Desiré
Wilson

Desiré Wilson was born on 26 November 1953 in Brakpan, South Africa. In her first season of South African Formula Vee she finished fourth. She won the South African Formula Ford title in 1975 and again in 1976. In 1977 she moved to Europe, competing mainly in Formula Ford 2000 in the Benelux and British championships, where she finished third and fourth respectively.

From 1978 she raced in the British Aurora F1 series. Her best result in an Ensign N175 was third place at Thruxton. In 1980 she won a round of that series at Brands Hatch in a Wolf WR4, and a grandstand at the circuit now carries her name. That same year she shared a De Cadenet LM1 with Alain de Cadenet to win the Monza 1000km and the Silverstone 6 Hours, both rounds of the World Championship for Makes. This made her the first woman to win a race outright in an FIA World Championship.

In the Formula One World Championship, Wilson had a single entry in 1980. She was entered for the British Grand Prix in a Williams FW07 run by RAM Racing but failed to qualify. In 1981 she drove for Tyrrell in the South African Grand Prix, which was not part of the World Championship. She qualified 16th.

Afterwards she raced in sports cars and Indycar, among other things. She failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1982, 1983 and 1984. In 1983 she finished seventh at Le Mans in a Porsche 956, and her final appearance in the race came in 1991. In 1997 she returned to competition in the North American Super Touring Car Championship.

Source: Wikipedia, “Desiré Wilson”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.