Williams not happy after race

NICOLE GOURLEY

DAMMIT: World famous golf caddie Steve Williams contemplates a bad start to last night's car racing in Invercargill after his V8 Mustang broke down three laps into his first race at the Sandy Point Riverside Speedway venue.

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Steve Williams looked really, really hacked off.

Last night, Tiger Woods' golf caddie and not-so-famous racing car driver had been leading the field in his V8 Mustang in Invercargill.

It was his first scheduled saloon car race of the night and he looked in command, but just three laps into the race at the Sandy Point Riverside Speedway venue, his car stopped. Mechanical failure was to blame.

After the race, a Land Rover pushed Williams' Mustang back to the pits. He jumped out and briskly walked to his team bus, leaving his three-man pit crew to pore over the broken engine.

One of his pit crew cautioned against seeking comment from Williams.

"Now's not the time to be talking to him, he's liable to snap," he said.

Clutching his cellphone, Williams emerged from the team bus, watched another race on the oval clay track and briefly chatted to his pit crew about his car. Then he sat forlornly on the step of his team bus, hand on face, looking hacked off. But he did talk, and was pleasant.

"I cracked a distributor drive, and they're checking for any more damage," he said.

His mood was not good, he confirmed. "It's a brand new engine, I'm not happy at all."

It was the first time he had raced at Invercargill and he knew people were excited about him being there, he said.

"It's not a great start to the meet."

The track, or what little he had seen of it to that point, "looked great", he added.

Saloon car racing was just a hobby.

"But I am a competitive person, absolutely."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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