Mike Wilds

Mike Wilds

Nation:	Great Britain
Automobile world championship
First start:	1974 USA Grand Prix
Last start:	1975 Brazilian Grand Prix
Constructors
1974 Ensign  • 1975 BRM
statistics
World Cup balance:	no World Cup placement
Starts Victories Poles SR 3 - - -
World Cup points :	-
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Mike Wilds (born January 7, 1946 in London - Chiswick , England ) is a former British automobile racing driver .

Career

After leaving school, Wilds worked at Firestone UK. The young Wilds spent his free time on the British race tracks. He was part of the club scene in his home country for seven years and took part in countless amateur races. In 1972 he began to turn his hobby into a profession. He got into the British Formula 3 Championship with the help of a sponsor . Dempster Developments supported Wilds for many years.

Wilds celebrated some successes in Formula 3 before he switched to Formula 5000 in 1974 . In the middle of the season, the door to Formula 1 even opened . With substantial financial support from his sponsor, he brought a March 731 to the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch . As 33rd of the training he missed the qualification for the race clearly. Four more non-qualifications followed, this time as a works driver for the Ensign team. Wilds drove his first Grand Prix at the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen at the end of the season . After a pit stop due to problems with the fuel pump, the Englishman crossed the finish line nine laps behind and was not classified.

In 1975 Wilds was briefly part of the Louis Stanley BRM team. The glamor of the 1962 world championship team had long since faded. The BRM P201 was no longer a competitive vehicle. Twice, at the Grand Prix of Argentina and Brazil , Wilds started from the penultimate starting position and was canceled both times due to technical defects.

In 1976 Wilds tried to gain a foothold in Formula 1 with a privately financed Shadow DN3 . However, the attempt to pass the home race at Brands Hatch with the poor material failed. Wilds couldn't qualify. He drove a few more races in Formula 2 that same year and returned to Formula 5000 towards the end of the season. Then it became quiet about the Englishman. 1978 appeared briefly in the Aurora series and then turned to the scene of the historic racing cars.

Wilds became a determining factor in classic cars. In 1994 he received the invitation at the Goodwood Festival of Speed the Ferrari 312T3 of Gilles Villeneuve to drive. The company ended with a serious accident by Wilds who broke both legs when the Ferrari hit a barrier. Wilds was back a year later, winning its class in the historic UK racing car series with the Chevron B31.

In 2019, Wilds continued to drive historic sports cars. The Englishman also competed seven times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In addition to his motorsport career, Wilds also trained as a helicopter pilot and is still working as an instructor today.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1981	Tuff-Kote Dinol Racing	Porsche 935L1	Jan Lundgårdh	Axel Plankenhorn	failure	Engine failure
1982	Dorset Racing Associates	De Cadenet-Lola LM	François Duret	Ian Harrower	failure	no petrol
1984	Ecurie Ecosse	Ecosse C2	David Leslie	David Duffield	failure	fuel pump
1985	Ecurie Ecosse	Ecosse C2	David Leslie	Ray Mallock	failure	Oil pump
1986	Ecurie Ecosse	Ecosse C2	David Leslie	Ray Mallock	Disqualified
1987	Ecurie Ecosse	Ecosse C286	Les Delano	Andy Petery	failure	Electrics
1988	Nissan Motorsports	Nissan R88C	Allan Grice	Win Percy	Rank 14

literature

• Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 3rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8

Web links

Commons : Mike Wilds  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Mike Wilds at Motorsport Magazine