I think the original plan was that Lappi would not drive in Australia so maybe the budget was for two cars all along.
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I think the original plan was that Lappi would not drive in Australia so maybe the budget was for two cars all along.
If Hanninen is sadly on his way out it makes no sense for him to drive Australia.
I also heard Toyota was going to be the official sponsor which would be a shame if they only had two cars.
I’m assuming if Hanninen loses his position he is most likely going to take a back seat from WRC?
Wouldn't the same apply for Wales as well (or for Germany, if everything had been lined out prior to that)?Quote:
Originally Posted by racerx1979
If (and unfortunately seemingly when) Hänninen loses his seat at TGR, he'll call it a day. That's almost certain, I'd say.
But yes, it's really unfortunate if we're to lose Hänninen after this season. I personally have been following his career quite closely since 2004, so it'll be somewhat different next season (or so it seems).
I guess Australia being a long-haul event makes it a different proposition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
Especially considering his rise in form for the second half of the year it'll be super unfortunate to see him go. Without him Toyota won't have a Sordo, Evans or Breen to pull back and score points (Lappi, maybe?)Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
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It's because they are way over budget and have to save money. Sad for Hanninen.
this is the best PROOF i suppose that the rumors for MEGA budget are just rumors.
They could offer a driver 10-15m a year and it wouldn't be a problem for them at all. Their bosses in Japan will, and have, backed this wrc program. They just won't spend money where it's not needed to be spentQuote:
Originally Posted by nafpaktos
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Yes no need to spend a million dollars just because you have it.
Hanninen could be retained to develop the Toyota R5 (If that is still going ahead?) or shift to drive the WRC2/ APRC Proton Iriz (Proton has 49.9% ownership by Geely china - (also own volvo cars now)Quote:
Originally Posted by racerx1979
Source was Fernando Albes.
Well you should have said that in the beginning. Fernando is always right :)
So it's official now that Toyota will be there with just 2 cars. Contrary to most of the people here I don't like this decision. Or Toyota has really not the budget we think they have, or they are being a bit unfair to Juho. I know very well he is not going to compete next year but I think a team should grow also a sentiment of "team" that can go over the concepts of money and budget sometimes.
I think that Hanninen, who has developed the car from the very beginning, and who has worked very hard to get valuable points after a difficulty start of the championship, deserved a place in Australia.
What if Juho didn't want to drive in Australia?Quote:
Originally Posted by AL14
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Tommi confirms there will be only two cars, so no-one's replacing Hänninen in Australia. And Juho's plans (the story doesn't say if there's any) for 2018 will be announced later.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
???Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
The same way it took Toyota ages to get Lappi into the third car this year, they clearly aren't throwing money around on this project for the sake of it. Taking Hanninen to Australia at the expense of Lappi makes no sense looking forward - even Juho would acknowledge this I'm sure. With the way the freight works I don't think you can make these snap decisions when it comes to entering long-haul events.
You could argue (and many people have) that Juho was lucky to even be in the drive this year. I'm really glad he did get the chance, but in the end he showed us exactly what we already knew. He can be fast everywhere but is nowhere near consistent enough across a season. I hope he can stick around and do some test/R5 work - maybe a car for Finland who knows.
Tommi said in MTV3 "tulosruutu" video that Juho is driving development tests in Spain same time as Rally Australia.
Decision to go with 2 cars was made months ago.
Juho didn´t recce Australia last year.
Sorry, but that's quite poor and insufficient analysis in my opinion. Ofcourse you could argue for and against whether Juho was lucky to get the TGR seat in 2016 - as easily as you can argue for and against whether he was really unlucky not to get that kind of a seat somewhere around 2012.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
And sure, at the end of the day, there's no-one else to blame, Juho could and should have done better during the first half of the season. The trend, however, is positive and I think (personal opinion) that Juho would be really valuable asset for TGR in 2018 but what can you do? It'd be quite absurd to criticize someone for hiring Tänak as well. Though, I think the line-up of Tänak, JML and Lappi is far from ideal, but that's whole another topic altogether...
Okay dude. Your opinion. My opinion. Tell me how I'm wrong though don't just say it's poor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
Didn't say you were wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
https://www.mtv.fi/sport/ralli/uutin...992#gs.zHfIDkU
In this 9-minute interview Tommi says that there's "going to be changes in the team" for 2018 and everything (including the new sporting director) will be announced "soon". When asked directly about Tänak, he laughs and says that he's been "following the discussion in media" but that there are "many options in the driver market". Tommi also confirms that three cars is the format for TGR in 2018.
And when asked to give grades for his current driver line-up, he praises JML and Lappi, but says that "few mistakes" lower the grade for Hänninen.
So, in a nutshell, no surprises expected when the official announcement comes: Tänak, JML and Lappi will form the trio of drivers and Kaj Lindström will fill vacancy left by Jarmo Lehtinen.
Bit harsh given that this was his first full season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
If Malcolm loses Ogier and Tanak he should think about giving Juho a go.
Tommi also says twice about how great Teemu Suninen is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
If this is the case, then he will go back to getting paid for renting cars.Quote:
Originally Posted by RS
M-Sport is like step to bigger success with factory teams. Look guys who develop their skills there. Except this year with Ogier and Tanak, they clearly go for it and if they both gone it will probably be back the leaderboard again for some years. I think if Ford will not back his programme he will still be well shown and sell a lot of their prepared cars to customers worldwide so he could compete in WRC.
I like Hanninen as a person.Quote:
Originally Posted by RS
But results-wise his problem always was that he crashes under pressure, this season didn't prove much otherwise. Yes this was his first full season in WRC but in IRC it was quite often the same problem.
Yes, Toyota would take Suninen if Tanak stays at Ford. The last I heard they were looking at both Sunien and Tanak.
Tommi is certainly a bit harsh especially considering Juho has had a great 2nd half of the season. Hope he goes all out in GB.
do you remember ogier in his first full season?
do you remember tanak for a few seasons
do you remeber neville crashing..
of course you member meeke crashing
you remember lavata crashing all the time
you know what the common denominator is.. they can all win rallys.
otberg, sordo etc very rarely crash... but they are unlikley to win rallys.
you would have a team full of nearly men.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
None of those guys won while crashing in their first season in the WRC... So when you look at their early WRC careers, you can't say "ohh they can all win rallys" we shall keep them round because they are winners, they simply weren't at the time...Quote:
Originally Posted by wrc2017
- JML didn't win anything in his first full year 2007 with Stobart, and had a part year with them the year before too.
- Neuville didn't win anything with his first year in Citroen, or his second in Ford, it wasn't till his third year while at Hyundai that he finally won.
- Meeke, didn't win anything with Mini, or in his first year at Citroen, it wasn't till the second year
- Even Ogier didn't win anything in his first full season with Citroen
- Tanak - it took till his 4th full year in a WRC car before he won anything
So you are making things up I am afraid. It's normal to crash and have ups and downs in your first full year. The sad reality is due to his age and the fact that Hanninen has popped in and out of the WRC several times, people expect him to be either winning in his first full year, or they say he doesn't deserve a seat.
Given he has never had a full season before and that in 2016 he didn't even compete in the WRC at all, he had a much harder, perhaps impossible situation to overcome. Unfortunately for him, even though he was IRC, ERC and SWRC champion, he left it too late to get into the WRC and get to know the roads and cars etc and I think he will always be at a significant disadvantage and it's a bit late for him. Which is a waste really as if he left IRC and got even a part time drive in WRC who knows what could have been?
Juho was already old when he was in IRC, and at that time there were far fewer WRC seats around.
Of course he is not the future but I would still rather see more of him than guys like Ostberg, Sordo, Lefebvre. .
im not making things up. hanninen has true speed. has won irc title. he just needs time at this level. another season he could win a rally. im not say he could be wrc champion. but he has more prospect that some others.. id have him before...lebfreve, otsberg, sordo, breen
That is why its you, and nothing important in the sport...Quote:
Originally Posted by wrc2017
I disagree with that. You can see that money as a waste to bring a thrid car and a driver you will not confirm next year. I see that as an investment to build a stronger team spirit. Knowing that nobody will be sacrified even if he is going to say goodbye can be a huge motivation for everyone in the team. Team spirit is very important in rally. VW dominated also because of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
P.S. Of course you should not left Lappi at home either otherwise it doesn't make sense.
Tanak confirmed.
AlsoQuote:
Kaj Lindström, currently co-driver for Juho Hänninen, is taking on a new role as sporting director for the team, starting from Rally Australia this year. With this revised line-up, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT will continue its challenge into the 2018 season
There you go! Well done and a positive future
Hmm, can't find any info on the contract length - surely can't be only for one year?
Congrats to Toyota and Tänak!
Theres still some work to do with the car but overall they have done a lot lot lot better than many thought. Cant wait to see what Ott can do with this car.