Overview

From a five-year-old girl racing 60mph micro-midgets in South Africa, to a Formula One driver in the British Championship during her first full year of racing in the UK, and on to becoming the first and only woman ever to win a Formula One race, Desire Wilson was a winner bested by very few of her male rivals. But single-seater racing was just the start of Desire's ascent in motorsport. She won two FIA World Championship Sports Car Endurance races in 1980, and went on to compete in well over 120 types of race car at more than 100 race tracks around the world. Always competitive, she earned a reputation for an intense, no-nonsense approach to racing, shrugging off the media glamour to focus on the hard grind of staying competitive in one of the world's toughest sporting arenas. Moving to the male-dominated world of North American racing, Desire became a pioneer for women racing in the harsh world of Indy Cars, facing discrimination, financial problems, and other obstacles ranging from tragedy to farce. Her career is unique in the world of racing, encompassing everything from club racing to Formula One and World Championship sports cars, to the evil monsters of the IndyCar World Series - the world's fastest race cars. Hers is a story of hardships, fun, tragedy, perseverance, injury, and the amazing behind-the-scenes world masked by the public face and glamour of racing. It tells, too, of the consequences of politics and discrimination in the male world of professional auto racing.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alan Wilson
Publisher:   Veloce Publishing Ltd
Imprint:   Veloce Publishing Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 20.70cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 25.00cm
Weight:   0.748kg
ISBN:  

9781845843892

ISBN 10:   1845843894
Pages:   160
Publication Date:   16 September 2011
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Foreword by the Earl of March and Kinrara Fast-foreword by Derek Bell MBE Thanks Acknowledgements Prologue 1 Put this car on its wheels and push 2 South African champion 3 Media matters 4 It's a girl! 5 Jeremy's sorry ... he won't do it again 6 The closest race 7 Get the f**k out of South Africa 8 The charm school 9 From zero to hero 10 The lioness of Africa 11 A little bit of history 12 You drive this car ... it's going to kill me 13 British Racing Green and French racing blues 14 From Hero to Zero 15 Just a hundred thousand pounds 16 Tragedy and trauma at the brickyard 17 CART racing 18 F*****g fast hausfrau 19 The big sports cars 20 Tickled pink at Le Mans 21 Slow down and let Parnelli catch you! 22 A new tank of gas 23 Sponsorship, politics, money, and sex 24 Women drivers 25 Living in the real world Index

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Author Information

Alan Wilson has been in the business of motorsport since 1969. He has raced cars and motorcycles, and developed and managed major international race facilities, race series and events. After marrying Desire in 1975, he and his racing wife moved from South Africa to Holland, and then the UK, where he became a director of the Brands Hatch companies before moving to the USA in 1983. Wilson Motorsport Inc., the track design company Alan and Desire established together, has developed many different race facilities, including the award winning Miller Motorsports Park. Alan has been Des' partner in her racing and her life for over 35 years.

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