Wilson gets behind the wheel of Puma Rally1

Wilson, a championship-winning driver turned team owner, took to M-Sport’s purpose-built test track at its Dovenby Hall factory to help shake down Jourdan Serderidis’s car ahead of Guanajuato Rally México (16 - 19 March).

The 67-year-old had previously sampled the Puma while it was still undergoing its development ahead of the 2022 season, but today marked his first time driving the finished product.

“I did drive one of the very early test cars, but that was very much in its early stages,” he said. “I’ve driven every generation of car, and to be honest, this does feel the most complete car in every sense - not just security wise for the driver and co-driver, but in everything else it does as well.

“Okay, we were on gravel tyres and gravel suspension on a test circuit, so it’s a bit different to being on gravel. But you can instantly feel that this is the tool to do the job.

“The whole package feels as if it’s made to do the job. It’s at least two years since I probably drove the first one, and it’s just evolved in every area so much since then.”

Wilson’s team heads to Mexico on a high after Ott Tänak and Martin Järvoja stormed to victory last time out in Sweden, grabbing the championship lead in the process. Pierre-Louis Loubet will drive the second Puma in León, with privateer Serderidis at the helm of the third.