I watched my brother’s fatal accident on TV
British Indy driver Stefan Wilson on losing his sibling
IT WAS raining cats and dogs outside a downtown Mexican restaurant while inside a tall Englishman talked about the brother whose ashes are scattered across Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Meet Stefan Wilson. He is the chap who won’t be taking part in Sunday’s Indy 500 so that Fernando Alonso can.
He had worked hard all year to be wearing his overalls at the time gentlemen are called to start their engines. He had lined up the sponsorship, assembled a team of engineers and mechanics, struck a deal with Honda to supply the engines and secured the involvement of the Andretti Autosport team.
But when double world champion Alonso decided he would skip the Monaco Grand Prix for a one-off shot at the 500, wheels turned. Officially, Wilson was asked to stand aside and graciously agreed. One suspects he had no choice in the matter and that he was sidestepped for ‘the good of the sport’.
Affable, 27 years old and from South Yorkshire, Stefan is the younger brother of Justin, who died the day after he was hit by debris from race leader Sage Karam’s car at Pocono, Pennsylvania in August 2015.
His death is what makes missing out this weekend so grievously painful for his brother. ‘Wanting to do Indy is as much for Justin as it is for me,’ said Stefan, who made his 500 debut last year. ‘It was my dream to race against him in the 500.
‘We both dreamed of winning Indy. I think he would have achieved that ambition in years to come. I now want to do that for him. I live for the Indy 500 and being in it means everything to me.’
Stefan went to America in 2010, having spent a holiday at Justin’s house in Colorado. He decided there and then that fulfilment lay in racing that side of the Pond and he has since competed in the Indy Lights and IndyCar series.
He and Justin, born 11 years apart — ‘I think I was an accident!’ — became the first brothers to race together in IndyCar for 30 years when Stefan made his debut in the 2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore.
Justin had once turned himself into a limited company in a wheeze supported by Murray Walker to raise £1million to pursue his career in Formula One. He beat the target. He was fast but luck did not favour him, with neither his Minardi nor Jaguar giving him much chance of success. His F1 career ended after 16 races. Hence his move to America, where his best finish at the Indy 500 was fifth.
‘Justin’s death feels as if it was just yesterday,’ said Stefan. ‘It’s never going to be any different. I miss him. There are times, whether it is racing related or just life, I really just want to talk it through with him, and he’s not there.
‘I saw the accident on TV. I knew immediately it wasn’t good. I just prayed it wasn’t the outcome it turned out to be. I thought it was probably the end of his career, but that he would recover. Maybe I was just protecting myself against it.’ Stefan is hoping giving way to Alonso will help him land a 500 seat next year. Michael Andretti, head of Andretti Autosport, has promised him one on Twitter. Stefan made sure he retweeted the pledge so nobody forgets. As a winner of the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for promising talent, he hopes McLaren — who are pondering a more active participation in IndyCar — will also remember him. No promises have yet been made.
As for Sunday’s race, Wilson will be among the 300,000-plus crowd at the Speedway. ‘It will be painful to be there,’ he said. ‘But if I was home on the couch it would be just as miserable.’