[WRC] News & Rumours 2020

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Originally Posted by AnttiL

That's quite big news. Is this the Satellite team?

Also, what happened to Huttunen's "development program"?

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Very weird decisions by Adamo once again to gather 5 new drivers, when they already had Mikkelsen and Breen almost without the driving program. It seems that Adamo had no trust to Huttunen and at the same time he trust Gryazin and Veiby, but how long? There was already some comments after Monte Carlo that he was not happy at all :) “Honestly speaking, the driver performance this weekend has not really been up to our expectations.”

After all I am rather sure that Hyundai is not putting very much money to this Junior program and now there are drivers who have been able to find their own money. FFSA is paying Loubet´s prgram and there is a lot of money. Only surprise is that the team is Hyundai and not M-Sport...

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Originally Posted by rp

After all I am rather sure that Hyundai is not putting very much money to this Junior program and now there are drivers who have been able to find their own money. FFSA is paying Loubet´s prgram and there is a lot of money. Only surprise is that the team is Hyundai and not M-Sport...

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That is true, in the past there have been good backings for Veiby and Gryazin. And Loubet, he's got also the Qatar money behind him.

FFSA has its horses in all manu teams, although not all with WRCs - Loubet in Hyundai, Fourmaux in M-Sport and Rossel in Citroën. I agree about the backing, Gryazin has almost unlimited sources behind, Veiby covered by Even management... At the same time I think that's the reason why Mikkelsen is finished as his contract with Even expired by the end of 2019.

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Originally Posted by Karbonyl

FFSA has its horses in all manu teams, although not all with WRCs - Loubet in Hyundai, Fourmaux in M-Sport and Rossel in Citroën. I agree about the backing, Gryazin has almost unlimited sources behind, Veiby covered by Even management... At the same time I think that's the reason why Mikkelsen is finished as his contract with Even expired by the end of 2019.

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Policy of Even is that they don't pay for drives. Which is why Tidemand left them at the end of last season. So your logic is backwards. On top of that Mikkelsen has enough own money to pay himself, but says he doesn't want to. Whether EVENs policy of not paying also applies to his own son is another question.

Yeah but Veiby was looking nearly finished without backing. I don't know if it has been talked about much on here before today, but as soon as i saw that Hyundai R5 team it screamed of Veiby and Gryazin bringing money, with Martin/Tanak predictably making a few bob out of the arrangement.

If it was a proper Hyundai team, they would run Breen, even maybe Mikkelsen, and sign a long term prospect like Solberg. That would show off the true speed of the R5 to potential customers, win events and the championship, and also keep an eye on the future with Oliver signed long term.

Gryazin and Veiby are good drivers, but there's no way in my eyes they've been chosen over other options available without bringing backing/paying.

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Originally Posted by er88

Yeah but Veiby was looking nearly finished without backing. I don't know if it has been talked about much on here before today, but as soon as i saw that Hyundai R5 team it screamed of Veiby and Gryazin bringing money, with Martin/Tanak predictably making a few bob out of the arrangement.

If it was a proper Hyundai team, they would run Breen, even maybe Mikkelsen, and sign a long term prospect like Solberg. That would show off the true speed of the R5 to potential customers, win events and the championship, and also keep an eye on the future with Oliver signed long term.

Gryazin and Veiby are good drivers, but there's no way in my eyes they've been chosen over other options available without bringing backing/paying.

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agree 100%

Solberg wasn't too interested in Hyundai since there would be 3 drivers in the team, now they added 3 more that will use of resources and people so Skoda was definitely the best choice i belive.
11 drivers in total now within Hyundai of different levels...

https://twitter.com/skunnercampbell/...17485938298881

David Evans is leaving Motorsport News, Autosport as well?

To DirtFIsh as well.

Quite a lot of departures from Motorsport Network recently. Believed to be that the end is nigh....

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Originally Posted by rallyfiend

To DirtFIsh as well.

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Guess or fact?

