Paul Weel
by Phillip Whelan
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Paul Weel by Phillip Whelan |
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Paul Weel (Born July 21st 1979) started his racing career at eight years of age in the 50cc Pee Wee motocross class at Reedy Creek on Queensland's Gold Coast.
He progressed through several two-wheel categories, in the 1993 Weel took his third Australian 100cc Motocross Championship and fourth in the 125cc category.
After a trip to the US, Paul took out the Queensland 125cc Supercross Championship for teenagers in 1994. Heading Stateside again for the 1994/95-holiday period he posted more top 10 intermediate results. After returning home he finished second in the 1995 national motocross championship.
In the latter part of 1995 Weel moved into senior ranks, contesting both 125cc and 250cc classes until he broke both wrists at a meeting in north Queensland. Three major operations later he decided to turn his attention to four-wheel motor sport.
Initially for Paul it was the rough-and-tumble stadium off-road truck category, in which he became dual national champion. In 1998 he bought Steve Ellery's Falcon EL and entered the V8 Supercar category. By year's end he had finished ninth outright at Bathurst, with rally ace Neal Bates, he also claimed the AVESCO Rookie of the Year Award.
For Paul, 1999 started badly when he crashed heavily at the Grand Prix in Melbourne and then again during testing at Lakeside, sidelining the team for the first three rounds. However the year improved and Weel took 14th in the Queensland 500 and eighth at Bathurst, sharing the drive with Tasmania's Greg Crick.
Armed with a brand-new AU Falcon, Weel powered through 2000 with a series of top-15 finishes, including 10th at Sandown.
2001 brought steady improvement from Weel, including seventh overall at the Queensland 500. He also showed great speed making the top-15 shootout at a number of events.
For season 2003 Paul Weel will join Jason Bright in a revamped Team Brock under the Holden Racing Organisation banner.
Career Highlights
1999
- 14th Queensland 500
- 8th Bathurst 1000 Classic
1998
- Australian Off-Road Champion
- 7th ATCC Privateers Cup
- 9th Bathurst 1000 Classic
- V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year
1997
- Australian Off-Road Champion
- 10th Goodyear AMSCAR Series
JAN05