Sitting on the start line of the final stage, M-Sport Ford team principal Richard Millener chose his words carefully.
His Harper Adams Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2T’s boost pipe had come loose and cost time earlier in the day, but it might still be possible. Might. There was just 7.5 miles of competition left and he was 23 seconds behind. Quick mental calculation… a shade over three seconds per mile was needed.
He chose his words carefully.
“Tighten your belts Seb, let’s give it a go.”
When he’s not co-driving Millener, Seb Scott busies himself with creating some of the coolest content in the WRC. Still chasing his first ever rally finish, trophy or trees wasn’t exactly the message he might have been hoping for.
“We had a proper push,” said Millener, “but we weren’t taking big risks. Ultimately, I do one rally a year and I want to get to the finish. My life is all about this sport, my day job takes me around the world with the World Rally Championship – but there’s more to rallying than the very top of the pyramid.
“It’s so important to get out and see what’s going on in the wider world of our sport and that’s exactly what me doing the Malcolm Wilson Rally was all about on Saturday. It’s a great opportunity to get out, feet on the ground, no politics, no nonsense, just the sport. I loved it.”
Millener enjoyed a weekend away from the stresses of reality: behind the wheel of a rally car
Background to the event: it’s the rally which runs through Malcolm Wilson’s backyard – based out of Cockermouth, home town to M-Sport, it’s a hugely popular round of one of the British national series. And it uses roads which once formed the backbone of Britain’s round of the world championship. It’s been a few years since the WRC’s been in the English Lake District, but the challenge of Grizedale, Comb, Hobcarton, Wythop and Greystoke hasn’t changed.
“It’s a beautiful place to go rallying,” said Millener. “Of course, I started slowly. It’s the same every year. The first stage was steep, slippery and tricky – not a great place to try to get your eye in. I knew Malcolm would be watching through stage four and there he was, in the fastest part of the stage looking out for big commitment from me. When I saw him first thing Monday morning, I said straight away: ‘I know, you don’t need to tell me… lacking commitment.’ He didn’t bother to reply – or stop laughing.
“Like I said, we dropped a bit of time, but then we just got our heads down and started pulling time back in the class. I wasn’t sure if we could do it through that last one, but we did – we took 24 and won by one second. That was cool. It kept the event really interesting all the way through, we were definitely the hunters and not the hunted.
“And Seb finally finished a rally, which was great for him. Honestly, I’m very well aware of where my strengths lie in this sport and, much as I might think differently, it would appear they’re not behind the wheel of a rally car. But, as ever, I had so much fun and loved the opportunity to be out there with the organizers, the volunteers, the marshals and once again see first-hand the commitment these amazing folk put in to keep our sport running.
“In terms of my speed, I’m out to enjoy it. It’s a bit of a Kenya-type approach, wanting to get to the end and that’s what we did. Now, it’s back to the day job and getting ready for Kenya next week.”
But it’s back to the day job via the top step of the Class D podium on the Malcolm Wilson Rally.
