If he continues like that, I'm quite sure he will do full season next year.. in Toyota
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Mikkelsen has Red Bull as a personal sponsor (recently got new helmet as well), no idea how big.
I am also not so sure how clean cut it is between Lappi and Suninen. At Monte and Sweden last year Lappi was much faster, but then starting from Mexico Sunninen was faster in all rallies until Monza (Mexico, Estonia, Turkey and Sardinia), typically with a bit better start position. In Monza Suninen got technical issues immediatelly so it wasn't possible to compare.
Now in Portugal they had same speed on Friday, then on Saturday Lappi pulled away, but they weren't in same car.
But for Suninen at this point, I would say it's a disadvantage that all he ever drove in WRC and partly also in R5 is a Fiesta.
If they are able to pay for a driver then Lappi is probably the one to go for in 2022, given those who are realistically available. He also has good experience in many teams to help develop the new car.
The top guys are either in contract or retiring and others like Breen very closely associated another team.
Suninen and Mikkelsen can bring some budget, plus Greensmith maybe can do another year of full payment.
Autosport:
Matton has reiterated that Ford is putting more focus on the WRC and is heavily involved in the development of M-Sport’s 2022 Rally1 car.
“From what I know Ford is deeply involved in the development of the new car and we have a Ford representative in the different working groups, so it shows they are really interested by this new car and the next generation of cars,”
Matton replied, when quizzed if the new rules could entice Ford to become a full WRC manufacturer again.
“They will be very close to M-Sport in the future.”
1999 Focus WRC compared to 2021 Fiesta Rally2:
https://youtu.be/H3H0KKsdKGU
Wide-ranging Rich Millener interview, incl. Safari, Rally 1 car, Covid, costs & Estonia.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4EX...FQ&dl_branch=1