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Thread: 2018 Teams
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13th June 2017, 09:40 #1
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2018 Teams
OK, I'll start a new thread for all confirmed contracts and speculations.
Confirmed contracts
Citroen
- Meeke
- Breen (MC, Swe, Arg, Por, Ita, Fin, Tur, Ger, GB, Aus)
- Loeb (Mex, Fra, Ger)
- Al-Qassimi
- Østberg (Swe)
Hyundai
- Neuville
- Paddon (Swe, Por, Ita, Fin, Tur, GB, Aus)
- Sordo (MC, Mex, Fra, Arg, Por, Ger, Spa)
- Mikkelsen
Toyota
- Latvala
- Lappi
- Tänak
M-Sport
- Ogier
- Evans
- Suninen (Swe, Mex, Por, Ita, Fin, Tur, GB, Spa)
- Bouffier (MC, Fra)
- Serderidis (Ger, Aus)
Privateers
- Østberg (Arg + 1)
- Bertelli (1 event)
Citroen WRC2
- Lefebvre
M-Sport WRC2
- Camilli
- Suninen (MC, Ger)
- Greensmith
Skoda WRC2
- Tidemand
- Kopecky
- Veiby
- Nordgren
- Rovanperä (MC, Mex, Arg, Fin, Ger, GB, Spa, Aus)Last edited by AnttiL; 2nd February 2018 at 12:21.
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13th June 2017, 09:41 #2
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13th June 2017, 09:49 #3
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It's all about the money.
Toyota is a manufacturer that looks to have big budget and has shown speed and most notably real improvement.
M-sport typically makes very good cars when they first come out, but over a few seasons it can't keep up the development while at sametime focusing on selling cars to customers and making ends meet.
Sure if Ford comes back it will be up there with Toyota as very attractive.
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13th June 2017, 10:02 #4
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Will be intresting to see how everything plays out.
Toyota:
I think all three (or atleast Latvala and Lappi) might actually have longer contracts with the team than what has been announced publicly. Will Toyota continue as a three-car team in 2018 or will they bring in fourth and maybe even fifth car to some events? Tänak, I think, might be a strong candidate and would fit well into team. Neither Ogier nor Mikkelsen will be seen @ TGR, mark my words.
Citroen:
Yes, Meeke has a contract for 2018 but you just have to wonder (after what we've seen during the past couple of days) does it mean anything? The team must go all-in for Ogier.
Hyundai:
Will most likely continue as-is.
M-Sport:
The real wild card here. What's gonna happen? Is Ford coming back or not? Will Ogier stay or not? Will they lose Tänak as well? If yes, who are they gonna go with? Evans? Suninen? Östberg?
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13th June 2017, 10:08 #5
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Citroen imo needs Ogier (preferably) or at least Mikkelsen to stand a chance next year.
MSport could be a good bet for next year for someone like Mikkelsen or Tanak because Ogier will probably leave a pretty good car so while it may not develop as fast as others I think it could still be competitive next year.
I think Tanak could end up at Toyota, both he and Makkinen have indicated that they would like to make the deal. Hanninen will probably be dropped to occasional appearances or just testing. Another question about Toyota is how many cars will they have and what they will do with the two Japanese young guns.
it could look something like this:
Hyundai: Neuville, Sordo, Paddon
Toyota: Latvala, Lappi, Tanak
Citroen: Meeke, Breen, Ogier
MSport: Evans, Sunninen, Mikkelsen
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13th June 2017, 10:16 #6
I never guess anything but I am pretty sure we will see Ogier at Hyundai next year.
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13th June 2017, 10:17 #7
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I forgot the Latvala factor when mentioning Ogier at Toyota, it clearly didn't work for him to be in same team in VW.
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13th June 2017, 10:52 #8
Ogier will stay at Ford with Tänak. Third could be Camilli or Suninen.
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13th June 2017, 10:55 #9
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In an interview with an Italian website today Tommi Makinen talks about Esapekka Lappi being the long term future of Toyota. Expect a multi year contract to announced soon https://it.motorsport.com/wrc/news/t...futuro-917722/
https://twitter.com/KiwiWRCfan adding a fans perspective to Twitter
- Likes: AnttiL (13th June 2017)
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13th June 2017, 11:25 #10
It's really pointless to speculate before we know if Ford come back. If they don't Ogier will certainly leave and Tanak might. If they do they will both stay and [Ford] would probably keep Evans too (he is most certainly quicker than Camilli and they would probably prepare a fourth car for Suninen, Mikkelsen would certainly not fit in the team anymore and would be needed more elsewhere).
Last edited by Watson; 13th June 2017 at 11:30.
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