Justin Wilson holds an unusual claim to fame: at 6 foot 4 inches, he is the tallest person to ever have raced in Formula 1 competition! Born and raised in Sheffield, England, both he and his brother Stefan have made their names in racing.
“Justin Wilson 2008 Indy 500 Pole Day” by Manningmbd – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
And Justin has dyslexia.
He remembers years of struggling in school, being regularly taunted by his peers.
“One day in class the teacher asked us all what we wanted to be when we grew up and when it came to me, I said I wanted to race, and one of the kids in the back of the class shot back: ‘You’re too stupid to be a racing driver’,” he recalled. “You kind of just dig your heels in and prove them wrong. I could get in a go-kart and drive and nobody told me I was doing it wrong. It adds a little bit of focus too.”
He spent a couple season in Formula 1 before switching to IndyCar racing, where he spent the next 11 seasons winning races. He is signed with Dale Coyne Racing at the age of 36, and regularly competes professionally.
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Sarah Forrest is a Program Manager for the Easyread System, an online course for children with reading difficulties, dyslexia, auditory processing issues and more. Get a free 10-lesson trial at www.oxfordlearningsolutions.com
