[WRC] News & rumours (part II)

[RJM]

We will see next week i guess, too good for test driver mate.

[Mirek]

We will see next week i guess, too good for test driver mate.

He was testing Citroëns for years without competing with them...

[RJM]

I know this but I do think he should be in the wrc, hanninen and mikkelsen too.

[pettersolberg29]

Surely Meeke would only stand a chance if Sordo and Solberg rejected it? Meeke is good but it's a huge gamble when Mikko doesn't look capable of winning a title on pace alone and to have a still relatively unproven guy in too. That being said, only possibly Hanninen and Mikkelsen show more potential and both seem strongly tied to VW so maybe some truth in this. If Meeke gets it it would suggest Sordo said no, which would suggest he's confident of a Ford deal maybe, no?

[skarderud]

if latvala goes to vw, petter stays at ford, sordo in ford or mini, østberg in ford (adapta is m-sports partner in norway, don't think they swap team) mikkelsen and hänninen in some vw-team, then meeke is a nice option to a citröen seat. but weird they dont take neuville then?

[COD]

I don't get it. They have a great young driver Neuville, why on earth would they take a crash prone Meeke that has not done a rally in a year? Besides, like Mikko has unfortunately shown again this week. He just isn't no 1. material...

[Maui J.]

It doesn't have to be the actual Citroen team Meeke is testing for. What about a possible UK Citroen entry, similar to the UK Peugeot entry he did in the IRC.

[stefanvv]

if latvala goes to vw, petter stays at ford, sordo in ford or mini, østberg in ford (adapta is m-sports partner in norway, don't think they swap team) mikkelsen and hänninen in some vw-team, then meeke is a nice option to a citröen seat. but weird they dont take neuville then?

I think Matton made it clear that is too early for him to be in factory car 2013

[pettersolberg29]

I think Matton made it clear that is too early for him to be in factory car 2013

Would it not be logical to believe that Meeke is therefore not ready for a factory car too? He hasn't achieved much more than Neuville and has limited potential whereas Neuville could one day be a multiple world champion if his development continues. I'm a big fan of Meeke, but see him more as Mini's 2nd driver or Hyundai's driver as opposed to someone who is meant to help Citroen get the manufacturer title. Imagine if Citroen have Mikko and Meeke, Ford have Solberg and Sordo and VW have Ogier and JML - to me Citroen look by far the weakest there.

[Juha_Koo]

Promoting Neuville to factory team next year would be like Latvala-scenario back in 2008, "a year too early". Also, as Loeb is taking part to some rallies, they would need to arrange PH-Sport car or something like that for Neuville to all of those rallies. Too much of a fuss. I guess it'll be Sordo, as his contract with Prodrive is ending to this year (am I right?) and I'm sure he'll be more happy with Citroen than Mini's on-off scheme. This said, of course, in a belief that Mini won't step up it's involvement.

I actually wouldn't consider Meeke as a bad option either... Under strict rules to finish, he could bring valuable manu points for the team. Only problem is his competition break. Interesting to see what Hänninen will do, as most probably his VW door is closed and I wonder what's his motivation to carry on with Skoda, as in the ERC he wasn't battling with anyone and did zero WRC rallies this year...