Established by ex-factory team driver Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport was selected to breathe new life into Ford’s World Rally Championship programme in 1997.
Former world champions such as Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Marcus Grönholm delivered numerous rally victories, the latter leading the squad to back-to-back manufacturers’ titles in 2006 and 2007 with a Focus RS World Rally Car.
Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen brought more victories when the Fiesta replaced the Focus in 2011, but Ford’s withdrawal from the championship at the end of 2012 delivered a financial blow to Wilson’s small team.
It toiled without further success until 2017 when the arrival of Sébastien Ogier signaled a swift upturn in fortunes. The Frenchman led the team to both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ world titles in an impressive new-generation Fiesta.
Ford returned to M-Sport’s side in 2018 in greater force and Ogier delivered another drivers’ crown before returning to Citroën in 2019.
Although success has been hard to come by in recent seasons, the squad managed to win the first ever rally of the WRC's hybrid era when nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb got behind the wheel of a Puma at Rallye Monte-Carlo in 2022.
A revised line-up offered up plenty of hope in 2023. Ott Tänak - WRC champion in 2019 - returned to the British squad having spent recent years with Hyundai. Sadly for the Estonian and the British squad, they couldn’t quite knock Kalle Rovanperä off the top spot, but there was still enough to cheer – including victories in Chile and Sweden.
Tänak’s team-mates Pierre-Louis Loubet and Grégoire Munster endured mixed fortunes, with the former struggling to match his rally-leading success of the 2022 season. Munster arrived into a Puma later in the year and quickly found his feet with impressive speed in Chile and Central European Rally. The latter delivered seventh overall.
M-Sport Ford heads into 2024 with revamped young and dynamic line-up. Munster begins his first full campaign at the sport's top level, while Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux returns to a Puma full-time.
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