Isn't he another boy who comes from a rich family? I remember that he had been driving WRC cars for years before he was signed by Volkswagen.
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Isn't he another boy who comes from a rich family? I remember that he had been driving WRC cars for years before he was signed by Volkswagen.
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He's a 'Red Bull athlete' but maybe they are going to be his car sponsor too...
His family home was up for sale too:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarek Z
http://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/norw...ls-11568820673
His dad used to run a gambling company and import vine, probably some family investment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarek Z
Apartment is 1.65 mill euro not 2.3
The cabin is also Norway's most expensive at 3.7 mill euro in 2018, been for sale on and off since 2008
After Jonas Andersson in Barum, Andreas will be codrived by Elliott Edmondson in Acropolis.
Elliott is a "M-Sport" codriver no?
Andersson is Veiby's codriver and did a national rally with him on Saturday so not very surprising he is not doing Greece.
Edmondson was codriving Mikkelsen on Sardinia during a Pirelli test this week.
Quite surprising that he is codriving in Greece, though a bit less since they now drove some kms together on the test.
Was expecting Veronica Engan to codrive Mikkelsen at some point at least for testing. But maybe since she works at Toksport she is too busy.
Seems interesting how Mikkelsen went with Edmondson as co driver. He always used Scandinavian co drivers, so opting for a relatively inexperienced Englishman is kinda intriguing.
He's been active for 10 years and has a couple of years in the WRC, so he's not that inexperienced.Quote:
Originally Posted by macebig
2 times with Nagle.Quote:
Originally Posted by macebig
And Mikko MarkkulaQuote:
Originally Posted by macebig
You will see Mikkelsen change codriver from race to race for a while, he has said he might try out a few for the rest of this season before any final decision is made.
In Barum he used Jonas Andersson,
seems like Edmondson stayed in touch with M-Sport.. was co-driving Matthew also last month
If Mikkelsen does end up winning both WRC2 and ERC, he would deserve bucketloads of credit. But rallying isn’t always a results business – at least when on the periphery of the WRC.
The way to convince the manufacturer teams that he is worthy of a third shot in the WRC is to go out and blow his rivals into the weeds. Mikkelsen hasn’t done quite enough of that this year – particularly in the ERC – and has gone from being a surprise factor in the Rally2 field to a constant that’s grinding out solid but (probably quite unfairly) forgettable results.
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/is-mi...ly-overlooked/
I still do not think the MSport option is closed.
Breen and Mikkelsen in the pointscoring cars.
Greensmith and Fourmaux sharing or car 3 and 4.
MSport need two drivers that can bag godd points in all rallies!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulland
Not convinced, even with a Breen-Mikkelsen-Fourmaux line-up, I don’t see how M-Sport could target the manufacturer title so scoring good points is not the real target.
The real target is to make wins (or podiums) and why not the title if Breen skyrockets (but I don’t think so).
So I don’t really see the point for them to take Mikkelsen on a paid full-time basis in Rally1. The only interest IMO would be to take him in a part-time basis to also step up the Fiesta Rally2 as they do not improve in the last few years. Or if he pays for the drive.
But other than that, I would try a young driver with potential and some money (Bulacia, Greensmith, Gryazin)
For me, the main hope for Mikkelsen is a shared third car at Hyundai because Solberg is too much of a gamble and a title in both WRC-2 + ERC would show a certain level of consistency.
I wonder if AM is allowed to drive 2017 minus spec next year ?
Why would anyone do that?Quote:
Originally Posted by CWJ
No. He has been a factory driver during the past 5 seasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by CWJ
I meant my question more from Mikkelsen's point of view. Driving a detuned old car outside of any competition is nothing more than a very expensive way of being irrelevant. Mikkelsen has for sure higher targets.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I know, but he wouldn’t even be allowed. Notice that I didn’t reply to you :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
I'v missed that. SryQuote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
It was said by Latvala in Finnish media. WRC cars will have smaller restrictors and drivers who have had P1 within past five years are not allowed to drive. So gentleman drivers and young drivers are allowed, although no sense for any young driver to spend the money…Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Mmmhh. Might be my fault, I remember him personally saying 2 years...Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
In an interview with norwegian newspaper VG after the Championship-title in WRC2, Mikkelsen says he feels he deserves to be in the WRC. But it's hard due to the lack of seats avaliable.
"- What about Ford?"
