The overlooked “full circle” moment in Frosty’s win

Mark Winterbottom’s breakthrough win at the betr Darwin Triple Crown was notable on multiple levels, but one of the understated storylines is perhaps one of the most impactful to come from the popular 42-year old’s triumph.

Much can be said for the first win in the history of Charlie Schwerkholt’s Team 18, which first began competing in 2013, but the story is just as sweet for Josh Williams, number one mechanic on the DeWalt Camaro.

Williams joined Team 18 in 2019, just as an incoming Winterbottom had sensationally defected from Ford powerhouse Tickford Racing after 13 seasons.

But the relationship between the two stretches back to the start of that decade, when Williams made his effective Supercars debut, working as an apprentice for Ford Performance Racing at the 2011 Phillip Island 500, coincidentally, on Winterbottom’s No. 5 Falcon.

“I've been doing this for nearly 13 years now,” Williams said, “and my very first round in Supercars as a kind of like a feeler, apprentice kind of role, was in 2011, I think it was for Phillip Island. And then that was Frosty and (Steven) Richards actually running that race.”

Williams returned to Tickford, then was known as Ford Performance Racing, in 2012, during in which Winterbottom won three races en route to third in the overall championship.

More than six years later, the pair were working together again, and less than a fortnight ago, were celebrating their first win together in over a decade.

“Yeah, it's actually come full circle and to end up working with Frosty, what was it, four years ago, it was pretty crazy. And then, another four years later we were, actually, you know, getting a race win together, it's pretty cool.”

The relatively straightforward nature of Race 13 for Car 18 was unfamiliar territory for the DeWalt Racing crew. Winterbottom took the lead on Lap 5 after pole sitter Cam Waters retired due to a frightening on-board fire, and the veteran decisively held off a charging Broc Feeney over the remaining 30 laps to claim his first race win since 2016, and first ever for Team 18.

“It was pretty crazy,” Williams reflected. “Like, it's been a long time coming for this team, so to get out there at Lap 5 and be out in front and just really have to ride the rollercoaster for that whole race, just wondering what was going to happen. It’s kind of a surreal feeling to actually be out in the lead for that long and (to) bring it home was amazing.”

Even more rewarding for Williams and the team is that the win came in a car fully prepared in-house by Team 18, which until this year had previously operated cars built and developed by another team, most recently Triple Eight.

Schwerkholt and the team elected to go a new direction with the new-for-2023 Gen3 Supercar, purchasing two chassis’ from Triple Eight, but assembling the remaining parts and body work of its two Camaros in-house.

For Williams and co., that extra investment and effort made the triumph in Darwin even more memorable.

“You could see from the footage on Charlie's face what it meant to him and the whole team,” he recalled. “I mean, yeah, the first time the team itself has built the cars from scratch, everyone's put in so much effort.”

It's probably one of the biggest starts of the years, probably for every team in pit lane to be honest, but, you know, it was a massive undertaking for us. So to get that win with our own car in our own way, it's going to be something that probably won't be repeated for a very long time.”

Winterbottom, Williams, and Team 18 will be looking to repeat their Darwin heroics next weekend as the Repco Supercars Championship returns to action at the NTI Townsville 500.

Live coverage of the biggest sporting event in North Queensland, taking place July 7-9 on the streets of Reid Park, can be found on Seven and Foxtel, with live streaming available on 7plus and Kayo.