And Wilson? The conflict of interest is understandable; His company M-Sport has programs through motorsport, with a commitment of almost 30 years to Ford’s WRC effort, which is always the most important.
The question is: does the risk of potential conflict prevail to the advantage of Wilson’s lifespan in sport? We are all very aware of motorsport seen from MW of all aspects; As a corsair, factory driver, team owner and manufacturer’s representative.
And now he jumps out of the ship to stand on the other side of the fence. There will always be those who question his motivations; All I can say is that I have known it all my career and, although we had our ups and downs, I would never question its commitment to improving motor sport.
Does he need to be a sports assistant? Not a little. Will this change his life? Not a chance. Does he need the additional workload, even if it is only for the next six months? No. Are we naive enough to think that it will steam in the president’s office and propose a change after the change to improve the potential for the sale of rally cars or an adjustment of the rules to improve the performance of the Ford Raptor T1 + developed by M-Sport? Hopefully not.
For me, one of the key points is Wilson’s relationship with Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Both have known each other for decades. They clashed and worked with the president now driving cars from the Cumbrian stable.
I remember being struck a few years ago by the ease with which they were together – MW remains the only person I heard called MBS “Mo”. Does this count? Absolutely this is the case. While remaining entirely respectful of the president’s position in sport, Wilson has the relationship to challenge Ben Sulayem when he has to be disputed.
The coming weeks will be fascinating in the WRC political landscape – in particular with all the speeches on the imminent sale of the promoter WRC. At least two interested parties were present in Las Palmas last weekend, with a lot of predicting a change of property ad this week.
As scorpions used to sing: The future is in the air. I can feel it everywhere. Blow with the wind of change.
Interesting times.