by Rob Wilkins


TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH MATTHEW WILSON: CLICK HERE


Britain's Matthew Wilson finished the 2007 season on a real high with three points finishes in succession on the last three events in Japan, Ireland and Wales. Crash.net Radio caught up with the Stobart Ford man recently to find out just how much of a boost those results have given him ahead of his third year in the WRC...


Crash.net:
Matt, you had a great finish to the season, how satisfying was that?

Matthew Wilson:
It was good to get three points finishes on the last three rallies. It was a nice end to the year and to do it on the two home rallies in Ireland and GB made it even more special.

Crash.net:
The last event was of course the Wales Rally GB - you finished sixth there and of course got the better of Chris Atkinson on the final day. That must have been very pleasing?

MW:
It was - and it was a good battle with Chris all through the Saturday. He would take 1 second and I would take 2 seconds and it just kept going like that all day basically. I was expecting it to be a big challenge on the Sunday but then we had a really good opening stage and I think that took it out of his reach a little bit. It was good and it was nice to have a fight like that. It keeps the adrenalin going.

Crash.net:
How hard was the Rally GB, in light of the weather, which by all accounts was pretty appalling?

MW:
It was very tough. The last stage on the Friday evening was probably one of the most difficult stages I have ever done. Obviously we had the darkness as well, but to have the fog that we had was just unbelievable. It was good to get through it though and we didn't really make any major mistakes. It was a good day.

Crash.net
What did you think of those night stages?

MW:
It is a good spectacle and if the weather had been kinder on the Friday it would have been really, really nice to do Rheola in the dark. But the fog just made it really, really difficult. Obviously when we did the other [night] stage on the Saturday through Halfway it was good weather and the visibility was good. You could really enjoy it. There is just something special about driving in the dark as well - it is just another added extreme in there.

Crash.net:
Is it good for the WRC to have night stages like they use to in the 'old' days?

MW:
There are a lot of pros and cons for it. Obviously it is harder for TV to get good pictures in the dark. But from the point of view of the drivers' it spices it up a little bit and we saw the results of that on the final stage on the Friday night. The times were all over the place and it definitely shook the rally up.

Crash.net
You dad and M-Sport boss, Malcolm Wilson said your drive on Rally GB was your 'best ever performance' on a WRC event, do you agree with that?

MW: