There is no greater honor for a racing driver than having a corner named after him at a racetrack. Senna has an S complex in his name at Interlagos. Andretti has the hairpin at Laguna Seca. Schumacher has the first turn at Bahrain. And now Justin Wilson has been immortalized with a corner of his own.
Ahead of this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship race, the owner of the Snetterton circuit in the UK announced the renaming of the hairpin (known until now as Montreal) in Wilson’s name.
The announcement was made on Monday by Jonathan Palmer, CEO of MotorSport Vision that runs Snetterton (along with Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park, and the Bedford Autodrome).
It’s a fitting tribute to the late racing driver who started his career racing on local circuits like Snetterton. Wilson won the inaugural Formula Palmer Audi championship in 1998 before graduating to Formula 3000.
He eventually made it all the way up to Formula One, but found his home in American open-wheel racing, winning multiple races in the Champ Car and IndyCar Series as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2012. He tragically died after a crash in the ABC Supply 500 at the Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania last summer.
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