The underfunded Brit reminding IndyCar of his worth

Two years on from coming within five laps of winning the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Stefan Wilson is making his virtual IndyCar debut in an attempt to build momentum for a real-life return to one of motorsport's most iconic races.

The 30-year-old has qualified 11th in the field of 33 drivers including IndyCar regulars and one-off entrants, including McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, that will start the final round of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge on Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The younger brother by 11 years of ex-F1 driver and IndyCar race-winner Justin Wilson, who lost his life during IndyCar's Pocono race in 2015, Stefan made his Indianapolis 500 debut with KVSH one year later in the 100th edition of the race. Running a tribute helmet livery to honour his late brother, Wilson qualified 30th but retired after 119 laps when an oil leak caught fire and "melted a bunch of the electronics" while on-course for a top-15 finish.

"We were on the wrong side of the engine deal that year with Chevy, Honda was really successful that year," he tells Autosport.

"Pretty much my deal was the last one to come together, my car was thrown together from bits of old cars. It was a rough attempt, but we qualified into the race, and we had a good run going in the race before the mechanical failure.

"We passed something like eight cars at the first corner of the first lap, and I was holding my ground. Our true race speed we were top 15 car, but when you go into qualifying it's all about how fast the car is, so we only qualified 30th. It was a good foundation laid."

Wilson's Indy 500 aspirations had been set in motion over half a decade earlier after encouragement from his brother. Prior to that, the Sheffield driver made his full-time car racing debut in 2007 when he finished runner-up to the significantly more experienced Tim Bridgman in Formula Palmer Audi and earned that year's prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award.

"That was a long time ago, but it still feels like yesterday," he says. "Justin recognised where the confetti cannon was placed, and it was placed right above our table that night.

"As the night began, he had an inkling that I was going to be the winner. Before I could even hear the winner announced, his hand was patting me on the back.

"You really have to grind things day in and day out to make things happen. I do my best and fortunately, every now and then I get the opportunity to race the Indy 500, which is honestly a dream come true" Stefan Wilson

"I was totally shocked. I was at the time the youngest-ever winner of the award, and I was just one year into racing single-seaters at that time.

"Being able to test for the McLaren F1 team two years later was unbelievable. It helped a lot to boost my career but it came at the worst possible timing in terms of right in the middle of the financial crash.

"In a normal situation it would have helped even more so, but it helped my career survive that time."

Inspired by Justin's success in America, where he was a regular thorn in the side of better-funded rivals at Dale Coyne Racing, Wilson moved over to the US in IndyCar's leading feeder series Indy Lights for 2009.

After two years learning the ropes, it all came good in 2011 with Andretti Autosport as he finished third behind current defending IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden and 2019 WTCR runner-up Esteban Guerrieri. But while Newgarden and Guerrieri would graduate to top-line championships, Wilson's career stalled due to a lack of financial backing.

He did earn a one-off IndyCar drive, making his debut racing alongside his brother at the Baltimore street circuit in 2013, but it failed to spawn any further outings until his Indy 500 debut in 2016.

"Justin was having so much success in America," Wilson continues. "I'd already watched him go the F1 route, and there his height was an issue - there's so much politics involved in F1 and European racing, I'd seen how that could chew you up and spit you out.

"So I decided to go the American route, and tried to forge a career out here. His experience definitely encouraged that move and that transition, [but] it didn't work out perfectly over here. It's still been as tough as it has been anywhere for a driver that doesn't have a lot of personal wealth or connections with companies that want to help you.

"You really have to grind things day in and day out to make things happen. I do my best and fortunately, every now and then I get the opportunity to race the Indy 500, which is honestly a dream come true."

Wilson was set to return for a second attempt at the 500 in 2017 with Andretti Autosport, but selflessly gave up his ride to allow the team to run two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso.

Back the following year, Wilson comfortably made the field in 23rd position and gambled on an audacious fuel strategy to lead the race for three laps in the closing stages. He was forced to relinquish the position to eventual winner Will Power with just four laps of remaining, knowing a couple of further caution laps had been all that prevented him from scoring a popular victory.

The Briton was aiming to make a third appearance for the 2019 race, but lost a key sponsor to a rival team and failed to raise the financial support to make the grid.

"The Andretti team really took care of me in 2018," he says. "We were able to come out there and show the potential that we had by leading the race late on. There was such a build-up to 2018 because we had the deal done early, I tried to utilise it as much and get as many partners involved, and we did.

"The trajectory after 2018 was climbing up till about September, October when one of the main sponsors pulled out and went with a different team. That really kind of put me in a bad situation in the depths of the off-season trying to get a deal for Indy. Then 2019 came along and I was on the sidelines, and that was so disappointing after learning all we learnt in 2018."

With the coronavirus crisis postponing the 2020 Indy 500, Wilson intends to use his appearance in the virtual Indy 175 to tighten his relationship with his sponsors and remind people of his strong oval racing prowess. Although Justin was heavily involved in the development in the early stages of iRacing release over a decade ago, Stefan admits he only revisited sim racing less than two months ago.

"My first experience with sim racing has to go back to Grand Prix Legends," Wilson says. "It was Justin who got me into the game, I remember I was 11 or 12 years old. He was on that all the time, he used to let me have a go every now and then. It was such a blast but so difficult, I remember that game being so tough.

"I was worried my right foot would shake straight off the pedal and that would have ended the run" Stefan Wilson

"Now and then, I could put a good lap together and impress him, but I didn't do a lot of sim racing until I came over to the US. In 2009/10, Justin was involved with iRacing trying to help them develop the software and the platform to make it as realistic as possible. He was really involved and engaged with that group.

"Being around him and staying at his house a while, we got to do a lot of sim racing together. I haven't done a whole lot of sim racing since then up until a month and a half ago."

While the IndyCar regulars and iRacing Challenge race winners so far - such as Norris - were granted automatic entry to the 70-lap Indy 175, part-time IndyCar drivers and additional guest drivers had to battle it out for the final four slots in a virtual Bump Day.

Ten drivers including 2016 Indy 500 pole-winner James Hinchcliffe and his 2018 team-mate Robert Wickens, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and ex-F1 driver Felipe Nasr were among those competing for the final four places on the grid in a one-lap shootout.

Wilson emerged as the second-fastest driver in the session behind ex-F1 driver Scott Speed, securing his spot on the grid.

Wilson experienced his first Indy 500 Bump Day in 2018, but believed that without the danger element that the pressure for the virtual pre-qualifying event was even greater than in real-life.

"It's so stressful," he admits. "It's an opportunity for guys like me that are kind of on the outside looking in, to shine and get some momentum going.

"That was not lost on me, I need every opportunity I have to keep my career going. I took it very seriously.

"Very much like the Bump Day in the real world, a lot is on the line that day - it's not just making the race, it's keeping your career going. In the real world, you have the danger, the fear, the adrenaline which focusses your mind, and your nerves don't get to you.

"But in the sim, I was going down the back straight into Turn 3, nailing Turn 1 and Turn 2, I knew I was on for a good lap, it was going perfect but my right foot was literally shaking.

"I was worried my right foot would shake straight off the pedal and that would have ended the run, but I was able to get through Turns 3 and 4 well, I came across the line and was just so relieved."

While many of the drivers had received support from their real-life teams including from their race and data engineers, Wilson decided to partner with another part-time Indy 500 driver in James Davison. The 33-year-old Australian has participated in five of the last six Indy 500s and agreed to share data with Wilson to reduce their pace deficits to the experienced sim racers.

"Absolutely we're underdogs for sure - I was using a TV I had lying around, some of these guys have thousands of dollars invested in their sim rig, and I built mine out of wood!" Wilson explains.

"James and I worked really well together, almost like team-mates in the real-world. We shared everything, and by doing that we made each other as fast as possible" Stefan Wilson

"At the start of the week, James and I were in the same boat. We didn't have a team of people helping us, some of these guys had their team engineers, like a group of them in private, practice sessions.

"Craig Hampson was engineering Wickens, he's one of the best engineers in the series, maybe in the world. It was daunting going into that [pre-qualifying], the odds were stacked against me, but James and I worked really well together, almost like team-mates in the real-world.

"We shared everything, and we just tried to help each other, lift each other. Anything he finds he'll show me, and anything I find, I'll show him, and by doing that we made each other as fast as possible. Going into it, we were like 'I hope one of us makes it' and fortunately, we both made it in."

With it's regular driver Kyle Kaiser - who famously bumped Alonso from the field last year - among the six drivers who failed to qualify, Juncos Racing will instead run Wilson in its sole virtual entry. Wilson proceeded to qualify just 0.026 seconds off pole-sitting Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin and will start the race from the middle of the fourth row, while Davison secured sixth on the grid.

Wilson's strong drive to almost win the Indy 500 two years ago was already sufficient evidence that the underfunded Brit deserves another shot at competing in IndyCar's showpiece event and his impressive Esports debut thus far only confirms this.

He may not have a team of IndyCar engineers guiding his every move, but a collaboration with another underdog, a shaky but committed right foot and a homemade sim racing rig is all Wilson needs to become Indianapolis' next fairytale story.