It's time!
What do we know so far?
Toyota
Kalle Rovanperä
Takamoto Katsuta
Hyundai
Ott Tänak
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It's time!
What do we know so far?
Toyota
Kalle Rovanperä
Takamoto Katsuta
Hyundai
Ott Tänak
Toyota was interrested in 3 youngsters, was it pajari, Solberg and sesks?
https://rallyjournal.com/jari-...e-i...-teams-sights/
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I will risk a prediction. If one of the Hyundai drivers wins the championship,the other will leave the team. Provided of course Hyundai continues for 2025...
Abiteboul said Hyundai are considering changing to a full-time 3rd driver from next season....
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/hyund...driver-policy/
This also depends on any new points system, but if they go ahead, who would be the best choice ?
Fourmaux would be the best choice. Both Lappi and Mikkelsen are struggling on tarmac and aren't so consistent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
I don't see any of the drivers sharing the 3rd Hyundai car getting a full time seat, and I can't see a rookie getting in either.
I think Fourmaux could be an interesting prospect, but at the same time, why go to Hyundai if their future is uncertain?
They have to hire Loeb! Oh wait, he eighter couldn't drive the Hyundai on tarmac.Quote:
Originally Posted by CeskyOndra
Its not the existing drivers that are the problem, its the car.
I don't see Fourmaux change seat, lots of uncertain future in Hyundai, why would Hyundai pay M-sport for a driver for maybe a year or two?
If, then they have future plans.
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Yeah, the car is just hard to drive on tarmac, only Neuville can do it. This makes me think that Hyundai has no competitive 3rd driver (and maybe even Ott..) on two last tarmac rounds very important for championship.Quote:
Originally Posted by skarderud
I would go for Sordo. He is complete everywhere. Or go a completely different direction and hire some youngster but that turns out to be a pretty bad decision in the past. I don't know what's with Lappi, but he is nothing after that ''Sweden win''. And that rare competitiveness of Mikkelsen isn't enough (and he always fucked that up too). There is Suninen also, but he was tricked so many times by Hyundai, that I wonder what he is doing there. Lindholm, nah. Either Hyundai isn't serious about training youngsters or he isn't everywhere. There is one guy who I think should be included in consideration. It's silly how they are not seeing Paddon at all. Of youngsters they have Solberg (he had a chance with them before), Pajari (except if Toyota holds him with some clause), Sesks, Gryazin,...
Toyota will go with the same, sure, they will not get rid of Katsuta, after they invested in him so much time and effort (and he is a Japanese ambassador).
M-Sport will maybe replace Munster with Sesks, except that the Greek guy will not let them. Maybe give him Rally2 Fiesta for one season and bring Sesks up. In the past, that way, they did very well. Tanak, Evans, Fourmaux
Yeah, Paddon deserves a seat in Hyundai.
Also Solberg should have matured enough to get a seat.
Yes, Paddon should atleast been given an opportunity for good testing and a couple of rallies.
I'm not shure Solberg want to go back to Hyundai, it closely ruined his career last time, the departure wasnt that nice eighter.
If he is in talks with Latvala for something next season, maybe Rally2 and a couple of Rally1 drives, he will taked that one.
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I don't think Solberg should be nitpicky, Rally1 is not F1 with 10 teams. Tanak came back to Hyundai so maybe Cyril would convince Solberg to do it too. It makes some sense to invest in new guys as Neuville and Tanak are quite old.Quote:
Originally Posted by skarderud
Not big fan of full-time 3rd driver idea, from team perspective I think it's more sensible to find two that are good at different surfaces, although don't see many good tarmac specialists now. And from fan's perspective, I prefer to see two part-time drivers than one full-time as there is enough drivers deserving rally1 seat.
I read this as an internal Hyundai policy topic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Abiteoul kept Lappi in the team after disastrous second half of last year against the wishes of other people at Hyundai. (Lappi's words)
Now Lappi did extremely poorly after 5 months break. While in Sweden the road position in a snowstorm gave him the win, in Poland road position have Mikkelsen an advantage and Ogier and Rovanpera have been benefiting from it on almost all their starts.
Abiteoul is trying to diffuse the issue with the last rally by trying to point to something else.
Yes, unless something dramatic happens they might lose manuchamps on the tarmac rounds at the end.Quote:
Originally Posted by CeskyOndra
Anyone except Neuville misses confidence with it on tarmac. Lappi pushes anyway and ends up crashing often. Tanak drives at 95% behind the other 3-4 fastest and Mikkelsen similarly but behind Katsuta and Fourmaux as well.
Sordo is no longer competitive enough in Rally1. On fast rallies he never was in his career which is why he hasn't done them for last 7 years! So he will never be fulltime driver again. On slow gravel he is no longer able to fight for win on speed alone even with road position advantage.Quote:
Originally Posted by deephouse
Lappi had full season just last year and it didn't work, starting to get a long list of full seasons that didn't work well. (Citroen 2019, Toyota 2018, not to mention MSport).
Mikkelsen as you said had one good rally (where he got full points for 2nd place on Saturday), but it was also his first gravel since 2019. They will quite surely not give him bigger program next year without some extra good results. Maybe try him in Greece.
Suninen got numerous second chances at both MSport and Hyundai with usually disastrous results (like losing them manu champs last year in Chile). And this year he is invisible in Rally2 while Paddon does quite well.
Fourmaux is the only realistic other option unless Evans leaves Toyota. Hard to say how realistic. Sesks performance put Fourmauxs "great results" a bit into question for me.
If we look back, then all the evidences show that you can not put young and green drivers in full 14 round, all a around season - it had worked almost never. Thus all the young guns must share a car with someone and build up experience.
Pajari is locked in Toyota - Latvala had been rather direct between the lines; even his comment about Pajaris expectations from Finland point to long term plan ( while Sesks had to all-in to show what he could).
Oliver will have a place in M-Sport, bcs he needs to prove him self being mature for R1 again. Thus I guess that in some strange scenario Oliver would share a seat with Sesks, if both get budgets together. Malcolm will not pay for them.
So, the Hyundai - i would really like to see Paddon back; in the ideal version, he would 50/50 share his seat with Lapi or Mikelsen. And that is it.
Evans will stay in Toyota. The unknown factor - the one who gets WDC might decide to retire - i can imagine Ott saying - 2 is ok; then more places open up.
Should be rather interesting silly season.
I can see Evans or Neuville being shifted to M-Sport.
If Neuville don't win the WDC, do he take another season or just call it a career?
I don't know his contract tho.
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Who would pay for it? Only if Ford goes all-in as they are stating in media ( but they are waiting 2027 rules)Quote:
Originally Posted by WRCStan
Anybody but Ford.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndersX
He's needed too much as a contender. It'd be senseless to let him disappear. He's also not quit yet despite not winning titles before.Quote:
Originally Posted by skarderud
+1 for Paddon,he deserves for sure a Rally1 seat(part time or not).
Red Bull and Ford will gather enough for M-Sport to get whoever doesn't get a seat with Toyota or Hyundai with Evans and Mikkelsen being the prime candidates.
Yes, but its "his to loose" this year with Kalles parttime, next year he is back fulltime and to be big favorite.Quote:
Originally Posted by WRCStan
If he loose this, no big changes on the car (no new car) and the Kalle/Toyota combination is unbeatable, is he (or Ott) motivated?
Or, to Spice the silly season up, both Neuville and Ott, and Evans is out next year, and katsuta in 4th car, then its lots of seats up for grabs:)
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Abiteboul already confirmed Tänak for next year.
idk but heres the next kalle! the boy will be winning titles by 8 years old
https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfucking..._the_youngest/
Sordo is done...
Toyota next year:
Many rumours in Jyväskylä (as long as I was there)...
Probably there´s room for a couple of new drivers in the team.
Having seen Kalle in the aftermath of his crash, saying he will be back next year, doesn´t tell if he will be a parttime driver or not, though.
My thoughts:
Pajari, possible.
Oliver, possible (seeing him and JML at the finish line, says maybe something.)
Above meaning a couple of drivers had quit.
So possible for Katsuta to be part time maybe and Evans out??Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
My hint is there´s gonna be some changes. That said without any confirmations what so ever.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
Are they also gonna make the car less ugly? Just kidding lol but thanks for the info!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Unless kalle or ogier return fulltime, evans will stay.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
Let's make it wild:
TGR- Neuville, Pajari, part time for Ogi and Kalle. Katsuta in R2 programme.
Hyundai- Tänak, Solberg and someone for part time.
M-Sport- Evans, Formaux, part time for Sesks and maybe Munster.
If my memory serves me right then Kalle will be full time in 2025. When this surprised announcement was made that he will drive partially in 2024, then they also mentioned that the year after that it is back to normal again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dontcut
Exactly what his manager Jouhki said today to media, he didn`t understand where the specualtion comes from as it`s already announced he will be back full time next year. A rumour in Finland said Oliver was already signed with Toyota for 2025, but just a rumourQuote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
If Rovanpera drives fulltime I can see Toyota dropping Evans which might make him go to MSport.
Oliver getting some drive sounds reasonable though I am not sure anyone will give him full season since he totally ignores tarmac since Croatia 2023. His lack of experience and historically also performance on tarmac also makes Hyundai least likely imo.
All this talk about dropping Evans....I don't know, he's no Rovanperä but still could you have a better "number 2"? I don't think so.
Rumours says that Fourmaux is already in talks with Hyundai.
Toyota - Ogier, Rovanpera, Solberg, Katsuta, Pajari
Hyundai - Neuville, Tanak, Fourmaux
Ford - Sesks, Evans
How about a swap between Evans and Neuville? So Neuville moves to Toyota and Evans to Hyundai? So Hyundai would be Tänak, Evans, Fourmaux maybe and perhaps a fourth car (if possible).
On a side note, what do you guys think, will we ever see Tänak again in the Toyota or that bridge was burned in 2019?
I am rather sure Neuville will retire as a Hyundai driver. I can be wrong but I think he said something like that in some interview.