Desiré Wilson

Desiré Wilson

Born	(1953-11-26) 26 November 1953 Brakpan, South Africa
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	South African
Active years	1980
Teams	non-works Williams
Entries	1 (0 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1980 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1980 British Grand Prix

Desiré Randall Wilson (born 26 November 1953) is a former racing driver from South Africa and is one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. Born in Brakpan, she entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non-works RAM Racing prepared Williams FW07, but failed to qualify. She also raced in the 1981 non-world championship South African Grand Prix in a one off deal with Tyrrell Racing. This race was not part of the 1981 world championship due, in part, to the FISA–FOCA war. She qualified 16th and, after a disastrous start where the car stalled, she moved up though the field in wet conditions, as conditions dried she fell back and damaged the car when it touched a wall while she was letting the race leader through.

She became the only woman to win a Formula One race of any kind when she won at Brands Hatch in the short-lived British Aurora F1 series in 1980. As a result of this achievement, she has a grandstand at Brands Hatch named after her. Following her attempts in Formula One, Wilson participated in other disciplines including CART and sports car racing. In 1982, Wilson entered the Indianapolis 500, but failed to qualify. She did not qualify for 1983 and 1984 Indy 500s as well.

She is married to fellow South Africa-native and road course architect, Alan Wilson.

Career

Since 1978, Desiré Wilson has been recognised as the most accomplished female racing driver in the world. To date, she is the only woman to have been licensed to drive in a CART Indycars event, as well as holding a FIA Super License, which enabled her to race at the highest level, FIA Formula One World Championship. In 1980, she won both the Monza 1000km and the Silverstone 6 Hours World Championship for Makes races, thereby becoming the first female to have outright victories in any FIA World Championship race.

Although Wilson is probably most famous for not qualifying for the 1980 British Grand Prix, she was a big success. In 1967, at the age of twelve, Wilson came second in the South African nationals, driving midget cars. By 1972, she had made her full racing debut and was fourth in her first season of the South African Formula Vee Championship. After two more seasons on the Formula Vee circuit, finishing 4th and 2nd respectively, Wilson decided to pursue the international acclaim associated with Formula One. She won the South African Formula Ford Championship in 1975 and defended the title the following season, as well as securing the "Driver to Europe" award. As a result, Wilson moved to Europe for the 1977 season, completing mainly in Formula Ford 2000 races, in the Benelux and British Championships, where she finished third and fourth respectively, winning races at Zandvoort and Colmar-Berg.

She took another huge step forward in 1978, racing a Formula One March 751, updated to 761 specifications. After impressing many team bosses, she signed up to race in the Aurora AFX F1 Championship for Mario Deliotti Racing. Driving their Cosworth-powered Ensign N175, her best finish was a third place at the Thruxton Circuit. As her knowledge of the European tracks improved, so did her results. Whilst racing F1, she still drove a Lola T490 in the British Sports 2000 Championship, despite it being a minor national championship.

In 1979, she became the first woman to lead an F1 race. She headed the field at Zolder for Melchester Racing, in their Tyrrell 008, although she spun in the wet on the penultimate lap, but fought back to finish third, whilst claiming the fastest lap of the race. In addition, Wilson took three more 3rd places at Oulton Park, Brands Hatch and Thruxton. She ended the season in 7th place. She continued to race in Sports 2000, finishing third in the championship with her Lola.

1980 was to be her big year, although it started sponsor-less, racing Formula Pacific in New Zealand. Teddy Yip and his Theodore Racing team came to her rescue, giving her a Wolf WR4 for the Aurora series. Yip's faith was repaid by round two, when Wilson won the Evening News Trophy at Brands Hatch, beating Norman Dickson and Eliseo Salazar. In doing so, she became the first woman, and so far the only woman to win an F1 race. She recorded two more podium finishes, a fine 2nd place at Thruxton and a 3rd at Mallory Park, before her team ran out of money.

Her successes did not stop there in 1980, when she formed a partnership with Alain de Cadenet and shared the driving duties of his De Cadenet LM1. After an impressive outing where the pair took third in the Brands Hatch 1000km, the pair went on the win both the Monza 1000km and the Silverstone 6 Hours races.

