FOLLOWING a disappointing result at the 12 Hour in February, Dubbo driver Jake Williams was back at the famed Mt Panorama track last weekend.
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And it was a much more successful visit this time with Williams finishing on the podium in the inaugural Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour endurance motor race.
Racing on Easter Sunday, Williams combined with Daniel Sugden to drive the Finch Financial BMW M3 E36 to twelfth outright and second in Production Class D.
Racing an older car in a class dominated by much newer Toyota 86s, they were the class leader for the majority of the race.
But they were forced to undertake an additional two-minute fuel stop after a fault with the fuelling rig at the first stop, disrupted their race strategy entirely.
Essentially the stop cost them a lap, a lap they couldn't get back. But the team was far from despondent.
"Through the whole weekend, practice, qualifying and the race, we had a great run, the car was faultless," Williams said.
"It handled like a dream and was consistent through each day over the three-day Easter event. For a 20 plus year-old car it went great.
"The team was absolutely fantastic and they all did a great job on car preparation, pit stops - and just a good bunch of blokes to work with.
"I felt really at ease in this car and Daniel whom I shared the driving with, did a superb job in his stints behind the wheel, as well as a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, including the organisation of all the logistics."
Williams also added that none of this would have been possible without the great support from his family and friends within the team.
"Knowing that Daniel's father and my dad used to race together, then for them to be there to watch us race, will always stay with me," he said.
At 23-years-of age, Williams has two passions in life.
One is his regular job as a zookeeper at Taronga Western Plains Zoo where he has to care for Black Rhinos, Cheetahs, African Wild Dogs and Galapagos Tortoises.
The other passion is motor racing.
After recording numerous successes in a Group C Ford Escort with a perfect class winning record at the Bathurst Motor Festival and the Muscle Car Masters before tackling last year's Bathurst 12 Hour in a BMW 335i. The team scored a class podium there too, but this February luck deserted them, so this recent success in the 6 Hour in some ways is retribution.
Despite work and racing and with seemingly little spare time, he attended the International Rhino Keepers Association biannual conference held in the city of Chester in England on behalf of the Taronga Conservation Society and Australia/Taronga Western Plains Zoo.
He also did a charity hard-core postie fundraiser for the royal flying doctor service last October, through the Blue Mountains to Bathurst, on to Hill End, Sofala, Wollemi National Park and back to Blackheath.