| Full name | M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team |
|---|---|
| Base | Cumbria, England |
| Team principal(s) | Malcolm Wilson |
| Drivers | Matthew Wilson Henning Solberg Mads Østberg |
| Co-drivers | Scott Martin Ilka Minor |
| Chassis | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
| Tyres | Michelin |
| World Rally Championship career | |
| Debut | 2006 |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
The M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team, formerly Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team or also Stobart Motorsport World Rally Team[1] is a rally team competing in the World Rally Championship sponsored by the Stobart Group. The team's principal is Malcolm Wilson, whose M-Sport operation runs Stobart as well as the Ford factory team and Munchi's Ford World Rally Team.
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Stobart debuted at the 2006 season opener Monte Carlo Rally with drivers Matthew Wilson and Pieter Tsjoen. Wilson went on to compete all the 16 rounds for the team. Other Stobart entrants during the season were Luís Pérez Companc in eight rallies, Kosti Katajamäki in five, Jari-Matti Latvala in four, Juan Pablo Raies at the Cyprus Rally and Andreas Mikkelsen at the Wales Rally GB.
The team's best results were Latvala's fourth place at the Wales Rally GB and Katajamäki's fifth at the Rally of Turkey and sixth at the Swedish Rally. With 44 points the team placed fifth overall in the manufacturers' world championship, behind OMV Peugeot Norway and ahead of Red Bull Škoda.
In the 2007 season, Latvala and Wilson were joined by Henning Solberg and the three competed in all 16 rounds. Latvala and Solberg were nominated to collect manufacturers' championship points. Mikkelsen and Gareth Jones also drove for Stobart, in three and five events, respectively.
The team achieved its best points total at the Rally Norway, when Solberg took Stobart's first podium place by finishing third and Latvala finished fifth. Solberg later placed third at the Rally Japan and Latvala in the next rally in Ireland. Stobart fought with the Subaru World Rally Team for third place in the manufacturers' championship all year long, but Latvala's technical problems at the season-ending 2007 Wales Rally GB meant that the team had to settle with fourth place and 81 points. The team scored points in every event, and Latvala also led three rallies during the season; Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Rally Finland and Rally Japan.[2]
For the 2008 season, Latvala was promoted to the BP Ford World Rally Team and replaced in the Stobart team by Gigi Galli.[3] Wilson and Solberg continued with the team and along with Galli are signed to compete in all 15 events with the Ford Focus RS WRC 07. For some events, Solberg's car was entered by the sister Munchi's Ford World Rally Team. At the season opener, the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally, the team's fastest driver was François Duval, driving a fourth Stobart car, who finished in fourth place.[4] Galli finished third at the Swedish Rally. Duval returned to the team for Rallye Deutschland, and finished third, as the leading Ford driver. On this rally, Galli suffered an injury in a crash that kept him out of action for the rest of the season. Duval replaced him in the team on the next rally in New Zealand. The factory Ford team decided to swap their driver Latvala with Duval for the two tarmac rallies of Catalunya and Corsica, in order to help them to secure the manufacturers' crown. The two drivers returned to their teams for the final two rounds, while Stobart also ran Valentino Rossi on Wales Rally GB.
Solberg and Wilson were joined at the team for the start of the 2009 season by Urmo Aava. However, he left the team after two rounds. Solberg scored third-placed finishes in Argentina and Poland. The team were joined in Poland by Krzysztof Hołowczyc, who finished the rally in sixth place. British privateer and founder of team sponsor Vodka Kick Steve Perez was entered by the team on Rally GB. The team finished third in the manufacturers' standings behind the Ford and Citroën factory teams. Solberg and Wilson finished sixth and seventh in the drivers' standings respectively.
Wilson and Solberg remained with the team again for 2010. For the opening Rally Sweden, Finnish entrepreneur Mattias Therman paid for Stobart to run an additional two cars on the rally for himself and retired former world champion Marcus Grönholm. Gronholm endured many issues during the rally and could only finish in 21st place.
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