I was also thinking about timing but in a different way. What if they finally reached to an agreement with Toyota and they can now announce all the Toyota drivers for next year in Rally Japan.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
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I was also thinking about timing but in a different way. What if they finally reached to an agreement with Toyota and they can now announce all the Toyota drivers for next year in Rally Japan.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
I see we think alike a lot ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
So this way next year there will be a dream Toyota team and two other teams fighting for positions 4 to 8??
Exactly, seems like it, people in this forum withholding information from us ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
With the number 8 Toyota leading the way hopefully ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
Jari-Matti wanted to continue with the current winning team, but the decision will be made purely in Japan and it´s possible that Tänak wants desperately drive again Toyota. It could be that Mr. Toyoda is willing to see it again.
If Ogier is also driving full season next year there will be three Champions in the same team fighting for the title, but the WRC / Rally1 is dead, because it´s only Toyota GAZOO Racing series after that.
I think there is smth differnt in cooking . We all need to respec those bits of info discussed earlier this year re: family. Though, for me it would be very pity if Tanak would retire - he has some edge that makes the current wrc less boring. ( it is boring, i am sorry)
It's quite likely that Toyota will announce their lineup at rally Japan. So not long to wait to see if it includes Tanak and if Evans or Lappi are out. Was interesting that Neuville mentioned Andreas and Elfyn at the press conference after rally Spain. Let's see what happens.
WOW…
Looking forward to see who goes where now. Of course for the series it would be great to have Ott back at MSport as if he goes to Toyota it would be hard for any competition, although the battle inside the team would be good.
My gut feeling is a move to msport, partly with WRC in mind but partly because of their Dakar project. Lots to go at there for him
I also found that strange although straight after that he said that he understands that Elfyn is not available. But why would you bring it up then? As we don't get the video or sound to have the facial and tonal expressions but it might have looked like he said something he didn't want to say and corrected it quickly afterwards :DQuote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
Maybe Neuville is the kind of person that can not keep a secret heheQuote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
The best repartition for the championship would be something like:
Toyota:
Rovanpera
Lappi/Ogier/Katsuta sharing the 2 other cars
Or Rovanpera/Evans + Ogier/Katsuta sharing the 3rd car
Hyundai:
Neuville
Evans
Sordo/Mikkelsen (sharing 3rd car)
Or Neuville + Lappi/Sordo/Mikkelsen sharing the two other cars
M-Sport:
Tanak
Breen
Whoever they could (something with youngsters such as Solberg or Loubet would be the best but don’t know if they can afford it + Tanak instead of a Greensmith for example).
So, apart from Estonian sport news reporter Martinson, has anyone else heard that Tänak had a chance to test a Toyota in Puuppola ? Total BS?
Didn't Toyota move their workshop away from Puupola?Quote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
Yup... when i readed the announcment last night i instantly thought about that interview and the post that i made.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
But anyway, now that Tänak is leaving HMS for sure, my crystal ball prediction is that, Evans either goes to hyundai or msport, Tänak to Toyota, and Ogier decides to do a full season aswell, Lappi, hmm what the hell, lets say lappi also goes to Hyundai to share a car with Mikkelsen because Sordo will decide to retire also.
Lets see how well this post ages.
Yeah, it's now in Jyväskylä, but even in the Puuppola days they didn't really test the cars in PuuppolaQuote:
Originally Posted by bandit12
So total BS from that journalist.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
What about Tänak sharing the 4th car with Ogier? Has more time family and a great car. Win win situation for him.
lol :DQuote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
I hope you are right 😁😁Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Everything is BS from him. I don’t even get how he still works, the guy is such a embarrassmentQuote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
Yesterday after the rally he said confidently that Ott is staying and then told that there is a big chance that Neuville will leave instead and go to Msport cause Wilson officers him a championship winning car.
He also told that Mikkelsen forgot to turn off the intercom with the team And was caught on the liaison talking about how many rallies and what contact would he get if Tänak leaves and the whole Škoda team heard this.
