Max Wilson

Max Wilson Ferreira de Lima (born 22 August 1972 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage. He won the Stock Car Brasil title in 2010, claimed seven podiums at the International Formula 3000 Championship, and also competed in CART and V8 Supercars.

Wilson has been a color analyst on Formula One and Stock Car Brasil broadcasts at Band Sports. Previously he worked at Sportv from 2014 to 2018.

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 second 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.

Sportscars Wilson was offered a drive with Porsche to contest the 1997 FIA GT1 championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours but turned down the offer to prioritise Formula 3000 and, ultimately, Formula 1.

Formula 3000, Formula 1 and Indycars In 1997, Edenbridge Racing chose Wilson to drive one of their Formula 3000 cars, alongside Werner Lupberger. He finished fifth in the championship, 19 points behind champion Ricardo Zonta after ten 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 for the 2000 season 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 in 2001. 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 CART FedEx Championship Series. The lone bright spots were a fourth place finish in Portland and leading laps in Cleveland.

Touring cars At the end of 1996, Wilson 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 Eight Race Engineering. 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 Season Series Position Car Team 1995 Formula Three Sudamericana 2nd Dallara 394 Mugen HondaDallara 394 Opel Amir Nasr RacingProp Car German Formula Three Championship 19th Dallara 395 Opel Opel Team BSR 1996 German Formula Three Championship 10th Dallara 395 Fiat Tokmakidis MotorsportPrema Powerteam International Touring Car Championship 19th Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI JAS Engineering 1997 International Formula 3000 Championship 5th Lola T96/50 - Zytek Edenbridge Racing 1998 International Formula 3000 Championship 9th Lola T96/50 - Zytek Edenbridge Racing 1999 International Formula 3000 Championship 8th Lola B99/50 - Zytek Super Nova Racing 2001 CART Championship Series 25th Lola B2K/00 - Ford Cosworth Arciero-Blair Racing 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 32nd Ford AU Falcon Briggs Motor Sport 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series 17th Ford BA Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series 28th Ford BA Falcon Triple Eight Race Engineering 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series 24th Holden VZ Commodore Team Dynamik 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series 15th Ford BA Falcon WPS Racing 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series 17th Ford BF Falcon WPS Racing 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series 33rd Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing 2009 Stock Car Brasil 9th Chevrolet Vectra Eurofarma RC 2010 Stock Car Brasil 1st Chevrolet Vectra Eurofarma RC 2011 Stock Car Brasil 4th Chevrolet Vectra Eurofarma RC 2012 Stock Car Brasil 6th Chevrolet Sonic Eurofarma RC 2013 Stock Car Brasil 5th Chevrolet Sonic Eurofarma RC 2014 Stock Car Brasil 10th Chevrolet Sonic Eurofarma RC 2015 Stock Car Brasil 8th Chevrolet Sonic Eurofarma RC 2016 Stock Car Brasil 12th Chevrolet SonicChevrolet Cruze Eurofarma RC

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

American open wheel racing results

FedEx Championship Series (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

V8 Supercar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Pts 2002 Briggs Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon ADER1 ADER2 PHIR3 PHIR4 EASR5 EASR6 EASR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 CANR11 CANR12 CANR13 BARR14 BARR15 BARR16 ORAR17 ORAR18 WINR19 WINR20 QLDR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SANR28 SANR29 32nd 319 2003 Dick Johnson Racing Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER1 PHIR3 EASR4 WINR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 HDVR11 QLDR12 ORAR13 SANR14 BATR15 SURR16 SURR17 PUKR18 PUKR19 PUKR20 EASR21 EASR22 17th 1214 2004 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER2 EASR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 PUKR6 HDVR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 BARR10 BARR11 BARR12 QLDR13 WINR14 ORAR15 ORAR16 SANR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SYMR23 EASR24 EASR25 EASR26 28th 865 2005 Team Dynamik Holden VZ Commodore ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 EASR9 EASR10 SHAR11 SHAR12 SHAR13 HDVR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 SURR24 SYMR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 PHIR28 PHIR29 PHIR30 24th 931 2006 WPS Racing Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 WINR9 WINR10 WINR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 HDVR14 QLDR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 SANR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 SURR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 SYMR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 PHIR32 PHIR33 PHIR34 15th 2038 2007 WPS Racing Ford BF Falcon ADER1 ADER2 BARR3 BARR4 BARR5 PUKR6 PUKR7 PUKR8 WINR9 WINR10 WINR11 EASR12 EASR13 EASR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 HDVR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 ORAR21 ORAR22 ORAR23 SANR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 SURR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 SYMR32 SYMR33 SYMR34 PHIR35 PHIR36 PHIR37 17th 110 2008 Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore ADER1 ADER2 EASR3 EASR4 EASR5 HAMR6 HAMR7 HAMR8 BARR29 BARR10 BARR11 SANR12 SANR13 SANR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 HDVR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 WINR21 WINR22 WINR23 PHIQ PHIR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 SURR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 SYMR32 SYMR33 SYMR34 ORAR35 ORAR36 ORAR37 33rd 343

Complete Stock Car Brasil results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pts 2009 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Vectra INT CTB BSB SCZ SAO SAL RIO CGD CTB BSB TAR INT 9th 234 2010 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Vectra INT CTB VEL RIO RBP SAL INT CGD LON SCS BSB CTB 1st 265 2011 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Vectra CTB INT RBP VEL CGD RIO INT SAL SCZ LON BSB VEL 4th 248 2012 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Sonic INT CTB VEL RBP LON RIO SAL CGD TAR CTB BSB INT 6th 138 2013 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Sonic INT CUR TAR SAL BRA CAS RBP CAS VEL CUR BRA INT 5th 163 2014 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Sonic INT1 SCZ1 SCZ2 BRA1 BRA2 GOI1 GOI2 GOI1 CAS1 CAS2 CUR1 CUR2 VEL1 VEL2 SAL1 SAL2 TAR1 TAR2 RBP1 RBP2 CUR1 10th 146 2015 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Sonic GOI1 RBP1 RBP2 VEL1 VEL2 CUR1 CUR2 SCZ1 SCZ2 CUR1 CUR2 GOI1 CAS1 CAS2 MOU1 MOU2 CUR1 CUR2 TAR1 TAR2 INT1 8th 162 2016 Eurofarma RC Chevrolet Cruze CUR1 VEL1 VEL2 GOI1 GOI2 SCZ1 SCZ2 TAR1 TAR2 CAS1 CAS2 INT1 LON1 LON2 CUR1 CUR2 GOI1 GOI2 CRI1 CRI2 INT1 12th 267

Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps 2002 Briggs Motor Sport Ford AU Falcon Dean Canto DNF 108 2003 Dick Johnson Racing Ford BA Falcon David Brabham 12th 158 2004 Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon Paul Radisich DNF 116 2005 Team Dynamik Holden VZ Commodore Tony Longhurst DNF 32 2006 WPS Racing Ford BA Falcon David Besnard 14th 160 2007 WPS Racing Ford BF Falcon Jason Bargwanna 7th 161 2008 Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones 5th 161