http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-new...milli-for-2016
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Quite a surprise they signed Camilli imo.
Edit: ha, wrote the below before the confirmation. Little surprising to me, but I wonder if Toyota are paying for this season to see if he's worth having next year?
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And why shouldn't he?
With no Ogier, Latvala, Mikkelsen, Neuville, Paddon, Sordo, Abbring, Lappi, Kopecky or Meeke on the market, Ostberg is the best available to them and they've signed him up.
Evans might not be a leading star, but he's a steady driver that will solidify a championship position and he's also intrinsically linked to Ford/M-Sport so, if he does have a breakout season, there is a good chance of him staying on there. Maybe a risk on a Tidemand, Camilli or Bergkvist could pay off, but with Citroen and Toyota (and probably Hyundai) recruiting next year, what would be the point in developing someone this year, that one of those teams would inevitably take if they turned out to be a success?
Is it a superb lineup? No. Is it as strong a lineup as possible? Pretty much. To not have to pay for it is excellent business and the reason why Malcolm is able to run a semi-factory team at the top level.
Big gamble with Camilli, very curious how he'll go...
Can't see him having the pace of Evans.
Hundreds of our posts where we were trying to predict the line-up and still a surprise. I personally don't know if it is a good choice by Malcom. I seriously doubt that Camilli can be better than Evans. Maybe Wilson just wanted the French guy because it is the only way to win ;)
Money, money, money!
I think signing Camilli is a mix between a gamble and wanting to bring new drivers in. If Camilli performs well it will be hard to keep him on for 2017 but on the other hand worst case is he is a bit worse than Evans so really not that big a risk. There are probably some financial aspects as well, that we don't know.
Actually, the other interesting thing is that there's no mention of Bertelli
What the hell? Wilson needs to go to the doctor, so money hungry?
Very nice surprise! :) I'm following him since he drove the 208 cup in France, this year his results were a bit disappointing but we'll see how he does. Remember he was driving a Fiesta R5 against more competitive R5 cars.
I don't know if Camilli has big backers..Quote:
Originally Posted by eestlane
This is a surprise indeed.
Is Eric the first french driver to drive for Malcom?
And what will Evans do now?
Camilli ? :eek:
What the....
What about Evans?
Surprised about Camilli, I can't say i've seen anything that remarkable to deserve it but maybe Toyota pay.
I'm not a big fan of this 'throwing people in a WRCar before they are ready or proven' trend.
Tänak was also promoted straight from one full season in SWRC to WRC but he had more experience and he other hand showed amazing speed in S2000 car with mixing it up on some stages with WRC cars (finland 2011 for example). i havent seen anything like that from Camili or from others in recent years (apart from Ogier in skoda). Very Very surprising decision.
@RS, Every current WRC-top driver was thrown in a WRC car before he had proven it to be worthy... How can you prove yourself without getting a chance for it? For Ogier people here said it was too early, for Neuville people here said it was too early, for Lefebvre the same, for Camilli the same... We'll see how it will turn out, I'm a big fan of Camilli with his efficient driving style. :) Also people judge his results in WRC2 as "not quick enough", but we have to question the speed of the current Fiesta R5 when M-Sport suddenly pulls 35hp and 50Nm out of their magic hat...
Rumours say that Evans with Bertelli in second M-Sport team. Not said how many rounds each will do.
Camilli... as an official M-Sport driver. Wilson is crazy ! I don't understand his choice. What about Meeke ? or others drivers who make good things in RC2. Poor Evans...
That's what I suspect as well. Toyota wants Camilli to gain experience. They don't have a car so the choice is M-Sport. And it is first team because they want Eric to have as best as possible situation to measure his performance.Quote:
Originally Posted by RS
Camilli was never contracted to 'Toyota', but to TMG. And it is reasonably well-known now that TMG is unlikely to have any involvement in the new Toyota GAzoo Racing WRC team under Tommi - indeed the car they've been testing seems to be destined for the museum, so all past work lost...
Yeah, that's the weird part of it. So it has to make you ask, who is paying if not them?
Tommi has used both Camilli and Sunninen in testing, and they are both Toyota drivers. Don't see any other logic to this than that Toyota has outbid the Evans family, and want Camilli primed to the number two driver spot in the 2017 Toyota line up. Camilli is a very interesting driver, and in my opinion his current potential is above that of Evans.
