About The Author

Top rally drivers have repeatedly recognized the value of Williams' role in their accomplishments:

"... and you’re a big part of me getting faster."
Antoine L’Estage – 6-time Canada National Champion
& Rally America National Champion

"You were absolutely a major factor in
our performance ..."
Ramana Lagemann – Subaru Rally Team USA driver

“You not only increased my confidence,
but took me to a new level,
in a very short amount of time."
Tom McGeer – 6-time Canada National Champion:

"... Mark is just the whole package ...
he knows notes, he knows the events
and he is fun in the car.
... I'm lucky to have him”.
Lauchlin O’Sullivan – 2-time U.S. National Class Champion

 

 

 

 

 

  

Until his retirement from active competition author Mark A. Williams was one of the most sought after stage rally co-drivers in North America. He contributed to the success of such North American rally champions as John Buffum, Antoine L’Estage, Patrick Richard, Ramana Lagemann, Lauchlin O’Sullivan, Tom McGeer, and Paul Choiniere.

Williams' 30+ years of experience have taken him to events in six countries on three manufacturer teams: Hyundai Rally Team USA, Subaru Rally Team Canada and Team Mitsubishi Motor Sports America. 151 rally starts have yielded 72 podium finishes, 40 wins and 13 series championships.  He also won the legendary Caminos del Inca marathon rally in Peru and the prestigious La Carrera Panamericana in Mexico.

An article about Mark's 150th rally milestone appears here.

In his last year of active competition Mark was retained by 3 different drivers - Paul Choiniere, Ramana Lagemann and Antoine L'Estage - to help get each of them one of the only 7 qualifying Rally Car Racing positions in Summer X Games 13. He succeeded in getting all three into the big show, and chose to compete there alongside Ramana Lagemann. After a horrific crash during practice followed by a heroic repair Mark and Ramana made it all the way to the Bronze Medal Round where they lost by less than 1 second to the king of X Games Travis Pastrana.

Mark continues to be active in the organizational aspects of the sport. He produces organizer-supplied stage notes for rallies in the USA and Canada, and contributes to the operations of WRC Rally Mexico, Rally Barbados, Targa Newfoundland (Canada), Rally of the Tall Pines (Canada), Rally Perce Neige (Canada), Rally West Virginia (USA), and Empire State Rally (USA).

With a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematical Sciences from Rice University, Williams is the co-founder of Eastport Analytics. His company crafts business analytic solutions that discern meaningful insights from large volumes of client data.