M-Sport Ford World Rally Teams

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Originally Posted by Rallyest

It did translate correctly, seems kinda bull tho, Why would Tänak fly alone to test and why would he fly with a bag that says " test 2022 "

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If he's just going to just try a car for the first time, he wouldn't necessarily need his co-driver with him, Martin might be busy or have some other plans anyway.

I would guess that would be his 2022 Hyundai testing helmet... so he's either flying to Frankfurt (nearest airport to Alzenau) to give the helmet back, or on to somewhere else for a go in a new car...

I don't see any merit in trying to find some conspiracy or hidden meaning here. A rally driver flying somewhere with a helmet bag is pretty normal... why would he bother to hide it? It's not like he's under contract somewhere and needs to keep a low profile. And he's one of Estonia's most famous sportspeople, so it's not like he'd just blend into the background and not be noticed at Tallinn airport...

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Originally Posted by ouvreur

If he's just going to just try a car for the first time, he wouldn't necessarily need his co-driver with him, Martin might be busy or have some other plans anyway.

I would guess that would be his 2022 Hyundai testing helmet... so he's either flying to Frankfurt (nearest airport to Alzenau) to give the helmet back, or on to somewhere else for a go in a new car...

I don't see any merit in trying to find some conspiracy or hidden meaning here. A rally driver flying somewhere with a helmet bag is pretty normal... why would he bother to hide it? It's not like he's under contract somewhere and needs to keep a low profile. And he's one of Estonia's most famous sportspeople, so it's not like he'd just blend into the background and not be noticed at Tallinn airport...

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I agree with the rest of your post but the thought of Tänak flying personally to Alzenau only to return a helmet made me LOL at a public library :D

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Originally Posted by AnttiL

I agree with the rest of your post but the thought of Tänak flying personally to Alzenau only to return a helmet made me LOL at a public library :D

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Can you imagine :rotflmao:

Farewell party in Alzenau and a helmet as a thank you present to Hyundai?

Sordo burnt down 1mil car(Tanak's ex) and now Tanak is returning 10k used helmet :D :D :D

No idea how trustworthy this account is. It Has registered lately but since we are already having this crazy rumor roll today here

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...60e0a0b3ff.jpg

https://twitter.com/rallyspynews/sta...rvqmmTTtpkgu6Q

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Originally Posted by EstWRC

No idea how trustworthy this account is. It Has registered lately but since we are already having this crazy rumor roll today here

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...60e0a0b3ff.jpg

https://twitter.com/rallyspynews/sta...rvqmmTTtpkgu6Q

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Ok which one of you is this? :D

Definitely some Estonian who saw that post about Tänak with a helmet in the airport ;)

someone that "heard it here first" :D

This was that guys 'news' about Hyundai 2023...

Rally Specialist @rallyspynews
Nov 2
Hyundai - Neuville, Mikkelsen full season and Suninen, Sordo will share car.

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

This was that guys 'news' about Hyundai 2023...

Rally Specialist @rallyspynews
Nov 2
Hyundai - Neuville, Mikkelsen full season and Suninen, Sordo will share car.

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Wuorela's Estonian cousin

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Originally Posted by TypeR

Sordo burnt down 1mil car(Tanak's ex) and now Tanak is returning 10k used helmet :D :D :D

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Desperate times call for desperate measures :laugh:

Would be surprised if Tanak hasn't driven the Puma, maybe even before he left Hyundai. Colin Mac tested an Escort in Scotland with MSport in secret while contracted to Subaru.

I don't say that it couldn't happen, but it was a bit easier to make secret test in 90s.

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Originally Posted by Kenneth

I don't say that it couldn't happen, but it was a bit easier to make secret test in 90s.

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It's a British speciality to hide even national rallies from anyone interested, I think they could manage a secret test here...

M-Sport has a private testing forest, so likely no videos will surface. It's a different thing in Finland when we have "every man's right" to walk in every forest even if it's closed for a rally test and always someone finds out when a test is arranged. Sometimes the marshalls can ask not to post pictures/videos from a test but it's more like youtubers want to be friends with the test organizers rather than become personae non grataes.

There's no reason to make it a big secret though as Tanak is a free agent.

Also Millener has said they have had discussions with Tanak and we would all expect him to have a test before signing anything.

Another article on Tanak...

"It depends on a lot of things ," resumes Tänak when asked if he wants to complete a full season next year.

"It depends on how I feel, and especially if I have the belief that I have a chance to fight for the championship, because it's something that I miss. If that's the case, then I will be."

https://fr.motorsport.com/wrc/news/t...2023/10404459/

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

Another article on Tanak...

"It depends on a lot of things ," resumes Tänak when asked if he wants to complete a full season next year.

"It depends on how I feel, and especially if I have the belief that I have a chance to fight for the championship, because it's something that I miss. If that's the case, then I will be."

https://fr.motorsport.com/wrc/news/t...2023/10404459/

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Those comments are from Rally Japan pre event press conference

https://www.fia.com/news/wrc-forum8-...ess-conference

Be prepared for at least another couple of weeks of reheating interview snippets as articles.

Rumours about Ott testing the Puma today.

Fourmaux:
On the way to the @TropheeAndros ! While waiting to tell you more about 2023, I will take part in the famous ice racing competition this winter. Team DRP's 500hp electric car, 4 directional wheels... Lots of fun !

Muddy for the test at Greystoke today...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FicJ-jxW...pg&name=medium

Ah great. Now ford dont want hybrids and electrics in motorsport.
https://www.motorsport.com/general/n...port/10371372/
(Sep-22)

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Originally Posted by lmmjvss

Ah great. Now ford dont want hybrids and electrics in motorsport.
https://www.motorsport.com/general/n...port/10371372/
(Sep-22)

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To be fair, this speaks positively of the Puma and really is probably more relevant to NASCAR and Aussie Supercars.

