| Jul 18, 2018


Through the ’90s and into the 2000s, Inverary’s Jeff Williams managed to make a living racing motorcycles.

But things change and in 2006, he walked away from the sport he loved.

These days, he makes a living with his own paving company — Williams Paving.

But, old habits die hard and on Aug. 10-12, Williams will be at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville for the CTMP Superbike Doubleheader, the series’ final races of the season. Williams is currently fifth in the Pro Superbike points standings (he was seventh last year) and has a legitimate shot at the championship title.

At age 45, Williams is one of three top-five racers this year over the age of 38. But even he admits racing motorcycles is essentially a younger man’s game given the physical and mental toll the sport demands.

There have to be less taxing ways to make living, right?

“You can make money at it, but you can’t make a living,” Williams said in between paving jobs Monday. “For much of the ’90s and into the 2000s, you could make a living but now . . .

“My bike (a BMW S1000RR) is in the $65,000 range as are all of the top five riders’ bikes.”

One aspect of 21st Century motorcycle racing that adds to the expense is the electronics built into these new machines.

“We have traction control, wheelie controls and a lot of other electronics,” he said. “Current bikes are a lot closer to Formula 1 cars than most motorcycles and your engineer is probably the most important guy on the team.

“But, electronics certainly helps old guys.”

It’s still a grueling circuit though. A season includes two stops in Ontario, one in Quebec, and a doubleheader in Nova Scotia before returning to Bowmanville for the finale.

But once the competitive juices get flowing again . . .

“It’s a bad bug to get in your system,” Williams said, chuckling a little bit. “I got back into it after doing some ice racing in the winter in Madoc.

“It didn’t take long to get me back into it and now it’s back to ‘nothing else matters when you put that helmet on.’”

He said these days, he feels the mental strain more than the physical, given the speeds they travel (300 to 320 kph) and how close the bikes are together, especially when drafting. But strangely enough, there’s an almost zen-like therapeutic effect there.

“It gets me away from the stress of work,” he said. “I’ll definitely be doing another three years of racing.”

 

 

 

 

 

Inverary’s Jeff Williams takes the checkered flag at a recent CSBK event. Photo/Don Empey.

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