Attachment 1920

David Evans liked a tweet which suggested DirtFish has something to do with his moves

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Originally Posted by AnttiL

https://twitter.com/skunnercampbell/...17485938298881

David Evans is leaving Motorsport News, Autosport as well?

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I thought something was up when he didn’t seem to have anything to do with any of the Autosport articles, covering the Monte, but now he’s written a few that they’ve published since then... so no idea!

David Evans is checking out from Autosport in his column in todays magazine.

In January 2020 Motorsport News was acquired by Kelsey Media. Amongst the notable motorsport journalists to work for the publication are Alan Henry and David Tremayne. The newspaper is published every Wednesday. Its offices are in Richmond in Middlesex, England.

en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Motorsport_News

Motorsport News - Wikipedia


https://motorsport.radio/kelsey-publ...-the-industry/

Seeing Breen pop up all over the forum, along with all those other sidelined drivers waiting to return, I remembered and wondered where Stephane Lefebvre ever went? We all know he had a catastrophic 2017 (I remember him being as quick as Breen before his crash in Germany the year prior) but while nearly all the drivers from 2015/2016 are still around Lefebvre hasn't appeared anywhere in forever...

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Originally Posted by steve.mandzij

Seeing Breen pop up all over the forum, along with all those other sidelined drivers waiting to return, I remembered and wondered where Stephane Lefebvre ever went? We all know he had a catastrophic 2017 (I remember him being as quick as Breen before his crash in Germany the year prior) but while nearly all the drivers from 2015/2016 are still around Lefebvre hasn't appeared anywhere in forever...

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He has been doing some French rally's last year. He won the rallye du condroz the last 2 years, and participated in germany in 2018.

But thats about it. I assume he wasn't good enough for the available places, and doesn't have the money to keep playing at the top.

Some rumours that Mikkelsen is out of Hyundai now...

Italian media on Monte 2021:

The next edition of the Montecarlo rally has started to make headlines even before the 2020 one ended; a special edition to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the Monaco auto club, which for the occasion should move its center of gravity to the Principality of Monaco.

The leitmotif of the 2021 edition will be the great celebration of the ACM for its 100th birthday, a motivation that is giving a great impetus to basing a Monte Carlo rally up to its legend. Farewell to Gap this time has nothing to do with Ogier's probable withdrawal, or with the god of money. The tide of public that has also poured into the Gap region this year is a sufficient stimulus for local and municipal administrations. Wanting to bring all three / four days of competition to the center of gravity of the principality is the same organization, which for its hundred years would aspire to a Montecarlo race in every respect. The main problem to date is the service park, with the ACM that would like it in Monaco or La Turbie, but the problem of the necessary and adequate spaces is creating many problems. In the port area the spaces are quite limited and in the case of eighty ninety competitors would still be insufficient. Not to mention the traffic problems in returning to the mid and end of the day service, given that the highway between Nice and Monaco often offers queues and slowdowns at peak times. One of the solutions could be to go and occupy the large spaces surrounding the new stadium in Nice, located alongside the Saint Isidore highway exit. Logistically perfect location, but distant and with limited impact on the principality. The only thing that is not lacking is the stages because in the valleys that embrace the N 202 (Nice, Gap) not far from the capital of the French Riviera there is a myriad of historical stages: Saint Auban, Aiglun, Entevaux, La Cayolle and many other. Very classic, full of charm, but with the possibility of ice and snow reduced to the minimum terms.

http://www.areacorse.com/montecarlo-...nslMZZi-00eAks

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Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

Some rumours that Mikkelsen is out of Hyundai now...

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Could see that coming. No point in him staying anyway when he doesn't get any drives. Wonder what he'll do

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Katvala

Could see that coming. No point in him staying anyway when he doesn't get any drives. Wonder what he'll do

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

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Now there's an article on parcferme.no where he says he will be doing events In a i20 WRC

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Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

Now there's an article on parcferme.no where he says he will be doing events In a i20 WRC

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As a pay driver or are they entering him in main team/satélite team?
I would like to see him get a drive, but it seems odd when Adamo picks Breen over him

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Shakedown complete… What’s next for DirtFish

After a great start with the Monte Carlo Rally, we've got plenty more to come

https://www.dirtfish.com/archive/sha...-for-dirtfish/

Their articles for the first ARA event last week was okay, though it wasn't particularly exciting. Just under 40 cars when there were over sixty ten years ago. Subaru's factory effort such as it is wasn't present, either.

