Max Wilson


Max Wilson is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage.

Racing career

Junior formulae

Wilson started his motor racing career in 1985 in go-karts. He moved into single-seaters in 1993, when he was offered a ride in the Brazilian Formula Ford Championship. In 1994 he moved to the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship and finished 2nd overall, behind Felipe Giaffone.

Formula 3

Again, Wilson graduated up a level into Formula Three Sudamericana for the 1995 season. Again he finished 2nd in the championship, this time behind Ricardo Zonta. After testing for the WTS-F3-Team, owned by Michael Schumacher's personal manager Willi Weber, Wilson was signed by the BSR squad to compete at Magny-Cours for the penultimate round of the German Formula Three Championship that year. He finished 5th and 6th in the double-header event.
Wilson moved to Munich at the beginning of 1996 to race in the German Formula Three Championship. Willi Weber had sold his WTS-F3-Team to aspiring team owner Georgis Tokmakidis, and Wilson was signed to race with Dutchman Tom Coronel as a team-mate. But the team struggled with personnel problems; Coronel ended up never racing for the team and a variety of drivers walked in and out. After winning a pre-season non-championship, the team's subsequent results were disappointing and led to Wilson, one of the championship favorites, leaving the team after two races. He then decided to join the Italian Prema Power F3 Team as a team mate to André Couto from mid-season on, and managed to win one championship round in wet conditions at Diepholz, despite the car having an underpowered Fiat engine. In those days almost every car on the grid was powered by the superior Opel Spiess engine. Wilson finished 10th in the championship.

Formula 3000, Formula 1 and Indycars

In 1997, Edenbridge Racing chose him to drive one of their Formula 3000 cars, alongside Werner Lupberger. He finished 5th in the championship, 19 points behind champion Ricardo Zonta after 10 rounds. He stayed on at Edenbridge for the 1998 season, and also became a test driver for the Williams F1 team. At the end of 1999, Wilson was offered a drive with the ailing Minardi team but a lack of financial backing saw him lose the ride at the last minute to Gastón Mazzacane, a less experienced but more financially solvent driver. He spent 2000 as an F1 test driver for Michelin as the tyre manufacturer prepared to re-enter Formula One competition. Unable to secure a full-time Formula One ride for the 2001 season, Wilson returned to the United States and joined the Arciero-Blair Racing Team to contest the Champ Car World Series.

Touring cars

At the end of 1996, he drove one race in the International Touring Car Championship at Interlagos for Alfa Romeo, as all manufacturers had one local driver to improve interest among local spectators. He led the second race for a while, eventually finishing in 2nd. Failing to raise a full Champ Car budget for 2002, Wilson moved to Australia where he joined the Ford V8 Supercars team Briggs Motor Sport. In his second outing in a V8 Supercar, Wilson qualified fifth at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. Racing for Dick Johnson Racing in 2003, he took his first podium finish in the championship at the final round of the year.
2004 saw Wilson fail to finish five of the rounds, driving for Triple 8 Racing. In 2005, a last-minute arrangement saw Wilson compete in the championship with Team Dynamik after his former Briggs Motor Sport team mate Tony Longhurst became the entrant for one of the team's Holden Commodore VZs. His 2005 campaign included a fifth place in the final race in China and a top ten finish at the Oran Park round.
For 2006, Wilson moved to the WPS Racing team, but immediately prior to the 2008 season the team folded, leaving Wilson without a drive. He returned to his native Brazil but did drive the Australian enduro season with Brad Jones Racing, finishing fifth with Brad Jones at the Bathurst 1000 having led the race in parts. In 2009 he returned to racing in Brazil competing in the Stock Car Brasil, winning the title in 2010.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete International Formula 3000 results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112Pts
1997Edenbridge RacingLola T96/50Zytek-JuddSIL
Ret
PAU
7
HEL
Ret
NÜR
5
PER
3
HOC
2
A1R
8
SPA
2
MUG
4
JER
10†
5th21
1998Edenbridge RacingLola T96/50Zytek-JuddOSC
17†
IMO
Ret
CAT
6
SIL
5
MON
DNPQ
PAU
2
A1R
Ret
HOC
Ret
HUN
Ret
SPA
13
PER
Ret
NÜR
23†
9th9
1999Petrobras Junior TeamLola T99/50ZytekIMO
Ret
MON
3
CAT
DSQ
MAG
Ret
SIL
Ret
A1R
Ret
HOC
2
HUN
Ret
SPANÜR
3
8th14

American open wheel racing results

FedEx Championship Series

YearTeamChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920Pts
2001Arciero-Brooke RacingLola B2K/00Phoenix IC108FMTY
28
LBH
21
NAZ
17
MOT25th12
2001Arciero-Blair RacingLola B2K/00Ford XDMIL
23
DET
23
POR
4
CLE
19
TOR
25
MCHCHIMDO
15
ROA
25
VAN
25
LAU
18
ROC
21
HOU
16
LAG
24
SRFFON25th12

V8 Supercar Championship results

YearTeamCar1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738Pts
2002Briggs Motor SportFord AU FalconADE
R1
Ret
ADE
R2
Ret
PHI
R3
18
PHI
R4
Ret
EAS
R5
21
EAS
R6
27
EAS
R7
19
HDV
R8
18
HDV
R9
22
HDV
R10
14
CAN
R11
Ret
CAN
R12
17
CAN
R13
Ret
BAR
R14
12
BAR
R15
15
BAR
R16
19
ORA
R17
24
ORA
R18
Ret
WIN
R19
18
WIN
R20
29
QLD
R21
Ret
BAT
R22
Ret
SUR
R23
8
SUR
R24
Ret
PUK
R25
11
PUK
R26
16
PUK
R27
9
SAN
R28
14
SAN
R29
23
32nd319
2003Dick Johnson RacingFord BA FalconADE
R1
26
ADE
R1
Ret
PHI
R3
16
EAS
R4
16
WIN
R5
9
BAR
R6
24
BAR
R7
17
BAR
R8
13
HDV
R9
Ret
HDV
R10
20
HDV
R11
16
QLD
R12
24
ORA
R13
Ret
SAN
R14
19
BAT
R15
12
SUR
R16
9
SUR
R17
23
PUK
R18
18
PUK
R19
24
PUK
R20
19
EAS
R21
5
EAS
R22
3
17th1214
2004Triple Eight Race EngineeringFord BA FalconADE
R1

Ret
ADE
R2
Ret
EAS
R3
10
PUK
R4
5
PUK
R5
28
PUK
R6
17
HDV
R7
10
HDV
R8
Ret
HDV
R9
22
BAR
R10
16
BAR
R11
23
BAR
R12
17
QLD
R13
14
WIN
R14
Ret
ORA
R15
Ret
ORA
R16
Ret
SAN
R17
Ret
BAT
R18
Ret
SUR
R19
8
SUR
R20
5
SYM
R21
26
SYM
R22
15
SYM
R23
15
EAS
R24
22
EAS
R25
8
EAS
R26
11
28th865
2005Team DynamikHolden VZ CommodoreADE
R1
Ret
ADE
R2
7
PUK
R3
15
PUK
R4
15
PUK
R5
Ret
BAR
R6
31
BAR
R7
18
BAR
R8
Ret
EAS
R9
26
EAS
R10
16
SHA
R11
Ret
SHA
R12
14
SHA
R13
5
HDV
R14
16
HDV
R15
33
HDV
R16
13
QLD
R17
14
ORA
R18
13
ORA
R19
10
SAN
R20
DNS
BAT
R21
Ret
SUR
R22
26
SUR
R23
25
SUR
R24
14
SYM
R25
16
SYM
R26
14
SYM
R27
15
PHI
R28
20
PHI
R29
21
PHI
R30
12
24th931
2006WPS RacingFord BA FalconADE
R1
16
ADE
R2
8
PUK
R3
6
PUK
R4
Ret
PUK
R5
Ret
BAR
R6
8
BAR
R7
19
BAR
R8
Ret
WIN
R9
17
WIN
R10
6
WIN
R11
13
HDV
R12
11
HDV
R13
Ret
HDV
R14
16
QLD
R15
10
QLD
R16
Ret
QLD
R17
11
ORA
R18
11
ORA
R19
25
ORA
R20
Ret
SAN
R21
11
BAT
R22
14
SUR
R23
28
SUR
R24
13
SUR
R25
13
SYM
R26
15
SYM
R27
15
SYM
R28
14
BHR
R29
16
BHR
R30
12
BHR
R31
24
PHI
R32
20
PHI
R33
16
PHI
R34
16
15th2038
2007WPS RacingFord BF FalconADE
R1
17
ADE
R2
Ret
BAR
R3
23
BAR
R4
18
BAR
R5
13
PUK
R6
16
PUK
R7
12
PUK
R8
14
WIN
R9
9
WIN
R10
Ret
WIN
R11
Ret
EAS
R12
19
EAS
R13
23
EAS
R14
21
HDV
R15
8
HDV
R16
14
HDV
R17
16
QLD
R18
15
QLD
R19
14
QLD
R20
Ret
ORA
R21
16
ORA
R22
11
ORA
R23
9
SAN
R24
Ret
BAT
R25
7
SUR
R26
13
SUR
R27
9
SUR
R28
10
BHR
R29
23
BHR
R30
26
BHR
R31
20
SYM
R32
26
SYM
R33
17
SYM
R34
19
PHI
R35
19
PHI
R36
24
PHI
R37
15
17th110
2008Brad Jones RacingHolden VE CommodoreADE
R1
ADE
R2
EAS
R3
EAS
R4
EAS
R5
HAM
R6
HAM
R7
HAM
R8
BAR
R29
BAR
R10
BAR
R11
SAN
R12
SAN
R13
SAN
R14
HDV
R15
HDV
R16
HDV
R17
QLD
R18
QLD
R19
QLD
R20
WIN
R21
WIN
R22
WIN
R23
PHI
Q
7
PHI
R24
15
BAT
R25
5
SUR
R26
SUR
R27
SUR
R28
BHR
R29
BHR
R30
BHR
R31
SYM
R32
SYM
R33
SYM
R34
ORA
R35
ORA
R36
ORA
R37
33rd343

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results