In my eyes the most logical in that case would be to use Ogier, Evans and Meeke in factory nominated cars and put Rovanpera in 4th. Could be pretty good lineup as long as Meeke is told very clearly what his role is.
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In my eyes the most logical in that case would be to use Ogier, Evans and Meeke in factory nominated cars and put Rovanpera in 4th. Could be pretty good lineup as long as Meeke is told very clearly what his role is.
If nothing else, it's be a nice retirement fund for Meeke.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobJones
I really hope so. A two car secondary Toyota team would solve a lot of problems right now!Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Ola Fløene is hanging out with Meeke in Andorra these days and I'm pretty sure there was an insta story saying "With new team mates" or something like that the other day, seems like something is going on.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobJones
Even instead of paying Meeke off and having him sitting on the sidelines, a half season or a few events would maybe work better for Toyota than having Kalle as 3rd pts scorer in every round.
Kalle could still do full season, but move aside for Meeke in the main team on events like Monte/ Mexico/ argentina/ Wales + tarmac of Germany/ Japan etc + maybe one or two other events where road position is vital.
Toyota now have Evans who is a more safe option than Latvala was last year. So Meeke could come into events with very good position on the road (like Mikkelsen and Sordo who started 7th/ 8th/9th/10th on the road this year nearly all the time) and for sure be on pace to challenge for the wins. We've seen in the past in 2016 where Meeke won easily in Portugal and Finland with great road position when he did half season.
This season in Sweden plus gravel events, Meeke has started 4th on the road 5 times, and 5th on the road 3times. Yet still had good very pace in Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Finland despite not always getting results.
Also just thinking from a Toyota POV, Meeke had great pace in Monte on his first event in the Yaris and who would you rather have drive there for team points - Kris or Kalle? Meeke could potentialluly challenge for a win/podium especially if you factor in the fact Tanak will be in a new car and so will Ogier.
Meeke being involved in a partial season or a full season would probably make Toyota stronger short term, but I guess the fact they have to run Katsuta in a 4th car for most of the season as well makes it difficult budget wise. 5 cars is a big ask.
Meeke to Ford. (Why all this haussing of Kris? Think he is the most unpredictical driver to hire...)
Latvala stays.
My guess...
i will eat dirt if Malcolm chooses Meeke over other free drivers:D
I tend to agree, but if Meeke got paid out of his Toyota contract Malcolm could have him with Toyota effectively paying him! That might appeal...Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
And here we are Meeke, Lappi ->> M-Sport. Which driver comes next, maybe one of the Hyundai guys, Neuville, Sordo, Loeb?
Why does everyone think Lappi will land the Ford seat,after the season he has had.. Ahead of Meeke, unless he is paying. Meeke doesn't pay, and has said that publically.
Because Lappi had some bad luck as well with the car couple of times.Lappi had i think 3 second places on the season? Meeke just crashed so much on very key points on rally. Ogier knows when he has one of kinda like meekes teammate - he is definetly loosing that next champ as well. Because like Markko sayd : Best Hyundai drivers was two Toyota ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrc2017
Because Lappi can be an investment for Msport. He drives for Msport, regains form and confidence, shows potential championship challenging potential etc etc..., Malcolm can then get a cut from his future earnings if Lappi moves on in a few years to the likes of Hyundai.
I'm sure if Lappi doesn't pay to drive, Malcolm will work something like that into his contract.
Naaaa.. Ogier crushed Lappi. Lappi will pay to drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by reff92
I was joking haha Meeke's rumours now seems like Lappi's, so that's why I said that. If this will be true actually M-Sport could be even stronger next year than this yer with Evans and Suninen.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrc2017
I think Lappi + Fiesta would be a really good combo, because to me he has different approach to next season/his driving than Meeke.. Lappi have to show stable pace and few podium places vs Meeke goes full out and is sure that he could be WDC. Like this year.. although he was constantly losing to ,,top3'', he still drove with an attitude like he had a chance for WDC(mathematically)..
Kris could have his salary in the brown envelope, but someone still has to pay for running the car. I doubt the envelope is thick enough for the whole season.Quote:
Originally Posted by doubled1978
Same with Lappi, I suppose Citroen has to pay him full salary from 2020, but it's not enough for a full M-Sport season. However, like said, Malcolm could be interested in investing a young driver. And then it's another thing what Even management thinks about this...
Good point, still probably net-cheaper.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I think the deal could be M-Sport pays to run the car (potential podiums to prove the pace and skill of M-Sport organisation) but don't have to pay Lappi a penny. Mutually beneficial. I suppose.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Oh I know, MSport is very unlikely for Meeke.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
More the point is MSport find themselves with a large pool to fish in, and while they won’t have a Ogier/Tanak/Neuville level guy, they could have a very strong line up if the want, or can afford it.
