2018 Teams

[seb_sh]

Could it be that all teams are kind of waiting for Ogier's move, not sealing contracts with anyone to spare seat in case Ogier's suddenly looking for a new drive for 2018? And Ogier's waiting for Ford's announcement...

I think it's pretty certain that is what is happening. But Ogier doesn't want too long so he probably has some deadline like end of August or something. And I'm sure he's talking to all teams.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Could it be that all teams are kind of waiting for Ogier's move, not sealing contracts with anyone to spare seat in case Ogier's suddenly looking for a new drive for 2018? And Ogier's waiting for Ford's announcement...

I said this weeks ago when people said Mikkelsen was the 'hot property' that teams would be chasing..

Ogier is still the one they want as he has no contract after 2017.

[steve.mandzij]

Latvala's co-driver is the most difficult, even VW made mistake with that one once.

Miika or Mikka? Anttila for sure.

Edit: AnttiL clarified much better than me

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[stefanvv]

Miika or Mikka?

No

[macebig]

Miikka people..

[mknight]

Finland closing in, restart speculation?

Updates after Poland:

- Lefebvre probably secured his spot in the team for next year even if not for all events
- Mikkelsen maybe not so eager to sign Citroen for next year/longer program, will prbly try to aim for Toyota or Ford in case Ogier goes Toyota

- Ogier unlikely to want to go to Citroen, kinda leaves Toyota as only option other than Ford

- Sunninen showed up as serious option for selected rallies, still unlikely for whole season

- Hanninen likely on the way out, last WRC without major technical issues (though he did have some minor ones), even behind Mikkelsen who spend close to 2 mins in various ditches, not to mention Sunninen, Evans, Østberg.

- Østberg also not likely to get any manu seat, Poland has never been his rally, but beaten by Sunninen. Still doesn't have the pace on tarmac either.

Note that while contracts typically are signed around Finland they are rarely announced before the end of the season, unless they are just extensions for the same team. So watch out for the drivers without announced extensions.

[wrc2017]

On Ogiers current form, id pick a cheaper driver. There is no doubt he has plateued. In a VW you'd bet your house on him winning rally and power stage, now i wouldnt bet my dog's blanket on either.

I said this weeks ago when people said Mikkelsen was the 'hot property' that teams would be chasing..

Ogier is still the one they want as he has no contract after 2017.

[er88]

I said this weeks ago when people said Mikkelsen was the 'hot property' that teams would be chasing..

Ogier is still the one they want as he has no contract after 2017.

Yeah agree, plus i dont think Andreas is 'hot property' as much as people made out. I don't think Tommi fancies him for whatever reason (although I could be wrong, maybe some of the Finns on here will know more?), and I could see Hyundai sticking with their current 3 drivers next year (although Mikkelsen would be an upgrade on Sordo you'd think).

Andreas has also done himself no favour in the last few events. Getting beaten by Lefebvre in an older c3 and crawling round the stages in Sardinia wasn't great. Citroen might be the only factory seat he can get, so he better find some sort of pace in that car soon.

Or maybe he will just have to bring some budget to Msport to get a car?

I think the only certainty right now, in terms of drivers losing their place in a team, is Hanninen. The next few months are big for Meeke, Mikkelsen, Lefebvre, Suninen and maybe even Evans.

[AnttiL]

There's again rumours of an Ogier/VW/Red Bull comeback for 2018....

[EstWRC]

Where from? I haven't seen anything lately. But rally Finland is always the turning point where the talks and rumors begin. And now with a four week break there will be definitely some rumors