Neuville anready has a team. I want to see Paddon and Tidemand on the stages. For the development they can hire some geezer who is not fast anymore but has experience to be an oficial test driver.
Printable View
Neuville anready has a team. I want to see Paddon and Tidemand on the stages. For the development they can hire some geezer who is not fast anymore but has experience to be an oficial test driver.
Paddon has plenty of chops as an engineer , he builds and develops his own rally cars and even had R4 spec suspension made for his EVO because he couldn't afford the ridiculously expensive FIA approved parts.
He's fast and he's gets his hands dirty in a workshop , thats a pretty tempting mix in a driver I'd have thought.
From Colin Clark:
"@voiceofrallly: This from a good source - Hyundai shootout in Finland during August, confirmed names, Hanninen, Tiedemann, Nikara, more to follow!"
If it will indeed be between 8 drivers, I would personally like to see Paddon, Abbring, Tanak, PG and Meeke added to that list.
They should do thr shoot out directly after QS Wednesday evening, like they did a couple of yrs ago with Pirelli Star shoot out. I know it could be impossible due to logistics but should satisfy the rallyfreaks very much... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
Great, should make a really nice video when guys are pushing 110% fighting for a factory seat... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
I think, unlike what most think, that this "shootout" would be more to get to know the drivers/codrivers personally... ;) To see how they work, how motivated they are, how they can analyze the car and give feedback etc... One driver may have the capability to adapt to a new car in extremely short time, but that doesn't mean he is the right thoice on the long run.
Never been a fan of a shoot out. As TB says, one day and one good drive from somebody isn't necessarily a good recipe for a long term campaign. Good publicity I guess. How do Hyundai gauge exactly how fast somebody is? Over a known NORF stage and compare times to WRC regulars?
Hopefully nothing will be decided on a single day alone. Would be much better perhaps taking one or two driver candidates for a week's testing and development and assess how they fit into the team and what exactly they can contribute to the project. Or better still, give P-G and Juho a call, send a contract and start testing. Simples. And maybe also pick up one of the junior guys like Paddon and get the older guys to mentor him for the long term.
Didn't they do the same "shoot out" with VW drivers before the season they came into the WRC with youngsters? How'd that go?
There were some impressive drives but Sepp Wiegand appears to be the most German!Quote:
Originally Posted by GigiGalliNo1
I believe that you will not lose this shootout!Quote:
Originally Posted by Juha_Koo
I hope Juho will be 1 of Hyundai's drivers next year. I do not know why people think he will be slow on here? He has been pretty solid with Skoda in recent years and showed some promise with the Fiesta earlier this year.
Autosport saying that Juho has got the gig with P-G and, surprisingly, Meeke high up in the shortlist for team mate:
Juho Hanninen linked with first Hyundai WRC seat - WRC news - AUTOSPORT.com
Edit- beaten by (almost days) by Mr Kielder in the rumour board.
Abbring, Paddon, Neuville and Atkinson also on the list. :)
Big list then....so basically anybody who is "free" or between jobs....
Sometimes is hard to find the right thread to post. Certainly it's time to revive another thread:Quote:
Originally Posted by noel157
WRC driver Juho Hänninen. Go Juho! :)
I'd take Hanninen and Neuville. Abbring and Paddon have not enough experience, Atkinson has been disappointing on his more recent outings.Quote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
I agree. Juho compared pretty well against Mikelssen and Neuville and they are both doing a great job now in WRC.Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
Politics. My guess is that Neuville will have to deal with the strong and loyal relationship with Qatar and Nasser if he were to go with Hyundai.
Hyundai also needs a driver for the Asian and Australasian market just like Sordo is required for the South American market.
Atkinson has been no more disappointing than Hanninens recent appearances. Given some more car time the speed would come.
Paddon has plenty of experience at least to become part of the team as a junior driver and he has some not unimpressive engineering skills that would be useful when developing a new car.
Abbring is not fast enough , Paddon cleaned the floor with him in Rally GB.
Abbring had not driven since Rally Mexico when he started Rally GB. Also he had a wrong setup on day 1. On day 3 he was much faster and made 2 fastest S2000 times.
This makes your complete post invalid. Abbring finished one minute ahead of Paddon, while Abbring was doing his very first S2000-outing. On the few outings that Abbring had later with the "VW" Fabia S2000 his pace was always good, except for Portugal where he got caught out on the shakedown (and there was a small dent in the rollcage so he could not start in the rally). He was just unlucky to have a worse contract than Mikkelsen I guess... I have always been sure that Kevin Abbring is one of the most talented drivers around, I hope he ever gets the chance he really does deserve... I'm not saying that Paddon is not a good driver, not at all. But I rate Abbring at least as high... Atkinson is completely out of question for me, I think he had his chances, he can prove something but I don't believe he can ever be a consistent top driver for a complete championship. Also I don't get the thing why there should be drivers from certain countries. It's overrated a lot imho. Paddon and Atko are from important car market Australia/NZ yes, but the impact you can make with rallying there is nothing compared to what it could be in Finland for example.Quote:
Originally Posted by ThomasS
I know it doesn't matter in terms of stage times but Kevin Abbring is also very spectacular driver. I just like that...
I think you'll find Paddon retired on day one of Rally GB day because of mechanical problems , thats why Abbring came in ahead of him.
Of the 16 stages Paddon competed with Abbring , Paddon was faster than him on 10. He was even mixing it up with Ogier on occasions.
Abbring had full works support, it was a mediocre performance at best, no excuses.
Hyundai sell more cars in Asian , Australian and New Zealand than they do in Europe. I think you underestimate the feeling that Koreans have for Australians and New Zealanders. The historical relationship is very strong.
I would put Meeke with Hanninen. Very useful as a test driver, still need to work on overcoming his tendency to overdrive the car when he gets it to the stages. I would think they would both fight with each other like Seb and Jari Matti, but that would only add to the fun for us fans. That said I do not know what kind of deal Meeke has with Peugeot at the moment and if they would let him go.
Yes strong combination but in some ways they are both at similar stages of their careers , I'm not sure if that serves Hyundai best interests. It doesn't exactly set the world on fire. Meeke for all his talent has lost the initiative in is career and is off the radar. Not his fault of course but its a fickle business.
Atkinson is in a similar position.
abbring is great, very spectacular! i´m looking forward to his performance in rallye terre de langres next weekend. think he´ll win in 208 r2 cup again. outstanding performance at limousin too, 7th overall in a r2 car.
Those plates are apparently fake as AB is the code for Alzenau number plates.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
AB - Aschaffenburg, Bavaria
ALZ - Alzenau, Bavaria
FT’s article claims Hyundai confirmed minimum four-year commitment to WRC, with planned investments reaching 80 million euros per year.
What's FT?Quote:
Originally Posted by SlowSon
Usually FT is abbreviation for Financial Times.Quote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
yes, but their site wants registration to read so I didnt post it
That article is something that should convince even the most skeptic ones about Hyundai's level of commitment to WRC. They are dead serious and will win rallies. Great for the sport!
I hope Kris Meeke finds a seat in a WRC team. He deserves it!
It all depends on how good his run in the Citroen DS3 goes in Finland I think, but I hope he is in with a chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by mihay
Of corse, Citroen could be evaluating him as a potential driver for next year. Perhaps not in the works team, but certainly if they want to contine running a second team.
Hanninen will be the 1st driver confirmed!
A very good decision !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Vaggelis27
If Hyundai choose either Kris or Per-Gunnar, they will have made at least some of the people on this forum happy.
Will Hyundai do a full season next year?