Last updated 10:17, Friday, 07 March 2008

WEST Cumbria’s Matthew Wilson scored his first points for the year this weekend on the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship; Corona Rally Mexico.

Matthew Wilson sends the Mexican dust flying as he heads for sixth place

The pair finished sixth overall capturing three valuable manufacturers’ points for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team.

Sixth also secured Wilson with his first drivers’ point for 2008 putting him 10th in the drivers’ championship.

This was the first event for the year in which he and co-driver Scott Martin were nominated to score manufacturer points for the Stobart squad and it is Martin’s best ever result in the WRC eclipsing his previous best of eighth in Rally Mexico last year.

Unfortunately their team-mates Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini were unsuccessful in scoring points on this round after retiring from the event on Friday. It was a cruel blow after two great opening rounds this year which included a podium on last month’s Swedish Rally.

It was a fine rally for Wilson who constantly set top-seven stage times and never stepped out of the top-10 for the duration of the event.

His split times, especially on the opening day, were impressive and often on-par with the top-running drivers as he showed a vast improvement on last year’s form.

It was not all smooth sailing for the 21-year-old and on a couple of occasions his rally was put in jeopardy.

A stray dog on stage 11 caused some minor damage to the front end of his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 and on stage 13 a stone was thrown at his windscreen, damaging the glass and causing some visibility issues over the closing kilometres of day two.

Wilson also lost just under one minute on day one after becoming stuck in the dust of fellow WRC competitor Toni Gardemeister for five kilometres on the Ortega 1 stage.

Galli retired on stage four after running wide on a fast left-hand bend, breaking the trailing arm on his Focus RS when he brushed against a large rock.

This in turn caused slight damage to the rear section of the rollcage and a decision was made by the FIA and the team to retire the car from the event from a safety point of view.

Wilson said: “Finishing inside the top-six is a great feeling and I am happy with how our pace has improved from last year.

“When we got into the position on Saturday we were in a bit of a no man’s land with big gaps to fifth and seventh but with Gigi out on Friday it was important to finish and keep the Stobart team in a strong position.”