William Ponissi

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**William Ponissi**

Superleague Career
Nationality	Italian
Active Years	10 (2002-2011)
Team(s)	Mommark, SCUM, TGM, EIRE, MCR, Stealth, Woods, Nordsjøen, Allen, Constant
Grand Prix	83
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podium finishes	7
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First Grand Prix	2002 Australian Grand Prix
First Win	2008 Italian Grand Prix
Last Win	2008 Italian Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	2011 South African Grand Prix

William "Will" Wangensteen Ponissi (Milan, Italy 10/05/1983) is a driver, manager, owner and head of the GPVWC.

Ponissi first joined the GPVWC in 2002 and took control of the league, then named F1VWC, by the end of 2003. By the start of 2008, Ponissi brought back the original moniker, GPVWC, ratified by the league's originator, Dan Lawrence when Dan gave his blessing for a revival of the GPVWC brand name.

William introduced his team, E.I.R.E - an acronym which is a play on words relating to his Irish roots - in May of 2002 at the Monaco Grand Prix, driving for the team himself. In 2008 the team was rebranded and became known as Nordsjoen Racing.

Aside from admin and managerial responsibilities Ponissi currently drives for Constant Racing in the Superleague. His most successful season was in 2008 with Nordsjoen. The Italian scored seven podiums that year, including a well earned victory at Monza, where he edged past Jeroen Jansen on the last lap and won by less than a tenth of a second.

Ponissi driving for Constant in 2010.

Early years

Ponissi grew an interest in racing early on, and his first "simracing" was with NES's Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing. Upon acquiring his first PC in 1996, he started playing F1GP and Grand Prix 2, and ultimately Grand Prix 3 and GP3 2000.

In 2002, improved internet access meant Ponissi became aware of offline Grand Prix 3 leagues, and joined the GrandPrixGamer league, where he drove in Blair Disley's Dizzo F3000 team. Unfortunately, the league folded two races in the season, so Ponissi moved to GPVWC just in time for the opening race of the 2002 season.

GPVWC Superleague

2002: Mommark, SCUM, TGM, EIRE, MCR

Ponissi driving for EIRE in 2002.

Arriving just a day before the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, Ponissi was scooped up in a last-minute deal by Dutch debutants Mommark to partner Australian Dan Regan. Ponissi missed qualifying as his contract had not been deposited on time with the GPVWC Administration and was disqualified from the race after his car's settings were found not to be within the rules. In his second race, however, in Malaysia, Ponissi finished 11th and claimed his first GPVWC point: just before the race, Mommark had been sold to Regan himself and had been rebranded SCUM.

Ponissi's Sepang performance wasn't enough to warrant him a drive at SCUM, and Regan replaced him with Peter Harding for the rest of the season. In an amicable transfer, Ponissi was sold to TGM, where poor team management meant he'd be the only driver for the best part of half a season. The GPVWC Administration grew concerned at TGM's lack of management and, before the Austrian Grand Prix, approached Ponissi for a takeover of the team. TGM competed for the last time in Austria, with Finn Risto Taipale alongside Ponissi, before being rebranded EIRE. Unfortunately, almost half a season of no development was to seriously compromise the chances of success of the car, which finished the Championship in last position despite Ponissi scoring points in Monaco, Franceand Japan.

Ponissi also competed one Grand Prix, in the USA with MCR before returning to EIRE for the final race of the season.

2003: EIRE, Stealth F1

The 2003 season saw Ponissi switch to wheel. Driving for EIRE alongside Championship contender Daniel Wilkinson, Ponissi had a torrid start of the season, collecting two retirements and a disqualification in the first three events. The collapse of GPVWC meant Ponissi set out to rescue the league together with Andy Graydon - both having to curtail their driving duties in favour of league management.

Ponissi couldn't make an advantage of the reduced fields during the season, collecting one retirement and a 6th place (in the Spanish Grand Prix in the two events before the influx of teams and drivers from SFO. One last race, for Stealth Grand Prix in the USA, saw Ponissi finish 16th.

The managerial aspect saw heartbreak for Ponissi's EIRE team: Wilkinson put in a fantastic effort in the second part of the season, helped by Kieran Ryan in the second car. Unfortunately, controversy during the United States Grand Prix, where Ryan was given a corner cutting penalty subsequently removed when it became obvious Shiro Ryong would have deserved one too, resulting in a loss of position, saw the EIRE duo go in the last race needing a win from Wilkinson and Ryan holding off Ryong for 5th. Sadly, a last lap overtake by eventual Champion Ryong saw the SCUM driver take the 5th place that left Wilkinson only 1 point short of the title.

2004-2005: Woods Racing

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2008: Nordsjoen Racing

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2009: Allen GP, Constant Racing

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2010-2011: Constant Racing

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Complete GPVWC Superleague results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	WDC	Points
2002	EIRE^‡	EIRE001	Ford	AUS DQ	MAL 10	BRA Ret	SMR 13	ESP 11	AUT 14	MON 10	CAN 13	EUR -	GBR Ret	FRA 11	GER -	HUN -	BEL -	ITA -	USA 13	JAP 10				28th	8
2003	EIRE^‡	EIRE002	Cosworth	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	BRA DQ	SMR -	ESP Ret	AUT -	MON -	CAN -	EUR -	FRA 6	GBR -	GER -	HUN -	ITA -	USA 16	JAP -					16th	3
2004	Woods Racing	?	Toyota	AUS 21	MAL 19	AUT -	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON -	EUR Ret	CAN -	USA -	GBR -	GER -	HUN -	BEL -	ITA -	FRA 13	JAP 15	BRA -				39th	0
2005	Woods Racing	?	Mercedes	AUS -	MAL -	AUT -	SMR -	ESP -	MON -	EUR -	CAN -	USA -	FRA -	GBR -	GER -	HUN -	ITA 19	BEL -	BRA -	JAP -				26th	0
2008	Nordsjoen Racing	NR001	Mercedes	AUS 4	MAL 5	BAH C	ESP 4	TUR C	MON 2	CAN 4	FRA -	GBR 2	GER 2	HUN -	EUR Ret	BEL 3	ITA 1	AUT 3	JAP 2	BRA -				2nd	73
2009	Allen GP^‡	?	Mercedes	AUS Ret	CHN 5	JAP 9	FRA Ret	IRL 9	MON Ret	GBR Ret	CZE DNS	BAH Ret	RSA 8	CAN Ret	MEX 8	BRA 8	ITA 8	ESP 10	BEL 8	NED 10	SIN 9			18th	9
2010	Constant Racing	CR-SL10	Renault	AUS -	CHN -	JAP 11	UAE 10	HUN 12	MON 10	GBR Ret	POR 11	BAH 7	TUR 11	CAN 6	MEX 7	BRA 12	ARG Ret	ESP DNS	ITA 7	BEL Ret	NED 5	SIN Ret		12th	25
2011	Constant Racing	CR-SL11	Renault	AUS 14	UAE 14	JAP Ret	CHN 17	RSA Ret	AUT -	FRA -	MON Ret	GBR -	BAH -	SMR -	TUR -	MEX -	CAN 12	BRA -	ITA 10	ESP 11	BEL Ret	NED 14	SIN Ret	27th	1