1980 was to be her big year, although it started sponsor-less, racing formula pacific in new zealand. teddy yip and his theodore racing team came to her rescue, giving her a wolf wr4 for the aurora series. yip's faith was repaid by round two, when wilson won the evening news trophy at brands hatch, beating norman dickson and eliseo salazar. in doing so, she became the first woman, and so far the only woman to win an f1 race. she recorded two more podium finishes, a fine 2nd place at thruxton and a 3rd at mallory park, before her team ran out of money.