Double celebration for Ford boss
Malcolm Wilson had a double reason to glow with pride after the Wales Rally GB.
The Ford team boss was able to celebrate his company’s first success in the British forests for 27 years, two weeks after they clinched the manufacturers’ World Championship.
Wilson was also father of the highest-placed British driver in the rally, his son Matthew finishing a highly respectable 12th.
It was Marcus Gronholm who ended Ford’s drought in the UK as he cruised to victory by one minute 35.5 seconds over Austria’s Manfred Stohl, with Norway’s Petter Solberg third.
Gronholm’s win meant the Blue Oval set a new record of 195 points for the season under the current scoring system, the Finn becoming their first driver to win this event since Hannu Mikkola in 1979.
That was also the year when Ford last won the manufacturers’ title too, a statistic Wilson finds remarkable.
“I think a lot of people think the fact it’s been 27 years since we won the manufacturers’ championship is more amazing than it being 27 years since we won the Rally GB,” said Wilson.
