No, when Jari-Matti Latvala crashed, throwing away a second-place finish behind his team-mate, eight guaranteed manufacturer points, and the chance to beat Citroen to the championship, Wilson had the look of a man having his genitalia put through a mincer while sucking on a Sicilian lemon.

In terms of career-limiting manoeuvres, poor Jari-Matti had pulled off his best one yet. The place he chose to crash was on the final spectator Super Special stage behind the service area, next to the finish ramp, and right in front of the assembled Ford hierarchy – who had turned out in force to cheer home a triumphant one-two.

What happened next must have had Malcolm praying that all of a sudden the ghost of Jeremy Beadle would pop out from underneath a marshal’s post, grinning cheesily and clutching an ethereal ‘You’ve been framed!’ clipboard. But instead it was Latvala who ended up looking haunted.

“It was my mistake,” admitted the young Finn.  “I wasn't driving too quickly but I turned into the bend too early and clipped an oil barrel that was full of sand.

“The impact broke the steering and I couldn't turn into the next bend and hit the barrier on the opposite side of the road. I've let down the team and damaged Ford’s dream of winning the manufacturers' title this year.”

You have to feel for him, don’t you? But rallying has a habit of throwing up these last-minute dramas. In 1998, Carlos Sainz was within metres of winning what would have been his third world title when his Toyota Corolla WRC burst into flames within sight of the finish of Rally Great Britain.

Carlos walked desolately into the woods at Margam Park and spent some quiet contemplative time to gather his thoughts. Luis Moya, his co-driver, displayed a far more rational reaction by inviting the Corolla to engage in a physiologically impossible solo sexual act before hurling his crash helmet at high speed through its back window.

As for Malcolm, he admitted hours later that he was still in shock from what had happened in Poland. Had Jari-Matti not decided to interface with an oil barrel, Ford would have been a mere seven points behind Citroen in the manufacturers’ rankings rather than the current 17.

With the next event being Rally Finland – Ford’s favourite – the scene could have been set for one of the biggest turnarounds that the sport has ever seen. After all, following Sébastien Loeb’s seemingly effortless domination of the first five rallies, many people were asking themselves if the little Frenchman could go on to win all 12.

Non was clearly the resounding answer, as he has now come away with just seven points from the last three rallies. In Poland Loeb also had to rely on a little help from his friends after finding himself 31st at the end of day one, the result of breaking his suspension against a tree stump.

That help came from both Latvala – merci beaucoup – and the Citroen Junior Team drivers, who were all moved aside on the final day to let their great leader past.

Loeb is now a point behind in the drivers’ standings – unthinkable at the start of the year – and some people even think that this is the beginning of his decline and fall. Frankly, that’s balderdash. As Malcolm Wilson will tell you, it’s never over until the bitter end.