The next event in March should be bigger; the organizers say they have over a hundred entries. I just got an email asking if I'd volunteer.

Any chance the international reporters will have a chance to grace the US series with a visit? Not sure how they'd manage talking to people that aren't already news items and with no instant timing. They'd need crews at the start and finish communicating on their own radio frequency as there's no phone service. I've always wanted to try the logistics of something like that; years of laying out marshals and instructing start/finish crews is fun for an on the spot challenge but a change would be fun.

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Originally Posted by Gregor-y

Their articles for the first ARA event last week was okay, though it wasn't particularly exciting. Just under 40 cars when there were over sixty ten years ago. Subaru's factory effort such as it is wasn't present, either.

The next event in March should be bigger; the organizers say they have over a hundred entries. I just got an email asking if I'd volunteer.

Any chance the international reporters will have a chance to grace the US series with a visit? Not sure how they'd manage talking to people that aren't already news items and with no instant timing. They'd need crews at the start and finish communicating on their own radio frequency as there's no phone service. I've always wanted to try the logistics of something like that; years of laying out marshals and instructing start/finish crews is fun for an on the spot challenge but a change would be fun.

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As someone who was once involved with US rallying since Hyundai and Mitsu were involved way back when Henry Joy and Paul Choinere was driving with Buffum Hyundai team. That was as close as we were going to get to have a WRC event in the states with over 100 entries at nearly every event. When you see how events are run in Finland, Germany and even Turkey it would involve a huge effort to run an actual WRC event. Maybe an event in Canada or up north with the involvement of Dirt Fish. Most other states would just get crazy trying to protect endangered moths and mosquitoes. Dont forget Subaru brought over a couple WRC cars at Rim of the World. One of them was driven by Mark Lovell. The other was a GC8, but not sure who drove it. Petter Solberg also came out and drove a stage and this was when Petter was killing it in WRC. I have not seen such involvement since then. Rim of the World was extremely close to being a WRC event, but the head of the Angeles National Forest was concerned about some endangered frog in the hills of Palmdale. The event never took place and Rim of the World was canceled for good. City of Palmdale would have made a boat load of money if the WRC were to take place, but dumb US politicians failed to cease the opportunity. It's this kind of thinking why the US will not have a solid WRC event. We have plenty of capable organizers in the US so lets hope it happens somwhere up north like Seattle

David Evans confirmed to DirtFish

https://www.dirtfish.com/rally/top-r...oins-dirtfish/

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Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

Some rumours that Mikkelsen is out of Hyundai now...

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I think so as well. He tells ParcFerme that he hopes for Hyundai, since he knows that car best. But Hyundai seems to be well off with driver options, so lets see. Mr Adamo could suddenly switch back to Mikkelsen, if that feeling sneeks in.

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Originally Posted by Sulland

He tells ParcFerme that he hopes for Hyundai, since he knows that car best. But Hyundai seems to be well off with driver options, so lets see. Mr Adamo could suddenly switch back to Mikkelsen, if that feeling sneeks in.

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Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

Now there's an article on parcferme.no where he says he will be doing events In a i20 WRC

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Have you read the same article?

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Originally Posted by racerx1979

Rim of the World was extremely close to being a WRC event, but the head of the Angeles National Forest was concerned about some endangered frog in the hills of Palmdale.

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It should be possible to run a rally without belittling endangered species, let alone hurting them. I wouldn't be surprised if Dirtfish makes a push for Seattle or Oregon to at least be a candidate but as you say the organization and infrastructure is really primitive. Canada's a little better from what I've seen in Ontario but they're also using home-built timing equipment and get coverage fromm the CBC. Besides, it's a long way to go. Barcelona and Moscow are roughly the same distance apart as Chicago and Seattle.

