Justin Wilson

Early and personal life

Wilson was born in Moorgate, a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on 31 July 1978 to Keith and Lynne Wilson. His father owns a solvents company, a petrol station, and raced Formula Ford cars from the 1960s until a major accident at Oulton Park in 1975 ended his career. Wilson's younger brother, Stefan, is also a racing driver. He grew up in Woodall, South Yorkshire. From 1989 to the completion of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations in July 1994, Wilson was educated at Sheffield's private Birkdale School.

At the age of eleven, Wilson was tested for dyslexia, a learning disability that affects how a person reads and writes words; the test was negative. Wilson's mother took him to a clinic for a second test two years later and he was formally diagnosed with the condition at the age of thirteen. He struggled at school with the disability and received additional tutoring; Wilson's peers perceived him as inept and unintelligent. He married his partner Julia in 2006 and they have two children, Jane and Jessica. Wilson was the official ambassador for the International Dyslexia Association, and Teen Cancer America.

Junior career

Aged eight in 1987, Wilson sought a hobby and took up karting, refining his ability at the South Yorkshire Kart Club in Wombwell, Barnsley. His father was his chief mechanic, courier and mentor. In 1989, Wilson finished seventh in the Cadet National British Karting Championship, twelfth in the 1991 RACMSA Junior British Championships, improving to fourth in 1992. His father contacted karting expert Terry Fullerton in 1993 and the two met at the Worksop motorway services. Fullerton told him Wilson should cease karting in his category because of his weight, and mentored him in 1994. Wilson finished fifth in the 1994 Formula A British Championship, the United Kingdom's highest-level of kart racing. He was third at Buckmore Park Kart Circuit's Renault GP race.

Wilson progressed to car racing at the age of sixteen, competing in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Winter Series with Team JLR, as preparation for the 1995 Formula Vaxuhall Junior Championship. Wilson won on his series debut at Pembrey Circuit in South Wales' first heat aged sixteen years and two months, and became the first sixteen-year-old to win an official motor race in the United Kingdom. He remained with Team JLR in 1995. Wilson missed the season's first round after breaking both his legs when the brakes on his racing school car failed at Brands Hatch. A pre-season title favourite, he claimed four victories and tied on points in third position with driver Ben Collins. He won the Formula Vauxhall Junior Challenge Cup category limited to 16-year-olds. Wilson won the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) Chris Bristow Trophy as "the most promising driver to race at Silverstone", and was a finalist for the Autosport BRDC Award.

To better his driving ability, Paul Stewart Racing (PSR) manager Andy Pycock selected Wilson to compete for the team in the 1996 championship. PSR were allowed to move his pedals back and alter its shape for better comfort to accommodate Wilson's 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) frame. He won the season-opening round at Brands Hatch, finished in the top-five in every race and took two pole positions to finish runner-up in the championship. The following year, Wilson fell to fourth overall with three victories and seven podium finishes. For the 1997 EFDA Nations Cup at Donington Park in October, he joined fellow driver Warren Carway at the Diamond Racing-run European Union Team, finishing fourth.

Wilson's performances impressed the three-time world champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul. Jackie Stewart concluded Wilson's height would hinder him in single-seaters and advised a move to either sports car or touring car racing. A lack of funding prevented a progression to Formula Three due to its high entry fee. His family wrote to the former driver and commentator Jonathan Palmer for advice. Palmer replied he had established a one-make racing series for drivers seeking a modest financial route to Formula One (F1). Wilson entered Formula Palmer Audi in 1998 and was employed as a driving instructor at Bedford Autodrome. With nine victories and four pole positions, he won the inaugural championship over Darren Turner, and was again shortlisted for the Autosport BRDC Award.