Desiré's victories drew the attention of John Macdonald and his F1 RAM Racing team. During a private test at Brands Hatch, driving a year-old Williams FW07, things looked promising, where she was twelfth overall. However by the weekend of the British Grand Prix, the car had been replaced with an inferior model, which she had been beaten in several times in the Aurora AFX series. The car lacked aerodynamics modifications, and her lack of experience at this level meant she did not qualify.

This run of bad luck did not stop at Brands Hatch; after a practice accident for the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans, she and de Cadenet were not allowed to start in view of this earlier incident, despite setting eighth fastest lap in qualifying.

She got the chance to redeem herself, when she accepted a drive with Tyrrell Racing for her home Grand Prix. However, the ongoing FISA-FOCA war within F1, lead to the 1981 South African Grand Prix being a non-championship race, which nevertheless still attracted a strong field. Wilson qualified 16th, moved through the field to 6th before spinning out her Tyrrell 010, with gearbox troubles. But, she had managed to impress Ken Tyrrell, and was offered further drives. Due to lack of sponsorship and political situation, she was unable to take up Tyrrell's offer and the drive went to Ricardo Zunino, and then Michele Alboreto. The remainder of the season consisted of outing in Formula Atlantic and Sportscars.

Sportscars now became her main focus, after finished 8th in the 1981 Brands Hatch 1000km. In 1982, she raced in the IMSA series, failing to finish any races. A trip to France, for the Le Mans 24 hours did not fare any better, with her Grid S1, lasting only 24 minutes before the engine expired. Her only result of 1982 came in the Brands Hatch 1000km, when she finished 4th with Jonathan Palmer aboard a works Ford C100.

Wilson's career in American single-seaters started in 1982. Back with Teddy Yip's Theodore Racing, she passed her Indianapolis 500 rookie test without a problem, and during qualifying set the fastest ever lap by a female racer (191.042 mph). However, she failed to qualify for the event due to repeated engine failures and the early ending of the qualifying session in which her team-mate, Gordon Smiley, was killed. She returned the following year, but failed to qualify again. Meanwhile, she did race eight other Indycar races, with a best finish of 10th in the Grand Prix of Cleveland. Her finishing record with Wysard Racing was poor, though not always due to driver error. She was an impressive novice, especially considering her rapid recovery from a broken leg suffered in a terrifying crash in an IMSA race at Brainerd International Raceway. During the race, her Momo Corse March 83G's front suspension broke. Three weeks later, she was back in an Indycar. A third attempt in qualifying for the Indy 500, in 1984 also resulted in a DNQ.

During this time, sportscars had definitely not been forgotten. She competed around the world in various series and cars, scoring some decent results in the process, but the highlight of 1983 was her 7th place at Le Mans, sharing an Obermaier Racing entered Porsche 956 with Axel Plankenhorn and Jürgen Lässig. With the help of these Germans, she finally broke her major-race duck with an excellent result. A return to Brands Hatch for the 1984 1000 km race, saw her take the Kremer Racing's Porsche 956 to 4th place, with the help of David Sutherland and fellow South African, George Fouché.

Although her international racing schedule started to thin out, her competitive spirit remained and in 1987, Wilson took a class win in the SCCA/Escort Endurance Challenge at Sears Point, sharing a Saleen Mustang with Lisa Cacares. While with Saleen Motorsport, she took a class win Sebring 6 hours alongside Scott Pruett, assisting Saleen to the constructors' title. After a few more outings in Porsche 962C's in Britain and Japan, she had one last shot at Le Mans in 1991 in a Spice SE90C. This all-female crew, with co-drivers Lyn St. James and Cathy Muller, lasted only 47 laps before crashing out.

Although Wilson returned to race a Mazda Xedos in the North American Super Touring Car Championship in 1996, she now only occasionally races at the Goodwood Revival.

