By Elizabeth Broughton

Last updated at 10:28, Saturday, 28 November 2009

Cumbrian rally hero Malcolm Wilson has been awarded an OBE, joining an elite band of motorsport aces to receive the honour.

Malcolm Wilson with his OBE

Mr Wilson received the honour inside the ballroom at Buckingham Palace from the Prince of Wales yesterday, just hours before he was due to travel to Cumbria to survey the flooding damage in West Cumbria.

His M-Sport firm has grown from a small home-run business to one of the world’s top motorsport development and engineering companies, and the firm now employs more than 200 people at its state-of-the-art Cockermouth headquarters.

It was in the Queen’s Birthday Honours that Mr Wilson received his OBE, awarded to him for services to the motorsport industry.

It sees him join an elite band of motorsport legends who have been recognise din the past, including Formula One icons Sir Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell.

An accomplished rally driver, Mr Wilson took two British national titles, competed successfully in the World Rally Championships (WRC) and worked as a test driver for Ford before winning the British Rally Championship in 1994.

He is now team director of the Ford World Rally Team and, since taking the helm in 1997, has led them to two manufacturers’ championships – in 2006 and 2007.

First published at 08:56, Saturday, 28 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk