Justin Wilson was warned that he would never fulfil his dream of being a Formula One racing driver because at 6ft3in he was too tall to fit into the cars.
Most racing drivers are as compact as jockeys, squeezing into tiny cockpits. The lanky Yorkshireman, who hailed from a much humbler background than most motor racing stars, would not be discouraged. Suffering from dyslexia, he struggled at school; racing was the only thing in life he wanted to do. However, on the point of breaking through to Formula One in 2002, his worst fears were realised. He lost a drive with the team Minardi because he could not fit into its car.
Showing all the grit that characterised what turned out to be a long and successful driving career on both sides of the Atlantic, Wilson persevered. He got his reward when a year later the owner of Minardi changed the design of the team’s car to accommodate Wilson’s rangy frame, pushing the pedals forward as far as they would go and lowering the seat so that he would not be sitting with his knees next to his chin.
At this point, a new obstacle reared up in Wilson’s path. He did not have enough sponsorship to pay for his Formula One berth at a time when drivers were expected to bring lucrative sponsorship deals with them to help teams meet the huge costs of maintaining a Formula One team. Wilson’s father, who had already raised £2 million to enable his son to get this far, was on the point of selling the family’s petrol station to raise the money Minardi needed when the driver’s manager, Jonathan Palmer, came up with an ingenious idea. Wilson would sell shares in himself.
His enterprise was promoted by the BBC racing commentator Murray Walker and the scheme raised £1.2 million. Wilson would spend the next few years paying off creditors whose money he had promised to double — his salary at Minardi was just £40,000. Fellow British drivers David Coulthard and Jenson Button were reportedly earning £5 million and £3 million respectively.
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Wilson jammed himself into the new Minardi car for the 2003 Formula One season and performed well enough in an uncompetitive car to earn a step up to Jaguar, who engaged Wilson to drive for the final five races of that season. Here, he scored his only Formula One point when he finished eighth in the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis.
For the next season, Wilson’s position at Minardi was usurped by a Hungarian driver after that country’s government paid the struggling team £5 million.
He left for the US to race in the Champ Cars and IndyCars formats and competed at the top of the sport in America for the next decade, winning several races.
Wilson was the antithesis of the flamboyant and, in some cases raffish, image of the racing driver. Palmer recalled that he would be the last person to be photographed cavorting with a glamorous model on a yacht in Monte Carlo; the teetotaller lived quietly with his wife Julia with whom he had two young daughters, Jane Louise, seven, and Jessica Lynne, five. They all survive him. “He’s so quiet and modest off the track that on our corporate days it is not until I announce he is one of Britain’s top racing drivers that people realise who he is,” said Palmer.
Justin Boyd Wilson was born in Sheffield in 1978. He raced karts from the age of eight. His father backed Justin and his brother Stefan, who is also a racing driver, to pursue motor racing. Justin progressed to Formula 3000 and broke the points record for a season in 2001. So much victory champagne was sprayed on him that year that the zipper on his red race suit corroded.
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He admitted to being “useless” at all other sports, but did enjoy cycling in his spare time. He was an ambassador for a dyslexia charity and would often visit schools to give talks.
Wilson died after he was struck by flying debris while racing at the Pocoono track in Pennsylvania. He was mourned by American fans who took him to their hearts; they recognised him as a battler and were thrilled by his overtaking manoeuvres from the back of the field. It was clear that he had overcome so many setbacks because he loved the sport. They loved him back.
Justin Wilson, racing driver, was born on July 31, 1978. He died on August 24, 2015, aged 37