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  1. #561
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomhlord View Post
    Matton set to be head of the WRC.....

    https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/...en-fia-994127/

    On the one hand, having someone who has managed a team can be great for the WRC. On the other, you could argue he's not been that great at managing a team!
    pieces falling into place? Citroen "get rid" of Matton who screwed up their re-entry to WRC, Famin comes in and brings Loeb along.

  2. #562
    Senior Member Rally Power's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by seb_sh View Post
    pieces falling into place? Citroen "get rid" of Matton who screwed up their re-entry to WRC, Famin comes in and brings Loeb along.
    Farmin? He was lucky to save his neck after ’15 Dakar flop…btw, aren’t we being a bit unfair to Matton? Yep, he failed to manage Citroen ’17 full return to WRC, but besides 2012 WRC titles and after Loeb’s departure, what more could a low budget Citroen realistically hope than being 2nd to VW, like they were in 13/14/15 (they missed ’16)?

    Besides, he was also behind Citroen’s WTCC successful campaign and it was thanks to Matton that Meeke returned to the WRC, besides allowing two young drivers, Lefebvre and Breen, to start and carry on WRC careers.

    If he’s confirmed as FIA rally chief I believe he’ll do better than Mahonen and won’t defend his predecessor (or the promoter) foolish proposals. Fingers crossed.
    Rally addict since 1982

  3. Likes: dupanton (10th January 2018)
  4. #563
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    I didn't mean to judge Matton or put all blame on him; was just putting together some context for the rotation of positions. He has a fair share of blame for sure but I don't think it's all on him.

    He's not a bad choice to replace Mahonen imo, from memory i don't think he had crazy ideas a la Capito, but we'll see.

  5. Likes: Rally Power (9th January 2018)
  6. #564
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    Matton has flopped so badly in Citroen, that it's not even funny. He took an all conquering squad, which under his watch has turned into a laughing stock. From ousting Ogier, to not renewing Neuville for 4 events, then allienating Loeb, ignoring Meeke, his shortcomings are endless. As for WTCC, the rules were tailor made to Citroen, and on top of the best car , they also had the best drivers in Muller and Lopez. So, winning the championships there wasn't exactly a triumph of the outsider.

  7. #565
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    Many may be sceptical, with the last year of Citroën Racing, although it's probably easy to point all failure to him. Even if he doesn't have any influence on the car itself, and even if Meeke himself asked to step back for Poland... I think Matton could be a great choice to run as rally manager for FIA. He used to drive himself as an amateur in the late 80's, early 90's. During the 90s he started a team offering cars for rent etc, and he founded the Citroën Rally Challenge in Belgium, which every rally enthousiast from Belgium remembers. It was a great competition for drivers with limited budget. Later he started at Citroën Racing and worked his way up. Alongside that he was running MY Racing where many young drivers got their chances to drive (like Neuville and Weijs). He knows the sport on all levels and has seen it from different points of view. He was also the one who countered the (stupid) ideas of Capito. If I'm not mistaken, Matton was also the one who wanted more freedom for organizers to create longer events (and to create or keep their own identity), a couple of years ago. So in my point of view, I think it wouldn't be a bad choice...

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  9. #566
    Senior Member Rally Power's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by macebig View Post
    Matton has flopped so badly in Citroen, that it's not even funny. He took an all conquering squad, which under his watch has turned into a laughing stock. From ousting Ogier, to not renewing Neuville for 4 events, then allienating Loeb, ignoring Meeke, his shortcomings are endless. As for WTCC, the rules were tailor made to Citroen, and on top of the best car , they also had the best drivers in Muller and Lopez. So, winning the championships there wasn't exactly a triumph of the outsider.
    I won’t say your recall is wrong, as time goes by and we all tend to forget things, but this is the way I remember: Ogier (still under Quesnel management) leaved at the end of 2011 because he wasn’t happy about being Citroen’s number two; Loeb leaved at the start of 2013 because he was tired from 10 full WRC seasons; Meeke was picked up by Matton in late 2013, when nobody cared about him; WRC budget suffered a huge bump after Citroen started to run WTCC (2014) and, like you say, Loeb was dispensed in last WTCC season because they decided to run just 2 cars and he was slower than Lopez/Muller. All considered I can only see one major flop in Matton’s path: 2017.
    Rally addict since 1982

  10. #567
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rally Power View Post
    he was slower than Lopez/Muller.
    not from Muller.

  11. #568
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    Quote Originally Posted by dimviii View Post
    not from Muller.
    Quick check on wikipedia:
    2014: 1st Lopez (462 points/10 wins/7 poles)/ 2nd Muller (336/4/3)/ 3rd Loeb (295/3/0)
    2015: 1st Lopez (475/10/7)/ 2nd Muller (357/6/3)/ 3rd Loeb (356/4/1)
    Rally addict since 1982

  12. #569
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    357 vs 356 points doesnt indicate a faster driver.

  13. #570
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    Quote Originally Posted by dimviii View Post
    357 vs 356 points doesnt indicate a faster driver.
    True, but having all 2014/15 stats in Muller favour seems a much more reliable indicator than your subjective opinion.
    Rally addict since 1982

  14. Likes: steve.mandzij (10th January 2018)

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