Wilson happy with 2012 season, so far

Director of the Ford World Rally Team, Malcolm Wilson, has said he is buoyant about the speed of both his drivers.

Both Ford drivers, Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg, have shown great speed on all three surfaces so far this year. Traditionally, Solberg struggled in Monte Carlo, but took the fight to tarmac expert Dani Sordo and held second for a time, before finally taking third. Latvala also proved his tarmac worth, scrapping for the lead with Sebastian Loeb over the first couple of stages.

Ford never had a good history in Mexico, having always been beaten by the Citroens. The high-altitude stages seemed to suit the Citroens, with their 6-speed gearboxes, against the 5-speed Fords. Rules this year stipulate that all cars much have 6 gears this year, and a 6-speed 'box showed a marked improvement for the Fords. Solberg won the qualifying stage and lead after SS1, and when he punctured, Latvala came through to take the lead. He lead for a time, until a rock snapped his suspension.

However, there is another, less polished, side to the coin. Latvala stuck his car on it's roof in Monte Carlo, having missed a pacenote and slid off. He then rolled his Fiesta RS WRC in Mexico after being spooked by Evgney Novikov's inverted Fiesta. He had been leading in Monte Carlo, and was holding a firm third in Mexico, having fought back up the order. Solberg hasn't been making mistakes, but he has had some horrible luck. A bad tyre choice in Monte Carlo, and many, many punctures in Sweden and Mexico have thwarted his progress somewhat. Indeed, without the Mexican punctures, he could well have won, and stood a good chance of doing so.

Nevertheless, Wilson is sure his team can become more consistent, despite being 38 points off Citroen in the teams championship, saying: “Yes, there have been some mistakes, but the big thing is the pace we have shown on gravel - and, of course with Jari’s win in the snow. Last year we struggled in Mexico, but this time we had more fastest times [than Citroen] and both guys led the event. For sure, Jari made a mistake, but he’s a different driver now; I have no doubt he’ll put this behind him in Portugal.”

Petter Solberg is the team's best hope for the championship at the minute, 19 points off Sebastian Loeb, who currently leads. Latvala is 40 point behind Loeb, after his win in Sweden and two DNF's.