Was Malcolm right..

[Corny]

to put Latvala in that car? There are a handfull of drivers that would've scored more points at this point in the championship...

[MikeD]

20/20 hindsights is always nice, but to be honest there were not that many good drivers available. But I do think it was wrong not to have a tarmac specialist for the 4 tarmac events. Latvala has scored only 3 manu points on tarmac and that strategy could end up costing Ford a third manu title in a row (IMO). Had they chosen Duval instead they would have scored 8 more manu points and would now be tied with Citroën on 123 points.

[Buzz Lightyear]

It was commerically based, or at least a cheap option. He would have had to pay handsomely for Duval etc. Its is backfiring, no doubt. But, on hte otherhand, you dare not let Latvala go to another team, as he could flourish and be your nemisis for the next 10 years. But he must be willing to swap another driver in to keep Ford happy.

[Torsen]

mike is right... you can always tell after the fact... but i agree duval would have been a better choice for these tarmac rallies... must be nice to have Loeb on your team though... anywhere he goes ... he just smashes the competition... loeb is the best driver of all times...

[J4MIE]

Yes hindsight is always a good thing, but towards the end of last year Latvala was showing good speed and that's why he has been chosen, also there weren't many other options. Maybe this year he has been pushing that 5% extra which is taking him over the limit...

[pino]

Malcom is damn right :up: A part from Loeb, Latvala is the biggest talent outhere. Yes he needs a little more experience and must improve a lot on tarmac, but how he's going to do that if not entering tarmac events ? :confused:

[Finni]

mike is right... you can always tell after the fact... but i agree duval would have been a better choice for these tarmac rallies... must be nice to have Loeb on your team though... anywhere he goes ... he just smashes the competition... loeb is the best driver of all times...

That wouldn't happen with Subaru. It would have been great fun to see Seb pushing crap out of inferior Subaru. I think that on asphalt (especially in Monte) Seb could have done some miracles with that pig of car but on gravel there is just no driver who could put that pig to win.

[A.F.F.]

Like pino said, Latvala is probably the biggeest talent out there. In a good day, faster than anyone. The downside of course is his inconsistency and he let those mistakes get in to him. Driving and experience is what he needs. Malcolm has a diamond in his hands with Latvala. Unfortunately it's a bit rough diamond still...

[Josti]

Latvala always struggled with consistency, and this year it's no difference, which is no surprise either. First time in a real factory car brings some pressure to it, especially when you're in your early twenties. Can't say much about his asphalt performances so far. Ok Germany was not good, but in Monte Carlo he was just unlucky. W'll have to see what happens in Spain and Corsica. Remember last year he took third place in Ireland too.

All in all, Latvala was (IMO) the best choise for Wilson. I have no doubt in mind that h'll be a world champion some day.

[Brother John]

I agree here with Pino, A.F.F. and Josti. ;)

[BDunnell]

So do I.

[Mauri A]

to put Latvala in that car? There are a handfull of drivers that would've scored more points at this point in the championship...
Names, please.

[Lousada]

Please, Latvala had plenty of experience before he joined BP Ford. I counted quickly to see he had 28 rallies in a WRC before this year, and about the same in N4. Now lets look at Hirvonen, before joining Ford he had 38 rallies in a WRC but only 3 in something else.
Also consider that Hirvonen drove the majority of those rallies without superally, makes a big difference.

[cut the b.s.]

Latvala is one of the most talented and exciting drivers on the wrc, I'm glad Malcolm gave him his chance but as has been said if he could have had Duval for tar and let JML do the events with less pressure maybe it would be better, would take a chunk more money though.

[Tomi]

I dont think that there is any pressure from the team, he makes his own pressure without any reason, with a normal prefomance he would be 3-4 in every gravel event, and in top 6 on tarmac as well.
The problem is that with his stupid errors he effect Hirvonens driving too by making him taking less risk, because somebody has to bring the manu. points also. Treierin has a lot of work ahead.

[User]

Malcom changed Duval once for Tuhino in Sweden. So why shouldn't he change Latvala for the remaining tarmac rally's?

[ste898]

Loeb is the best driver of all times...

You have just insulted the greatest drivers of all time!!!!

[RS]

Names, please.

Well Sordo and Atkinson do have more points than JML, although they weren't 'for hire'

His unreliability is very disappointing but I hope he doesn't lose his speed in a bid to become more reliable.

I think it is more likely that JML will become a WRC Champion than Hirvonen.

[cut the b.s.]

You have just insulted the greatest drivers of all time!!!!


groan, ok, I'll give you a chance, forget your usual negative insight with which you pollute a number of forums, please lets be friends for a minute and be constructive. Tell me, who in you esteemed opinion are the best 5 drivers of the past 20 years?

[duff]

I agree that it was right to put JML in the seat at the time. Malcolm did say at the time that ideally he would have put him in a year later but he didn't have another solid choice.
Lets not forget that JML is only 23 and that the youngest world champ (McRae) was 27. you need the time to mature and gain experience in the WRC before you can reach your full potential.

[koko0703]

Petter, Mikko, Sordo, and Atko to name a few.... they all had up-and-down first year in the works seat regardless of how much experience they had prior to driving a works machine. So I would say give Latvala a time. The fact that he won a event on his first year as works driver makes him pretty good compared to the names above.

[jparker]

Well, nobody knows what M. Wilson's plans/expectations about JML were, so we can't really answer this question. If he was planning to develop JML in long term, then it was the right decision, otherwise no. If JML gets replaced for Catalunya and Corsica, that will be an indication his boss was hoping for better, but I don't think that's the case.

[Karukera]

JML delivered very promising performances on either gravel or tarmac rallies in 2007. Grönholm left and one seat was free. So it was a logical decision to pick Latvala. Wilson was right.

I don't see yet any dramatic event which would question JML's position in the M1 team, certainly not a couple² of mistakes required by the rally process. :)

[Ranger]

Petter, Mikko, Sordo, and Atko to name a few.... they all had up-and-down first year in the works seat regardless of how much experience they had prior to driving a works machine. So I would say give Latvala a time. The fact that he won a event on his first year as works driver makes him pretty good compared to the names above.

But you have to consider how good the title-contending 2008 Focus is, compared to the machinery the above drivers learned their WRC craft with.

No one is doubting JML's talent but it is fair to say he has disappointed this year given the opportunity he has been given. This would all be a major problem if he wasn't damn fast.

[ShiftingGears]

I think Ford went "Why not?" when they picked Latvala. Because if they chose a slower, more consistent driver from the bunch they had to choose from, they would more or less be where they are now. Except without a talent they can cultivate into a World Rally Champion.

Although personally I was expecting a few less crashes.

[Anderton]

He's got the pace, but not the consistency. I think Malcom knew that over time, Latvala will improve on consistency. He's only young at the time being, he is still learning when it's the right time to be going flat out on the edge, and just making sure you finish the stage.

[AndyRAC]

He's got the pace, but not the consistency. I think Malcom knew that over time, Latvala will improve on consistency. He's only young at the time being, he is still learning when it's the right time to be going flat out on the edge, and just making sure you finish the stage.

Which is better than the other way round - consistent but no pace - like Matt. Consistency comes with experience - if you haven't got pace you can't suddenly get it.

[A.F.F.]

Which is better than the other way round - consistent but no pace - like Matt. Consistency comes with experience - if you haven't got pace you can't suddenly get it.

Suddenly... or never.

[BDunnell]

Which is better than the other way round - consistent but no pace - like Matt. Consistency comes with experience - if you haven't got pace you can't suddenly get it.

:up:

[Wim_Impreza]

Some people here forget that Latvala has almost the same experience in WRC than Hirvonen.

[Lousada]

Some people here forget that Latvala has almost the same experience in WRC than Hirvonen.

Read post #13 ;)
Also I don't think you can say this Latvala's first year in a works team. Stobart Ford is more professional than most works-teams ever were. They have very good cars and pretty decent drivers. When you drive there, people expect good performances too.

[Zes]

Read post #13 ;)
Also I don't think you can say this Latvala's first year in a works team. Stobart Ford is more professional than most works-teams ever were. They have very good cars and pretty decent drivers. When you drive there, people expect good performances too.

Main difference is testing. In works team you are able to test a lot more than M2 teams. Stobart tests are almost nothing. Testing should give you also consistency, but I don't know why it haven't helped JM. Maybe it's the pressure. He is still very young.

[Lousada]

Main difference is testing. In works team you are able to test a lot more than M2 teams. Stobart tests are almost nothing. Testing should give you also consistency, but I don't know why it haven't helped JM. Maybe it's the pressure. He is still very young.

Yes you're right. But to me it seems Latvala is consistent enough as a driver. In all the rallies he has shown he has shown good consistent speed on every stage. It's more that he makes these silly errors. I don't think testing a lot will help you put that large stone in your notes or correctly register a haybale chicane.
Perhaps he is in the same situation as Atkinson last year. That he and his co-driver do not have that extra connection anymore. Duval had that problem too in his Citroen days. It went a lot better when they switched co-drivers.

