Desiré Randall Wilson is a former racing driver from South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, one of only five women to have competed in Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

. She entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non-works Williams

WilliamsF1

Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

 FW07

Williams FW07

The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head for the 1979 F1 season. It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at Imperial College London. Some observers, among them Lotus aerodynamicist Peter Wright felt the FW07 was...

 prepared by Brands Hatch Racing, but failed to qualify. She also raced in the 1981 world championship South African Grand Prix

1981 South African Grand Prix

The 1981 South African Grand Prix was a Formula Libre motor race held on February 7, 1981 at Kyalami.The race was originally scheduled to be the opening round of the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship however the ongoing FISA-FOCA war resulted in Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile ...

, however, this race was later deleted from the 1981 world championship for political reasons, hence it is now referred to as a non-champinship F1 race. After a disasterous start, she moved up though the field, passing noted F1 drivers in faster cars including Nigel Mansell, before spinning off and damaging her rear wing after 52 laps.

She became the only woman to win an F1 race of any kind when she won at Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...

 in the short-lived British Aurora F1 series

British Formula One Series

The British Formula One Series, often abbreviated to British F1, was a Formula One motor racing championship held in the United Kingdom. It was often referred to as the Aurora AFX Formula One series due to the Aurora company's sponsorship of the series for three of the four seasons.The long...

 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

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 and sports car racing

Sports car racing

Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....

. In 1982

1982 Indianapolis 500

The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner...

, Wilson entered the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

, but failed to qualify.

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

Alan Wilson (motorsport)

Alan L. Wilson is an American designer of motorsports road course race tracks.Considered one of the most prolific track designers, Wilson has designed and built more than 20 race courses, including Miller Motorsports Park, , Barber Motorsports Park, Motorsports Park Hastings, Gingerman Raceway and...

.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	WDC	Points
1980 1980 Formula One season The 1980 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently from January 13 to October 5 over a fourteen race series...	Brands Hatch Racing	Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...  FW07 Williams FW07 The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head for the 1979 F1 season. It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at Imperial College London. Some observers, among them Lotus aerodynamicist Peter Wright felt the FW07 was...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...  V8	ARG 1980 Argentine Grand Prix The 1980 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on January 13, 1980 at the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez Circuit in Argentina. It was the first race of the 1980 Formula One season...	BRA 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on January 27, 1980.- Classification :-Notes:*Lap leaders: Gilles Villeneuve , Jean-Pierre Jabouille , René Arnoux...	RSA 1980 South African Grand Prix The 1980 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on March 1, 1980.Alain Prost and Marc Surer both crashed in separate incidents during qualifying: Prost broke his wrist and Surer suffered serious injuries to his legs. Neither started the race, with Prost also missing...	USW 1980 United States Grand Prix West The 1980 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One race held on March 30, 1980 at Long Beach, California.__FORCETOC__-Summary:Nelson Piquet took pole, fastest lap and his first career race win to dominate the weekend in his gleaming blue and white Brabham...	BEL 1980 Belgian Grand Prix The 1980 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on May 4, 1980.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	MON 1980 Monaco Grand Prix The 1980 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 18, 1980. It was won by Carlos Reutemann driving a Williams-Cosworth...	FRA 1980 French Grand Prix The 1980 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on June 29, 1980.Financial problems meant that this was the last race contested by the Shadow team.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...	GBR 1980 British Grand Prix The 1980 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 13, 1980.This race proved to be Patrick Depailler's final Grand Prix... DNQ	GER 1980 German Grand Prix The 1980 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheimring on August 10, 1980. It was the ninth round of the 1980 Formula One season...	AUT 1980 Austrian Grand Prix The 1980 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 17, 1980 at the Österreichring circuit in Austria. It was the tenth race of the 1980 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :*Milestones:...	NED 1980 Dutch Grand Prix The 1980 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 31, 1980 at the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. It was the eleventh race of the 1980 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Milestones...	ITA 1980 Italian Grand Prix The 1980 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 14, 1980 at the Imola Circuit in Italy. It was the twelfth race of the 1980 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Milestones:...	CAN 1980 Canadian Grand Prix The 1980 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 28, 1980, at the Montreal Circuit in Canada. It was the thirteenth race of the 1980 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Milestones:...	USA 1980 United States Grand Prix The 1980 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 5, 1980 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York...	NC	0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

