Rally - The M-Management

Matthew, Malcolm and Stuart

Malcolm Wilson was spotted taking a great interest in what was going on at the Pirelli Rally, but a number of folk were asking why he was using sticks to get around. In actual fact this is a legacy of that huge accident he had way back on the 1980 Esso-Lombard Scottish Rally. He had finished second the previous year and was going for the win in his Mk2 when he ran out of road on a long sweeping left-hander in Inchnacardoch Forest high above Fort Augustus. Lacking the sophisticated roll-cage structure of modern rally cars, the front of the Escort bore the brunt of the head-on impact pushing the bulkhead and pedal box back, with  Malcolm breaking both ankles - although co-driver Terry Harryman escaped unharmed. The stage was stopped and Malcolm was taken to hospital in Inverness. Initially there were fears that he'd never rally again, but just 14 weeks later, he won the Pirelli Tour of Cumbria. Even so, he's had a couple of re-visits to hospital since then for ongoing work and on his most recent visit he had a new ankle fitted, hence the sticks. Given the complicated engineering  involved he might have been better handing the job to Arthur Gallacher and the team in the M-Sport workshops. They're dab hands with rosejoints, CNC lathes and welding rods! Anyway, hydraulic fluid is just another type of blood, isn't it?