Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) – Official Destination Partner of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) - has presented M-Sport, the British-based motor-sport company, with the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally Award in recognition of the firm’s 200th WRC milestone.
Having taken over the day-to-day management of Ford’s WRC programme at the beginning of the 1997 season, M-Sport has overseen a constant stream of silverware reaching the crammed Ford trophy cabinet.
Ford and M-Sport won back-to-back manufacturers’ world titles in 2006 and 2007 and have claimed 46 world rally wins together with the Escort Cosworth, Escort RS Cosworth and Focus RS World Rally Car in 13 seasons.
Three M-Sport personnel that have attended all 200 rallies, managing director Malcolm Wilson, engineer George Black and co-ordination manager John Millington, accepted the award.
“I feel privileged to have represented Ford Motor Company, first as a driver and for the last 13 years as Team Director,” said Wilson, who steers BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s WRC fortunes. “Every single person at M-Sport, both current and previous employees, has played an important role in these 200 rallies and I would like to pass on my thanks to them all. This award is really for them, a large proportion of the original team is still employed by M-Sport today.”
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ award, created by ADTA, is presented at each WRC round to mark an outstanding feat of leadership, integrity, respect or teamwork. M-Sports’ long term commitment to both World Rally and Ford Motorsport were judged to have represented an exceptional contribution to the WRC, built upon the principles of working as a team to deliver the best results.
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