Looks like he has a deal for more than one year so that makes any Toyota link unlikely. Colin Clark is on twitter suggesting FFSA may be paying for him.
I am not disagreeing on the potential of Camilli, but i really see no indication this has anything to do with Toyota. Why kick out the current (long term) payer, Evans with a one year drive for Camilli who you will be competing against next year?
Surprising but that was my other guess, they could surely be funding a lot of young drivers in France with that budget, but depends
a) if they're actually paying a large % of it or 'just' a contribution
and
b) if it's a specific request of a private FFSA backer
At least it should calm down EstWRC knowing Tanak has a drive and Evans doesn't, but I feel that's very unlucky on Evans. Hopefully he has a few outings planned in the R5, is involved in development of the 2017 car or there's more news to come.
I don't see why Bertelli would share a car. If he doesn't have to (and clearly he can afford to run a season himself), I don't understand why he'd pay for someone else.
And what if Evans has to bring a certain amount of money for the complete season and he couldn't manage to do it? ;) Maybe we could see a B-team with Bertelli and Evans next year (as mentioned here before).
I don't believe Evans has ever brought money to the team, he works at their facility and was a personal project of Malcolm, but I understand it's not one he can afford with the extra events, improving R2 and R5 competition and hopefully a 2017 car development.
Bertelli said that he´ll keep his typical brown livery - so probably no official M Sport driver, maybe similar to Kubica in 2014.
Where would Evans get the money from?? UK drivers have no chance of raising sponsorship....
I would think Camilli has got funds from possibly both the FFSA & TMG....
The MSA won't and never have funded drivers.....
Very surprised by the choice of Malcolm... I would have kept Evans and/or Tanak for at least another season, no point in "raising" them just to drop them so early, it's not like M-Sport has any chance to win any championship anytime soon...
Well, he actually kept Tänak with Dmacks money. Im still in shock with this decision, i was 100% sure that its Ostberg/Evans. I cant wait now to see what speed Mads shows with Fiesta on gravel.
Wilson is a genius, he has now different drivers and different tyres to compare for future and of course he has MONEY now.
It took 15 years to see a Frenchman back at M-Sport.It was half expected as there was an interview from Wilson a few time ago where he named Camilli as a very good upcoming driver.So,if they didnt keep Evans he was probably the first choice.Lets see how that works out.On paper,it looks a pretty good lineup with an experienced and consistent points scorer and a young gun eager to prove himself.
From TMG facebook : "Good luck to Eric Camilli, who leaves TMG to join M-Sport as a full-time WRC driver for 2016. It has been a pleasure working with you this year and we wish you a fantastic future!"
Dosnt sound like they "sending" him to M-sport just for one year , sounds more like goodbye...
Quite unexpected having Camilli, but understandable from many points of view, of which some of them probably is correct.
Camilli brings money. Who´s paying will be clear during the year.
I think it´s a good choice. Not many to choose from.
Evans has reached his peak and will never win or make it any further speedwise.
Mads was expected in MSport, no sensation there.
Maybe Evans will do the WRC2 programme with the new R5?
One other good reason to try Camilli, is that there is no other obvious contenders. Of the experienced and proven drivers available, there is none that will be able to challenge for wins. You have to take chances, just like Wilson do here with Camilli, we'll see if it pays off :-)
Even as a Brit I genuinely don't mind this move. I think there's certainly going to be a bit of funding in there somewhere. FFSA makes sense. If you know it's not going to work out long-term with Evans then why persevere and M-Sport pay to do so? At a certain point you have to cut your losses and do something different.
Better to take a chance on a guy who might make it. Fair play to Wilson in that sense - he has given a lot of top drivers their first opportunity in the sport. People saying "why did he not sign Meeke?" I think that's pretty clear. Same with the other top talents who are locked up in deals.
One thing this has shown is just how many people are confused by the Toyota situation. Camilli had no contract with Tommi so no works Toyota contract. So he's walked away from testing a stillborn WRC car and that's about it. Great move for him - especially if he's got a multi-year deal.
My best guess is Elfyn stays in a testing role. Does some WRC2 rounds in the new R5. Hopefully some BRC rounds. Things like that and maybe gets a few rounds in a WRC car.
Disappointed for Evans... but another case of it being hard to make a consistent driver fast ...
Tanak showed he does have the speed, so he gets another chance to become consistent (with DMack)...
Just looking at Camilli's results and I dont see anything to show this great potential. Can anyone throw any light on this ?