1982 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 50th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 19 and 20 1982. It was also the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship.-Race:For 1982, the new FIA Group C rules were in effect...	C	37		Grid Plaza S1 Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...  Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...  DFL 3.3L V8	Grid Racing	Spain Emilio de Villota Emilio de Villota Emilio de Villota Ruíz is a former racing driver from Spain, born in Madrid. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 May 1976... Alain de Cadenet Alain de Cadenet Alain de Cadenet is an on air personality for the Speed Channel and ESPN. The British-born de Cadenet has hosted many shows on SPEED, including Legends of Motorsport, as well as the network's coverage of the Goodwood Festival of Speed...	7	DNF	DNF
1983 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 51st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 18 and 19 1983. It was also the fourth round of both the World Endurance Championship and European Endurance Championship. The win was fought right down to the line between the Rothmans Porsche 956s of Al...	C	18		Porsche 956 Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship... Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....  Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6	Obermaier Racing	Axel Plankenhorn   Jürgen Lässig Jürgen Lässig Jürgen Lässig is a German former racing driver.Lässig began competing in endurance sports car racing, often World Sportscar Championship races in the early 1980s for Obermaier Racing and drove in several 24 Hours of Le Mans races. He and the Kremer Racing team were the winners of the 1995 24 Hours...	347	7th	7th
1991 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 59th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 22 and 23 1991. It was also the fourth round of the Sportscar World Championship.-Pre-race:...	C1	40		Spice SE90C Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...  Cosworth DFZ Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...  3.5L V8	Netherlands Euro Racing  Japan A.O. Racing	United States Lyn St. James Lyn St. James Lyn St. James is a retired professional IndyCar driver with 8 CART and 5 Indy Racing League starts to her name. She is just one of seven women who successfully qualified for the Indianapolis 500, and became the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award...  France Cathy Muller	47	DNF	DNF

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 Theodore Racing Theodore Racing was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars. They scored 2 championship points.-History:...	PHO1	ATL	INDY 1982 Indianapolis 500 The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner... † DNQ	MIL1	CLE	MIS1	MIL2	POR	RIV	RDA	MIS2	PHX XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 The XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 was an IndyCar race held at the Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The event began in 1915 on a dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. The race was revived in 1950 by the American Automobile Association, and then passed to the United States...						NC	-
1983	Wysard Racing	ATL	INDY 1983 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1983 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1983.-Recap:Three-time runner up Tom Sneva is stuck behind the lapped car of Al Unser, Jr., who is helping protect the lead of his father Al Unser despite being shown the blue "move-over" flag... 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 1984 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1984 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1984.-Recap:An exciting first half turns dull as defending champion Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti fall out late with mechanical trouble, leaving Rick Mears the winner by over two laps. Rookies Roberto Guerrero, Al Holbert,... DNQ	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIS1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	PHX2	LS	LVG		NC	-
1986	Machinist Union Racing Team	PHX1	LBH	INDY 1986 Indianapolis 500 The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend...	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS1	POC	MDO Ret	SAN	MIS2	ROA Ret	LS Ret	PHX2	MIA	NC	-

† Non Championship race

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1982 1982 Indianapolis 500 The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner...	Eagle 81	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	DNQ		Theodore Racing Theodore Racing Theodore Racing was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars. They scored 2 championship points.-History:...
1983 1983 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1983 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1983.-Recap:Three-time runner up Tom Sneva is stuck behind the lapped car of Al Unser, Jr., who is helping protect the lead of his father Al Unser despite being shown the blue "move-over" flag...	March 82C March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	DNQ		Wysard Racing
1984 1984 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1984 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1984.-Recap:An exciting first half turns dull as defending champion Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti fall out late with mechanical trouble, leaving Rick Mears the winner by over two laps. Rookies Roberto Guerrero, Al Holbert,...	March 83C March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	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

External links

• F1 Rejects interview
• Driver Database stats
• Racing Reference Profile
• Champcar Stats