THE STORY OF… MALCOLM WILSON

The very first time I saw Malcolm Wilson in rallying action was in the late 1970s, on a slippery stage in Kielder; he was driving an ex-works Ford Escort RS1800 to its limits, on his way to winning the Castrol-Autosport Rally Championship.

A year later, he was invited to drive Datsuns prepared by Andy Dawson’s DAD organisation – in what would be his first works drive. It was a good offer, to be backed by a great deal of Japanese money and resources. But he turned it down quickly, decisively, and never seemed to regret it.

Even then, and in all the years that followed, Malcolm had clear ambitions; not only to break through into the topmost elite of world-class rally drivers, but to become