https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEqAU37VlHs
Colin Clark's Kitchen Table, talk about 2019 seats and 2018 championship fights and Rally Japan
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEqAU37VlHs
Colin Clark's Kitchen Table, talk about 2019 seats and 2018 championship fights and Rally Japan
I'd be mega surprised if Meeke turns up again. As Colin suggests, perhaps there is still some Citroen red-tape to overcome.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Perhaps another mixed surface rally. Something like condroz in november in belgium. asphalt, but with leaves and lots of mud and dirt on the road.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWorm
Who do M-Sport call if anyone trips in the shower/ has a mountain bike accident and there are contractual obligations with the sponsors to fulfil? Bryan Bouffier, Camilli, Luky?Quote:
Originally Posted by tomhlord
Not Meeke unless citroen agrees. And i doubt that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeakiwi
I'd go for keeping Germany. While I'm a big fan of the history of the Tour de Corse, I have to say to my mind, the current Tour de Corse is the worst adaption of a classic rally to the modern event formula. I like that they have long stages, but the empty looking itinerary it creates, particularly on the Friday, for what is now almost a 300km rally, just looks lacklustre. That's aside from the logistics issue and France already having another rally in the Monte, which realistically serves the country better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Getting rid of Germany, you lose the pretty unique nature of the vineyards and the panzerplatte, which I think appeal even to people not interested in more common smooth tarmac rallies. They can make for good television. Most importantly though by losing Germany you leave a massive area of mainland Europe without any WRC rally, which would seem like a terrible idea in most sports, particularly when you consider the level of spectator and stakeholder (manufacturer) interest in that part of the world.
Dropping Deutschland seems like shooting yourself in the foot; as already stated above, it's a unique challenge - and a massive car market.
The Rally purist in me wants to keep Corsica - but they need to change some of it. However, if it was dropped, that would mean Corsica joins Sanremo, Acropolis, Safari, NZ as ex WRC events; Can you afford to keep dropping iconic events?
The FFSA themselves made the decision to abandon the 'historic' and 'iconic' Tour de Corse once, when they moved to Alsace.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyRAC
They really shouldn't therefore expect the WRC to respect it when they bring back a crappy version of it....
But who's getting dropped when Kenya returns? And don't forget that FIA is led by French guy
Why is it such a hassle to get to Corsica and Sardinia by ferry?
No customs going from mainland France to Corsica right, or is it the capacity of the ferry's?
Probably Spain. They have no issues of dropping asphalt rallies.Quote:
Originally Posted by dnb
The last dropped rallies: Poland, China, Acropolis, New Zealand, Jordan...Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
If Japan, a tarmac rally, comes in, it’s only logical that another has to go.
Normally Rallye Deutschland never should be in question anyway. The vineyards stages and also Panzerplatte offer something unique. And it's not just the german round, it is for sure also the felt "home" wrc round for all those neighbouring countries like belgium, netherlands, austria, czech rep. etc. etc. Easy to reach in the heart of Europe. Not in a remote location like Corsica. With all the respect to the history, the corsica editions of the last years were a joke and clearly the most boring rallies of the year.
Fairly to say, the same remote location argument is also valid for Sardinia. The manufacturers already have mentioned more than once what they think about it. The new event in Turkey will probably offer very similar conditions and tv-images.
I'd personally like to see rotation of the rallies in the calendar again. Then we'd see new events like Canada, Chile, Croatia, Estonia. Maybe more as different countries see they have an opportunity. Can't be bad for the sport either.
Turkey is also a logistical challenge. Takes five days for teams to get there https://rallysportmag.com/are-wrc-te...-rally-turkey/Quote:
Originally Posted by tc10a
China is not at all possible to return, is it?Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
They did the WRC dirty the last time around. I don't think they even want to bother.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
i would like to see Croatia in WRC for sure...
I think that will never happen, now it's delayed for 2020, but with Kenya entering at that time I don't think that Cro have any chance of getting spot. Whoever puts more money into Ciesla's pocket that one wins..Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
as i understand then Jouhki rarely gives public interviews, but one estonian reporter caught him in germany and i thought ill share it.
For example i didnt know that he tried to get Tänak and Neuville under his wing back in the day.
for the intro: "Every team is interested in Rovanpera but no one has made a good enough offer yet, or an offer that suits me. Next year he will still be in WRC2 althoug he would already quite nicely manage the WRC car. At the age of 20 he will be in the factory team"
You are the only manager that invests a lot of money on young talents?
"Not the only one but one of the few ones, I think Märtin is doing also the same."
Märtin stole Tänak right under your nose?