[Wim_Impreza]

You are right, Lousada. Since Atkinson has a new and very experience codriver, he is much more at the finish and has more speed too. If Risto Pietiläinen is free, I think he is a good codriver for Latvala. For Jari-Matti, it should be better to drive in a Stobart car the next rallies.

[jens]

I don't know if Jari-Matti is the next most talented current driver after Loeb like some have suggested, but he is quick and I still have confidence in him in future terms. He started rallying quite early and has had quite an interesting career (WRC -> JWRC -> WRC), yet he is still very young. Time is in his side.

From the manufacturers' championship point of view this year he hasn't been too beneficial for Ford this year due to a lot of mistakes and may be a factor in costing the title, but from Latvala's point of view there is no alarming situation yet. For example Atkinson got beaten by Solberg for three years in a row to finally become the lead Subaru driver this year. I'm eagerly waiting for 2009 to see if JML can finally match or even beat Hirvonen in the WDC. Assesing his raw pace it could be an accomplishable task.

[Tomi]

For Jari-Matti, it should be better to drive in a Stobart car the next rallies.

And who should drive the works car?

[jonkka]

From the manufacturers' championship point of view this year he hasn't been too beneficial for Ford this year due to a lot of mistakes and may be a factor in costing the title, but from Latvala's point of view there is no alarming situation yet.

Good analysis. Malcolm took calculated risk when he signed JML for this season and it looks increasingly unlikely that Ford could score three manu titles in a row. So far, Latvala has scored more points already this season that he did in 2007 season put together. In championship, he's ahead of both Solbergs (last year he finished behind them) and could get fourth from Atkinson, improving from his eight place in 2007 championship.

It is possible that good early season (first win and good pace et al) lullified JML into false sense of security and made him overconfident. Now it's time for the tarmac events where Citroen is expected to shine and his pace doesn't impress as much as on tarmac. I think that we'll see an indication of his true pace in NZ where sweeping shouldn't benefit late runners as much (or at all, depending on weather).

[Fang]

Latvala is a long term investment and despite his recent incidents I have no reason yet to doubt Malcom's decision. However I must say that Malcom's driver choices over the last few years has been somewhat dissapointing. If I were a team boss I would have pursued a Solberg or Atkinson (IMO the 2nd and 3rd best drivers out there) for one of the ford seats.

[Brother John]

Latvala is a long term investment and despite his recent incidents I have no reason yet to doubt Malcom's decision. However I must say that Malcom's driver choices over the last few years has been somewhat dissapointing. If I were a team boss I would have pursued a Solberg or Atkinson (IMO the 2nd and 3rd best drivers out there) for one of the ford seats.

That´s your opinion, Solberg and Atkinson at Ford that kan be dissapointing choices. :dozey:

[MrJan]

You have just insulted the greatest drivers of all time!!!!

No!!! You have just insulted one of the greatest ever drivers. If you cannot see how good a driver Loeb is then you really shouldn't be watching rallying. Vatenen, Makkinen, McRae, Sainz and many many others are/were all great drivers, there is no doubting that, but the name Loeb is one which will be uttered amongst legends in years to come.

As for JML, he's fantastic. Okay so Duval would have had a few more points but IMO he is not in the same league as Jari Matti who, in the future, will yield fantastic results for Ford. Here is a toung guy who has already had a win and will go on to have many more as he matures. Great talent :up:

[playmo]

Think he was right. As other team managers since long before him.
Name some of the drivers around that were youg and fast?
And what have they become or achieve?
Let's give this kid (he's still one) a chance he could turn out just to be champ or all this and all that.
But please stop all this disscusion already!
Though it's fun....
Cheers.

PS. Also who thinks (as me) that mikko's pace on tarmac has improved drastically? or maybe i have such bad memory.

[Finni]

PS. Also who thinks (as me) that mikko's pace on tarmac has improved drastically? or maybe i have such bad memory.

If you watch last year stage times from Germany I think there is nothing drastical happened. Mikko has upped his pace little bit.

[playmo]

Well, it seemed to me, through the event that it was big step on his performance, but maybe it's just me and Sr. Brandy Torres

[Englandsfahrer]

If you watch last year stage times from Germany I think there is nothing drastical happened. Mikko has upped his pace little bit.

I suppose Loeb wouldn't have bothered commenting on Mikko's pace on asphalt if he hadn't improved quite a bit?