Tänak's contract ends in 2019 and would you believe they'd drop any Finns?Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
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Tänak's contract ends in 2019 and would you believe they'd drop any Finns?Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essaj
Purely my own thoughts 5.5.2018.
Neuville will most likely stay at Hyundai. Meeke could be out or maybe go for M-Sport if Ogier leaves? Ogier could do anything. Sordo drives either for Hyundai or quits, Paddon pretty much same. Evans could be out of the scene but will most likely continue in M-Sport. Latvala either continues on Toyota or leaves WRC. Mikkelsen stays in Hyundai unless M-Sport or Citroen finds interest/money to get him. Breen should be #1 Citroen driver next year depending how things go with Meeke - Loeb could change things if he makes a full comeback ( this could be a best change for WRC to keep it interesting). Suninen is going to drive full season with M-Sport as a 3rd driver without a paycheck.
Who could hop in?
Ostberg - did well in Sweden as expected, rest of the outings this year will be crucial. Tidemand; WRC2 champ 2017 and seems to do that in 2018 aswell but is he fast enough to take over a WRC seat? At the moment my bet would be no.
Rovanperä - Has 2+1 year contract with Skoda so not in 2019 and atleast 1 year more in WRC2 would not be bad for him as he still need experience.
Veiby is not up for it, Huttunen is not ready unless Hyundai really wants to go for him, Lefevbre needs to really show some pace to have any change, Camilli seems to be out (no drives after Monte).
Katsuta, I don't think so, maybe if Latvala is out and there is no one to fill his slot, this would be same as huttunen joining Hyundai - Bet for the future.
Tbh current situation looks rather bad. WRC drivers are getting "old" Sordo, Ogier, Latvala, Meeke all of them could be out/retire after this season. Maybe Skoda's possible 2020 WRC campaing could make a positive change as it would most likely be young'ish Skoda team versus others (Tidemand, Rovanperä, Veiby and/or Nordgren).
Hopefully WRC lives on for a long time still but it could end sooner than we're expecting. Hopefully i'm wrong.
Three key points in my eyes:
- As a year to year proposition - will Ogier remain in WRC next year?
- Will Citroen stay true to their word and stick out the final season of their WRC commitment?
- I can't see any way in which Hyundai start next season with five contracted drivers.
Only Tanak and Mikkelsen are pretty safe until the end of 2019.
Others are free for grabs.
Hyundai will go after Ogier, especially if they don't win drivers title. Thierry will also be their priority. Sordo showed his good pace from past and that he could bring important points home. Unless Paddon show that too we all know who will win this battle for 3rd seat.
M-Sport - Again Ogier. Probably Evans also. Maybe Ostberg again. Suninen or maybe Tidemand.
Citroen (If they stay in the game-I have a feeling that they don't care a lot and will retire). - No other than Loeb. Again they will put money into Meeke and Craig probably lose a seat or do part programme.
Toyota - They will probably stay the same except Ott would be driver number 1 and latvala two.
Drivers that could lose a seat: Paddon, Craig Breen (unless Loeb don't come back and Citroen don't retire), Meeke (same as previous), maybe Latvala (but I don't believe that).
There's a lot of water to flow under the bridge yet this season. I wouldn't be writing Paddon off by any stretch of the imagination. Only two seasons ago everybody was touting him as a future champion and Nandan will know that he is one of the very few who has the pace to match Neuville, Ogier and Tanak. He will bring Hyundai a championship. Mikkelsen and Sordo will not.
Paddon's a very old-fashion type of driver who only excels on the loose stuff. I can only think of him and Östberg who are in that category in the bunch of the current factory drivers, the others can pretty much perform everywhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by sollitt
Even though Mikkelsen's start to the year has not been good enough, he's still a more attractive option to have for a full year.
Even more ridiculous was saying the Privateers could run a 2017 WRC but only with a smaller turbo restrictor... like that would make any difference to the cornering speed with all the aero, or the huge cost !!Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
Why would Toyota keep Latvala? They apparently have a great car. So not difficult to lure a good driver. My be is Tanak, Lappi and Breen/ Neuville/ Mikkelsen. Fourth car for Katsuta in near future.
Because he's still one of the fastest, most experienced drivers available? :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by COD
If teams ditched drivers every time they have a few tough rallies and a bit of bad luck there would hardly be any drivers left.
Latvala, 1 podium so far this season, behind both his teammates in the standing. All new Ogier approach at the beginning of the season, didn't work after 3 rallyes, now all in for victory, even worse results... To me it looks like the beginning of the end. If Lappi continues to improve, Tanak will be #1, Lappi #2 next season and i would suspect Latvala to have the opportunity to do 1 more season and that's the end of his career.Quote:
Originally Posted by GravelBen
Thats a fairly big speculation based on the last 4 rallies, especially considering his car broke on two of them.
It’s not just about the results but Latvala often seems to be the slowest Toyota driver these days.
However I can’t see them wanting anybody else in their third car next year, unless they could persuade Neuville maybe, so I guess he’s safe until if and when one of the Japanese guys is ready.
