Justin Wilson (racing driver)

Justin Boyd Wilson (31 July 1978 – 24 August 2015) was a British professional open-wheel racing driver who competed in Formula One (F1) in , the Champ Car World Series (CCWS) from 2004 to 2007 and the IndyCar Series from 2008 to 2015. He won the first Formula Palmer Audi (FPA) in 1998, the International Formula 3000 Championship (IF3000) with Nordic Racing in 2001, and co-won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona for Michael Shank Racing.

Wilson began karting at the age of eight and achieved consistent results, before progressing to car racing in the Formula Vauxhall Championship. He won the FPA title and earned a fully funded seat in IF3000, becoming the first British driver to win the series championship in 2001. He moved to the 2002 World Series by Nissan for the Racing Engineering team and finished fourth. Through an investment scheme where the public could purchase shares in Wilson, he drove for the Minardi and Jaguar teams in the 2003 F1 season.

He drove for the Conquest Racing and RuSPORT teams in the CCWS from 2004 to 2007, winning four races and finishing runner-up in the 2006 and 2007 drivers' championships. Wilson went to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the 2008 IndyCar Series, winning the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. A move to the low-budget Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) team for 2009 resulted in the team's first open-wheel victory at the Grand Prix at the Glen. Wilson moved to the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing squad from 2010 and 2011 but did not win a race. He returned to DCR for 2012 to 2014, winning the 2012 Firestone 550 and finishing sixth in the 2013 drivers' championship.

Late in the 2015 season, in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, Wilson died after debris from a crashed car struck his helmet. He was the first driver to die from injuries sustained in an IndyCar race since Dan Wheldon in 2011. His organs were donated to save the lives of five people. A hairpin corner at Snetterton Circuit was renamed after him and a memorial fund was established to support his children.

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 age 11, he 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 13. 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 8 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 7th in the Cadet National British Karting Championship, 12th in the 1991 RACMSA Junior British Championships, improving to 4th 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.

He progressed to car racing at age 16, 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 16 years and 2 months, and became the first 16-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 him 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 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.

His 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.

Wilson's title victory earned him a fully funded seat in the International Formula 3000 Championship (IF3000)—F1's feeder series—with Team Astromega for the 1999 season, and Palmer became his manager. He worked to better his engineering skills and relationship with the media. During the season, in which Palmer obtained sponsorship for Wilson from Benetton Formula, he qualified for every race and was several times the highest-placed rookie. He took two points and was 20th in the drivers' standings.

His driving ability attracted Nordic Racing's attention, and they signed him for the 2000 season. He established a rapport with team owners Chris and Derek Mower, and results improved from 1999, finishing fifth overall with two podiums and five points finishes. He returned to Nordic Racing for the 2001 season, after negotiations with Arden International in late 2000 fell through because of his tall height. Wilson won three times—at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, the A1-Ring and the Hungaroring— and achieving 10 podium finishes and scoring 71 points, to become the first British driver to claim the championship. Wilson won by a series-record 32 points over Mark Webber, and the BRDC Gold Medal, the ERA Club Trophy and the Graham Hill Trophy for winning the title.

At first F1 teams were not interested in Wilson, but tested for the Jordan squad at Silverstone in September 2001, and had a seat fitting at McLaren. Jordan did not employ Wilson to race in the 2002 season due to financial issues, signing the 2001 British Formula Three champion Takuma Sato. Wilson considered going to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and spoke to the Minardi team before it selected Webber; he did not return to IF3000. For 2002, he drove in the inaugural World Series by Nissan. The Racing Engineering team chose Wilson, and he accepted. He won races at Autódromo José Carlos Pace and the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and achieved six more podium finishes for fourth in the points standings.

Formula One career

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 with its owner Paul Stoddart, who was keen to have him replace the outgoing 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.

He 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. Before the , 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 . Having been granted the final five races to convince Jaguar to keep him alongside Webber for , 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 and was 20th in the drivers' standings with one point.

He 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 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 11th 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.

The Newman/Haas, Forsythe and RuSPORT teams were interested in Wilson for the 2007 season. He signed a "multi-year" contract with RuSPORT in January 2007. Wilson was persuaded to remain there after his race engineer Todd Malloy left and limitations in the team's budget saw his assistant Mike Talbott promoted. Driving the No. 9 Panoz DP01- Cosworth XFE he achieved eight top-ten finishes and two pole positions at the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland and the San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway after ten rounds. Wilson led most of the Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix for his solitary victory of the season. He ended his CCWS career with consecutive top-ten finishes in the final two rounds to be runner-up in the drivers' championship with 281 points. Wilson won the Greg Moore Legacy Award for the second successive year.

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 16th 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 11th 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 15th 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 60 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.

Wilson drove Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's (DRR) No. 22 car in the 2010 season. A disagreement over the length of his contract with DCR, the departure of key team personnel and a desire for another experience led him to assess driving elsewhere. Wilson received a telephone call from Dreyer & Reinbold co-owners Robbie Buhl and Dennis Reinbold and visited their workshop in January 2010. He was impressed by what he observed and signed to the team soon after. Wilson mentored his teammate Mike Conway on oval track racing and advised DRR on road courses. In the first four races he finished second at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Grand Prix of Long Beach. After qualifying 11th for the Indianapolis 500, Wilson led eleven laps and took seventh. Four races later, he took his first IndyCar pole position for the Honda Indy Toronto. The rest of Wilson's season saw him achieve a best of sixth at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. He was 11th in the drivers' standings with 361 points.

Although linked with the Andretti Autosport, KV Racing Technology and Panther Racing teams for the 2011 season, Wilson stayed at DRR. An important factor in his decision was the progress he believed the team had made in 2010. Wilson sustained a minor fracture in his left wrist in an accident with Alex Tagliani at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and wore a carbon fibre brace. He started the Indianapolis 500 from 19th position. Handling and balance difficulties left Wilson in 16th. His best finish of 2011 was fifth at Edmonton Indy. During practice for the Honda Indy 200 an accident left him with a stable burst fracture of the T5 vertebrae in his back. Wilson was ruled unfit for three months and wore a back brace. For the rest of the season, his substitutes were Simon Pagenaud at Mid-Ohio, Tomas Scheckter at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Giorgio Pantano on the road and street courses and Townsend Bell in Kentucky and Las Vegas. Wilson was 24th in the points standings with 183.

For the 2012 season, he returned to drive for DCR in its No. 18 Dallara DW12-Honda car. Wilson had two tenth-place finishes in the first four races. At the Indianapolis 500, he qualified in 21st and finished 7th. At the Firestone 550 Wilson overtook Graham Rahal, who crashed with two laps to go, for his third career series victory and his first on an oval track. The rest of his season saw him claim two more top-ten results in the final eight races for 15th in the drivers' championship with 278 points.

Wilson remained at DCR for the 2013 season after signing a long-term contract; he changed his car number to 19. He began the year with three consecutive top-nine finishes. Wilson qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 14th and finished a career-high fifth. His performance for the rest of 2013 included three podium finishes—two third places at the first Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Houston, and a season-high second at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. At the season-ending IndyCar World Championships at the Auto Club Speedway, Wilson was involved in a high speed lateral impact with driver Tristan Vautier, sustaining a minor pulmonary contusion and three non-operable breakages to his pelvis. He was told to avoid bearing weight on his right leg before commencing rehabilitation. Wilson finished the season a series-high sixth in the drivers' standings with 472 points.