M-Sport Ford World Rally Teams

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira

Rally1 and Rally2 will be Puma.
What about the Rally3/4/5 ?

---

If Ford will not back them soon fully, they should reconsider to try involve some other manufacturer into business, since the manufacter really don't care, have no more viable cars in portfolio and also doen't intend to making it anymore in the future. Maybe MG, since they have still various models to offer, it's partly british and have herritage in rallying. Wilson did drive famous Metro also, so have some connections to that brand.

But the problem is that the future will bring those crossovers anyway in rallying since brands will be doing just those types of cars. If Mini and Suzuki do the job previously, even M-Sport could do it without all that space-frame non-sense.

Is this true?
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...89263486541917

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jarek Z

Is this true?
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...89263486541917

---

At least, except Gryazin, all these names were already on the rumors.
Munster full-time would be no surprise, i don’t think he has enough potential but Serderidis has said he is keeping support so he will be there.

Sesks is interesting, at least for fast gravel and it’ s clearly the plan since his Poland/Latvia outings, only question pending is how much can he obtain so it will answer how much rallies he will have.

Don’t see the point for Rossel to do only 3 tarmac events… yes, he is better on tarmac but we know it’s difficult to show good result on tarmac immediatly for youngster (no road position advantage)
For me, a shared car with Sesks would make more sense - but money issue is there also and Citroën future program, even in WRC-2, is not clear.
A bit worried if it’s only 3 tarmac rounds that it finishes like Tidemand’s stints.

Some rumors on Turkkan indeed for a full-paying pair of rallies, he has shown some good speed in J-WRC but at the moment with his level of experience, he would just be a paying driver.

No rumor so far on Gryazin but with his backing and his season, would not be a huge surprise that he tries… however, the fact that he is Russian could be an issue with other sponsorship and not sure M-Sport can afford this level of risk.
Also, Gryazin is doing Monza with a Skoda, surprising for a Citroen driver.

A bit of rumors also on Zaldivar, maybe for the Chile-Paraguay stint.

i like all these fellas, but i also like msport so thats kinda bad, cuz I wish they had a guy to fight a little bit more. i know its not pratical against two factory teams but fourmaux did an awesome job and i wish we could have another year of a msport always up there. rotating younger drivers will not be effective. it tells stories, but not the complete underdog story. but eh, i like all these drivers! go go go

Unless M-Sport pulls out of their sleeve some totally "under the radar" move, i agree on above that their 2025 line-up will be Munster full time plus a pool of part-timers. All paying, thus giving M-Sport breathing and budget to develop R2 and R1 2027 cars. I think the Next 2 seasons for M-Sport will be run under the light of extensive investments into 2027 models with the aim to sell many R2 cars.

It's such a pity that the clash of sponsors seems to rule out Oliver Solberg. He is probably the best replacement available to give M-Sport a chance of some podiums next year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

It's such a pity that the clash of sponsors seems to rule out Oliver Solberg. He is probably the best replacement available to give M-Sport a chance of some podiums next year.

---

Maybe those are considered for 3rd/4th car sharing. And Oliver will get the number 1. You know that Munster will not keep up, all this part-timers will beat him every time.

They should have Mikkelsen and Lappi. maybe even Sunninen

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Krigen

They should have Mikkelsen and Lappi. maybe even Sunninen

---

Lappi and Sunninen! Yes, why not, but Mikkelsen? I think he showed very clearly this year that Rally1 is not the right place for him...

Suninen is dead in the water and Lappi would rather agree on sharing the 4th Hyundai with Sordo than return to Ford. Mikkelsen may be considered since they already had talks for this year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WRC1

Lappi and Sunninen! Yes, why not, but Mikkelsen? I think he showed very clearly this year that Rally1 is not the right place for him...

---

Mikkelsen had good pace on gravel when he got a chance, and quite good at sunday in Japan, the other tarmac-session was bad, but that was the car also.
Lappi hasn't shown anything better in my eyes, but what is the driver and what is the car?

I've wanted to see both of them in a other car, to see if that do any difference. Munster is clearly not a No1 driver, so M-sport has to make a deal with some driver(s) with speed.

Sent fra min SM-S901B via Tapatalk

I wonder if Rossel can get some funding together and support from the FFSA ? He seems like the next French driver off their production line and M.Wilson has successfully taken quite a few of them over the years...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by macebig

Suninen is dead in the water and Lappi would rather agree on sharing the 4th Hyundai with Sordo than return to Ford. Mikkelsen may be considered since they already had talks for this year.