Formula One career

Minardi (first-half of 2003)

When Minardi driver Alex Yoong was rested for two races due to poor performance, Wilson was the team's preferred choice to replace him. However, during a seat fitting at Minardi's headquarters in Faenza, Italy, he was unable to fit inside the PS02 car because of his long legs and so Anthony Davidson drove the car instead. Wilson and his manager Jonathan Palmer were eager to arrange a test with the Newman/Haas Racing CART team in September 2002, and Wilson had a seat fitting in a Lola-Toyota car at their Chicago workshop, becoming acquainted with staff members. Wilson made his oval track test debut at Homestead–Miami Speedway on 8 October. He declined Newman/Haas' invitation for a second test at Sebring International Raceway in December.

Wilson discussed driving for Minardi in 2003 with its owner Paul Stoddart, who was keen to have him replace the outgoing Jaguar-bound Mark Webber. He was told to gather £2 million in sponsorship funding to race for Minardi. The capital was raised through Palmer searching for financial partners, whilst Wilson's father mortgaged the family home. With the provision of him bringing the agreed financial settlement, Minardi designed the PS03 car to accommodate Wilson's large frame; the seat was lowered to keep his knees away from his chin and moved its pedals forward. He visited Faenza in late November and had no difficulty entering and exiting a mocked-up version of the car. Wilson signed a three-year driving contract with Minardi a month later.

It emerged Wilson had not obtained the necessary sponsorship money to pay for his seat at Minardi and his father was close to selling his petrol station. Palmer spent most of January and February 2003 holding meetings with lawyers to develop a programme allowing investors to support Wilson's career by buying shares in him. This would allow them to raise £1.2 million required for Wilson to drive for Minardi in the season's first two rounds. The investment was floated on the London Stock Exchange from 5 March to 31 May, making Wilson the first racing driver to be listed on it. A total of 900 people invested a minimum of £500, with 10 per cent of Wilson's earnings paid to them until 31 December 2012.

Wilson equalled the pace of his more experienced teammate Jos Verstappen; Wilson generally qualified in a low grid slot and made brisk starts to gain track position before a pit stop.

Jaguar (rest of 2003 season)

Before the German Grand Prix, Jaguar selected him to replace the under-performing Antônio Pizzonia for the rest of the season. David Pitchforth, Jaguar's managing director, and team principal Tony Purnell were impressed with Wilson's performances and driving; they received feedback from Stoddart and Wilson's mechanics at Nordic Racing. Palmer told Wilson to visit Jaguar's headquarters in Milton Keynes for a seat fitting at midnight with a contract written up the day after the British Grand Prix. Having been granted the final five races to convince Jaguar to keep him alongside Webber for 2004, Wilson found the Jaguar different to handle than his Minardi and did not foresee the change in driving style required to use it. His teammate outperformed him by half a second on average in his first four races with the team due to his unfamiliarity with the car, but was consistently within three to four-tenths of a second per lap of Webber's pace by the end of the season. Wilson finished eighth at the United States Grand Prix and was twentieth in the drivers' standings with one point.

Wilson was linked to three teams for the 2004 season. Jaguar granted Wilson a contract extension until post-season testing ended in December to convince the team to retain him. Jaguar dropped Wilson because its owner, Ford, was not prepared to pour unlimited funds into F1 and advised the team to sign a pay driver. Christian Klien, a Formula Three driver funded by the drink company Red Bull, replaced Wilson. A return to Jaguar as a test driver on race weekends became unfeasible after F1's governing body – the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – retained a regulation for 2004 prohibiting drivers who had competed in six or more F1 events from participating in Friday test sessions.

American open-wheel racing career

Champ Car World Series (2004–2007)

With the loss of employment in F1, Wilson was disenchanted with his career, and sought a drive in the U.S.-based Champ Car World Series (CCWS) over the rival Indy Racing League (IRL) due to its parity, noting: "Same cars, same engines, so working with the team with a half reasonable budget you can do a half decent job." Wilson signed with the small-budget Conquest Racing team for the 2004 season. The layout of his Lola car allowed him to lie almost flat on its floor and demonstrated a decent performance in pre-season testing. Wilson had a mixed season driving the No. 34 car; he took eight top-ten finishes, with a year-best of fourth at the season-ending Gran Premio Telmex/Tecate. He generally qualified higher than he finished, taking a season-high of second at the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland. Wilson finished eleventh in the drivers' standings with 188 points, and was second to A. J. Allmendinger in the rookie of the year standings.

