How good or bad is Matt Wilson?

cds_uk · 15 Mar 2009, 09:27 (Ref:2415873)

As some of you know i am not a Matt fan, that being said i dont want this to become just a Matt bash. Trying to look at it from a neutral point of view, he is in a good car, a rally winning car no less, he brings the car home more often than not and he is getting good WRC experience now. Regarding his dads 5 year plan, what is expected of Matt this year, is it podiums? The main problem i have is he just seems to plod along, ok he gets points finishes but that seems to be mainly down to what few competitors he has dropping out rather than out and out speed on his part. Come on guys, someone convince me he has potential, i just cant get past the fact that daddy has put him into the car rather than Duval or Gigi to name but two.

Alwaysfirst · 15 Mar 2009, 09:47 (Ref:2415881)

I had been thinking about this as well. While I'm not sure that the Stobart Ford is as good as the main team the car may still be better than where Matt seems to be placing it. When Solberg is driving for the team it usually finishes higher up the order. I'd say Matt is a fairly 'safe' driver. He'll bring it home but he won't be winning any championships any time soon.

**silver bullet** · 15 Mar 2009, 09:54 (Ref:2415884)

Mathew is a good driver, but not a great one.
He is just doing what is asked of him, rather than pushing on to the next level. It is now up to his mentors to give him higher goals to aim at. His father and the Stobart guys should now be telling him they expect podiums. Brining the car home safe is not enough.

bodgit · 15 Mar 2009, 21:53 (Ref:2416234)

Well he must be fairly good to beat loeb to the fastest time on the last stage of cyprus

chunder · 15 Mar 2009, 22:56 (Ref:2416289)

Erm have you got some idea that Loeb was not pushing!! When you win 50 rallies I think you know that being fastest on every stage doesne matter!!

**silver bullet** · 15 Mar 2009, 22:56 (Ref:2416290)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodgit

Well he must be fairly good to beat loeb to the fastest time on the last stage of cyprus

Yes but it was only his second ever stage win. IIRC the other one was a Super Special.

leonidas · 15 Mar 2009, 23:19 (Ref:2416307)

I want to believe in Matt Wilson but the bottom line is he is not delivering the goods and seems to be driving in a comfort zone. Contrast that with Meeke who is in a series with more potential winners and yet is still actually winning events. No one is expecting Wilson to beat Loeb but when you are getting beaten by older cars that everyone knows are slower you have got problems.

To be honest I think if several of the drivers on this board were given five years in the WRC they would scrape a couple of stage wins eventually! And I am happy to test this theory if anyone from MSport or Citroen UK is reading...

shhh · 17 Mar 2009, 09:02 (Ref:2417203)

A Clubman he is!

**BertMk2** · 17 Mar 2009, 09:25 (Ref:2417222)

Quote:

Originally Posted by silver bullet

Mathew is a good driver, but not a great one.

That sums it up for me (it's also true of several other drivers in the WRC as well). Currently the field in the WRC is very limited in terms of "great" drivers but I'd have thought there were plenty of drivers that would make better use of that seat than Matt (including several British drivers).

Norwegian Rallycross · 17 Mar 2009, 12:02 (Ref:2417299)

I guess this is the year! Cant wait to see him stand on top at the end of the season... daaahhh... ..

cds_uk · 24 Oct 2009, 20:38 (Ref:2568879)

Another year goes by and what has he done, nowt, it is starting to get annoying now.

leonidas · 24 Oct 2009, 22:23 (Ref:2568933)

Always interesting to dig up old threads like this! Wilson has been solid but no more - he is still looking like a good national championship driver but not much more. Meeke has had a great year in which he has put in consistently good performances, including giving the top Italian tarmac specialists a real battering in their own back yard.

But the WRC driver market is just plain weird. It seems to be who you know not how well you drive - and the few works drives means that it has ended up as a third-rate championship made up of mainly chequebook drivers. If Petter Solburg can't get a works drive then something is very wrong as he is probably the quickest man out there with the obvious exception of Seb. It is a shame that the WRC has got into this state as it does take some of the gloss off Loeb's fantastic achievements.

