Ross Wylie grew up idolising Scottish motor sporting royalty in the likes of David Coulthard and Allan McNish; now he is following in their footsteps.
Ross was born in Thornhill in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland on 15 September 1991. In 2023, the Scotsman is competing in the coveted Porsche Carrera Cup, which supports the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), as well as the GT Cup series.
At the time of writing, Ross sits second in the Pro-Am Class of the Porsche Carrera Cup behind Redline Racing teammate Max Bird. He had also been leading the way in the GT Cup standings before having to miss a race weekend due to a clash with the Porsche Carrera Cup series.
Finding His Love for Racing
Growing up in Scotland, as Ross says, you are likely to have one of three sporting loves – motor racing, football, or golf. Early on, he knew that football or golf was never going to be his calling as he was “never any good”, but he always felt at home behind the wheel.
Aged three, his obsession began after his father bought him a small quad bike and, as Ross says, “that was it from there”. It wouldn’t be too long before Ross was competing in karting championships up and down the country, including the Mini Max Kart Championship in 2004 that has produced a who’s who of British drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Jason Plate, and Ross’ idols David Coulthard and Allan McNish, among many others.
“I fell in love with anything with an engine and wheels,” he told Fen Regis Trophies. “I wanted to drive fast and be a bit of a maniac, to be honest!”
He continued: “I started as a club member at the West of Scotland Car Club and the first championship was the Mini Max category and that’s where I cut my teeth in the sport.
“There is a natural ladder, and from there I jumped into the G Max category, and I went on from there to win the British Karting Championship.
“I then stepped up into Senior Max, which is obviously the senior category, and went on to win the British Open Kart Championship.”
That championship win came in 2010, six years after beginning his karting journey, and in the same year he also won the Rotax Winter Cup, following up with the Rotax Max Gold Cup in 2011.
The Move into Cars
2012 was a big year for Ross as he made the step up from kart racing to car racing, making his debut in the Celtic Speed Mini Cooper Cup – in which he secured two wins and six podium finishes. His performances saw him crowned Knockhill Young Saloon Car Driver of the Year, while he also picked up the Scottish Motor Racing Club (SMRC) Ecurie Ecosse Hubcap Trophy, given to the young Scottish driver of the year, adding his name to the list of previous winners that include McNish and Coulthard.
“I reached a very high level in karting, going up to world championship level and I had some great memories, but that became very, very stressful and it was all very serious,” said Ross.
“I lost a bit of love and enjoyment,” he added. “My father and I had a long chat about it and then decided that we wanted to strip it back to basics and back to being father and son going racing.”
Ross has continued to enjoy success and lift trophies behind the wheel of a car. In 2014, he won the British GT4 Championship alongside Jake Giddings driving for Beechdean Motorsport and, in the same year, he was selected as the McLaren GT Young Driver of the Year, joining the McLaren Driver Academy.
Further championships followed in 2017, winning the Britcar endurance series, in 2018 winning the Britcar Spring S1 championship, and in 2020 in Britcar Endurance C2. He also won the GTO class in the 2021 GT Cup Championship alongside Paul Bailey.
Endurance Racing and Le Mans Ambition
Though Ross is focusing much of his 2023 season on sprint race series, he has great affection for endurance racing and dreams of racing in the most famous race of them all – 24 Hours of Le Mans – having already driven around Circuit de la Sarthe.
“I’m generally not quite an aggressive driver,” Ross said about his driving style. “Endurance racing is more about durability, which can be anything from a one-hour to 24-hour race that involved more than one driver.
“When you’re going through a pitstop, you’re not only changing tyres you are also changing drivers and I quite enjoy that.
“There are so many more elements to it that you have got to focus on, with so many more components that can also go wrong.
“It’s not necessarily that you’re firing it down someone’s inside and putting your neck on the line, you know that you have to finish first of all. That’s the difference in mentality.”
On his dream of racing at 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ross said: “It is 100% my dream. I look at what Allan McNish achieved, winning the race three times.
“I raced around Le Mans for a support race a few years ago back in 2017 and I’ll never forget my first time…nothing compares, to be honest; it was quite spectacular.
“Le Mans, for me, is definitely the pinnacle. It’s the ultimate test of man and machine.”
“I would love to be competing at Le Mans in the next five years,” Ross added. “I’m not going to stick my neck on the line, but I want to within the next five years and I think that’s realistic.”
Having followed in his idols’ footsteps more than once already, all signs point in the same direction of Ross one day realising his dream of one day competing at 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the meantime, he is focusing on the Porsche Carrera Cup and GT Cup series, looking well-placed to add even more trophies to his already impressive cabinet.
For anyone interested in getting involved in motorsport at any level, Motorsport UK provides a great range of information to get started.
By Aaron Gratton
