Wrc Espana-Catalunya 2015

[itix]

Østberg was incredibly lucky to get away with that I think. Not sure from which direction the car hit that curb, but even if it was head on, that is a high curb. Jonas will be sure to have felt that one!

[the sniper]

I really wonder what the future holds for M-Sport. With the occasional exception, they aren't competitive anywhere, normally finishing a distant 7th or 8th or worse, and its been that way for a very long time now. How much longer will Malcolm continue with this fruitless endeavor? I do wonder….

Slight exaggeration there. On the eight occasions that Elfyn has finished in the points this season, six of them were 6th place finishes or better, including two 4th places, a 3rd and a 2nd. Ott has also normally been good for 5th or 6th, and got a 3rd. Points wise M-Sport aren't too far off Hyundai and Citroen. Certainly they're not setting the world alight, but without manufacturer backing and with the driver line up they have, I honestly don't think Malcolm is doing too badly. If he can keep the finances in order, why stop?

[itix]

Slight exaggeration there. On the eight occasions that Elfyn has finished in the points this season, six of them were 6th place finishes or better, including two 4th places, a 3rd and a 2nd. Ott has also normally been good for 5th or 6th, and got a 3rd. Points wise M-Sport aren't too far off Hyundai and Citroen. Certainly they're not setting the world alight, but without manufacturer backing and with the driver line up they have, I honestly don't think Malcolm is doing too badly. If he can keep the finances in order, why stop?

I don't claim to know their budget, but I have a feeling they might be the team with the most "speed per euro" of the current batch. Hyundai is for sure the one with the least "speed per euro" of the current teams and I do hope their 2016 car will be faster.

Citroen probably receives the least amount of money from their manufacturer (not counting ford which are real cheapskates in my opinion... c'mon, you are receiving advertisement for free here and your finances are better again so pay up!). Abu Dhabi and Total together with their customer programmes (including wrc junior) probably makes up the vast majority of their budget.

VW for sure has the biggest budget... you can tell by just walking around in the service park. They have a well balanced budget from sponsors and manufacturer although I hope the dieselgate will lead to them receiving far less from the manufacturer.

[AMSS]

M-sport/Malcolm made a net profit 2014 of £6,8 million, in this area of work I`d say that`s really good. Some of our UK friends can probably check this up somehow..

[bluuford]

Do not worry, RAS007 has always been negative on M-Sport side. Probably he was fired from there because he did not met their standards. He only posts when he has somethoing bad to say about them, check his posts if you do not belive me.
I think they were doing OK. Old car was slow and some unluck as well, new car was fast but a bit unreliable and some very good results were not achieved because of this, but that is normal if you are not VW and you do not have billions of budget.

[AndyRAC]

M-Sport are doing fine. No need to worry about them. They’ve plenty of customer programmes, plus the Bentley GT3 programme.

[AL14]

M-Sport are doing fine. No need to worry about them. They’ve plenty of customer programmes, plus the Bentley GT3 programme.

Still I hope Wilson will go east to find some proper sponsor. Economically they are ok but it would be nice to see them competitive. I hope he will meet some big chinese wallet.
BTW we should everybody thanks this guy. Ok, he does it for money but he gave very much to rally. I think he kept also WRC alive when there were just two brands and he was being beated constantly by Citroen.

[skarderud]

To go to china in this time, is not a smart move. It a big finacially break-down coming up there. Sooner or later it will happens something there, that will influence on european economics as Well.
Maybe for next season its ok, but not any longer.

[RAS007]

Do not worry, RAS007 has always been negative on M-Sport side. Probably he was fired from there because he did not met their standards. He only posts when he has somethoing bad to say about them, check his posts if you do not belive me.
I think they were doing OK. Old car was slow and some unluck as well, new car was fast but a bit unreliable and some very good results were not achieved because of this, but that is normal if you are not VW and you do not have billions of budget.

You are quite wrong, of course, and your attempt at an ad hominem attack made me smile. I posted the below on these forums earlier ths year, and it states exactly how I felt about M-Sport then, and now.



"I think if they had been able to win the driver's crown, just once even, in the last 18 years, I would feel differently. Don't get me wrong, I am a Ford fan through and through (look at my username), and I was a fan of Malcolm's when he was a driver (K202 HNO Michelin Pilot Escort RS Cosworth 1:18 model is in my study!). But, I can't help feel that perhaps Ford wouldn't have withdrawn factory support so readily if M-Sport had delivered more success over Malcolm's 18 years in charge. Maybe I am wrong; I am aware that without Malcolm, there may no Ford at all in the WRC. That is to say, I am very well aware of his immense contribution to the sport overall, and am thankful for it. Malcolm Wilson Motorsport started out as a customer preparation outfit, and I think they have returned to their roots, for reasons not entirely of their own making. The analogy that comes to mind is of a football club: if Malcolm was the manager of a football team, he would have been punted upstairs a long time ago, into a thoroughly deserved Director of Football role, due to his service to the club, but a new manager with a new approach would have been appointed a long time ago to try and deliver silverware. I am aware that this analogy doesn't translate directly to the WRC and its unique economic drivers, but hopefully you get my point…..Anyway, just my thoughts.

Edit: one last thing I'd like to say is that I dearly wish it had been different. I would have loved nothing more than for Malcolm to bring home the driver's crown for Ford with Sainz (in 1997 or in the dream team of 2001 with McRae and Delecour!) or with McRae, or with Martin, or with Gronholm, or with Hirvonen, or with Latvala, or even with Kankkunen back in 1998. Anyway, as I said, just my thoughts."

[wia5958]

Cant blame wilson for no drivers title. Mcrae 01 could of won it crashed gb gronholm 07 could of won it crashed in ireland. Hirvonen in 10/11 could of won it a fair few of the years of the citroen/ford battle the drivers title went to the last round. Cant say wilson didnt produce a car capable of winning when it was drivers that lost the championship.