International racing record

Career highlights

Season	Series
1973	4th South African Formula Vee Championship
1974	2nd South African Formula Vee Championship
1975	1st South African Formula Ford Championship
1976	1st South African Formula Ford Championship
1977	3rd Benelux Formula Ford 2000 Championship
	3rd British Formula Ford 2000 Championship
	3rd Dutch Formula Ford 2000 Championship
1978	10th Aurora AFX F1 Championship
1979	7th Aurora AFX F1 Championship
1980	6th Aurora AFX F1 Championship
	16th Aurora AFX New Zealand Formula Pacific Championship
	41st World Challenge for Endurance Drivers
1981	15th MCD British Formula Atlantic Championship
	187th World Endurance Championship for Drivers
1982	46th World Endurance Championship
1983	28th PPG Indy Car World Series
	59th European Endurance Championship
	67th World Endurance Championship
1984	44th World Endurance Championship
1986	24th American Racing Series
1987	5th GT class – SCCA/Escort Endurance Championship
1989	12th British Formula 3000 Championship
1991	24th Firestone Indy Lights Championship
1997	14th North American Touring Car Championship

Career summary

Below are for races of an International status.

Season	Races	Outright Races Wins	Podiums
1975	1 race	0 wins	0 podiums
1976	1 race	0 wins	0 podiums
1978	8 races	0 wins	1 podium
1979	15 races	0 wins	3 podiums
1980	20 races	3 wins	3 podiums
1981	4 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1982	10 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1983	14 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1984	4 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1986	6 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1987	6 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1988	7 races	0 wins	4 podiums
1989	3 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1991	2 races	0 wins	0 podiums
1993	1 race	0 wins	0 podiums
1997	6 races	0 wins	0 podiums

Race win percentage:	2.78%
Races entered:	108
Outright Race Wins:	3
Podiums:	11

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos	Points
1978		PIR1	TRE1	MOS	MIL1	TEX	MIL2	OMS1	OMS2	TRE2	PIR2 26	69th	2

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	WDC	Points
1980	Brands Hatch Racing	Williams FW07	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR DNQ	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	NC	0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1982	C	37	D	Grid S1 Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3L V8	GRID Racing	Emilio de Villota Alain de Cadenet	7	DNF	DNF
1983	C	18	D	Porsche 956 Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	Obermaier Racing	Axel Plankenhorn Jürgen Lässig	347	7th	7th
1991	C1	40	D	Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5L V8	Euro Racing A.O. Racing	Lyn St. James Cathy Muller	47	DNF	DNF

Complete Daytona 24 Hours

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1982	GTP	09		Porsche 935 K3	Thunderbird Swap Shop	Preston Henn Marty Hinza	229	DNF
1993	GTS	18	G	Ford Mustang	Tom Gloy Racing	Ron Fellows Tomiko Yoshikawa Pieter Baljet	189	DNF

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1982	GTP	9	G	Ferrari 512BB/LM Ferrari F12 4.9L	North American Racing Team	Janet Guthrie Bonnie Henn	163	DNF

American open-wheel racing results

CART

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1982	Theodore Racing	PHO1	ATL	INDY† DNQ	MIL1	CLE	MIS1	MIL2	POR	RIV	RDA	MIS2	PHX						NC	–
1983	Wysard Racing	ATL	INDY DNQ	MIL	CLE 10	MIS1	ROA Ret	POC Ret	RIV Ret	MDO Ret	MIS2	LVG Ret	LS Ret	PHX 13					28th	3
1984	Wysard Racing	LBH DNQ	PHX1	INDY DNQ	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIS1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	PHX2	LS	LVG		NC	–
1986	Machinists Union Racing Team	PHX1	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS1	POC	MDO 13th	SAN	MIS2	ROA Ret	LS Ret	PHX2	MIA	NC	–

† Non-championship race

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1982	Eagle 81	Cosworth	DNQ		Theodore Racing
1983	March 82C	Cosworth	DNQ		Wysard Racing
1984	March 83C	Cosworth	DNQ		Wysard Racing

Indy Lights

(key)

Year	Team	Series	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
1986	ARS	ARS	PHX1 6	MIL	MEA	TOR	'POC	MDO	ROA	LS	PHX2	MIA			24th	8
1991	Leading Edge Motorsport	Indylights	LBH	PHX	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	DEN 12	MDO	NAZ	LS	24th	1

See also

• List of female Formula One drivers

Further reading

• Alan Wilson. Driven by Desire: The Desiré Wilson story. Veloce Publishing. ISBN 978-1845843892.

External links

• F1 Rejects interview
• Racing Reference Profile
• Champcar Stats