Motorsport: Power behind throne keeps an eye on elite

Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor in their Stobart Ford Focus. Photo / Getty Images

Spectators at the New Zealand rally see mostly Ford and Citroen cars scorching through the back roads of the country.

But there is a power behind the throne, influencing 10 of the 16 cars of the elite WRC drivers - M-Sport.

Malcolm Wilson is managing director of M-Sport and, back in the day, his rallying pedigree was almost as good as the world-class drivers he oversees.

However, M-Sport, the mechanical and engineering gurus who have operated Ford's world rally programme since 1997, has grown far bigger than Wilson's driving career did.

Wilson keeps an eye on leading WRC contenders Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Sebastien Ogier and Federico Villagra (to name a few) as well as his son Matthew.

He has more than 20 years' experience at world rally level, most of it with Ford. He won two UK national titles as a driver and spent a few years testing and developing rally cars for Ford.

Yet to win a driver's championship, Wilson's M-Sport team won the constructor's championship for Ford in 2006, the first time Ford had won in 25 years. He went on to repeat the feat in 2007.

Based at Cockermouth in the northwest of England, M-Sport has grown hugely, taking over more Ford cars in the elite WRC teams, plus cars in the Production WRC and the SWRC. They also work for private customers who want to race.

"When we first took on the Ford contract, we had 18 people working for us. Now there are 215 employees," said Wilson. "Our whole business model has changed over the years.

"When we first took over two cars for Ford, the championship was very strong and fully funded by Ford. With the economic downturn, we've had to look to other sponsors and generate revenue from other streams like the Fiesta S2000 car."

For the New Zealand round of the championship, Wilson's M-Sport outfit is looking after eight cars - six Focus world rally cars and two Fiesta Super 2000 cars.

In total, M-Sport have built about 100 Focus world rally cars and more than 350 Ford Fiesta ST kits and up to 80 Fiesta R2s. They sold their 33rd S2000 car on Wednesday. For what was a small private company, building so many cars and go-fast production kits is a major coup.

M-Sport helps Ford drivers in more than 12 countries using the Focus RS and Fiesta ST rally cars.

The Fiesta model is eligible to compete in M-Sport's one-make formula - the Fiesta Sporting Trophy, which runs in 11 countries including New Zealand, as well as the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International that follows the WRC calendar.

Flying along narrow gravel roads at high speed trying to control a tonne of metal and keeping it pointed, sort of, in the right direction can be stressful at times.

Running an international motorsport business with all its ramifications also comes with some pressure.

"They're two entirely different roles. I had a fantastic life as a driver but I didn't achieve anything like these drivers have. I had a fantastic time and learnt a lot that has put me in the position to do the role I'm doing now," says Wilson.

"It gave me a very good understanding of most aspects of the sport. That's a big plus because I know what the drivers are going through. I can relate to their frustrations if the car isn't quite right.

"Running the business is a completely different animal. It's quite a big operation that has really grown in the last couple of years and with quick expansion you never get everything right."

After a few growing pains, M-Sport have all the right building blocks in place to continue growing and are now confident of going to any rally knowing they're in a good position to win.

Wilson and Hirvonen came close to winning their first driver's championship last year - missing out by one point to Sebastien Loeb.

This year they're aiming to go one better and win a title in the Focus before having to switch over to the new S2000 car for the 2011 championship. That switch has been a costly exercise, as the old cars were not exactly cheap.

"Do you want to buy one of the Focus cars as I'm not sure what to do with them after this year?" quipped Wilson. "They cost about €500,000 to build and now they're only worth about half of that."

On top of keeping all the plates spinning race-car-wise, Wilson will also have an eye on his son Mathew who's racing a Focus with the Stobart team. As an ex-racer himself, Wilson senior isn't too concerned about potential dangers.

"To be honest, it's not a problem when he's not in contention. When he gets into a position to challenge at the sharp end, I'll start to pay more attention. He had a big accident about five years ago that set him back a bit. In all honesty, you can't think about any dangers you've just got to get on with it," said Wilson.