LONDON -- Every Formula One driver has a fan club. Justin Wilson can do better than that.

He has a board of directors, a prospectus and hundreds of stockholders who could double their investment in three or four years if the 24-year-old Englishman becomes a winner.

	Justin Wilson is struggling during his rookie season with Minardi.

Racing drivers have always been expected to bring money -- their own or from sponsors -- with them.

But Wilson is the first in F1 to do it by selling shares in himself -- Justin Wilson plc. About 700 investors have bought shares at $800 apiece, with two investors chipping in $160,000 each to fund his debut in F1.

"It seems to be only motorsport where you've got to actually pay to get there,'' Wilson said in an interview. "It's quite frustrating. If you're a good footballer, you can play football and make it coming up through the ranks without paying anything at all.

"If you want to be a racing driver, you've got to support yourself all the way through your career until you are in the top half of the F1. It's very expensive and somebody's got to pay for it, basically.''

The stock sale has netted about $1.6 million and is expected to reach $2 million when the offer closes in late May.

It was also a blessing for Wilson's father, Keith, who was an amateur racer himself. He was prepared to sell his gas station in the northeastern English city of Sheffield to help fund his son.

"My dad was relieved,'' Wilson said. "He would have sold the family garage. I'm not sure how much money it would have raised. Nothing like the stock sale.''

The tallest driver in F1 at 6-foot-3, Wilson has done little on the track this season, failing to score a point in the first four races. Part of it is due to his inexperience and partly because Minardi's car is 2-3 seconds slower per lap than the leaders.

The struggling start probably won't deter Wilson's stockholders.

"A lot of shareholders just love it,'' said Jonathan Palmer, a former F1 driver who manages Wilson and set up the stock company. "When they are watching the TV they are sure to be saying, 'Come on Justin.' This is as close as any of them will ever get to an F1 car."

Wilson has won the Formula 3000 championship -- the level just below F1.

What he doesn't have is many opportunities. With only 10 F1 teams and 20 drivers, access to the world's most expensive sport is limited.

Aspiring drivers will try almost anything to break in, hoping to get a chance to drive for top teams such as Ferrari, Williams and McLaren, where drivers earn millions.

Annual budgets are staggering for F1's top teams. Ferrari spends about $500 million annually, allowing it to pay star driver Michael Schumacher a reported $35 million. Jacques Villeneuve is reported to earn about $18 million with BAR-Honda.

At the bottom end, Wilson's Minardi team operates on only $38 million annually and needs all the money it can get to survive.

Brazilian driver Pedro Diniz drove 99 races in the late 1990s with Ligier, Arrows and Sauber, mostly on the strength of money from food and milk producer Parmalat. The deal guaranteed Parmalat good relations with Brazil's largest supermarket chain -- Pao de Acucar -- owned by Diniz's father, Abilio.

Renault team manager Flavio Briatore has funded drivers such as Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso with the promise of getting a chunk of their salaries in later years.

"He (Wilson) has got the potential to be as successful potentially as Michael Schumacher -- certainly the level of someone like (McLaren's) David Coulthard,'' Palmer said.

Palmer got a similar start in 1984 when he joined the RAM-Hart team by bringing in $400,000, $120,000 of which he borrowed from a friend.

"If I made it, I told him I would double his money,'' said Palmer, who was paid $150,000 in his final season -- 1989 -- with Tyrrell Ford. "So I did make it well enough to double his money."

Palmer has invested $160,000 in Wilson, helped write his 30-page stock prospectus and launched his Web site.

Wilson will be paid a minimal salary this year by his stock company -- Minardi pays nothing. But next season, the team will have to pay $750,000 to keep him and $1.5 million in 2005. Any income goes into the company to be paid back to investors.

"Of course the idea is to move him up with one of the top five or so teams, who will pay him the huge salaries F1 is famous for,'' Palmer said.

Under the terms of the stock issue, investors will also be paid 10 percent of Wilson's salary through 2012. Investors are protected to the value of the share issue if Wilson is killed while racing, but there is no protection if injury ends his career, Palmer said.

"I don't really see it as betting, although in a way it is," Wilson said. "A lot of people want to be involved and they believe I can do it and want to show that support."