I don't understand Hyundai/Adamo's "need" for Neuville? He won't win WC ever, seems like a not very nice person (based on comments) do mistakes over and over again.
He has contract for 2021?
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I don't understand Hyundai/Adamo's "need" for Neuville? He won't win WC ever, seems like a not very nice person (based on comments) do mistakes over and over again.
He has contract for 2021?
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Neuville is one of the fastest drivers and for sure helped Hyundai get the manufacturer title last year (and if they get it this year, helped in that as well). I don't think he made many mistakes this year until this rally?
rally estonia too
True, but with a lot of bad luck. Other drivers had similar incidents falling out of the ruts but didn't have the same consequences.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
The list of Neuville's mistakes under pressure is getting quite long though, basically every single year since 2017 (4 years) he does (multiple) mistakes under pressure that ultimately cost him the title.
2017 - Germany, Spain
2018 - 2 mistakes in Australia
2019 - Turkey
2020 - 2 mistakes here (actually 3, counting the small one on Friday), plus Estonia
I am starting to agree with the people that call him "forever 2nd one"
For sure Adamo has no reason right now not to keep him, but he needs to make sure the cars fits both him and Tanak.
Speaking about Tanak he is still struggling a bit with it on tarmac (as witnessed by never being better than 3rd on stage here).
Just tell me who would be better than Neuville? Even Loeb struggled occasionally in the car
He's got the pressure of a full season off his shoulders, but Sordo has been the most consistent of the Hyundai drivers this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Yeah, put him in Sweden, Wales, Estonia and Finland, or first on the road in Sardegna, and its not so consistent anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
Of course he has a contract. If a driver has a mathematical chance of winning the drivers title by the last round or second to last, it means that he's providing a great amount of points for the manufacturers title. Something other drivers, like Mikkelsen, couldn't provide.Quote:
Originally Posted by skarderud
Right now nobody. Just saying they should focus on making Tanak comfortable so that he gets best shot at title as Neuville seems to have problem handling the pressure.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
And that's without mentioning MC & Sweden back in 2017 when the i20 Coupe was the fastest car out of the box and he didn't have any pressure....it was on SSS if you recall...I'm sure Adamo will asses in the overall grand scheme of things once the rally is over tomorrow, still a long 15.5 hours to go until then...Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
guys you are talking about Neuville,when it is verified from plenty of drivers,that i20 is a strange/difficult car to drive at least at some rallies.
We are still waiting for a driver to drive it faster with a less ratio of crashes,last 4-5 years.
i am not a Neuville fan,but we have to say the truth.
Sure, that's true, but he was the one in charge of it's development and, usually, the only one who could really drive it fast.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
also we have to remember that he was competing against a car,that everybody who drove it was fast.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
Not an easy scenario.
its not easy to win against Tanak and yaris,or against Ogier with yaris.
Yes he has done his mistakes,but i cant find a better one for hyundai till now.
As proven this year, Tanak can score more points with it even while being slower. (using stage wins as reference)
I repeat that I am not saying they should drop him, just don't threat him as n1.
of course its hard to compete against them (same car or different) but it was possible for him to win the title past years but he lost it because of the reasons mentioned here.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
but the talk about dropping him is of course BS....he is one of the best in the series
IMO his mistake/problem is that he has stayed into one team for too long
Formoux need this seat asap, and with little or no funding M-Sport has to find a way to put him in a car already for 2021.
Im getting serious Sebastien vibes from him.
Not long ago nobody knew him or had heard of him. Right now he is competitive everywhere with what is surely not the most competitive Rally 2 car. He will have trouble being regular as most of the championship will be new to him but I believe he will be faster than anyone M-Sport has currently.
Is he? Looking at his times this year on gravel (Sardinia, Turkey, Estonia) he is usually around 3-4 in R5 in speed on gravel, this means slower than Tidemand for example.Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis44
How much does the car we don't know, but rough gravel should be one of the better surfaces for Fiesta imo.
Also depends how you define competitive I guess.
I really doubt he would be faster than Suninen next year (if we discount Lappi). Also note my comparison with Tidemand above, on gravel right now they have similar speed and Tidemand really struggled in WRC car.
The reason people now heard about Formaux is first and foremost that he is fast on wet tarmac, and wet tarmac rallies were one of the few being run lately (Monza, Canarias).... he is typically the only Fiesta mk2 and often one of the few on Michelin.
He might become good on other surfaces/rallies, but I just don't see any past results guaranteeing that at the moment.