After the season, Wilson declared his wish to remain in the CCWS for the 2005 season and enquired several teams about employment. Car owner Carl Russo signed him to replace Michel Jourdain Jr. at the RuSPORT team in November 2004. Wilson worked with driver coach Barry Waddell, and cautioned his rivals he was ready to win races due to further car and driver development. In the No. 9 Lola-Ford car, Wilson took three fourth-place finishes in the first three rounds before earning his first series pole position at the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland. He led the final ten laps of the Molson Indy Toronto to claim his first series victory. Wilson followed that victory with four more top-ten finishes, and ended the season with a second career win at the Gran Premio Telmex/Tecate from pole position. He amassed 265 points to finish third in the drivers' championship; his qualifying results improved with nine top-fives.

Wilson remained with RuSPORT for the 2006 season. Several pundits predicted he would challenge for the drivers' championship, and he said his objective was to be consistent and win two or three races. He took four-second-place finishes in the first five rounds. At the season's sixth race, the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto, Wilson won his only pole position that year. At the following West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton, he qualified in third place and achieved his only victory of 2006. Wilson took a further three top-eight finishes. He fractured the scaphoid bone in his right wrist in an accident in practice for the Lexmark Indy 300, requiring him to withdraw from the race; he was deemed fit by the CCWS medical delegate Chris Pinderski to enter the season-ending Gran Premio Telmex. He qualified on pole position, and led until Sébastien Bourdais passed him on the final lap. Wilson finished runner-up in the championship with 298 points, and won that year's Greg Moore Legacy Award.

IndyCar Series (2008–2015)

Late in the season, RuSPORT announced it was closing and informed Wilson and his colleagues. He was put on Newman/Haas' shortlist to replace the outgoing Bourdais for the 2008 season, and was rumoured to be in contention to drive for Andretti Green Racing and did not want to move to the American Le Mans Series. Wilson and Palmer agreed terms to join Newman/Haas in the CCWS before it amalgamated with the IRL to form the IndyCar Series. Wilson said his objective for the season was to perform to the best of his ability and acknowledged Newman/Haas would be disadvantaged against the established IndyCar teams on oval tracks noting: "We can only judge the competition when we get there, but we have to be realistic. I don't want to overestimate and I don't want to underestimate."

While Wilson struggled during his rookie season driving the No. 2 Dallara-Honda car, he took pole position for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and rapidly established himself as a road course expert. He qualified sixteenth for his first Indianapolis 500. Mid-race, Wilson had an accident due to a loss of control at the rear of his car, which left him 27th. He was third at the Indy Edmonton and achieved his first series victory at the Detroit Indy Grand Prix three races later. Wilson was eleventh in the drivers' championship with 340 points, and was second in the rookie of the year standings, behind Hideki Mutoh but ahead of Will Power.

Before the 2009 season, Newman/Haas co-owner and actor Paul Newman died and the Great Recession cost the team much of its funding. In January 2009 Wilson was released from the team after being informed they could not support two paid drivers without acquiring additional sponsorship. The funded Robert Doornbos replaced him. He contacted Dale Coyne, the co-owner of the privately underfunded Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) team, in February, after a journalist told him DCR had employed engineer Bill Pappas. Wilson visited their workshop for a seat fitting, and became acquainted with Pappas. He signed a contract to drive for DCR one month later. At the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Wilson began from second and finished third. He qualified fifteenth for the Indianapolis 500; late in the race, Wilson retired following a collision with a barrier after 160 laps, placing 23rd. Wilson started second at the Grand Prix at the Glen and led for 49 out of sixty laps in DCR's first open-wheel victory and his second in the series. With five more top-ten finishes over the rest of the year, he was ninth in the points standings with 354.