Is Latvala going to pick himself up, that's one of the most important questions to be answered. So far we have basically only seen 3 drivers able to deliever a decent result.Quote:
Originally Posted by COD
Yes, we'll have to wait and see. He was confident and very fast early on at Argentina before the car broke which is a good sign.Quote:
Originally Posted by dnb
Don't forget it was only a year or two ago that many people were writing off Neuville as having lost it and being on the way out too and...
Pacenote error broke the car.*
Like I said, totally too early for silly season. The game could change totally with the contracts ending, but we have to look at the two following rallies before the summer break comes and the negotiations probably start. It could put a lot of pressure on some drivers. For counter-example Lappi has shown already he has the speed and is a driver to make offers for, he just needs a bit more experience and practice to shave off the little mistakes.Quote:
Originally Posted by sollitt
No way that Toyota´s line up will change for the next year.
Of course Tänak will be 1st driver and Lappi 2nd, but surely J-M will continue. There is no much better drivers and Toyota & Tommi seems to be loyal..
Yip he made a small mistake, so did Tanak, so did others. Latvala was unlucky that the rock he hit broke the car properly and Tanak was lucky the rock he hit didn't, it could just as easily have been the other way around.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarmop
So early into the 2018 season and we´re discussing next years line up?
Come on! This is news and rumours topic. Not crystal ball 2019.
So much to happen before this year ends up.
The main contracts are typically signed around Finland-time (though published later). Latest example is Tanak. Mikkelsen last year was a bit special case, even so he was still signed in (early) September.
So Portugal and Sardinia will be extremely important.
--------
As others pointed out it's not hard to see who the pressure is on:
Evans
Suninen
Breen
(Citroen team as a manufacturer)
Paddon
(Latvala isn't under pressue imo, being Finish and with the manager he has he will stay at Toyota, unless Japan decides to sign Ogier or Neuville against Tommi's wishes)
(Meeke's future is totally linked to Citroen imo, I don't see anyone signing him since he still has not shown reliability+speed combined. After driving for so long only double win would have any chance of changing that. Well maybe M-Sport might be interested if they can get him cheap and/or Ogier leaves)
Ogier and Neuville don't have to show anything. Ogier came back this year and showed he still has speed. Likewise Neuville showed he can avoid stupid mistakes.
In Latvala's case his experience and car development skills are probably valuable to any team, even if he would now have an unlucky season.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
And Meeke, he could always just gather sponsors for an M-Sport ride. Or maybe he could be more reliable in a better car?
I agree with this, but it's interesting since there are practically only a few who has a contract for next year. A lot of drivers are going to need a good season to prove what they can offer and in a season every event counts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
I'd imagine Tommi especially is quite grateful to him for the development and input during 2017. He largely made the car what it is today, and for that reason I doubt they'd let him go.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I’m not going to pretend he could become Mr. Consistent but there probably is some truth in the point he is having to overdrive the thing in order to make it perform.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I’d still take him above Evans, Suninen (at the moment), Breen, Ostberg, Paddon, Sordo, maybe even Latvala & Mikelssen.
I believe Østberg recently compared the C3 WRC to the Fiesta WRC and said how the C3 was always on a knife-edge and the Fiesta was much easier to drive...Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Meeke to M-Sport may be the answer for him.
The DS3 was a reliable car but it didn't really stop Meeke from crashing.
The C3 seems to have improved a lot the last few months. Though it may still need some further refining, as is the case for each manufacturer striving to reach the top step, i think its a decent car now and in capable hands can challenge for podiums outright or win rallies---no need for over-driving and using that as an excuse for unnecessary crashes.
i don't like to use this reference point, but i will, Loeb seemed to be doing fairly well with it in his recent rallies, and he's been out of action for a long time prior. At this level, i think its very difficult to win stages, be on the podium and win rallies with a supposedly "crap" car when everyone is pushing.
Opens&Tightens
@OpensTightens
#WRC #WRC2 News&Updates
So, finally it will be a @MSportLtd's built #FiestaR5 that @MRF_Racing's @Gillracing is driving this season.
Their campaign starts on @Rally_d_Italia and includes 5 gravel events
+ info here https://www.autocarindia.com/motor-s..._medium=Social …
https://cdni.autocarindia.com/Utils/...=578&w=872&c=0
go to 33minutes in this podcast to hear Mads talking classic rallying as well as C3 compared to Fiesta https://totalrallystudio.podbean.com...son-12-260818/Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
you forgot to say that it's you interviewing him :) well done!Quote:
Originally Posted by KiwiWRCfan
am i correct that there hasn't been a 1-2 manufacturer finish in 2017 and so far in 2018?!
Neuville/Paddon Poland 2017
thanks!
Skoda wrc return in 2020?
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As far as I know it's only rumours so far. It's known that they expand their place and sign 3 new drivers..
With R5s or WRCs?Quote:
Originally Posted by sollitt
Nothing is official but it looks like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by skarderud
Mirek, you say it probably will be with a new car. I guess the new Fabia is considered to big, and that it will come a new cartype btw CityGo and Fabia. (Same as have been said on new Polo R5)
Since I guess it will not be the new Polar Suv in WRC?
No, nothng between Fabia and CitiGo will come. Only the new Fabia will be larger just like the Polo. If the WRC comes it will be Fabia again, just the new one.
Besides the rumours, anything concrete about SKODA coming back in 2020?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek