William Michael Wilds (born 7 January 1946) is a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

from England. He participated in eight

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 20 July 1974. He scored no championship points.

Career

After winning a few races in

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

in the early 1970s, Wilds moved on to

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...

. At the same time, he took part in a few Formula One Grands Prix, firstly with a non-works

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

, then with

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

and BRM. After he failed to qualify at his home Grand Prix in 1976, with a privately run

Shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

, he concentrated on other forms of motor sport, including

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

and historic racing. In an interview with Wilds, published on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, he described one of the highlights of his short-lived Formula One career, at the

1974 United States Grand Prix The 1974 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 6, 1974, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 15 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 Inte ...

after qualifying, Tyrrell founder

Ken Tyrrell Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automo ...

walked up to him, telling Wilds that

Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (; born 29 January 1950) is a South African former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Scheckter won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and remains the only Afric ...

wanted to speak to him. Wilds had gone out in qualifying just ahead of Jody, assuming he was going too slow for the Tyrrell. Upon approaching Scheckter, Wilds thought he would be told he was slow. When the South African driver approached him, Wilds raised his voice to him, thinking he would be complained at. After this, Scheckter complemented Wilds' control and handling of the old

N174.

Wilds won the Formula Two class in the 1978 Aurora AFX championship, driving a

Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under ...

and finished ninth in the overall standings. He also won the Thoroughbred Sports Cars championship in 1984 driving an

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

DB4 The Aston Martin DB4 is a grand tourer that was produced by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. The "DB" designation came from Sir David Brown (entrepreneur), David Brown, who built up the company from 1947 onwards. Technically the DB4 was not a ...

. Wilds won the RJB Mining Historic Sports Car Championship in 1992, '93, '96 and 98. Wilds' sports car racing career included driving at Le Mans 8 times, including C2 cars for

Ecurie Ecosse Ecurie may refer to: * Écurie, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in France * Several car racing teams (compare '' scuderias'') : ** Ecurie Belge ** Ecurie Bleue ** Ecurie Bonnier ** Ecurie Ecosse, a former motor racing team from ...

(World Champion C2, 1986), and Group C for

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

in 1988 with team-mate Win Percy. Wilds won the 2008

Britcar Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1997, as a result of a discussion in a Nürburgring bar between Willie Moore and James Tucker. Folklore has it that James Tucker and J ...

Drivers Championship together with Ian Lawson and Mike's son Anthony Wilds in the ING Sport BMW; the team also went on to win again in 2013 and also won the 2008

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

Enduro Trophy in the

Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 is a sports prototype racing car designed and built by Porsche. Created to replace the Porsche 956, 962 was introduced at the end of 1984 and replaced the 956 in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA's IMSA GT Champio ...

with Henry Pearman. He still occasionally drives in events for historic cars. He raced a

and an Elva Mk5 in the 2008

Silverstone Classic Silverstone Festival (previously known as Silverstone Classic) is an annual three-day Festival featuring historic motorsport, live music and family-friendly entertainment at the Silverstone Circuit, home of the British Grand Prix. The event attra ...

. He returned to the

Endurance grid in May 2016 posting his first win as a shared drive with son Anthony in a

Ferrari 458 The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is an Italian mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The 458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turi ...

. At the age of 72 Wilds is set to make his debut in the

Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain The Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain is a multi-event one-make motor racing series that takes place in the United Kingdom for the Porsche 911 GT3. Being the fastest and most successful single marque GT championship in the UK, the Carrera Cup ...

series with the

Redline Racing Redline Racing is a British racing team that is currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain and are defending team and drivers champions. They have previously competed in the Porsche Supercup between 2007 and 2008. Early h ...

team at Brands Hatch. In addition to his car racing career, Wilds is an active commercial helicopter pilot and instructor. He is affectionately known as 'The Honorific' Mike Wilds.

Racing record

Complete European F5000 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete Shellsport International Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete British Formula One Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. ‡ Endurance driver.

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Sports-Prototype Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ;Footnotes:

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

24 Hours of Silverstone results

Complete British GT Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Britcar results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class – 1 point awarded just in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap in class – 1 point awarded all races)

References

External links

Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilds, Mike English racing drivers English Formula One drivers Ensign Formula One drivers People from Chiswick Sportspeople from the London Borough of Hounslow BRM Formula One drivers 1946 births Living people 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers British GT Championship drivers Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers British Formula One Championship drivers Britcar drivers Britcar 24-hour drivers Nismo drivers Ecurie Ecosse drivers 20th-century English sportsmen