Other racing ventures

Wilson made his sports car racing debut at the 2001 FIA GT Magny-Cours 500km, part of the FIA GT Championship. He shared the Coca-Cola Racing Team's No. 65 Porsche 911 GT3-RS with Tomáš Enge, finishing third in the N-GT category. He joined fellow British drivers Ben Collins and Christian Vann in a Team Ascari-entered Ascari KZR-1 car in the LMP900 class at the 2002 12 Hours of Sebring (part of the American Le Mans Series), finishing sixth. Two years later, he again entered the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring, this time joined by Milka Duno and Phil Andrews. Driving a Taurus Racing-fielded Lola B2K/10 they finished 9th in class and 22nd overall. In June, Wilson competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Tom Coronel and Ralph Firman in the No. 16 Racing for Holland Dome S101-Judd car, retiring after 313 laps with ignition failure.

At the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona (part of the Rolex Sports Car Series), Wilson drove for Michael Shank Racing (MSR) alongside A. J. Allmendinger, Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Riley MkXI-Lexus car in the Daytona Prototype (DP) category, completing 733 laps and finishing second. He entered the season-ending round of the 2007 Rolex Sports Car Series, the Sunchaser 1000, joining Negri and Patterson at MSR and finishing tenth. He returned to MSR for the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona with Negri, Patterson and Graham Rahal, driving the Riley Mk.XX-Ford DP vehicle and finishing sixth after starting from pole position.

In 2010, Wilson entered the 24 Hours of Daytona for the third time, this time for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in the DP class. The No. 01 Riley Mk.XX-BMW car he shared with Max Papis, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas finished second after starting fifth. Wilson returned to MSR with Curb/Agajanian for the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona, partnering Allmendinger and Michael McDowell, starting eighth and finishing seventh in the No. 6 Dallara DP01-Ford car. He won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona with Allmendinger, Negri and John Pew at MSR, completing 761 laps in the No. 60 Riley-Ford DP car. He joined Kelly Racing as Greg Murphy's international co-driver in its No. 51 Holden Commodore for the Gold Coast 600 double header round of the V8 Supercars Championship in October 2012. Wilson visited the team's workshop for a seat fitting as preparation for the round. He and Murphy finished outside of the top-ten in both races.

Wilson entered the 24 Hours of Daytona alongside Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, Negri and Pew at MSR in 2013, finishing third. He partnered Gustavo Yacamán in MSR's No. 6 Riley-Ford car at the Six Hours at the Glen when regular driver Antônio Pizzonia had sponsorship problems, finishing sixth. With no date conflicts between the IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series, Wilson entered the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series' final four rounds to partner and mentor Yacamán. The duo had a season-best second-place finish at Lime Rock. At the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona (now part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship), Wilson, Allmendinger, Negri and Pew were twelfth in the prototype class and 47th overall due to a gearbox fault in the No. 60 Riley-Ford Ecoboost car. He rejoined Negri and Pew at MSR for the following 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing ninth.

Death

On the 179th lap of the 2015 ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway on 23 August, race leader Sage Karam lost control of his car in the first turn after passing a bump in the tarmac surface. He crashed heavily with the front of his car against a wall to the right of the circuit. The car's nose cone was removed with enough force that it ricocheted along the racing surface as other drivers manoeuvred past it. James Jakes slowed faster than Wilson, who turned right to avoid contact with his car. At the same time, the nose cone from Karam's car struck Wilson's helmet as he drove through the accident scene. Wilson was knocked unconscious and his car almost immediately veered left out of control towards the inside wall. It left the track, hitting the left-hand side wall coupled with a SAFER barrier after the first turn and continued to slide before stopping.

