WILSON PLEDGES TO GET M-SPORT BACK ON TRACK
Boss says he will regroup to push firm forward
Malcolm Wilson will spend this season rebuilding M-sport financially so the Cumbrian team can bounce back with another assault on both World Rally Championship titles next year.
Wilson admitted the last two WRC campaigns had taken their toll on the company and that, allied to dwindling R5 sales and the almost complete loss of World Rally Car sales, meant he would be focusing on the commercial side of his operation in 2019 while Rich Millener steps up as team principal.
Wilson told MN: “Rich has been with us 10 years now and he’s got a good grip on all aspects of the WRC and the customer world. I need to get my business back on track to shore up the foundations for the future.
“It would not be fair to say running Sebastien Ogier [in the WRC in 2017 and 2018] has derailed M-sport’s financial plans, but he hasn’t helped. Actually, the biggest aspect is that we haven’t sold any World Rally Cars. Historically we’ve sold between eight and 14 cars a year. In the last two years, we’ve sold two and that, combined with the downturn in R5 sales – now everybody knows we’ve got a new car coming in the middle of the year – has hit us hard.
“The target is for 2020. We’re hoping Elfyn [Evans] and Teemu [Suninen] are right there, but if not then I want to have the funding to go for an Ott [Tanak] or a driver like that.”
Wilson was quick to point out that there would be no dip in development through this year. “One of the ground rules established with Rich and I is that there won’t be any reduction in what we do with the car,” said Wilson. “It’s cast in stone that we keep the car competitive and that resource is there. Rich is so hungry for this, he’s coming to me with ideas all of the time. He has autonomy over the team and the decisions, but of course I’ll be there in the background.
“We’re all about giving youngsters a chance in this team, be that drivers mechanics or people like Rich. He’s come up through the ranks at M-sport.”
Spa in focus
Wilson will be present at this week’s season-opener in Monte Carlo, but will miss selected rounds of the series when he’s working with the Bentley GT racing side of the Cockermouth-based squad.
“We’ve got a big year with Bentley coming up,” said Wilson. “We brought out a new car last year and that’s gone really well, but I want us to win Spa [Total 24 Hours of Spa] this year, that’s a personal ambition of mine and that’s why we’re committing four cars from M-sport Bentley to that race. We’ve come really close in the past, but this year I want to put that one to bed.
“I love the challenge of Spa – it reminds me so much of rallying in the olden days, everybody just pitches in and it’s a real test of endurance. Matthew [Wilson, Malcolm’s son and Bentley team principal] has done a fantastic job and continues to do so – and me spending more time with Bentley is absolutely no slight on him – this is just about me spreading myself across the company better this year.
“We also have the evaluation centre which we start work on in March or April and I need to spend more time out at M-sport Poland, where they’re already so busy with the R2 cars.”
R5 update
M-sport’s latest Fiesta R5 is expected in the middle of the season, with Wilson admitting the car’s already delayed – he had hoped to have it ready for the start of the season.
“That’s why we didn’t have a bigger presence at Autosport International this year,” he said. “We had hoped to have the new R5 car there and the plan was to make a big show and a launch in Birmingham, but things are taking longer with this car.
“The FIA’S homologation procedure takes longer and, being honest, we’re committing more technical resource than ever to this new car. I want this car to follow our own trend of cars coming out of the box ready to win. We wanted to look at the competition first, we wanted to see what the Volkswagen was looking like, we’re putting a huge emphasis on this car within the company. Last year, the technical department came to me and it was clear we could hit the deadline to get the car ready [for the start of the season], but there would be a risk involved. I didn’t want that. We’ve learned so, so much from the World Rally Car and that’s where we can make a difference with our car.”