Matthew Wilson

Matthew James Wilson (born 29 January 1987) is a British rally driver from Cockermouth in Cumbria. He is the son of M-Sport boss and former World Rally Championship driver Malcolm Wilson. Wilson competed in the WRC for the Stobart M-Sport Ford team. He achieved his best result at the 2007 Rally Japan, finishing in fourth place.

Career

Early Wilson driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 02 in the Finnish Rally Championship in 2005.Wilson was initially a brief competitor in single seaters, winning 17 out of 22 races to become T Cars Champion in 2002, before graduating to the Formula Renault UK Championship in 2003, finishing 18th overall for Manor Motorsport. Wilson competed in his first rally, the 2003 Malcolm Wilson Rally, as co-driver to his father, and together they won the event. His first WRC event was the Wales Rally GB in 2004, in which he finished in 13th place overall. Wilson was one of only six driver and co-drivers selected for the Motor Sports Association British Rally Elite training scheme designed for young British drivers in 2005, and became the youngest ever winner of a British Rally Championship round in the same year when he won the Trackrod Rally aged 18 years, eight months and five days.

However, in April 2005, on the Rally of Wales which is part of the British Rally Championships, Wilson slid off the road on a sixth-gear corner whilst leading the event. He broke his right wrist and left forearm, as well as damaging his right knee. His co-driver, Scott Martin, also broke his left leg in the accident.

When Wilson returned to rallying four months later, he finished second overall on the Gleanor Speyside Stages Rally. Despite months out of action due to the injury, he still finished seventh overall in the 2005 British Rally Championship driving for Eddie Stobart Motorsport, scoring 38 points. Other events in 2005 included winning the Malcolm Wilson Rally, the McRae Stages Rally (a round of the Scottish Rally Championship) and the inaugural Rally Ireland, where he competed with current co-driver Michael Orr for the first time. Wilson also competed in the Finnish Rally Championship, recording his best result at the Vaakuna Rally where he drove his Ford Focus RS WRC 01 to 13th place overall.

Stobart Ford (2006–2011)

2006 was Wilson's first full season in the WRC, as a driver for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team. He competed in all 16 rallies, and became the youngest ever world rally driver to win a stage (the Cordoba Stadium superspecial stage on Rally Argentina), and score championship points – when he finished eighth overall on that event. This record was later broken by Andreas Mikkelsen. He finished 28th in the season's standings with one point, but was classified as a finisher in every event, an achievement no other driver managed in 2006.

Wilson driving on a road section during the 2007 Rally Japan. It is well known in rallying that Malcolm Wilson had a five-year plan for Matthew, starting in 2006 and running right through until 2010. 2006 was intended as a 'learning' year, and Matthew was told to finish every rally, taking points as a bonus. In 2007, Jari-Matti Latvala and Henning Solberg were nominated for Stobart's manufacturer points, taking some pressure off Wilson and co-driver Orr. Wilson finished eleventh in the drivers' world championship with eleven points. His best result was fourth at the 2007 Rally Japan.

The 2008 season began with an outing Wilson referred to as "moderate" – he finished tenth in Monte Carlo, scoring no points in drivers' nor manufacturers championship. It was his best result here so far; furthermore he had to adjust to new car, tyres and new-old co-driver, Scott Martin. In Sweden, Wilson was aiming for a top-ten finish but even though his pace was good enough to achieve that, mechanical problems with the throttle forced him to retire from fifth place less than 30 km before the finish. Wilson scored his first points of the season in México with a sixth-place finish.

In September 2008, Wilson took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth, Scotland. He was one of a number of WRC celebrity drivers to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007. He went on to win the event comfortably in a 2005-spec Focus RS WRC.

Go Fast Energy World Rally Team (2012) Wilson competed for privateer team Go Fast Energy World Rally Team driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC along with team-mate Henning Solberg for the 2012 season.

Wilson finished 11th in the season opener at Monte Carlo, 18 minutes off the winning time. Following this, he suffered a broken ankle during training; this forced him to miss the following rounds in Sweden, Mexico and Portugal, but he spoke of returning for either Argentina or Greece. However, as of the Rally of Finland, neither Wilson nor the team have appeared.

Wales Rally GB Return (2012) Wilson gained funding from several Cumbrian firms which enabled him to enter the 2012 Wales Rally GB. Sporting a new purple and white livery in his familiar M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Wilson consistently ran in 9th place throughout the rally but found himself promoted to 8th place following an incident for Ott Tanak ahead. Wilson finished 6 minutes off the pace of winner Jari-Matti Latvala (also in a Fiesta RS WRC). The result enabled Wilson to bank his first championship points (4) of 2012.

Following the event, Wilson hoped to gather enough funding for another entry for the season finale in Spain.

Career results

WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 2004 M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 02 MON SWE MEX NZL CYP GRE TUR ARG FIN GER JPN GBR13 ITA FRA ESP AUS NC 0 2005 Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR15 JPN FRA ESP AUS NC 0 2006 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 04 MON15 SWE14 MEX16 ESP15 FRA16 ARG8 ITA34 GRE10 GER12 FIN10 CYP10 TUR12 28th 1 Ford Focus RS WRC 06 JPN40 AUS27 NZL13 GBR12 2007 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON12 SWERet NOR26 MEX8 POR12 ARG30 ITA12 GRE10 FIN10 GER9 NZL10 ESP11 FRARet JPN4 IRE7 GBR6 11th 11 2008 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 07 MON10 SWERet MEX6 ARGRet JOR5 ITA12 GRE6 TUR7 FIN9 GER12 NZL17 ESP9 FRA8 JPN7 GBR9 10th 15 2009 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 08 IRE7 NOR7 CYP5 PORRet ARG5 ITA6 GRE13 POL5 FIN8 AUS6 ESP7 GBR6 7th 28 2010 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 08 SWE7 MEX16 JOR5 TUR7 NZL6 POR6 BUL9 FIN6 GER6 JPN22 FRA8 ESP6 GBR7 7th 74 2011 Stobart M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC SWE9 MEXRet POR5 JOR5 ITA9 ARG8 GRE6 FIN8 GER11 AUS4 FRA10 ESPRet GBR5 7th 63 2012 Go Fast Energy Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON11 SWE MEX POR ARG GRE NZL FIN GER 25th 4 M-Sport Ford GBR8 FRA ITA ESP 2013 Qatar Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE27 MEX POR ARG GRE ITA FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR NC 0 2014 Yazeed Racing Ford Fiesta RRC MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR14 NC 0 2017 C-Rally Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR39 AUS NC 0

WRC-2 results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WRC 2 Points 2014 Yazeed Racing Ford Fiesta RRC MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR3 24th 15 2017 C-Rally Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR17 AUS NC 0