Wilson was unresponsive when the track safety crew arrived at his vehicle and he had to be extricated from it. A medivac helicopter was called for and transported Wilson to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in nearby Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was reported to be in a coma with a severe head injury and listed in critical condition. Wilson was declared dead from his injuries the following day, at 17:37 local time on 24 August. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway president J. Douglas Boles and the CEO of Hulman & Company Mark Miles made the news public at 21:00 that same day. He was the first driver to die from injuries sustained in a racing accident in IndyCar since Dan Wheldon was killed during the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. An autopsy conducted by Andrew Kehm, the Chief Deputy Coroner of the Lehigh County Coroner's Office, on 26 August determined Wilson died of blunt force trauma to his head. On 10 September, he was given a funeral service at St. James The Great Church in Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, England attended by about 500 mourners, which included members of the motor racing community. Wilson was subsequently cremated, and a wake was held for him at Silverstone Circuit.

An inquest into his death was held at Northampton General Hospital on the morning of 9 March 2016. The coroner concluded his death was "accidental". A statement from Wilson's father was read, which described the crash as a "freak accident" and stated:"The car leading the race crashed and was driving at over 200 miles per hour [320 km/h]. The driver was unhurt but debris from his car flew high into the air and a large, heavy piece hit Justin on the head as he approached the scene of the accident. Justin was unconscious, he was extracted from the car and rushed to hospital. He underwent surgery and was kept on a life support machine until the following day. The decision was then taken to switch off the machine and Justin was pronounced deceased."

Personality and legacy

David Tremayne of The Independent described Wilson as an "easy-going and humble" individual who was able to build a rapport with others. According to Alasdair Steven of The Herald: "his cheerful, quietly modest manner, and genuine enthusiasm" made him popular with fans of motor racing. A leader of the IndyCar safety and promotional association alongside Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, Wilson increased his lobbying for improved safety after the death of Dan Wheldon in 2011. He aspired to have retention walls altered to better deal with airborne crashes, and wrote an online article arguing for the shifting of trackside grandstands to inside racing circuits as a means of shielding spectators from debris.

Nicknamed "Bad Ass" by his driving instructor colleagues at PalmerSport in 1999, for being "as fearsome a competitor you could ever find", Wilson was friendly, shy, endearing, soft-spoken and highly analytical. His technical shrewdness provided teams with extensive performance alterations to improve a race car. According to Racer's Mark Glendenning this made Wilson a driver who "commanded universal respect" from fellow competitors. For DailySportsCar editor Graham Goodwin it created an image of Wilson as "a very rare breed indeed, a man in the modern age who had competed at the highest level in multiple motorsport disciplines", and a driver who "had the cutting edge". Wilson was fast-witted and used this in his humour.

After Wilson's death, the donation of his organs helped to save the lives of five people. On 27 August IndyCar drivers Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Graham Rahal converted what had been a previously planned promotion for the season-ending Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway by driving their cars across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco into a tribute for Wilson. Andretti drove Wilson's No. 25 car. Honda and Andretti Autosport employed Wilson's close friend and fellow driver Oriol Servià to drive his car in Sonoma.

Joey Gase, a NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, carried a photograph of Wilson on the rear of his No. 52 car to promote awareness of eye, organ and tissue donation. A. J. Allmendinger had his former teammate Wilson's name above the window of his vehicle for the final 12 rounds of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. At the 2016 Indianapolis 500, Stefan drove the No. 25 KV Racing Technology car in honour of his elder sibling. The name of a hairpin turn on the Snetterton Circuit's 300 layout was changed from Montreal Corner to Wilson Corner by the track's owners MotorSport Vision in July 2016; a board at the corner features the design of Wilson's multi-coloured rainbow racing helmet and his surname.

Motorsports career results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap; small number denotes finishing position)

Complete World Series by Nissan results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap; small number denotes finishing position)

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Complete American open-wheel racing results

(key)

1 Run on same day.

2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.