Jenzer Motorsport. He is a race winner in the Italian F4 Championship. Career Karting Malvestiti was born in Monz ...

2021

Williams was retained by Jenzer Motorsport for the 2021 season, this time partnering Pierre-Louis Chovet and

Filip Ugran Filip-Ioan Ugran (born 12 September 2002) is a Romanian race car driver who last competed in the 2022 European Le Mans Series for Algarve Pro Racing. He previously competed in the 2022 Euroformula Open Championship for Van Amersfoort Racing. ...

. After a tough first round of the season where he finished just outside the points in race 2, Williams broke through for his maiden FIA Formula 3 podium and points finish at Le Castellet. Williams qualified on reverse pole for Race 1, where he finished third after trading places for the lead and podium spots throughout the race. Williams followed it up with another points finish in race 2, finishing tenth. In Race 3 he finished in his starting grid spot of 12th after the rain-affected race. The Australian's next points finish came at the

, where he ended up ninth in Sunday's race. In the following two rounds Williams would be unable to score points, and at the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...

he was involved in a collision with Amaury Cordeel in the Eau Rouge-Radillion complex. Both drivers escaped the impact without injuries. Williams finished the season without scoring any more points and ended up 19th in the standings, having been the highest-scoring Jenzer driver that season.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2022

In January 2022, it was announced that Williams will drive for

in the

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season of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Having qualified twelfth on debut, he proceeded to have an uneventful first race, finishing 15th whilst teammate Richard Verschoor was victorious. In the

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

feature race Williams started the race well, getting up to sixth by the end of the first lap and staying in the points after his pit stop. However, after a safety car was called late in the race Williams pitted for new tyres, but was forced to retire from the race after the team hadn't fitted a tyre on the car properly, leaving it to bounce off after the Australian had left his pit box. At the following round in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, Williams managed to qualify in seventh place, giving him the opportunity to start the sprint race from the second row. He would end up losing one position, finishing fourth and thus scoring his first points in the category. A pair of anonymous races at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

came up next, whereas the round at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

would harbour initial promise, as the Australian qualified tenth, setting him up to start from pole position on Saturday. However, a stall on the formation lap prevented Williams from contending for a podium finish. In October, Williams and Trident parted ways before the season finale in

Yas Marina Yas Island ( ar, جزيرة ياس) is an island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a total land area of . It is a popular leisure island and one of the top tourism projects in Abu Dhabi. Yas Island holds the Yas Marina Circuit, w ...

, citing the need to "focus on the next steps of his motorsport career".

Sportscar racing career

GT World Challenge Europe

For 2023, Williams moved to

sportscar racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, teaming up with BMW M Team WRT for the Gold Cup category in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Cup series. The season began promisingly, as the Australian took a podium in his category during the opening Endurance Cup round at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, finishing third along with

Niklas Krütten Niklas Krütten (born 20 October 2002) is a German racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series driving an Oreca 07 LMP2 for Cool Racing as well as in the ADAC GT Masters driving a BMW M4 GT3 for Schubert Motorsport. He i ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (born 19 November 2000) is a French racing driver. He is the current champion of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in the Silver Cup category, a title he achieved alongside Benjamin Goethe and Thomas Neubauer, dr ...

. During his maiden weekend in the Sprint Cup, Williams managed to take a class victory in Race 2, having inherited the car from teammate

in a leading position.

Personal life

Williams is currently studying the bachelor in

Computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

in an online course with Perth-based Edith Cowan University. To amass the funding needed for a racing career in Europe, Williams and his father set up an incorporated company, which investors would be able to buy shares in.

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.
^† As Williams was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Western Australian Formula Ford results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Australian Formula 3 Premier Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

^* Season still in progress.

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup

^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* *
Driver Profile
at ''FIA Formula 3 Championship''
Driver Profile
at ''Euroformulaopen.net''
Driver Profile
at ''Toyota Racing Series'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Calan 2000 births Living people Australian Formula 3 Championship drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers Jenzer Motorsport drivers Racing drivers from Perth, Western Australia Euroformula Open Championship drivers Trident Racing drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers W Racing Team drivers Racing drivers from Western Australia BMW M drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers