Desire Wilson: Memories of 1980

For 1980, Des expected to be driving for Team Surtees in Aurora Formula 1, but as Christmas approached, John Surtees withdrew from the series.

However, it seemed that as one door shut, another opened: Desire was contacted by representatives of Chrysler's MOPAR parts group, who had sponsored Guy Edwards the previous season.

With their contract with Edwards at an end, it wanted to put together a two car team for Des, using the very successful 1979 Ligier JS11 DFVs driven to victories in Argentina and Brazil by Jacques Laffite. As the cars were at least the equal of the very successful Williams FW07s, it looked to Des that she would be in for a great third season of Aurora Formula 1 racing. But she didn't get any time to get excited about the opportunity; a few days later Guy himself called and told her that there could be no deal. He invited her to visit him in London, so that he could explain and, when she arrived, handed her his one inch thick contract with the parts company.

She'd never seen anything like it. In fact, Des had never seen a driver contract of any kind until then, her arrangement with John Webb being one of simple trust and friendship. When she saw Edwards' contract she understood the difference between enthusiastic support and professional sponsorship.

The contract was specific to an extent that amazed her. Where Des had considered herself lucky to get a new set of tyres for a race weekend with Melchester, she read that Guy was guaranteed eight new sets every event!

While Des had to suffer a misfiring engine for four races in a row, she saw that Guy received a newly rebuilt motor for every race. Testing, for her, was a rare experience; for Guy it was a contractual requirement before each race. And Guy got paid!

Then Guy showed her the clause that killed her hopes for the year. His contract very specifically noted that MOPAR were not to be allowed to undertake any form of motor sports sponsorship for a year after its contract with him expired and he was holding them to it - to the extent that it even had to remove its name from Chrysler's own factory rally team!

The helmet that Wilson made famous at tracks all over Britain during the late 1970s

Guy Edwards was known in English racing as the best sponsor finder in the business. He was famous for bringing companies like Barclays International into the sport. He had ridden his sponsorship finding skills all the way to a full-time Formula 1 grand prix drive with Graham Hill's Embassy-sponsored team before turning to the Aurora series after Hill's death in a plane crash. While never a top line GP racer, Guy was, nevertheless, a more than competent journeyman driver. His main recognition had come from his bravery, having helped pull a critically injured Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari, at the Nurburgring, in 1976 - a feat for which he was awarded the George Medal.

Des talked to Guy about him looking after her sponsorship needs, taking whatever cut he wanted, but Edwards was still too involved in his own racing and he knew that John Webb still controlled her racing programme, so declined. Des left Guy's flat with no drive for 1980 and, because Britain had started to slip into one of its deepest recessions in years, not much hope of finding the sponsorship to buy one.

With the 1979 season at an end, John and Angela Webb left for their annual vacation in Barbados, leaving me to run Brands and Des to look forward to a bleak new season.

Then, two days before Christmas, she received a call from Ron Frost, promoter of the New Zealand Tasman race series and operator of Auckland's Pukekohe race track. He wanted her to fly out for their four race series, starting on January 1, offering her a 1977 March Atlantic car and a drive in a Ford Escort in a support series.

It took us about 30 seconds to accept the offer, even though we knew that John would likely be upset that she was racing without his clearance. Little did we know that he had turned down Ron's request the previous year without telling Des that an invitation had been extended!

It took two days to get visas and work permits arranged and to rush around London collecting a load of parts that the team needed for the car. On Boxing Day we were on the plane to Los Angeles for a stopover and then on to Auckland, where we arrived the Monday before the first race. We had an interesting arrival in New Zealand.

The parts we'd been asked to pack in our suitcases could almost have built a new car and mine was so heavy that, even with two hands, it was almost impossible to lift it onto the customs inspections table. The customs official interrogated Des and when he saw that her work permit applied to her racing, he immediately started on about how racers were always trying to smuggle parts past him. Looking me straight in the eyes, he warned me about the consequences of trying to avoid the 100 per cent duty and then proceeded to open every other passenger's suitcase - while he studiously avoided watching me drag my bloated case across the floor! I decided there and then that I liked New Zealand.

The Tasman series had been a major race series during the 1960s, when drivers like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Derek Bell and Bruce McLaren gave it worldwide status. Even though the big names no longer competed, in 1980 it was still a serious and fiercely competitive series, now running to Formula Atlantic rules.

Wilson had made a name for herself in Formula Ford 2000 in 1978

Des' car was a three-year-old March. The car was looked after by Graham Cooke, who had experience in the UK and was helped a by a friend who just happened to work for New Zealand customs at the airport, and helped on a part-time basis. Although the car carried Nashua sponsorship and was owned by long-time race team owner Colin Giltrap, it was being run on a tiny budget and right from the outset, Des realised that the package was never going to be competitive against a very strong field.

This included two factory supported Marchs, to be driven by Andrea De Cesaris and 18-year-old rising star Mike Thackwell; new Ralt RT1s for Steve Millen and Dave McMillan; a Chevron for Dutchman Huub Rothengatter; Ian Flux in Dr Elrlichs F3 car, transformed to FAtlantic spec; and strong Australian and New Zealand contingents that included ex-F1 driver Larry Perkins and F3 star Brett Riley.

The series started at Pukekoe and raced at Manfeild and Wigram. Despite trying her hardest and putting in every penny of the money that Ron Frost had pulled together for her (as well as contributing all her prize money to buy tyres), the unreliable March just couldn't compete with the newer cars and she found herself typically fighting for fifth or sixth at each race.

She also had some experiences on the track that added to her reputation for not putting up with any bullying, especially from teenager Thackwell, who seemed to find it especially unacceptable to be beaten by a girl. After several close races, he eventually put his rear wheel between her front and rear wheels while racing along the straight at Wigram; he then tapped his brakes, causing her March to leap, almost onto its nose, when their wheels touched. Fortunately, the car didn't tip over completely and Des was able to regain control after a big moment. She made up the gap and subsequently proceeded to give him a lesson in track management, taking him to the edge of the very wide airfield track and forcing him to run onto the grass and into a wide ditch. He never bothered her again.

Although the Tasman series wasn't successful for Des on the track, it played a major role in the successes she achieved when she returned to the UK; it enabled her to start the British season already on top form.

Once John Webb had made it clear that he wasn't amused by Des' show of independence, he set his anger aside. He put together a deal for her to drive for Teddy Yip in the Sid Taylor-managed Theodore Racing Wolf WR4. The WR4 was the same car that David Kennedy had abandoned half way through the previous season in favour of the newer, ground-effect WR5 version. Geoff Lees would be her team-mate.

Although the Wolf was now in its fourth season of racing and had no ground-effect technology, it was small, nimble, well-balanced and could well have been designed to suit her driving style. At the opening Oulton Park race she was immediately at home in the car, despite no pre-event testing. She qualified in third place, ahead of Geoff and behind Edwards and Emilio de Villota. At the start, Geoff slipped past Des, but she held on to his tail for several laps, before a broken CV joint put her out of the race.

Victory in an F1 car came at Brands Hatch

The team packed up and drove through the evening to Brands Hatch, for Sunday's practice for the Easter Monday Aurora Championship race. Des will tell that, from the moment she arrived at Brands, she knew she was going to win. Drivers are like that. There are times when they believe they are invincible, when they have absolute confidence that the stars are aligned. Des began practice knowing she was going to deliver - and deliver she did.

Right from the start she was quicker than her much more experienced team-mate, Geoff Lees. She and team engineer Julian Randalls found themselves working well together and the whole team sensed something special was happening.

Then came qualifying and Des flew, getting the Wolf around in 1m22.02s in the first session, despite heavy understeer. The crew dialled this out between sessions and she improved to the low 1m21s from the start of the final qualifying period, a fraction behind the de Villota Williams ground- effect car.

With only a few minutes left in the session, she pulled into the pits to discuss things with Julian, who asked what she needed done to find that final tenth of a second.

"The problem is the gearing," Des told him. "With the ratios in the box I have to change up after Dingle Dell and then drop down again into Stirling's, which costs time. If I hold it in gear I will over-rev the engine. But if I could just hold the lower gear I know I would be faster." Julian listened, leaned over into the cockpit, and flicked off the switch that controlled the rev limiter.

Des left the pits in a blur of wheelspin, built up speed, and put everything she had into one flying lap. De Villota's team, which was garaged at the entrance to the pitlane, put their stopwatches on her and as she came out of Clearways they recorded a time of 1m20.20s, split seconds faster than Emilio's best of 1m20.49s. She had taken pole at the last minute. Except that the car rushed past them in silence. The engine had blown as she turned into Clearways and she was forced to free wheel that last three hundred yards to the finish line, where the official time keepers recorded her at 1m21.40s - second fastest. The Teddy Yip team was thrilled at her speed, knowing that the blown engine had cost her the pole position. John Webb was much less amused, as the £10,000 engine bill was coming straight to him!

Despite the lecture in the Kentagon that evening and the realisation that the next blown engine would mean the end of her race season, Des maintained her confidence. She went to the grid the next day absolutely certain that, as long as she could be in the lead at Paddock Bend on the first lap, she was going to win the race.

Brands Hatch is a peculiar circuit and drivers who know its intricacies will always have an advantage. Des was a Brands specialist and she knew that pole position wasn't the advantage it might have seemed. The track is heavily cambered along the straight and cars which line up on the right-hand side of the front row have to climb a steeper hill to Paddock Bend, as well as fight a tendency for the rear of the car to slide to the right, down the slope, under fierce acceleration.

Consequently, when she lined up on the staggered grid next to Emilio, she deliberately placed her car so that he had to park further down the slope than normal. When the lights turned green, she took advantage and shot into the lead, drew ahead through Paddock Bend and Druids, and had opened a gap of several car lengths by the time she turned onto the long track at Surtees. Then there was an accident at Bottom bend and the red flags began to wave. She had to do it all over again.

Wilson was out of the Wolf when funds dried up

Her second start was even better than her first and she immediately took the lead, opening up a gap of over a second per lap on the field, until she was a full 22s ahead. Then she slackened her pace, holding her position to run the rest of the 40 laps in total command of the race.

From her position at the head of the field, she could judge her lead by watching the second place Lotus 78 of Scotsman Norman Dickson emerge from Paddock Bend while she turned onto Bottom Straight: every time he closed the gap she simply went faster. Eventually, she maintained a 15s advantage all the way to the finish line. To rub things in, after cruising comfortably for the whole race, she set her goals on achieving the fastest lap, which she did on her final tour around the course. There may not have been any racing for the lead, but the large Easter crowd at Brands Hatch didn't mind.

Des was their home driver. They'd become strong supporters through the 1978 and 1979 seasons and she was their star. Many knew her well, as she had always been accessible and friendly to them. They had talked to her in the paddock, in her office at Brands Hatch Racing, and, many times over the past two years, when she manned the race school sales caravan behind the grandstands. Not only were they watching a favourite driver win, they also knew the importance of what they were witnessing. When Desire received the chequered flag to become the first woman ever to win a championship race in a Formula 1 car, the crowd erupted into a wave of cheers that she heard above the scream of the engine as she crossed the line.

It was an unbelievable and very emotional moment, made more so by the absolute ease with which she had won the race.

Des' win was obviously a huge moment - for her, for John Webb, for Brands Hatch, and for me - and it resulted in a wave of publicity that reached across England, into Europe, and back to South Africa.

Some drivers were impressed, including the current world champion Jody Scheckter, who was quick to salute her achievement in his column in the Johannesburg's The Star. Less so was his brother, Ian, whose derogatory comments came across as sour grapes and were, perhaps, back-handed recognition of how fast she had been when racing the old Chevron Atlantic against him at Kyalami at the beginning of 1978.

In reality, Des' performance in being the first and (so far) only woman to win a championship race in a Formula 1 car doesn't rate that highly in the annals of motorsport. Des has always seen herself not as a woman race driver, but a race driver.

So, winning the race wasn't a score for the feminine gender, but a score for Des the racer. Obviously, the win was to be the defining moment of her career and she does believe that it was one of the best races she ever drove, but it was, perhaps, no better than her two world championship sportscar wins in the de Cadenet, or her drive at Fuji in the Porsche 962.

There are those who say that the Aurora win means nothing because it wasn't a full-blooded Formula 1 grand prix. But, at that time, in the world of racing, her achievement was very meaningful. A little bit of history was made at Brands on Easter Monday, 1980.

Two weeks later Des qualified the Wolf fifth at Silverstone, but jumped into second place at the start. She then held third for the next 28 laps, harrying de Villota's much quicker car. All the way, in fact, until her gear lever broke-off in her hand, leading to a pitstop and an eventual eighth-placed finish. Despite this bad luck, she was still hailed by the Daily Express as the star of the race.

At Mallory she qualified third, but broke a CV joint after only three laps. The series then moved to the very fast Thruxton track, in Hampshire. Des qualified fourth, dropping back over the first few laps, but then she began a charge that became a highlight of the Aurora series final season.

First she passed de Villota and then closed behind Salazar's similar Williams. For lap after lap she fought to find a way past. Then, with just nine laps to go, she left the track and went onto the dirt when Eliseo closed the door on her at the chicane. The gap immediately opened to over 10s as she found her way back onto the track and shrugged-off the gravel that was sticking to her tyres, slowing the car down. But she wouldn't give up. Each lap she made up time until, at the start of the final lap, she was three seconds behind the Williams. With a superhuman effort, she raced up to his gearbox and pushed her way alongside, as the two cars raced through the final chicane. But, the Williams had the better line and crossed the finish just 0.02s ahead.

Despite her success and the value she brought to the Aurora series, Des' position in the series was becoming less and less secure. John Webb's budget to support her position in the Teddy Yip-owned team, was virtually non-existent, decimated by the engine blow-up at Brands. Now, Teddy's focus switched to American Kevin Cogan, who had joined the team at Mallory Park.

Kevin had a strong competition record in Formula Atlantic racing in America. He was immediately quick in the Wolf, qualifying on the front row at the first Mallory event, before crashing out of the race. At the second, he and Des fought a hard battle for position, until Des used a lapped Formula 2 car to force him to make an engine-destroying mistake. At the second Brands event, she was almost 2.5s per lap quicker than him and when the series arrived at Snetterton she had him totally outpsyched. After the first practice session, when she was, again, significantly quicker, the team swapped the two cars' engines - but she went faster still. Then, they switched chassis and, finally, switched engines again: yet Des remained quicker through all the changes.

In the meantime, Sid Taylor, Teddy's race representative, had been very vocal to the media about Kevin's grand prix potential, disparaging Des' ability to compete at that level despite the fact that she was consistently and significantly quicker than Kevin. So, it was no surprise when Teddy Yip, who seldom attended any races and relied completely on Taylor for input, finally pulled the plug on Desire, leaving her without a drive.

Her Aurora career ended with a final drive in Colin Bennett's Aurora AFX sponsored Lotus 78, the ex-de Villota/Dickson car, at Brands Hatch. After qualifying on the second row, the rear suspension broke at Bottom Bend on the first lap. Des was unhurt, but both her and the car's Aurora Formula 1 careers were at an end.

Driven by Desire, by Alan Wilson, is published by Veloce Publishing. To purchase a copy, please visit www.veloce.co.uk.