If Marcus retires, who will fight?

[jonkka]

I mean how much out of those 5 millions Marcus will getin Finland? About a half I suppose...

It really depends on what sort of arrangement he has. If it's normal income, the tax is around 55 percent. But if there is a trust, fund or a company, he can get away with much less plus if he is eligible for farming deductions (which I believe is the case), that can shave off significant percentage too.

I too value his decision to stay in Finland but while some active drivers may reside in tax havens like Monaco, most do come back for their retirement. Tommi Makinen has a family farm and employes many in Jyvaskyla, keeping countryside alive. Rovanpera does similar things with his hardware store and Kankkunen tried something of a sort with Flying Finn airlines. So I don't view them as tax refugees, any sensible person would do the same.

[A.F.F.]

Evidence points otherwise. There are many drivers that have signed to an under-dog team in the twilight of their career than there are those that bowed out while still on a winning team - or, on one they hoped would be a winning team.

Auriol and Skoda, Kankkunen and Hyundai, McRae and Skoda, Kenneth Eriksson and Skoda, Mikkola and Mazda, Blomqvist and Nissan, Panizzi and Mitsubishi.

Carlos Sainz, Tommi Makinen and Miki Biasion retired from a winning team.

I think it would be wrong to say that all drivers are like this or like that. So, there certainly are drivers that won't drive unless they can believe they can achieve decent result (Rohrl springs to mind). Then there are drivers who simply love what they do and drive just about anything just to get to the stages (Blomqvist being a superb example). Which sort of a driver is Marcus?

I think that much the latter because he did so long privateer career before getting works contract.

I thought this very same. IMO Marcus drives for the win. Hence, a Rohrl kind of driver. Not because he wouldn't love driving but because he has done his share of "charity" already.

[duff]

Evidence points otherwise. There are many drivers that have signed to an under-dog team in the twilight of their career than there are those that bowed out while still on a winning team - or, on one they hoped would be a winning team.

Auriol and Skoda, Kankkunen and Hyundai, McRae and Skoda, Kenneth Eriksson and Skoda, Mikkola and Mazda, Blomqvist and Nissan, Panizzi and Mitsubishi.

True, but did these drivers choose a under dog team over a winning team? You would have to remember that Auriol, McRae, Erickson, and Panizzi did not choose their time of retirement, they just kind of left out in the cold by their "winning" teams . Sorry I can't talk about Blomqvist or Mikkola I only started following WRC in '97.

I think it would be wrong to say that all drivers are like this or like that.

Fair enough, I was generalising and that always gets you in trouble.
But I will make one more generalisation which I think that most people will agree with; that world class drivers are highly motivated, talented and competitive people, and Whether or not that they are driving purely for results or just to have fun on the stages they would rather be on the top step of the podium than anywhere else on the leaderboard.