Unless there really is a US WRC push this can all go to the Dirtfish thread, anyway.

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Originally Posted by AnttiL

Have you read the same article?

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Yup, i heard on a not very reliable podcast called "Lyktepodden" that he was out just before the new article came.

Tänak and Sordo will take part in the first round of Portugal championship

https://twitter.com/hmsgofficial/sta...721559557?s=21

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Originally Posted by EstWRC

Tänak and Sordo will take part in the first round of Portugal championship

https://twitter.com/hmsgofficial/sta...721559557?s=21

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Surely its better prep for Portugal than Mexico? That rally uses the same stages as Rally Portugal!

It's just a continuation of last years tradition of using (other) rallies to get around testing day limits.

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Originally Posted by the sniper

Surely its better prep for Portugal than Mexico? That rally uses the same stages as Rally Portugal!

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Especially one new stage in the WRC event...

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Originally Posted by the sniper

Surely its better prep for Portugal than Mexico? That rally uses the same stages as Rally Portugal!

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It's better to get more millage in a new car, and if it's gravel before gravel WRC rally it's better twice.

''A year which is best forgotten."

It's the first time I've had the chance to speak to Gaurav Gill since the fateful incident at the Rally of Jodhpur in September 2019.

http://overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/f...ill-moving-on/

https://www.autohebdo.fr/wrc/actuali...rd-208805.html

Kris Meeke's career in rallying is not lacking. On the sidelines of his victory at the Bastogne Legend Boucles with a Ford Escort MkII, the North Irishman confided at length to AUTOhebdo on his moods and his delicate situation in rallying.

The man of the five successes in World Championship (WRC) was not kept by Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2020. The fault in a game of musical chairs, triggered by the passage of Ott Tänak at Hyundai in the autumn latest.


"Events followed one another without any discussion because of the way the Tänak affair suddenly developed. It broke out during the Rally of Spain. It would be a lie to say that I was not disappointed, but to say that I was surprised ...

When you have a realistic and global vision of the WRC driver market situation, what could I do to change the situation? The snake, I swallowed it. "

Kris Meeke, over 40, knows full well that the age barrier counts more and more when it comes to signing an official contract. “Tänak has been in the WRC, on a WRC, since 2012. Neuville too. Today, they are 31 or 32 years old! I always knew it: for me, getting to rally my life was going to be a challenge.

I was always going to be on a wire. In the back of my mind, I always knew that one day my age would play against me. It happened. When I found myself driving a car identical to that of Tänak, he dominated me. It was faster and more consistent. For the past two years, it has been incredible! "

A handsome and pragmatic player, the former Citroën driver took a step back at the start of the year, unlike other comrades. "I haven't explored any leads. As soon as the Citroën withdrawal was announced, I understood that it looked bad. I spoke with Jari-Matti (Latvala).

He said he was ready to pay to drive a Toyota. It's Latvala! This year, Lappi is paid by Citroën (who owed him a year of contract. Editor's note). It's free. Paying to promote products sold by others is not part of my ego.

The shuttlecocks whose holders are paid being all taken, if I was no longer worth enough to be one of these privileged people - which I am not saying they do not deserve - what is the point of insisting? I didn’t try anything.


However, the 2009 IRC champion does not admit defeat. "" Never say never ", they say. Ogier claims that his season is the last. This could reshuffle the cards. "

Evans needs to keep losing to Ogier

Opinion: Why holding off on a 2020 title bid might be the best move for Evans' career


https://www.dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/e...sing-to-ogier/

D. Evans talks about Evans fighting or going to fight for the championship for the last 3 years or so... every time Evans does a good result. But so far that typically happens 1-2 times a year. So we'll see how it goes this time.

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Originally Posted by mknight

D. Evans talks about Evans fighting or going to fight for the championship for the last 3 years or so... every time Evans does a good result. But so far that typically happens 1-2 times a year. So we'll see how it goes this time.

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Evans will never be a world champion...

Miikka Anttila said Sweden is his last rally as a co-driver so far.