---

Suninen has the same manager as Kankunen; i would be very surprised if they would not figure out smth. I still do not get how had he managed to fall in to the basement with his carrier. He was a guy with big potential. I think the bridge to M-Sport is burned by him. All who mention Lappi - he has said 101 times - he does not want to drive full season. Plus, all his latest crashes were expensive. I doubt M-Sport would be ready to risk with that. I still think the potential pot of drivers around M-Sport for 2025 consist of Munster, Sesks, Solberg, Grazin, Rosell. But i would not be surprised if Virves flows up or may be even McErlean or some of the fast Italians from ERC. I think the pool of young and high ceiling guys in lower cats is as big as it has been for years.

- Suninen has tested the Yaris Rally2 some weeks ago - some rumors about replacing Pajari in Printsport WRC-2 program but Solberg is also evoked for this drive (+ some outings in Rally1 when Ogier is not there).

- Virves has clearly been evoked as a candidate for some promotor-backed outings in Rally1 next year (same than Sesks in 2024)… but the spirit of this system is more about a pair of outings, not even a part-time program

- I wouldn’t discard indeed the Irish guys because the Federation has plenty of money (McErlean being the only one being a bit close)

- don’t believe for the moment about the young Italians, the money gap is too big

Dirtfish: " But Oliver Solberg won’t rally a Puma, as he announced on Monday morning that he’ll be competing in WRC2 in a Printsport Toyota GR Yaris Rally2"

Though, no references to this anywhere else yet. Maybe Luke refers to US time zone morning?

Solberg was never on the cards. He wouldn't drop Monster and the family is set on chasing a Toyota seat.

Lack of Ford backing was behind Fourmaux leaving M-Sport (he states...)

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-r...ort-departure/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

Lack of Ford backing was behind Fourmaux leaving M-Sport (he states...)

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-r...ort-departure/

---

Well, if you read the actual quotes without the spin, it was money.....

“I think the story would have been really nice to get my first victory and maybe fight for a championship with them again,” he said. “You know, to finish the story from where it starts to where it should finish.

“But at the end, we need some support from Ford, so I think this is the right move.”

It's clear that Adrien is/was their business model, as many were before. They sell him and will continue to develop drivers to the main teams. At the end, he was too good, and Malcolm politely say to him, goodbye.

It sounds to me like if Ford had provided more money for developing the Puma then M-Sport might've had the chance to keep Fourmaux.

Also Malcolm Wilson will pay a top driver (Ogier, Tanak) and ones getting close (Breen), so he may have done the same with Fourmaux.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

It sounds to me like if Ford had provided more money for developing the Puma then M-Sport might've had the chance to keep Fourmaux.

Also Malcolm Wilson will pay a top driver (Ogier, Tanak) and ones getting close (Breen), so he may have done the same with Fourmaux.

---

Yeah but I think that Wilson is willing to pay only for top tier drivers, like Ogier or Tanak, those who can actualy win the title or at least fight for it. Adrien isn't on that level yet. Be instantly raise his value but still not high enough that he could match that level. He got offer from other teams and that's it. Job done. It's a business model. No matter how the cards are turned or what they say. It was objective from the start and they done it. Next one please.

Is it anything interesting?
Ford Escort and RS200 to return in 2025. More details on 12 December.

https://www.evo.co.uk/ford/ford-esco...reborn-classic

According to Belgian guys (Olivier de Wilde, Paul Fraikin, quite efficient in silly season rumors in last 12 months, no Gryazin to M-Sport as he would sign with Toksport.

And it could be Josh McErlean the additional guy in M-Sport line-up… would not be a huge surprise considering how much Irish Federation is spending in rallying.

This rounds all down to Munster, Sesks, Rusell and some surprises we are missing on. McErlean would be cool, though. His driving in ERC had very good signs of natural speed.

Interesting, what is the "pay-per-drive" cost in M-Sport, e.g., how much costs Munsters season for his supporters? In comparisson, they say that a season in F3, good team, is 2-3mil Eur. Could be that 1x WRC event for potential youngster would cost in the range of 150K?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AndersX

Could be that 1x WRC event for potential youngster would cost in the range of 150K?

---

Are you joking? :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AndersX

This rounds all down to Munster, Sesks, Rusell and some surprises we are missing on. McErlean would be cool, though. His driving in ERC had very good signs of natural speed.

Interesting, what is the "pay-per-drive" cost in M-Sport, e.g., how much costs Munsters season for his supporters? In comparisson, they say that a season in F3, good team, is 2-3mil Eur. Could be that 1x WRC event for potential youngster would cost in the range of 150K?

---

John Coyne could be the 'Serderidis' for McErlean. Although I think he would rather spread his money across all the Irish Rally Academy drivers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jarek Z

Is it anything interesting?
Ford Escort and RS200 to return in 2025. More details on 12 December.

https://www.evo.co.uk/ford/ford-esco...reborn-classic

---

thats interesting! not ford "doing it" tho. and tbh i have this thing where I HATE modern cars and suvs, but i support road cars going hybrid, electric. just build evs on those cool old school cars designs! imagine walking around your city, seeing these rad designs on the streets? that should be A LAW haha want to build cars? they cant be this ugly suv comon design, they gotta be like old race cars

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AndersX

This rounds all down to Munster, Sesks, Rusell and some surprises we are missing on. McErlean would be cool, though. His driving in ERC had very good signs of natural speed.

Interesting, what is the "pay-per-drive" cost in M-Sport, e.g., how much costs Munsters season for his supporters? In comparisson, they say that a season in F3, good team, is 2-3mil Eur. Could be that 1x WRC event for potential youngster would cost in the range of 150K?

---

AFAIK is the price for WRC rally with rally1 car 300k or more (for sure depends tarmac/gravel etc) - and MSport is cheaper than TGR - unofficial haha.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jcevc

AFAIK is the price for WRC rally with rally1 car 300k or more (for sure depends tarmac/gravel etc) - and MSport is cheaper than TGR - unofficial haha.

---

Do you want to say that Serenidis is investing in Munster more than 3 mil per year? That is F1 potential driver level.

Just watched more than machine series latest episode. Doesn't reveal anything just that Sesks is potential candidate for a full seat. Oh, it's just about Chile and nothing more. At the end it's mentioned by Adrien that at this point he still didn't get any offer from M-Sport.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deephouse

Just watched more than machine series latest episode. Doesn't reveal anything just that Sesks is potential candidate for a full seat. Oh, it's just about Chile and nothing more. At the end it's mentioned by Adrien that at this point he still didn't get any offer from M-Sport.

---

Wilson is a businessman and as there are many paydrivers in line for a seat, maybe it was more profitable to let Fourmaux sign Hyundai(and getting some % back like it has been said for years).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by saco0o

thats interesting! not ford "doing it" tho. and tbh i have this thing where I HATE modern cars and suvs, but i support road cars going hybrid, electric. just build evs on those cool old school cars designs! imagine walking around your city, seeing these rad designs on the streets? that should be A LAW haha want to build cars? they cant be this ugly suv comon design, they gotta be like old race cars

---

Yes! You have my vote mate :)

It looks good, doesn't it? :)
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/fir...escort-rs-back

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AndersX

Do you want to say that Serenidis is investing in Munster more than 3 mil per year? That is F1 potential driver level.

---

I assume there are also other sponsors. But yes, a full season with m-sport will probably cost more than 3 million per year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jarek Z

It looks good, doesn't it? :)
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/fir...escort-rs-back

---

Yes and only £295000. :eek:
I think I'll have to order two!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jcevc

AFAIK is the price for WRC rally with rally1 car 300k or more (for sure depends tarmac/gravel etc) - and MSport is cheaper than TGR - unofficial haha.

---

Yes, I have also heard that one overseas event (which is a bit more expensive) was around €300k with Puma.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Steve Boyd

Yes and only £295000. :eek:
I think I'll have to order two!

---

Here you go... win an original Mk1 Mexico for just 29p ! ;)

https://llfgames.com/competition/mk1...15388707350350

Wish I still had my Mk1 RS2000!

A rare insight of how it feels to drive the Rally1 Hybrid Puma...

https://dirtfish.com/rally/the-rare-...e-rally1-life/

Well, with this preparation and timing M-Sport will be back in level similar to the year when they did not even run PETs; i think it was the season it went sour with Sunninen. The only difference is that M-Sport has data from 3 events with non-hybrid car, but still that can not be used 100% as they were ought to use ballast.