I dont think he need to have WRC seat asap. For me it is still too early.Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis44
I see some rumors about Solberg to Toyota (quality = dubious)
Sounds wrong to me for multiple reasons...
- running 6 cars while developing new car in less than a year and with both Rovanpera and Katsuta learning?
- why learn this car when next one in 1 year will be quite different (powertrain and centerdif)
- he still needs rally experience on a lot of rallies, learning it with R5 is so much cheaper
Maybe the rumors means that he will be somehow connected/employed by Toyota, not that he will drive WRC with them next year. (Katsuta was "at Toyota" and drove Fiesta R5)
I think the biggest problem with being in a Toyota is being in the same car as Kalle, inviting unwelcome comparisons between them when Oliver will still be trying to learn the rallies...Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Surely there'll be less difference between a WRC 2021 and WRC 2022 than an R5/Rally2 and a 2022 WRC?
I am not so sureQuote:
Originally Posted by the sniper
- the powersystem with electric low-rev (I guess) power will be different to both
- aero will be "same" on WRCs
- active center diff will disappear just like it's missing on R5, this has a lot to say on how you drive the car in slow corners imo
Do we know Neuville's contract status?
for details you must contact Adamo or Pernasse but he contracted till the end of 2021 as far as i know
Thank you. So if Ogier is doing one and only one more year at Toyota, that creates an obvious possibility...Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
If true, Toyota might be jumping the gun a little on Solberg - but like Kalle - he's probably worth it (if they did sign him up from next season).
Could help run him in an R5 (Skoda/Ford/VW) for a lot of the events, test the current and new WRC car, drive a few rounds in the WRC car in 21 and then be in a place to take the 3rd driver role in the main team when Ogier retires.
You couldn't blame any of the teams trying to lock him down early on a long term contract, due to the massive potential he has. Shame Malcolm is more concerned with his racetrack rather than good drivers thesedays, as I feel Solberg growing & developing for a few years at Msport under Malcolm would be a slightly less pressurised environment for him, than in the Toyota main team next to Evans and particularly Kalle. Would rejuvenate the whole Msport team too, as currently they are sleepwalking.
Surely the answer is clear - Solberg will do WRC in a Toyota R5/Rally2 car!
Pass that one on to the "rumour mill".
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/breen...m-yet-in-2021/
So far it's just Dirtfish speculation, but for sure it's likely, I guess they can adopt how many events Sordo and Breen does "flexibly" trough the year. There is no clear candidate elsewhere either (Lappi?, Adamo clearly doesn't like Mikkelsen (based on preferring Breen for Australia last year, not to mention Sweden)).
Anyway again we get this:
He was 7th...Quote:
Breen drove the factory World Rally Car twice this season, finishing sixth in Sweden
With only so few rounds trough the year one could hope those journalists that get paid for this either remember or bother to use 5s to check.
D. Evans has been doing these kind of "stupid" mistakes in every other article at least for last 2 years.
And Mikkelsen does not like the car, so no worries there.
#WRC Cheering megaphone 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣
@OfficialWRC
line-up Star-struck
@DaniSordo and @Craig_Breen will share a third Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC during the season. @OttTanak and @thierryneuville will contest all rounds of the 2021 season!
#HMSGOfficial
https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/sta...72985760063491
Nothing unexpected but good to have confirmation. Will be interesting to follow how "flexible" they will assign the rounds to each of them.
Our 2021 title defence will get underway at Rallye Monte-Carlo from January 21-24, with Ott, Thierry and Dani. Craig will begin his season at Rally Sweden in February, the scheduled second round of the season
https://motorsport.hyundai.com/wrc-c...rmed-for-2021/
For 2021 when do we expect to get spectators back on stages without restrictions?
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I hope from March-April onwards we can start to see big crowds again, although still using masks and being apart as much as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by DocMS
It was not talked much this year, but several organizers have been warned that without spectators, it will be impossible to justify many local authorities subsidies towards organizing the events.
Also notice that we have only Monte and Sweden in the winter season, then the season restarts again closer to the summer, with hopefully a better situation by then...
Even with the start of vaccinations, I think it's unlikely we'll see big crowds allowed before the second half of the summer.
Rally Estonia
ok, so now he has signed :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Boyd
Many countries are probably "Covid safe" May-June but will they allow visitors from "every where" is another question.Quote:
Originally Posted by DocMS
so without any restrictions it could be 2023.
I think it will be difficult until the summer months at least, when tourism sector will push to open in all the countries I suposse.Quote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
I hope I'm wrong but I personally see difficult that the Monte will go ahead in January