Silly Season 2020

[ggg377]

For Toyota I mentioned on Friday that there is a huge span of options in addition to Katsuta+Rovanpera.
From "complete makover" with Ogier, Evans and Mikkelsen to "staying the same" with Meeke, Latvala and Katsuta+Rovanpera only.

Seems quite hard for me to predict which way they go. Didn't except they'd kick Lappi either.

As a Tänak/Toyota fan I expected Meeke and Latvala to hand it to the Hyundais in Catalonia, because they had no other option considering the state of Toyota's team points (and Tänak's championship), but it turned out to be the opposite. The truth of the matter is there are currently 3 top drivers in WRC - Tänak, Neuville and Ogier with the rest lagging behind quite significantly in the bigger picture. Just look at the rally wins this year, the only driver who scored a win outside of this trio was Sordo in Italy and Sordo has already signed with Hyundai. If Toyota want to stay relevant they need one of the big 3, period.

[steve.mandzij]

As a Tänak/Toyota fan I expected Meeke and Latvala to hand it to the Hyundais in Catalonia, because they had no other option considering the state of Toyota's team points (and Tänak's championship), but it turned out to be the opposite. The truth of the matter is there are currently 3 top drivers in WRC - Tänak, Neuville and Ogier with the rest lagging behind quite significantly in the bigger picture. Just look at the rally wins this year, the only driver who scored a win outside of this trio was Sordo in Italy and Sordo has already signed with Hyundai. If Toyota want to stay relevant they need one of the big 3, period.

Latvala is in a mega slump right now but I trust he's still quick, just suffering from a bunch of different kinds of pressure. If Tanak leaves Toyota and Latvala remains I can see him turning development back towards what he prefers and resurging again. He's done it before, so it's not out of the question.

[ggg377]

Latvala is in a mega slump right now but I trust he's still quick, just suffering from a bunch of different kinds of pressure. If Tanak leaves Toyota and Latvala remains I can see him turning development back towards what he prefers and resurging again. He's done it before, so it's not out of the question.

Fair enough. The fact of the matter is there are currently more talented drivers than there are cars - Evans, Ostberg, Breen and Mikkelsen being the most notable drivers without a 2020 contract. I still have my doubts whether any of them could deliver for Toyota all season and fight for the titles. Wilson even said recently that he's not interested in letting Suninen and Evans go. Realistically if Toyota lose Tänak they will probably keep Latvala and Meeke with Katsuta and Rovanperä rotating the third car. That is fine, but given the past seasons I still doubt it could bring the points needed for titles.

[mknight]

Fair enough. The fact of the matter is there are currently more talented drivers than there are cars - Evans, Ostberg, Breen and Mikkelsen being the most notable drivers without a 2020 contract. I still have my doubts whether any of them could deliver for Toyota all season and fight for the titles. Wilson even said recently that he's not interested in letting Suninen and Evans go. Realistically if Toyota lose Tänak they will probably keep Latvala and Meeke with Katsuta and Rovanperä rotating the third car. That is fine, but given the past seasons I still doubt it could bring the points needed for titles.

Whether any of the other drivers than Latvala and Meeke could fight for driver title is highly doubtful given latest results. But given this years results both Evans and Mikkelsen would be better for manu title. They both have more points than either Toyota driver with 3 less rallies driven and they both have more or as many podiums.

[ggg377]

Whether any of the other drivers than Latvala and Meeke could fight for driver title is highly doubtful given latest results. But given this years results both Evans and Mikkelsen would be better for manu title. They both have more points than either Toyota driver with 3 less rallies driven and they both have more or as many podiums.

I totally agree. In my opinion Evans is the most obvious challenger to the current top 3 drivers and Mikkelsen has been underrated for so long. Mikkelsen is still sitting at the #4 position in the driver's championship and he hasn't even done every rally unlike many who are behind him. He has delivered Hyundai a lot of team points, which allow their current comfortable lead in the constructor's championship. And yet he keeps getting flack, perhaps more than any other driver. Toyota with Tänak/Mikkelsen or Tänak/Evans would be a devilish combo, but one can dream.

[steve.mandzij]

I totally agree. In my opinion Evans is the most obvious challenger to the current top 3 drivers and Mikkelsen has been underrated for so long. Mikkelsen is still sitting at the #4 position in the driver's championship and he hasn't even done every rally unlike many who are behind him. He has delivered Hyundai a lot of team points, which allow their current comfortable lead in the constructor's championship. And yet he keeps getting flack, perhaps more than any other driver. Toyota with Tänak/Mikkelsen or Tänak/Evans would be a devilish combo, but one can dream.

Evans is very good but rather inconsistent, and while at times he's pulled out incredible performances he's not been able to maintain them for too long. Best of the rest for me, no doubt, is Sordo this year, then maybe Evans and even then I'd consider it a toss up between Loeb and Mikkelsen. The rest are horribly inconsistent.

Yes and no. When asked about getting Tanak as teammate earlier during the weekend Neuville said he would prefer it cause he has "always been faster than his teammates" no matter who they were.

And not only that, but bar Sordo who's been exceptionally quick this year all of Neuville's teammates have, at one point or another, struggled with setup for the i20. If Tanak does indeed go to Hyundai there's no guarantee he'll do as well as he's doing now in a car made specifically for him.

[cali]

Evans is very good but rather inconsistent, and while at times he's pulled out incredible performances he's not been able to maintain them for too long. Best of the rest for me, no doubt, is Sordo this year, then maybe Evans and even then I'd consider it a toss up between Loeb and Mikkelsen. The rest are horribly inconsistent.




And not only that, but bar Sordo who's been exceptionally quick this year all of Neuville's teammates have, at one point or another, struggled with setup for the i20. If Tanak does indeed go to Hyundai there's no guarantee he'll do as well as he's doing now in a car made specifically for him.

As long as they let him setup and work with the car I do not see a problem. Same story applied to Toyota and he was fast right out of box beating his teammates. I do not see this as a problem, rather than then the atmosphere in the team with Neuville could be poisonous.

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[mknight]

Best of the rest for me, no doubt, is Sordo this year, then maybe Evans and even then I'd consider it a toss up between Loeb and Mikkelsen. The rest are horribly inconsistent.

Sordo has (just like last year) only driven rallies that suit him, always with road position advantage on gravel. But yes he was consistent on those, much better than last year where he crashed twice.

Anyway I find it really strange that you consider Loeb "consistent" with Hyundai. From 6 starts he only scored manu points in 2 rallies and took a single podium. His tarmac results were terrible, just like his speed in Sweden and in Portugal he even crashed out with nothing to push for after a weekend with no pace. Compared to the 3 starts with C3 in 2018 I'd consider his 2019 season a disaster.