- Malcolm Wilson (rally driver)
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Malcolm Wilson Personal information Nationality British Born 17 February 1956 World Rally Championship record Active years 1977 – 1995 Teams Ford, MG Rover, Vauxhall Rallies 42 Championships 0 Rally wins 0 Podiums 2 Stage wins 29 Total points 59 First rally 1977 RAC Rally Last rally 1995 RAC Rally Malcolm Irving Wilson, OBE (born 17 February 1956) is a British former rally driver. He is the father of current World Rally Championship driver Matthew Wilson.
After a successful driving career of his own, he went on to manage and run the BP Ford World Rally Team with his M-Sport operation, based at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth in Cumbria, England.
He has over 20 years experience of rallying at world championship level, much of it with Ford. He drove for three factory teams in the world championship, including MG, in whose Group B Metro 6R4, he shared driving duties with fellow Briton, Tony Pond. He spent several years as Ford's chief test driver, developing new rally cars, including the short lived RS1700T and RS200 models.
As a driver, he won two British national titles in the late 1970s and achieved a long-held ambition by winning the British Rally Championship in 1994, all at the wheel of Ford Escorts.
Under his guidance, M-Sport (formerly Malcolm Wilson Motorsport) has become one of the world's leading private teams with a string of international titles and rally wins to its credit. The company now employs over 170 people. Their work culminated in 2006 when Wilson led Ford to the World Rally Championship Constructors' title for the first time in 25 years; the team repeated this achievement in 2007.
In September 2008, Wilson took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. He entered the event in a VK Vodka Kick sponsored Ford Escort RS1800 with co-driver Peter Martin. He was one of a number of ex-world and British champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.
Wilson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.[1][2]
Footnotes
- ^ Evans, David (13 June 2009). "Malcolm Wilson awarded OBE". Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76107. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59090. p. 13. 13 June 2009.
External links
Awards and achievements Preceded by
Louise Aitken-WalkerAutosport
National Rally Driver of the Year
1988Succeeded by
David LlewellinPreceded by
Richard BurnsAutosport
National Rally Driver of the Year
1994Succeeded by
Alister McRaeWinners of Autosport's National Driver of the Year Racing Winner 1982: Tommy Byrne • 1983: Martin Brundle • 1984: Johnny Dumfries • 1985: Andy Rouse • 1986: Andy Wallace • 1987: Johnny Herbert • 1988: JJ Lehto • 1989: Allan McNish • 1990: Robb Gravett • 1991: David Coulthard • 1992: Tim Harvey • 1993: Kelvin Burt • 1994: Gabriele Tarquini • 1995: John Cleland • 1996: Frank Biela • 1997: Alain Menu • 1998: Rickard Rydell • 1999: Laurent Aïello • 2000: Antônio Pizzonia • 2001: Takuma Sato • 2002: Robbie Kerr • 2003: Nelson Piquet, Jr. • 2004: James Thompson • 2005: Matt Neal • 2006: Mike Conway • 2007: Jason PlatoRally Winner 1982: Malcolm Patrick • 1983: Darryl Weidner • 1984: David Llewellin • 1985: Mark Lovell • 1986: Ken Wood • 1987: Louise Aitken-Walker • 1988: Malcolm Wilson • 1989–90: David Llewellin • 1991–92: Colin McRae • 1993: Richard Burns • 1994: Malcolm Wilson • 1995: Alister McRae • 1996: Gwyndaf Evans • 1997: Mark Higgins • 1998: Martin Rowe • 1999: Tapio Laukkanen • 2000: Mark Higgins • 2001–02: Justin Dale • 2003: Martin Rowe • 2004: Guy Wilks • 2005–07: Mark HigginsCombined Winner Categories:- English rally drivers
- World Rally Championship people
- 1956 births
- Living people
- World Rally Championship drivers
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Ford Team RS
- British auto racing biography stubs
- Rallying biography stubs
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