if neuville doesnt win the title this year both he and hyundai should agree to simply give up. honestly.
and let me say im a big neuville fan and have been cheering for him for ages
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if neuville doesnt win the title this year both he and hyundai should agree to simply give up. honestly.
and let me say im a big neuville fan and have been cheering for him for ages
I hope so :-DQuote:
Originally Posted by saco0o
Well, since we're calling it "Silly Season"...
Toyota:
Rovanpera
Evans
Ogier (any time he wants) + Katsuta (cannot be fired)
2-4 drives for Pajari, not for points, they won't want to rush him, it's spoiled too many young drivers, and Toyota can play the long game.
If Ogier retires in a strop over the point system, we might see Fourmaux or Solberg in the mix.
Hyundai:
Neuville - if he was going to leave, he would have done it already
Tanak
I fear Fourmaux, and it goes badly for him. Otherwise, similar to this year.
Ford:
Munster (or they quit R1 without the money he brings)
Fourmaux or Solberg on a "percentage of future earnings" deal. Solberg looks solid enough for that now.
Not Sesks, sorry Sesks fans.
does anybody see Gus returning to msport? (because "pay-ride")
No, I think that ship has sailed due to the costs involved with a Rally1 car.Quote:
Originally Posted by saco0o
He's also had a poor run of form since starting 2023 WRC 2 so well. I cant even see anyone helping him fund a drive. Sadly it seems he had his chance at the top level and never proved himself fast enough.
I think he left MSport mainly because he was tired of paying for a car with very bad reliability.
This year their reliability improved so I wouldn't rule out that he goes back. As you mention also has bad season with Skoda this year after fighting for title last year.
I think Gus found his level in WRC2 and he looks like a worthy contender there if he wants to keep at it. But if he'd rather drive M-Sport WRC1, and his dad has the money, M-Sport won't turn it down.
Plenty of drivers hoping for seat seems to be more gravel specialists than tarmac ones: Mikkelsen, Lappi, Solberg, Pajari, Sesks and unlikely to be back Paddon.
I am curious if that can be some opportunity for Mathieu Franceschi, especially if he will beat Paddon during rest of ERC season (all on tarmac). He is not exactly tarmac specialist but seems quite consistent on all surfaces. Also quite young, 25 years old.
Although I would probably go with Solberg/Pajari/Sesks and let them gain experience on tarmac as in future they could fight for titles.
Regarding Hyundais potential tarmac problem for next season, wouldn't Rossel be worth a try for the tarmac rounds?
Latvala on 2025 contracts...
'Of course, at the moment I think we are in quite a good position. We will try to keep the drivers for sure.
But then there are a few question marks like what Seb wants to do, does he want to drive next year? And then of course with Sami and so on, so there are a few points which we need to start clearing."
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/l...2025/10642476/
He seems like the best candidate but they'd have to deal with his contract with Citroen, who would probably like him driving the tarmac rallies in WRC2 for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by becher
I think they should give him some test days, or enter him in French local rallies in WRC1, or whatever they can arrange, to see if he gets along with the car. I think they should have started already.
Or... they have already got Fourmaux in the bag, so no point working with Rossel.
Agree that Rossel is just about the only tarmac specialist around, except Italian drivers that never drive outside of Italy (Crugnola) and Loeb.Quote:
Originally Posted by becher
Problem is that Rossel actually got beaten on tarmac a few times by some of those "gravel" specialists you mention.
So imo he is not that much of a step up on tarmac to be worth it. Also note how Gryazin can match him on tarmac in same car, in Fabia he wasn't faster than many other Fabia drivers either.
Now that you mention it... Good point.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/why-a...ng-on-asphalt/
It's an old article... It's funny that they still haven't found a solution after all those years. Even after all those cars they built during their era. And here we are, Neuville still the only one who could actually drive that car on asphalt.
Well the new car is completely different than the old one.Quote:
Originally Posted by deephouse
Old one was massively understeering on tarmac and hard to turn in, so that Neuville would use the handbrake more than the steering wheel at times.
New one is mostly oversteering and hard to have confidence in.
just to be clear. everybody here agrees that "the names that may appear in wrc" are between these?
- sesks, pajari, solberg, rossel, grazyn, lindholm (maybe franchesci?)
and everybody would like paddon to have a try in some of the 3rd cars haha
i'd still also have a list with lukyanuk and ingram, because they are great characters. and i wish i could watch kopecky and kajetan doing one or two rounds in a rally1 'just to see how it goes'
The fact is that there have been different gen cars and top drivers behind the wheel, but at the end.. Neuville is still the only one that can drive it fast on tarmac..Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
So.. I say that they are still built by similar formula that nobosy else than Neuville can drive :D
It's a ,,making other drivers look bad'' car :D
Pajari is quite likely to go for Toyota. Sesks will maybe do some rounds in M-Sport. Solberg is more likely to stay with Skoda and wait to see what they are planning for 2027Quote:
Originally Posted by saco0o
Gus Greensmith could be back as pay-driver in M-Sport.
Rossel/Gryazin/Lindholm/Suninen/Paddon/Franceschi aren't very likely. Lappi could be out but I don't expect other old guys to be out completely for next season.
If WRC promoter is serious about one-offs for young, local drivers then maybe we will see Virves/Linnamae/Solans/Cais/Zaldivar at their home events.