More like small pool with a lot of medium size fish insideQuote:
Originally Posted by doubled1978
What if they will pick all the left over drivers and rotate them to get best possible positions? That would be quite exciting when they couldix others head.
Andreas Mikkelsen updated profil picture in FB
VW helmet?
Should be 2013 helmet
I shot that picture for Mikkelsen and the company who built his website after VW pulled out of WRC, so it's an old picture.
Big money has been required for this switcharound ...
"According to the finely informed Helsingin Sanomat Finns, there is a clause in Ogier's contract with Citroën that prevented the Frenchman from competing for another team in 2020 if he did not want to stay at Citroën . It could 'retire' but could not switch teams.
Thus, Toyota will have to pay the unbundling of Sébastien Ogier, and according to Helsingin Sanomat this amount will be between 4 and 5 million euros. Plus the salary. Therefore operation Ogier will not go far from the 10 million euros. But Citroën, even receiving compensation, will also have strong amounts to pay Lappi and the WRC Promoter."
Again, the source is this one article in Helsingin Sanomat, which had many other proven errors, so I don't believe that without confirmation.
The journalist who wrote that article is also writing Tommi Mäkinen's autobiography, if that makes it more credible or not...
EDIT: Mäkinen says in YLE interview that they did not buy Ogier out
So now, let´s wait for the MSport line up...
Any suggestions?
SuninenQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Lappi
Greensmith
I wonder if Tänak has already been in the factory and seen the car too? Like Ogier and Evans.. Hyundai only announced it thru socialmedia posts, but not a whole line-up in a factory or smth
So, 2020 season will be only 3 constructors? Assuming M-Sport will chip in...
is WRC dying?? there should be something done to attract factories/teams to the championship
You described the history of wrc nowQuote:
Originally Posted by Frostmourne
There is always this worry, when manufacturers leave. There's been worse times, and the lack of seats isn't anything new. The question is always how to attract more manus but that isn't so straight forward
Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk
Elfyn Evans finally gets a decent salary in the WRC, a just reward. Hopefully, he can stop working in the Suzuki dealership and focus purely on rally at least for two seasons.
So, 1 year deal for Seb and 2 year deals for Elfyn and Kalle. Solid choices by Toyota to put trust in Elfyn and Kalle I think.
@JariMattiWRC
Following the announcement of @TGR_WRC I would like, first of all, to thank the team for the 3 great years and the success we shared together. I am currently working on competing in some #WRC events in 2020. Will keep you posted on that. Big thanks to our fans for your support.
I would go with all remaining ones. Latvala, Meeke sharing first car. Lappi, Mikkelsen second and Ostberg, Paddon and Suninen third.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
That way all of them get better road position
Worrying hearing that there's talk of only 1 seat left at Msport. There should be two alongside Suninen.
This is there chance to get a really good lineup for dirt cheap, so I'd be a bit pissed off if they decide against it to run Greensmith in 3rd car or just run two cars.
So basically after Germany Ogier went to Mäkinen. Mäkinen could have said that he supports he's drivers but didn't and started to talk to Ogier. Ott wanted to sign the contract so he would not have that pressure on him when he was fighting for the title at the end of the season, but Tommi was ready to switch him if the title did not come. Ott looks for alternative solutions and found Adamo.
The rest is history
M-Sport should have a decent car that can bring manu. champ. I think their best chance to win that at least Mikkelsen , Lappi and Suninen.
Latvala and Meeke would be a massive waste for M-Sport. They didn't perform for Toyota at all this season even when it was gravely needed (Spain). Suninen will definitely do a full season, I believe that was also confirmed by Millener. In my opinion it will all boil down to which driver is the most capable of tuning and improving the Fiesta WRC the most. If Suninen was missing Evans's technical input when he was out with a back injury for 3 stages, can you imagine that for a whole season? The car would fall so far behind Hyundai and Toyota and we will end up with another Citroen situation. In my opinion, the open spot it will be contested by Lappi and Mikkelsen (unless Hyundai creates the rumored satellite team with Breen, Veiby and Mikkelsen). I would assume Mikkelsen has more experience with the technical side of WRC, but I might be wrong. Lappi definitely has more potential. If Mikkelsen is out and Wilson doesn't see potential in Lappi to improve the car, it will get very difficult, despite the seemingly large number of options.Quote:
Originally Posted by deephouse
It´s expensive running three cars. At least for MW.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88