Mark Wilkins (racing Driver) on:
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Mark Wilkins (born May 9, 1983 in 
Starting the last lap in third, Wilkins had the cars of Joey Hand and Darren Law in front of him. Coming out of turn eight, Hand's car ran out of fuel denying him and
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
) is a Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
professional racing driver who is currently a factory driver for Hyundai Motorsport and Bryan Herta Autosport (2018-Pres.) participating in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. He previously raced for Acura in Pirelli World Challenge
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club si ...
and the IMSA
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
.
Before racing in Grand-Am, Wilkins raced in the North American Fran Am 2000 Pro Championship with a best championship position of 4th in 2004. He then moved to the Star Mazda series for two seasons with the occasional Grand-Am race.
It was not until 2007 when Wilkins took part in a full season of Grand-Am when he finished fifteenth overall with no wins.
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
was a breakthrough season for both Wilkins, co-driver Brian Frisselle and the rest of the AIM Autosport team in the championship. After four consecutive top ten finishes between rounds four and seven, their first real shot at victory was at Barber
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...
in the ninth round. With twenty minutes remaining, their car's engine failed while leading. At the very next race in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, the team achieved their first race victory in one of the most chaotic final laps in history.
Starting the last lap in third, Wilkins had the cars of Joey Hand and Darren Law in front of him. Coming out of turn eight, Hand's car ran out of fuel denying him and Bill Auberlen
Bill Auberlen (born October 12, 1968) is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport i ...
victory. Law assumed the lead but he too was running out of fuel. Having just negotiated the final chicane, Law's car stuttered and ran out. Wilkins and third-placed Antonio García had to take evasive action to avoid the Brumos Porsche with Wilkins going right and García being balked on the left just inches before the line. Wilkins held off the Spaniard by 0.064 seconds, in the closest finish in the series' history. They then followed up that win with another the following weekend, at Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
.
In 2009, Brian Frisselle left AIM for SunTrust Racing
Wayne Taylor Racing is a sports car racing team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype International class. The team campaigns the No. 10 Konica Minolta sponsored Acura ARX-05 full-time for Filipe Albuquerque an ...
, so Wilkins' co-driver was Brian's brother, Burt Frisselle. The pairing had a solid season, finishing nine of the twelve races in the top ten and claiming ninth in the championship.
For 2010, Wilkins joined American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
team Level 5 Motorsports
Level 5 Motorsports was an American auto racing team founded in 2006 by racing driver, technology entrepreneur and convicted racketeer Scott Tucker, currently serving a sentence of 16 years and 8 months in federal prison. Level 5 Motorsports com ...
in the Le Mans Prototype Challenge category. Teamed with full season drivers Scott Tucker and Christohe Bouchot, the trio would claim the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring as well as Laguna Seca, handily winning the teams championship. Wilkins would return in 2012 in Pirelli World Challenge
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club si ...
, this time as a factory driver for Kia. Despite running a limited schedule with a new car, Wilkins would pick up his first win at Mosport and finish 7th in standings. Although Wilkins would not win any drivers' titles, he did pick up multiple victories as well as the GTS manufacturers' championship for Kia in 2014.
With Kia departing PWC, Wilkins was left a free agent for 2015. For that year, he was tabbed by CORE Autosport to pilot their No. 54 ORECA for the IMSA North American Endurance Cup at Daytona. Unfortunately, the team would crash out of contention for the PC class victory in the late stages. Wilkins would reunite with CORE for 2016, taking home his second Sebring 12 Hour victory. In 2017, Mark was hired by Acura Motorsports as their factory endurance driver in IMSA. References