04/06/2025
๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐บ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ
๐๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ 6๐4 ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ, ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณโ๐ด ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐โ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด.
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A defining chapter in British rallying unfolded 40 years ago on the stages now known as the Nicky Grist Stages, when Malcolm Wilson claimed his first victory in the Austin Rover Metro 6R4. The win remains a personal milestone for the M-Sport team principal, marking the model's competitive debut.
Here is the TL;DR:
โฆ๏ธ Malcolm Wilson secured his first victory in the Metro 6R4 at the 1985 Nicolet Stages Rally, precursor to today's Nicky Grist Stages.
โฆ๏ธ The event, held in November 1985 and organised by Quinton Motor Club, was based in Betws-y-Coed and featured 34 miles of special stages in Penmachno and Clocaenog forests.
โฆ๏ธ The rally served as a final shakedown for the factory Austin Rover team ahead of the Lombard RAC Rally, making it the first public appearance of the Metro 6R4 in competitive action.
โฆ๏ธ Wilson, alongside co-driver Nigel Harris in the Computervision-liveried car, triumphed by a margin of just over three minutes ahead of the Ford Es**rt crew of Richard Gough and Mel Lewis.
Reminiscing about 1985, Malcolm Wilson said:
โI think I was probably quite nervous with it being my first event in a Metro 6R4. It was a totally new team. Most of my career I had been in Fords or with my own car like the Audi Quattro, so I was quite apprehensive before the start as everything was so new and so different."
โThere werenโt any other four-wheel drive cars on the event, so it would have been a bad job if we hadnโt done the business, but it was still a great way for me to get a chance to drive the car, apart from testing, in an event before the RAC Rally."
โWe had a good run, but better still it gave us a better understanding of the car โ and there is nothing better than winning to give you a confidence boost.โ
โฆ๏ธ In a generational echo, Wilson's son Matthew claimed victory at the 2004 edition, co-driven by Scott Martin in an M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 02, in front of the Wilson family.
Remembering Matthew's victory, Malcom Wilson said:
โThe 2004 Nicky Grist Stages was another great day. We didnโt really expect Matthew to win if Iโm honest, but he did a really polished job with no drama and no stress."
โWe were all there as a family. I think both Elaineโs [Malcolmโs wife] parents and my parents were there, as well as all the guys that had worked for M-Sport for a very long time, so it was a real family affair and it was great to see Matthew win.โ
โฆ๏ธ The Nicky Grist Stages has seen a series of notable winners, including Allan Edwards (1980), Chris Mellors (1986), Andrew Burton (multiple wins between 1996 and 2007), Andreas Mikkelsen (2006), Elfyn Evans (2016), Matt Edwards (2018, 2021), Osian Pryce (2022), Elliot Payne (2023) and Chris Ingram (2024).
โฆ๏ธ The 2025 edition will be based in Builth Wells, featuring a compact 45-mile stage route through Halfway, Crychan (renamed Bowlsey), Monument and Route 60 forests.
โฆ๏ธ It will mark the 16th consecutive year of title sponsorship from Nicky Grist Motorsport and host rounds of five major rally championships.
โฆ๏ธ M-Sport will reward the top Under 25 Junior driver and co-driver from the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship with WRC team experience as part of its weather crew at Rally Japan.
๐ท Image by Steve Pugh
Nicky Grist Stages
Nicky Grist Motorsports
M-Sport
Quinton Motor Club