"- At Ford you need money to get a seat. That is not an option for me."
He has an option in Skoda, staying there in WRC2 at least for the start of 2022.
"- And then we will see what happens..."
So it's not looking too bright for Mikkelsen...
Very difficult to get back to the main class when you have lost your seat. History shows that too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mackie
In the recent years Tänak, Evans, Mikkelsen himself, Östberg, Breen, Meeke, Lappi…Quote:
Originally Posted by abcrally
Not right place to ask but....
"At Ford you need money to get a seat. That is not an option for me."
What the details of Breen's deal if he went to m-sport and asked them to give him a contract...was he bringing money and driving for free?
It's fair to assume that Greensmith is paying. But Fourmaux and Breen? The question is, have Ford said to Mikkelsen that if he wants a seat he has to pay what Greensmith is paying.Quote:
Originally Posted by dck1989
Fourmaux' car has big Red Bull stickers and afaik the FFSA also has some budget for young drivers. No idea about Breen, could be he has some sponsorship and/or MSport thinks he's worth putting in the car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mackie
So what will future bring for 2021 WRC2 and ERC champion? Didnt dominate every event he entered (to say at least), but steady and clever drive got him two titles even before both last championship rounds.
Not looking very bright for Mikkelsen at the moment, as there is no free Rally1 seats available for next season and there is no interest from any of teams about his services.
Is there a point to continue in WRC2 for next season (Skoda?) and wait for opportunity if any of Rally1 factory teams decide to change their lineup mid-season? If he decides not to compete at all, he could end his career now as WRC2 and ERC cahmpion? Or wait for additional manufacture team entering 2023 season? Really tough situation for him.
Good question. I don't think he has motivation to repeat this season again. If he can't get a Rally1 deal, will he search for new career paths outside WRC? Rallycross, Extreme E, Rally raids?
Maybe now Red Bull will find him a seat in World RX now that they are also promoter of that as well as WRC.
I mean, they did use him as the test driver for the new electric car...
He said he doesn't want to do two championships at the same time next year. So most likely WRC2 with Skoda imo.
Or in other words he prefers to get paid by Skoda to paying at MSport (for unsure performance).
Yeah, just wrote that it's difficult. Nothing like that it's not possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Breen is being paid as a lead driver at Msport, 2yr deal on a good contract (for him). Nowhere near what the Toyota or Hyundai drivers will earn, but still nice deal for him. Bringing no investment.Quote:
Originally Posted by dck1989
Fourmaux has the red bull backing and Greensmith fully pays Msport what is needed to run his car for a full season.
Effectively after realising they couldn't attract Neuville/ Evans/ Tanak etc and build a proper championship challenging team, they have overlooked the best of the other available drivers to bring in money instead. So no Lappi, Mikkelsen, Suninen, Ostberg etc signed up to form a team alongside Breen, and lesser drivers with substantial backing given seats instead (although Fourmaux has great potential along with backing which is a double bonus for Msport).
It's then interesting that Breen himself is openly questioning whether it is a good idea for him to be the most (and only) experienced driver in the team. Probably remembers Citroen 2017 experience.
Yeah I agree, I’m sure he knows that it will help greatly if they had someone like Mikkelsen in there as well. Breen, Mikkelsen, Formaux with Greensmith paying and occasional Loeb sounds like a decent line up to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Thing is I can’t believe it’s not achievable with Formaux bringing backing, and if Mikkelsen is as believed able to contribute.
It goes back to the main question. Is MSport doing everything to win one or both titles (even with limited budget)?
The answer seems to be no for 2022. It's "good enough" effort to keep the business running and Ford reasonably happy.
Tbh I can't really remember when was the last time they went all in during the last 10 years. Maybe something like 2011?
2017-2018 they pushed and used money for driver title, but 2017 manu title was "unexpected success" (Tanak seemingly improving a lot and DMACK dominating two rallies with different tire), for 2018 they seemingly already gave up on manu title. (much less priority for other drivers than Ogier).
Well I guess it depends if they have the money to fund another driver or not. Ultimately they can only be as serious as the budget allows.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
On the other side, it depends on the desire of someone like Mikkelsen to put up the funds to get into the car….but then I would also understand guys being a little cautious with their cash until they have seen how competitive the Puma is.
This is something which has been puzzling for me all the time. How on Earth could they be happy with this? If I was them I either go for it fully or I don't bother spend any money at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight