Tributes to M-sport on 40th anniversary

Four-time world champion Tommi Makinen led tributes to Malcolm Wilson, who celebrated 40 years in business at last week’s Rally Finland.

The Cumbrian started his Malcolm Wilson Motorsport business out of a small unit in Branthwaite before moving to Carlisle, then to his own family home just outside Cockermouth before arriving at the current multi-million-pound facility in Dovenby Hall.

Wilson won the 1994

British Rally Championship and challenged at world level before switching his attentions to team management to run Ford’s WRC effort from

1997 onwards.

Since then, he has secured five world titles.

Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Tommi Makinen led tributes to Wilson, saying: “It’s a pretty fantastic achievement for Malcolm.

“He has done really well. Of course I remember competing with him in early days and now he is the real businessman – but as well as this, he is a gentleman through all of the time.”

Hyundai Motorsport director Andrea Adamo said Wilson was an inspiration for him, adding: “Malcolm Wilson has always been a name for me. He was running the Escort and then I remember when he gets the

Ford deal; when I became the head of Hyundai Customer Racing, my target was M-sport. It’s true. He was my reference, still is.”

Wilson said he was flattered by the attention and admitted some of those 40 years had felt longer than others.

“There have been some absolutely fantastic times,” he said. “Starting out with my time driving and then taking over the Ford contract right through with Bentley and now the work we’re doing towards hybrid for WRC in 2022 and, of course, the incredible test track and evaluation centre we’ll have all finished in just over a year. That’s the future of the company.”