After this sentence the other guys on podcast asked him “wait, on which rally this happened?” And Martinson answered: ”here in Spain” and the guys said to him, “wait, what, Mikkelsen wasn’t in Spain” and then he basically couldn’t answer and in the end said it must have happened in New Zealand then, Mikkelsen also didn’t participate there as we know. What a joke
This is just one example how bad this guy is and I totally get it why Ott doesn’t like him one bit
Pure speculation, but ... if Tänak goes to M-Sport and Loeb does some extra rallies, they have driver with 1 title + "visitor driver" with 9 titles.
Toyota have pretty much the same, Rovanperä with one title and visitor Ogier with 8 titles.
... and Hyundai sending Solberg away with announcement, that they want more experienced lineup.
The guy is just a fool. Sometimes I wonder how much acid he does on a daily basis :DQuote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
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Well my biggest fear is we get Rovanpera, Tanak and Ogier (part or even fulltime) at Toyota.
While the internal competition would be fun it would basically completely destroy the series. Hyundai would likely leave soon and MSport will keep running (young) paydrivers only.
Yeah, you are totally right. That old guy can’t separate dreams from real life anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Listened to it at the same time and thought how Delfi still is giving him a job, everyone laughs and mocks his interviews and thanks to the fact that Tänak doesnt respect him, we dont get any decent estonian interviews.
Even the guys who asked him about the rumours almost couldnt hold a straight face and seemed in the end they just gave up trying to find any logic in his statements. I bursted out laughing when he sayd Neuville will go to m-sport, they cannot pay him well but will give him a winning car
Just let me tell you that all the missing pieces in the puzzle have been put in their respectful places a long time ago. Now we start to hear about them. Remember Akio's statement in Ypres? Solberg fired a week before Catalunya? Tänak and Hyundai split announcement before Japan?Quote:
Originally Posted by meh
And no, I don't have waterproof information, just try to see some logic behind it.
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.. and in Spain there were 2 a bit out of fighting mood drivers, both were a bit lost and "struggling with car setup", one was Tänak and we already got the announcement. Another one was Evans.Quote:
Originally Posted by cali
Bingo!Quote:
Originally Posted by meh
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I do hope that Toyota has enough sense to avoid that. WRC's lifeline is fragile enough as it is and having all aces in one team would destroy the series beyond recovery.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Tanak-Evans -switch doesn't make much sense. Why would Evans willingly depart to a team that for him is worse choice in every way? Why would Toyota not retain him, assuming they don't want the WRC-destroying line-up of Rovanpera-Tanak-Ogier for next year - and assuming that Latvala spoke truth when he said he'd like to keep current line-up?
What is curious that normally when driver switches teams, new team is announced immediately but this time Tanak simply said that he leaves Hyundai without giving any clues as to where to. The most sensible option, ie. Tanak going to M-Sport, would have been announced on the spot, that desperate M-Sport is. Since it hasn't, I wonder what gives...
These are just my hopes and opinions, zero facts.
Maybe it's not a typical situation because even Tanak himself doesn't know yet how many rallies he is doing next year.
Tänak's announcement has been food for brain - for him logical, public and known options are M-Sport, Toyota or retirement.
Tänak seems to be "into development and improvement" guy. I have not follow rumors in detail - but my question is - is there any potential new manufacturer to join Rally1? Skoda?
This could be additional option for him.
One random related article:
https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/...nged/10333745/
Wait what?? Where I can hear this? Sounds hilariousQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyest
https://sport.delfi.ee/artikkel/1200...lli-poodiumiltQuote:
Originally Posted by Tauri_J
I wouldn't mind seeing ogier, tanak and rovanapera in the same team, on the condition that they also take in neuville.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
All the top drivers in the same car. No excuses about the car being slower than their competitors, just showing who's the best driver.
think about neuville wdc with not so many win, while the best team spitting victories and crash in the fight between the top guys. that would sound extreme! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
My bet is Tanak to retire as a WRC driver ...
M-Sport cant afford him and Toyota wont need him or want to rock the boat.
him directing a more structured red grey team is a nice suggestion though. not thinking at an m-sport level, but something like toksport, battling for wrc2 and raising youngster could be a fresh breath for the whole movement
Now that the British prime minister gig didn't pan out, maybe year or two in rally cross. Would suit his driving style and it's a proven path to WRC if he wants back.
;-)
Sent from my Takapalk.
Rallycross is Kind of dead (I am talking about World level).Quote:
Originally Posted by janneppi