There is little doubt that we have enjoyed watching Sébastien Ogier rallying the M-Sport Fiesta in the WRC.

No matter who you are, if you are a rally fan, you have a soft spot for M-Sport. The way Malcolm Wilson has kept the team running in the face of adversity. The way they are the only ones to truly support the other private runners.  There are a myriad of other reasons and I am sure we could sit here all day going through them.

Ogier too is a character. Perhaps a little suppressed under the pressure of winning Championships and issues of road order, representing a global behemoth of a manufacturer.  But he is a character and his off camera moments say a lot about him. Personally I have had limited experience of Ogier off camera but I am a big fan.

For the two – M-Sport and Ogier to come together is a great thing and one we never really expected.

“There were intense negotiations from Christmas until early January when we finally put pen to paper. Sadly we didn’t have the preparation for Monte-Carlo but we all saw the job we went on to do.”

And come February, the dust had settled and Malcolm Wilson was able to reflect on the achievement when we caught up with him.

“It was a pretty intense period. Sadly once the Volkswagen announcement was made, I made no secret that I wanted to get Sébastien in one of our cars.”

“I believe our team designed and developed another fantastic car. So that was the priority. After Rally Australia we managed to do that.”

“There were intense negotiations from Christmas until early January when we finally put pen to paper. Sadly we didn’t have the preparation for Monte-Carlo but we all saw the job we went on to do.”

Wilson is incredibly aware of what that means for his team. The first win for M-Sport in the premier class since 2012 and the first win for a non-works team in living memory.  M-Sport also seem to have a knack of winning with their new cars on their first time out.

“It was a massive boost for everyone in the company. It has been five years since we won a WRC event, so to win on debut with a new car and a new driver sent an incredible buzz through the entire company.”

The result was vindication of an incredible risk that both Wilson and Ogier took coming together. We knew the pace of Ogier. Four times Champion and lets not forget he won in a Citroen C4 WRC and beat Mr Loeb.  A failure to win would have been a failure for M-Sport and a massive reputation hit for the team.

But there was also a financial risk for Wilson. Ogier’s salary with Volkswagen would have been close or ore than the entire budget for M-Sport in 2016.

“I hope the results give the company and the marketing side of the company enough to attract Ford back or attract other sponsors. But if something like that doesn’t happen, for sure we won’t be carrying on at the same level next year.”

Wilson knows he needs to find more money to continue this relationship.

“Yes it is a massive risk. It is one I won’t be able to sustain next year. But it is one that I had to take. I don’t think these sort of things come around very often.”

“I hope the results give the company and the marketing side of the company enough to attract Ford back or attract other sponsors. But if something like that doesn’t happen, for sure we won’t be carrying on at the same level next year.”

When it comes to the relationship with Ford, we all hope they will be back. Dave Pericak of Ford Performance was very impressed when he visited Monaco and the two companies have a long history – now extended very successfully into the World Rallycross Championship as well.

“But Ford are committed to their investment to their GT and Rallycross this year so we will have to wait and see. That would be the dream – to get Ford back as a major sponsor and major player in the WRC.”

The RacerViews info

Interview & article by Sam Tickell, February/March 2017

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