Derwent Motorsp · 26 Oct 2009, 17:37 (Ref:2570210)

I thing his lack of credibility is because he has never competed against his peers, he went straight into a WRC car and gets loads of testing. If he had done some of the one makes series etc then folk would back him.
Matt has yet to show he has real speed but look at it this way. If you owned a rally team and your son wanted to go rallying and you could afford it then you would do it? Go to any kart meeting and "daddies" are doing just that, it goes right on to F3 and touring cars. Most of the BTCC drivers are paying to be there.
No doubt if there were more WRC teams with top drivers then Matt would either have to up his speed or finish further down the field. He's a nice lad I hope that next year he will get a move on, otherwise in 2011 Meeke and Wilks etc will leave him standing.

leonidas · 26 Oct 2009, 18:42 (Ref:2570244)

Being beaten by nearly eight minutes in your home rally says it all really. That is one hell of a distance in modern rallying.

Matt Wilson is partly a victim of the silly culture that says if you aren't a world champion by the time you're about 28 then forget it - you must be over the hill. There's now pressure on young drivers to be rallying in Estonia at 15, be doing 'media training' at 17 and be in the WRC by 20. This is ridiculous in a sport that takes years to reach your peak.

I wonder how many promising youngsters in motorsport stop enjoying it and burn out by the age of 25?

Kevin McCann · 27 Oct 2009, 07:23 (Ref:2570562)

Some criticism may be justified BUT 7th in the world aint bad.

BOY BLUNDER · 27 Oct 2009, 09:52 (Ref:2570618)

I can remember Matt doing the T cars at lydden,and he was not always on the pace there,but maybe he needs to change to another team but im also in agreeience with leonidas if petter cant get a works drive then there is something wrong there somwhere,but what could be good is seeing petter in rx next year would be nice :-)

BB....

GORDON STREETER · 27 Oct 2009, 09:58 (Ref:2570619)

7th in the world but against a diluted field with one of the best bits of kit Mmmmm.
He's obviously not too bad but like others I think he's found his mark.
I'll agree with Derwent as most of us have seen it for years and nothing has altered in all the time I have been around motorsport at all levels.
If my old man had thrown money at me years ago I would willingly have taken it and so would any "normal" person in their right mind !
I know in life its the old "who you know" syndrome but I wouldn't have though that Wilson Snr called all the shots as he must be accountable as to where the budget goes

Graz · 27 Oct 2009, 11:05 (Ref:2570661)

He's not good enough and is keeping better drivers out of a seat in a car that should be higher up. I know it's easy to say, but he only has the seat because of his Dad...but it's true. The only reason he is finishing in (the lower reaches of) the points is becasue there's sod all other WRC cars around these days.

The WRC is dead in it's current guise.

archie 1 · 7 Nov 2009, 13:05 (Ref:2577603)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graz

He's not good enough and is keeping better drivers out of a seat in a car that should be higher up. I know it's easy to say, but he only has the seat because of his Dad...but it's true. The only reason he is finishing in (the lower reaches of) the points is becasue there's sod all other WRC cars around these days.

The WRC is dead in it's current guise.

DO U THINK IT WHOULD BE BETTER TO DROP A SEASON IN WRC AND DO BRC MABY LET SOMEONE HAVE A BASH LIKE WILKS MEEK ECT. OR DO YOU LET HIM CARRY ON NOW HE HAS GOT THE EXPERIENCE. IM SURE THE OTHERS WHOULD JUMP AT THE CHANCE. I LIKE MATT AND GET ON WELL WITH HIM. BUT WHOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMEONE HAVE A GOOD CRACK AT LOBE. AND FOR ME GUY WILKS OR BARRY CLARK WHOULD GIVE IT A GO

chunder · 7 Nov 2009, 14:29 (Ref:2577651)

Sadly I simply dont think Matt is quick enough, he has had enough years now and also enough time.

Guys liek Latvalla, Solberg, Delecour and pretty mucy anyone else had proved their speed by this stage and even won championships.

Wilson has done neither and therefore should make way for someone like Galli ir Meeke or even Petter!

cds_uk · 10 Jul 2010, 17:04 (Ref:2724480)

Here we are, well into 2010, god knows where that is in "the 5 year plan" he is just not good enough. He just plods round while the likes of Gigi have no drive and Duval has had to go and do rallycross part time, what the hell is his dad thinking?

mountainstar · 10 Jul 2010, 18:06 (Ref:2724503)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cds_uk

Here we are, well into 2010, god knows where that is in "the 5 year plan" he is just not good enough. He just plods round while the likes of Gigi have no drive and Duval has had to go and do rallycross part time, what the hell is his dad thinking?

Without the nepotism you would have never heard of him. He never features at all and guys like Henning Solberg can drag a similar car up the standings.

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