Impressive silence :D

A bit more from the Millener interview:

"Honestly, I don't know who we'll have [driving for us in 2023], but hopefully we can keep all of our current drivers and Ott, if that's possible. No one has signed anything yet."


"There is interest (in Tanak), of course, but the rumors on the internet are much stronger than the reality. It is now clear that he is a free agent and that Hyundai is no longer an option for him. It seems that Toyota has a lineup that they are happy with, but it could be that he takes some time off."

"Obviously we'll talk to him and see what's possible, but right now it's very hard to envision a way to do anything."

Asked if M-Sport would consider a partial campaign for Tanak , he added: "It could be a possibility, although there would have to be an investment from M-Sport which is not going to be small."

"We have limited the cars we bring to Japan for financial reasons, and keeping the business going is our priority. There are a lot of people working at this company, so you don't want to put that at risk."

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Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

A bit more from the Millener interview:

"Honestly, I don't know who we'll have [driving for us in 2023], but hopefully we can keep all of our current drivers and Ott, if that's possible. No one has signed anything yet."


"There is interest (in Tanak), of course, but the rumors on the internet are much stronger than the reality. It is now clear that he is a free agent and that Hyundai is no longer an option for him. It seems that Toyota has a lineup that they are happy with, but it could be that he takes some time off."

"Obviously we'll talk to him and see what's possible, but right now it's very hard to envision a way to do anything."

Asked if M-Sport would consider a partial campaign for Tanak , he added: "It could be a possibility, although there would have to be an investment from M-Sport which is not going to be small."

"We have limited the cars we bring to Japan for financial reasons, and keeping the business going is our priority. There are a lot of people working at this company, so you don't want to put that at risk."

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Who is their "current drivers"? I kind of only see Greensmith.

Fourmaux seems to be kicked out of Rally1. Loubet is supposedly paying himself and RedBull is paying for Loeb.


With regards to "investement" vs "not risking jobs". Everyone understands that saving money on investment only works as a short term fix. Longer term without investment the company will go down for sure. 2020-2021 it totally looked like that.
Then they (and/or Ford) made investment in new Puma and one driver capable of podiums (Breen) and managed to get Loeb for a few starts. Looked great for a few rallies and convinced Loubet as well as Huttunen to use money at MSport. (People like Serendis and Bertelli would likely use money there anyway).

But lately it looks not as great again, investing in Breen ultimately failed and Huttunens example of using money only to have technical issues whole rally as well as the constant technical issues for others is bad for business. Potential clients such as Solberg might rather opt to go to WRC2 (seems to be the case for Solberg) or rent that 4th Toyota.

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With regards to Tanak I 100% expect him to test it. The only reason not to try would be if he was 100% sure that he doesn't want any rallies in 2023.

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Originally Posted by lmmjvss

Ah great. Now ford dont want hybrids and electrics in motorsport.
https://www.motorsport.com/general/n...port/10371372/
(Sep-22)

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Without a doubt the best part of the interview: "I know we have it with our Puma hybrid in [World Rally Championship] and it’s actually working quite well there and we have learnt a lot from that that we can transfer to our road cars..."

Learnt a lot from an independent engineering company using a spec component from a third party. haha

You can't learn by analyzing what someone else done? Also won't there be option to use own hybrid unit since 2025?

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Originally Posted by becher

Without a doubt the best part of the interview: "I know we have it with our Puma hybrid in [World Rally Championship] and it’s actually working quite well there and we have learnt a lot from that that we can transfer to our road cars..."

Learnt a lot from an independent engineering company using a spec component from a third party. haha

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YES. Pure P.R. BS...
Tho I understand that "Ford Europe" could be pushing electric and hybrid because of the EU and street cars, but its interesting to see this shift about motorsport.... HOWEVER ford has been linked to F1 for 2026... So, I dont understand anything anymore haha

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Originally Posted by lmmjvss

Ah great. Now ford dont want hybrids and electrics in motorsport.
https://www.motorsport.com/general/n...port/10371372/
(Sep-22)

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It's good that they say that the spectacle created by ICE, ie. the noise, is important to connecting to their customers ie. motorsport fans.

Toyota boss Toyoda and JM Latvala have also said about keeping ICE and changing the fuel to suit instead.

The idea of full-electric rally cars seems to have been consigned to the dustbin.

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Originally Posted by Kenneth

You can't learn by analyzing what someone else done? Also won't there be option to use own hybrid unit since 2025?

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Of course one can, but Ford not being all that involved in M-Sports day to day running and the fact that we are talking about a spec component which is in terms of packaging at least not really comparable to anything we see on the road, makes me think that there is very little to be learned by the Ford roadcar side.

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Originally Posted by seb_sh

Ok which one of you is this? :D

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Wasn't this the same account that tweeted that Martin Järveoja will co-drive for Gregor Jeets next season? I heard from multiple accounts that is indeed true, one of them being oh so specific about the details surrounding the matter.

Oliver Solberg: M-Sport Rally1 WRC deal still an option for 2023

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/s...2023/10407211/

Loeb and Formaux racing Electric Rallycross On Ice - Trophee Andros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Bs-0rqABo

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Originally Posted by lmmjvss

Loeb and Formaux racing Electric Rallycross On Ice - Trophee Andros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Bs-0rqABo

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with M-Sport World Rally Team ?

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Originally Posted by pantealex

with M-Sport World Rally Team ?

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No, but they are Msport drivers hehe

Video story of Ott joining https://youtu.be/kc2nHrhxkpg

Tanak and Malcolm saved the WRC for 2023 season :D