Braydan Willmington bound for the track in new S5000 competition

He will compete against big names of Australian and international motorsport including Giancarlo Fisicella, Tim Macrow, James Davison, Alex Premat and Rubens Barrichello in the first round of the S5000 series during the Australian Formula One Grand Prix weekend at Albert Park.

While Willmington cut his teeth on dirt track racing, the excitement and power of the new open wheeler class in Australia has caught his imagination. With his parents Garry and Natalie Willmington's backing they have invested in one of the S5000 to race in the series this year.

The S5000 looks a fair bit like a Formula 1 car but instead of a highly modified turbo engine it has a sealed 560 horsepower, fuel injected five litre quad cam V8 Ford Coyote Alumina engine prepared to specifications by InnoV8 in Brisbane.

Thus, all the drivers are competing with equally powered machines and the difference in racing performance comes from the aerodynamic set up of the car and drivers' race-craft skills.

Last month Willmington took part in the official pre-season test day at The Bend Circuit near Adelaide in the 89BW car.

It was a big step up from the tarmac Legend Car racing he had done last year including a run on the local Wakefield Park circuit but power wise not hugely different to the dirt oval track V8 sprint cars he had driven both on the Australian speedway circuits and in 2018 in the United States.

"I have always wanted to make a career from professional race driving," Willmington said, "Ever since I have been a little kid racing around the track at Marulan that mum and dad built.

"This week we head down to Albert Park in Melbourne for the first round of the Australian series. Our races are on the same program as the Australian Grand Prix, starting March 12 and wrapping up on March 15.

"I have secured sponsorship from Craig Maddren, and Signage One of Goulburn and the rear spoiler decals should make the car easy to spot from both front and behind."

Sponsorship is an important part of being able to compete against a field of top-class drivers, helping to meet the running and transport costs as well as entry fees and other expenses.

Craig Maddren has always had an interest in cars, particularly Ford V8s, and has driven on some of the circuits which Willmington will compete this year.

The opportunity to both Signage One and support our local entrant in this premier national series that could lift motorsport interest in a similar direction to Europe excites Maddren.

"The S5000 series could overtake the popularity of the Australian Touring Cars with the demise of Holden and the cessation of local car manufacturing, Maddren said. "Australians have always liked close, high-speed racing and this series which will be shown live on Seven could spark an interest in the series like the open wheeler racing in Europe and the United States."

The action in the S5000s at Albert Park gets underway at 10.30am on Thursday, March 12, with practice followed by qualifying at 3.10pm.

Race one is on Friday starting at 10.50am, race two is Saturday starting at 10.10am and the third race is on Sunday at 11.40am.

Cap: Braydan Willmington, his dad Garry and Signage one principal Craig Maddren with Braydan's S5000 car just after the Signage One decals were added to the rear spoiler making it easier to identify during the live broadcast from Albert Park this weekend.

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