Q&A: Malcolm Wilson

Factory Ford drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg have been rapid on Rally Guanajuato Mexico, both taking turns to lead outright. However, they’ve both been out of luck as team chief Malcolm Wilson conceded when he spoke to Wrc.com.

What are your feelings from Rally Guanajuato Mexico? “Obviously we were disappointed with the way things went on the first morning. We’d made a very strong start, but Petter hit a couple of rocks and got punctures and then Jari hit a rock and broke the suspension arm [and then got a puncture]. But, the thing I am pleased with is the speed we have shown here.”

It’s a big improvement over last year? “It certainly is. If you think we were almost a minute down on the Citroens after the first loop of stages last year and this time around we have been leading and setting plenty of fastest times on the stages. It’s fantastic for the team.”

What do you out that improvement down to? “It’s a lot of things, the M-Sport team has been working really hard on this over the closed season. A big part, and probably the biggest improvement, has come from the engine and this is courtesy of a great partnership with Ford. We have used the climatic chamber at Ford’s technical centre back in the UK to help prepare for this event.”

How does that chamber work? “Basically, it replicates the thin air we experience at altitudes of up to 2,700 metres on this event and it allows us to map the engine to bring the best out of it under those conditions.”

Is there anything else that’s help? “I think the driver education programme we have put Jari through as well. He’s a quite different driver to the one he was 12 months ago and that’s really showing on this event. It’s not just in his mental approach, but in the way he’s driving the car as well, we can see from the data he’s perfectly in tune with the Fiesta RS WRC.”