Agree that none of them are likely next year. For the future I think only Franceschi looks promising at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Backa
That, or Neuville is a fantastic driver.Quote:
Originally Posted by TypeR
To me it seems that Neuville is more comfortable than others in pushing when the car isn't perfect.Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
Works many times but relatively regularly he also crashes seemingly out of nowhere like Japan or Croatia last year or Ypres before that. Against a very reliable driver like Ogier it has not worked in title fights.
Lappi is similar in being able to push with non-optimal car, but crashes even more to the point of too often. Meeke is even more of that.
Tanak and Sordo are both "feeling sensitive" and Mikkelsen is the extreme version of that again, needing "perfect" feeling.
M-Sport determined to keep Fourmaux after Hyundai rumours...
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/m-spo...yundai-rumors/
To me it has never been a matter of pushing or no pushing with Neuville. Plenty of times we've seen Neuville going flat out for the whole rally, like last year's Mexico, making 0 mistakes and overtaking Evans in the last stage. Other times we've seen Neuville in a comfortable position binning it and retiring.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
In my opinion it's his handbrake-heavy driving style, which lately seems to be a bit less needed, that is just a more risky driving style. I can't pinpoint what's risky about it, but maybe it's easier to misjudge certain turns driving like that. I find it more plausible than Neuville "pushing when he doesn't need to".
Yeah but I think that its better this year, just one bigger mistake in Sardegna. Hopefully that was all. He bringed home the points on every rally with difficult conditions. Let's see, I will be cheering for him.. He deserves that first title.Quote:
Originally Posted by focus206
Hopefully there won't be technical troubles, would be a shame losing the title for unreliability after such hard work...Quote:
Originally Posted by CeskyOndra
Fourmaux targets a full time drive in '25 so I dont see him leaving M-Sport...
https://rallyjournal.com/wrc-star-am...ut-his-future/
I hope so. Last thing that he needs is third seat on that boinky Hyundai.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Sensible indeed. Would be huge mistake from him to go and drive that undrivable ironing machine.
I absolutely agree. Fourmaux has been doing an incredible job (easily the most impressive driver this season) this season with M-sport and I think he loves where he is at with incredible consistency and the system that is working for him. I would be surprised if he moves to Hyundai as the third driver. Instead, I am wondering who is gonna be the second M-sport driver because so far GMuns IMO has not been very impressive this season. I would love to see Martins but the budget might be a problem for him for a full season.
mknight made an interesting point. While this doesn't sound impossible, Toyota needs a reliable second driver to help KR in 2025. Taka at this moment is definitely prone to errors and not reliable at all, even though Seb is in Tier 1A with Kalle imo, he probably will continue to share the 3rd car (with Sami ?). I know Elfyn lacks some pace this season and I know he is not anymore in the same level with Seb and KR (Tier 1A drivers) but he is generally reliable and brings good points and this is a good quality for a second driver in a team. Therefore I agree with becher that Evans is the one of the if not the most reliable second driver that any team can find.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
About Oliver, if he wins WRC2 this year I think he deserves his second chance at the top level. He has been doing a good job this year but like mknight said I don't know if he is going to be a liability on Tarmac with Rally1 or not (he can improve this over time) . He can do okay in gravel and snow. Therefore, if he can drive rally1 next year in the events that he is comfortable (Sweden,Finland,Estonia etc)and brings good results that would boost his confidence and increase his chance to attract attention (like Martins).
Active F1 driver has been conducting rally tests “in massive secrecy"...
https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-dri...-rally-testing
The only one I can think of is Bottas. I doubt it's Sainz.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Norris is my bet, been to M-Sport tests before and appeared keen and has a commercial link with Solberg. I'd guess a video is on the way at most whoever it is over any 2025 drives ideas.
I believe Bottas never has that speed fight even in WRC2Quote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
Who cares about his speed. Hebhas money and mullet.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1988senna
This was published a month ago...
"Thierry Neuville wants to extend his lease by two years. According to our information, the contract was to be signed this week in Finland so that our compatriot can then focus on his end of the season and the quest for his first world title."
https://www.autotrends.be/fr/actuali...1dT0MduSZ3d1GA
Also re the part about Hyundai being 'aligned' with PH Sport from 2026... Bottas had a rally car supplied by them previously ..
just for the into: bottas said it wasnt him: https://www.planetf1.com/news/valtte...audi-f1-futureQuote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
the guy who broke up with this is a former williams team manager, so i'd go with Sainz too. but I doubt he would leave f1 like that. i mean, it was non sense moving to williams with open-ISH seats at redbull, mercedes, audi*, alpine before f1's summer break, but eh, i doubt he would leave the f1 money to do rally
at 5:20 you can see Norris just realizing f1 is nothing close to a simple R5 haha. tho right after he says he would not drive that because "he dont want to die" haha this is something regarding his brand Quadant?Quote:
Originally Posted by WRCStan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDMplXKlz6E
Sorry, haven't watched any of those videos and only real headlines..
Why the fork would Lando do some random sh1t at this moment of his carreer..
Bottas on the other hand is just crawling thru the season and not giving a shit about the results..
Wants to be like Kimi(who did F1 for hobby for last years), but is just a comedian..
That's the one I remembered, but forgot it was for Quadrant.Quote:
Originally Posted by saco0o
Like what random sh1t?Quote:
Originally Posted by TypeR