M-Sport Ford World Rally Teams

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Originally Posted by pettersolberg29

Don't want to spoil the party, but this whole story came from the Solberg's trip to Monster and Oliver tweeting "exciting things coming soon".

That "exciting thing" is a podcast - the Monster UNLEASHED podcast. Sure, it doesn't mean the whole story has no substance at all, but I think somebody has over egged the pudding...

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I totally agree - there is no logic behind the private team in so short time; however, Oliver would benefit - he could build up his experience without any pressure. For Tanak - no way this would make any sense.

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Originally Posted by AndersX

I totally agree - there is no logic behind the private team in so short time; however, Oliver would benefit - he could build up his experience without any pressure. For Tanak - no way this would make any sense.

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It's not a private team, its 2 M-sport teams, with 2 different energydrinks as sponsors.
If it happens.

Sent fra min SM-G950F via Tapatalk

Are we enthusiastic about all this thanks to Loeb?

Without Loeb we maybe could think that M-Sport does not have competitive car and Breen actually is really good driver, just car is crap. Now, Loeb brought reality check for everyone. Speed wise and reliability wise - speed is (maybe) there, reliability (maybe) is not that well there.

Loubet and Greensmith also had some very good times. Loubet even over many rallies.

But sure a lot is thanks to Loeb. Even more so given how he has struggled in the Hyundai.

Interesting comparision between the Puma and Hyundai WRC by Loubet:

"Another weak point of the current Rally1 car generation is the lack of front downforce, as the 2022 regulations forbid most of the parts included in the previous WRC car generation designed with that purpose. How teams are dealing with it?

For M-Sport driver Pierre Louis Loubet this doesn’t seem to be a problem at all: “There’s less front downforce, yes, but to speak about the front of the car is not only about the aero, as the philosophy of the Puma is that you have a very good front, I mean about the chassis. In a car like that, front downforce just helps on this side. In other cars that I have driven, when you don’t have a very good front, aerodynamics are very important, because you can compensate a lot with that. In the Puma I would say that the chassis does the job on the slow corners to turn, while on the Hyundai it was much more different, you feel that you need to push more to turn the car. At this moment the downforce can help, so you have to be very aggressive on the car. The Puma chassis doesn’t require so much support from the aero side”.
https://www.wrcwings.tech/2022/10/31...agers-explain/

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Originally Posted by Sergiow

Interesting comparision between the Puma and Hyundai WRC by Loubet:

"Another weak point of the current Rally1 car generation is the lack of front downforce, as the 2022 regulations forbid most of the parts included in the previous WRC car generation designed with that purpose. How teams are dealing with it?

For M-Sport driver Pierre Louis Loubet this doesn’t seem to be a problem at all: “There’s less front downforce, yes, but to speak about the front of the car is not only about the aero, as the philosophy of the Puma is that you have a very good front, I mean about the chassis. In a car like that, front downforce just helps on this side. In other cars that I have driven, when you don’t have a very good front, aerodynamics are very important, because you can compensate a lot with that. In the Puma I would say that the chassis does the job on the slow corners to turn, while on the Hyundai it was much more different, you feel that you need to push more to turn the car. At this moment the downforce can help, so you have to be very aggressive on the car. The Puma chassis doesn’t require so much support from the aero side”.
https://www.wrcwings.tech/2022/10/31...agers-explain/

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Good point, so "easier" puma.

Who are the development's drivers for Msport?

Breen was complaining both in Spain and Japan that the front tires overheat/get worn too easily ( due to too much grip??) and he has to try to be gentle with them.

Turned around it can be he was used to previous i20 (as described by Loubet) that required more aggressive push on front.

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Originally Posted by manthey

Who are the development's drivers for Msport?

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Matthew Wilson did much of the development testing for Puma Rally1.

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Originally Posted by mknight

Breen was complaining both in Spain and Japan that the front tires overheat/get worn too easily ( due to too much grip??) and he has to try to be gentle with them.

Turned around it can be he was used to previous i20 (as described by Loubet) that required more aggressive push on front.

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To me watching from outside, in tarmac trim at least, the Puma looks like it is very direct in initial turn in, but once it’s turning it has quite a bit of understeer.
All the current cars understeer a bit in tarmac trim, I guess because no centre diff, but I would say the Puma is the most pronounced.
Of course what I’m seeing might be wrong, and it’s actually the opposite in that they throw it in and then let it understeer as the front is too strong, but looking at the onboard inputs, I think it’s more likely the former.

All of the i20's have been largely tailored to Neuville and his frequent use of the handbrake at all speeds to reduce understeer.