WITH much more than mere youthful exuberance, a very joyful Matthew Williams celebrated his 15th birthday yesterday leading the Championship for the 2010 Rotax Junior Class in Go Karting held at the Palisadoes International Raceway.

Williams, who is the defending Go Kart champion has enjoyed much success racing both locally and internationally and warns he has lots of tricks up his sleeves come next year.

This Hillel Academy High School fourth form student has a deeprooted love for motor racing and dedicates much of his time out of school to his first love, as he hones his skills on his drive to greatness.

“Racing is like a part of my life, if I didn’t have it I wouldn’t feel good, all of my friends would cheer me on when I have a race meet and I am very dedicated to Go-Kart racing,” said a beaming Williams.

As the love for his craft echoed through his voice, the love and support from his family was also evident as father Neil Williams and mother Seanne Williams were both on hand to support him as he spoke about racing.

“I want to be a race car driver on the side when I grow up. It was amazing to meet a past Formula 1 Champion Mika Hakkinen when he came to Jamaica and I was very happy when I got his autograph as I always wanted to meet a race car driver,” said Williams.

His Go Kart racing fame started six years ago when as a bright-eyed nine-year-old he graced the track and won Rookie of the Year in the Junior Sportsman Light class. He was also crowned the class Champion in 2004.

With this level of success comes hard work and Williams is able to balance his education with his racing.

With hopes of becoming an engineer, Matthew specialises in the sciences at school and expertly combines his racing with studies.

“Racing helps me to focus more in school as all the technical elements involved in driving a Go-Kart and the competition teaches you to think,” he told Auto.

Success, it is said, knows no boundaries as Williams has entered and placed favourably in international Go-Karting meets such as the 2006 Florida Winter Tour and the Rotax Grand Nationals in Wisconsin, a very popular race meet in the US.

Williams also did a six-week summer internship programme at RYSA Racing in Florida, where he said he learnt a lot about his car by working in the Go Kart shop, and training and driving under the expertise of overseas professionals.

“It was a good experience I learnt a lot about the Go-Kart and how to correct my driving skills around the track. I also learnt about the mechanics of the kart, about the engine, chassis and the tyres. It has helped me to win more and be better in racing especially overseas,” Williams remarked.

“Matthew is a much better driver now since he did that RYSA programme and he is more in tuned with driving in the US,” his father Neil confirmed.

“He is much more confident that he can race with any driver since racing overseas, and he is more composed and comfortable with his speed. He used to be very timid and didn’t take many chances on the track, now he is aggressive, especially when passing,” he added.

“It’s quite amazing the transformation in his driving and its paying off in terms of the result.”

Driving a Dekal Wireless and Brumalia Hardware-sponsored Merlin Rotax Junior Kart, with 125cc water-cooled engine, Williams has plans to improve his driving and win more Championships in 2011, both home and abroad, including the Florida International and Rotax Grand National Go Kart meets.

“I am ready for greater things next year, winning motivates me I always have in my mind that I must win and if I don’t, I try to win the next time, even placing in the top three motivates me, but I always try my best to win” said Williams.

The Williams family, which consists of 17-year-old Melissa, has two younger Go-Kart drivers in training and Matthew is integral in the training of his twin brothers, Trey and Zander.

Father Neil, who is the director and past president of the Jamaica Karting Association (JKA), past rally navigator, and organiser of the Red Bull Go-Kart meet and three Caribbean Championship meets, believes Go-Karting is a great sport for both parents and children.

“Go Karting is a great sport for parents to bond with their children, it is a disciplined sport and it’s a great way to share time with your children. There is a common objective and I would recommend it to anyone,” said Neil.

He admitted nonetheless that costs could prove prohibitive.

“The older the kids get the more expensive the sport becomes, as the equipment gets more sophisticated, especially if the kids race overseas to get the exposure they need,” he said.

Neil explained however, that there are rookie categories that allow children to get in at a reasonable cost.

“The JKA is starting a programme in 2011 for five to eight year old kids so we can get more youngsters involved in the sport and make sure our future is bright and the sport will grow,” said Neil.

In the meantime, Matthew encourages anyone interested to get involved in Go-Kart racing and advised that a love for the sport and a love for winning are the driving force behind success.

“When I started I was already interested in race cars, if you want to start racing you have to love racing and you have to love winning. Most importantly, you have to work hard and try your best,” he commented.