However, Poland more proved Tanak is way more braindead than Mads, than the capacity of fiesta.
I do think there is some thruth in the blog as well. Mads has to leave comfort zone. Bcs every other driver in WRC does.
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Good, balanced and accurate take on Ostberg at the mid-point of the season. He clearly needs to improve his pace... but whether its just him needing to change, or the car being set-up perfectly is debatable.
His regular comments that he is driving well when his times aren't great, seems to be his way of saying 'but the car isnt right for me'.
But the likes of Tanak has shown what the car is capable of at times. It will be interesting to see if Tanak's pace in Poland can be repeated elsewhere and if he can beat Mads as best Fiesta driver in the Championship.
Mads' current spell at M-Sport reminds me quite a bit of Hirvonen's second run with the team. There was all this fanfare beforehand about being 'home' and being 'rejuvenated'. And it just hasn't worked out. The desire doesn't seem to be there.
For me it boils down to what does Malcolm want out of his WRC team? Do they want to try and contest for third or fourth place for example in the manufacturers, is that a priority? Because if so then you'd keep Mads. If you want to demonstrate the capabilities of your car, set some quick stage times and try to get yourself in a position to win rallies - then he isn't your man.
I'm also not sure Mads is going to get any better next year, plus his dip is coinciding with a key period for sorting out contracts. So let's see what happens.
Demonstarting capabilities of the car costs money from MW pocket. Let´s wait and see what happens. That includes more testing for Mads.
Camilli has done very good progress, but that bcs of his abilities not Mads.
The strange thing was that his 'down-change issue' that was present in a couple of events was apparently solved by testing and his times improved in Sardinia... but then it seems to have re-occurred already by Poland. That just cant be right.
Regarding what M-Sport want, none of us know. If they want someone with a decent position in the Championship then a steady drive from Mads is just what is required. Fast, but no risks. MW might just want Tanak to be the one to go for stage wins and promote the WRC Fiesta (and Dmack) by doing that.
But for me the bottom line is that M-Sport cant be expected to compete with the factory teams and whatever strategy they are using is not going to get them a lot of success.
They need Ford back and/or money to employ the best.
of course M sport can win championships with a duel of good drivers ,even without Ford backing.
Fiesta is a capable car at tarmac and gravel. Their economics allows them to be present at all wrc rounds,cant find any reason why not to be champions,if the driver is capable.
There was definitely a problem when Henning even got dispensation to run the old regular sequential in Sardinia
This is the central question, re: M-Sport. My best guess is that Malcolm is trying to hang in there until either a major sponsor is found, or until Ford comes back into the picture. He certainly has the money to pay a top driver, but seems determined to not do that. That said, why would a top driver go to M-Sport? Nobody seems to be able to say for certain if the car is on the pace or not. If that isn't it, then I don't know…he can't be content with things the way they are….but maybe he's happy to chug along, getting the occasional podium.