- Matthew Wilson
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For other people named Matthew Wilson, see Matthew Wilson (disambiguation).
Matthew Wilson Personal information Nationality British Born 29 January 1987 World Rally Championship record Active years 2004– Teams Stobart Ford Rallies 87 Championships 0 Rally wins 0 Podiums 0 Stage wins 3 Total points 192 First rally 2004 Wales Rally GB Matthew Wilson (born 29 January 1987) is an English rally driver from Cockermouth in Cumbria. He is the son of M-Sport boss and former WRC driver Malcolm Wilson. Wilson currently competes in the World Rally Championship for the Stobart M-Sport Ford team. He achieved his best result at the 2007 Rally Japan, finishing in fourth place.
Contents
Career
Early
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.[1] 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.
He was one of only six drivers 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, 8 months and 5 days.
However, in April 2005, on the Rally of Wales which is part of the British Rally Championships, he 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.[2] Even now, almost two years on, when Matthew flexes his right knee, the screw that was fitted to assist the healing process is visible.[citation needed]
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-)
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),[3] and score championship points - when he finished eighth overall on that event. This record was later broken by Andreas Mikkelsen.[4] 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.
It is well known in rallying that Malcolm Wilson has 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.[5] In Sweden, Wilson was aiming for a top-ten finish[6] 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.[7] 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 WRC.
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 GBR
13ITA FRA ESP AUS - 0 2005 Eddie Stobart Motorsport Ford Focus RS WRC MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR
15JPN FRA ESP AUS - 0 2006 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 04 MON
15SWE
14MEX
16ESP
15FRA
16ARG
8ITA
34GRE
10GER
12FIN
10CYP
10TUR
1228th 1 Ford Focus RS WRC 06 JPN
40AUS
27NZL
13GBR
122007 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 06 MON
12SWE
RetNOR
26MEX
8POR
12ARG
30ITA
12GRE
10FIN
10GER
9NZL
10ESP
11FRA
RetJPN
4IRE
7GBR
611th 11 2008 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 07 MON
10SWE
RetMEX
6ARG
RetJOR
5ITA
12GRE
6TUR
7FIN
9GER
12NZL
17ESP
9FRA
8JPN
7GBR
910th 15 2009 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 IRE
7NOR
7CYP
5POR
RetARG
5ITA
6GRE
13POL
5FIN
8AUS
6ESP
7GBR
67th 28 2010 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 08 SWE
7MEX
16JOR
5TUR
7NZL
6POR
6BUL
9FIN
6DEU
6JPN
22FRA
8ESP
6GBR
77th 74 2011 M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC SWE
9MEX
RetPOR
5JOR
5ITA
9ARG
8GRE
6FIN
8DEU
11AUS
4FRA
10ESP
RetGBR
57th 63 References
- ^ "Matthew Wilson Statistics & Biography". Crash.net. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/racer_bio/2309/matthew_wilson.html. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ "Wilson Jr injured in Rally of Wales off.". Crash.net. 2005-04-24. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/rally_uk/news/109301-0/wilson_jr_injured_in_rally_of_wales_off.html. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ "Wilson takes first point - and first stage win.". Crash.net. 2006-05-01. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/129318-0/wilson_takes_first_point_-_and_first_stage_win.html. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ "Mikkelsen beats Wilson's record". Crash.net. 2008-02-11. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159567-0/mikkelsen_beats_wilsons_record.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Wilson Jr: Monte was a bit mixed.". Crash.net. 2008-01-29. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159137-0/wilson_jr_monte_was_a_bit_mixed.html. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ "Wilson Jr gunning for top-ten.". Crash.net. 2008-02-05. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159328-0/wilson_jr_gunning_for_top-ten.html. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ^ "Throttle issue robs Wilson Jr.". Crash.net. 2008-02-11. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/159568-0/throttle_issue_robs_wilson_jr.html. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
External links
- Matthew Wilson at Stobart Motorsport
- WRC Archive stat page
- Rallybase stat page
- Results history at eWRC-results.com
2010 World Rally Championship season Teams Citroën Ford Stobart Ford Citroën Junior Munchi's Ford PSWRT Citroën Monster Ford Adapta Subaru 5 Wilson
6 H. Solberg
- Grönholm
- Therman9 Villagra
11 P. Solberg
- Block
- Østberg
Rallies Sweden · Mexico · Jordan · Turkey · New Zealand · Portugal · Bulgaria · Finland · Germany · Japan · France · Spain · Great Britain Categories:- British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
- 1987 births
- Living people
- English rally drivers
- World Rally Championship drivers
- People from Cockermouth
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