Having multiple tyre suppliers is a huge plus for the ERC and I really hope that at some point we will see it (back) in the WRC.
It will be interesting to see the differences between them during the season. Speaking of the "challengers", Hankook seems strong on tarmac (especially with their new model), but MRF is looking very good on gravel and they seem to do a lot of development. I really hope the underdogs will get to a point where they will match Michelin and Pirelli. I remember when Dmack was superior to Michelin in some very specific conditions in the WRC (slippery gravel) and even that was a great achievement.

As for who should Hankook hire, they sadly don't seem to be that involved. Miklos Csomos would have been interesting to watch, as he was a known quantity and would have only improved with experience, but he switched to Pirelli. Maybe he knows something we dont...