"Not really, i believed in Tänak and I had had some conversations with him. I was in the Pirelli Star Driver jury back in 2009 and i put Tänak number one. I rarely work with other guys from other nations, i cant get close enough of them to see their level. Tänak was an exception - I saw right away that he would do big things - and Neuville but i couldnt get either of them. I was offering a deal for Ott but somehow things went wrong. He and Markko decided to follow their own road. Neuville came on the market when I was really busy with Hirvonen and Latvala and i had no time to deal with him."
We have heard that you have quite a big team helping you?
"Yes, Im taking the raw talent and making him a professional rally driver. Im helped by media people, engineers and technicians who are teaching the drivers. Also former co-drivers who are helping them with notes."
It seems there are only very good drivers coming under from your wing, have some of the drivers failed?
"Yes, one time. Then I didnt do psychological tests for them, he wasnt very strong from the mental side but he was very fast, but crashed a lot."
Tänak also crashed a lot back in the day, everyone does in the beginning
"I havent done psychological tests on Ott, so I dont know what was the reason for the crashes. He has always been very fast and was actually driving quite confidently in the beginning. The mistakes started coming when he jumped into the WRC car. I think he put huge pressure on himself, he wanted to deliver very quickly."
So before you choose the driver you are following his driving and mental side very closely?
"The groundwork is huge. In the beginning of millenium I was checking over 10 young finnish drivers, I turned down half of them. I continued with the five that was left, In the end I did a group test for them to see their speed and mental strength in hard situations. In the end from these five, I chose Hirvonen and Latvala."
Both havent been world champions. Why? Because both have had Sebastiens ahead of them?
"Latvala is let down by his mental side, he puts so much pressure on himself and he cant cope with it, and this is when he makes the mistakes. Hirvonen was left without a title because of WIlson. M-sport didnt use team tactics back in the day like Citroen did for Loeb. If Wilson had told to Latvala to let Hivonen pass in Rally Sardinia, then Hirvonen would have been the champ."
Management job is also a business, you invest in the driver a lot in the beginning and later you take half of his earnings?
"Yes, if the drivers finally go into factory team, if not, then all of my money is wasted. But yes, it is true that Ill take like 50% of their earnings. Its just how this business works. And Im actually very kind guy, I know that some take even more! It all depens how much I have invested in the driver and how much time it takes for him to reach the factory team."
If we look how much rallies Rovanpera is already racing, it is quite impressive already
"God has made him to race, I already had an eye on him when he was eight. The difference with other drivers and Rovanpera is that I work with him on every aspect: he is being teached how to setup and develop the car, how to write notes, when to push or not. My idea is that you have to test a lot. Where do you think athletes develop the most, on trainings or at grand prix? If you look then racing drivers also do more kilometres on free practice and on tests. Why should rallying be different?"
Mäkinen is recently wondering how there have been coming so many young talented finns through
"Talented drivers are everywhere, France, Spain and GB but another thing is how to develop them, you have to know how do to this job."
If someone calls you and says he is a very fast and talented guy and asks your help, what do you answer?
"There are a lot of calls all the time, but the truth is I choose with who I work."
Will Tänak be a champion one day, or are Ogier and Neuville too tough for him?
"No they arent tough, Tänak is at the moment and quite often beating them. If he hadnt had those car problems, he would be leading. He has been basically the fastest on every rally, has the most stage wins. Why cant he be champ this year? He is driving very cleanly, he hasnt made a single big mistake."
We are talking here about Rovanpera, but we have also have Tidemand who has been WRC2 champ but cant get into factory team
"Tidemand is a very good driver, very fast but he has a very poor management. But if we look at the current market then maybe he will get his chance next year."
But there arent many drivers who could win world championship, Sordo and Evans are nice guys but...
"They will never be champions. There are never too many guys who can fight for the title but teams also need good second and third drivers."
Well the interview makes him sound as the best rally manager there is...
Now the facts.
-A driver he managed has not won WDC for over 18 years (I think he managed Gronholm).
- None of the current top 3 drivers is managed by him
- he almost destroyed Hirvonens career by putting him to Subaru too early in 2004 when he subsequently crashed out (though this was also affected by Burns illness)
- all this talk about mental tests and JML has been a mental mess for last 4? years, sure a good manager should be able to get him good mental trainer/psychologist (or if he cant be helped, it was a wrong pick in the first place)
But yeah, has time to badmouth Tidemand management instead. With 3 VW drivers suddenly on the markert it was hard for him to get seat unless he was willing to pay, which didn't seem to be the case.
Jouhki was not Grönholm´s manager...
so Tommi is his last champ.
The man is pretty harsh, why do i get the feeling Lappi was stolen from under his nose?
I wouldn't call a team that manages Mikkelsen, Lappi, Kristoffersson, Tidemand and Veiby bad management, they've been doing decent for a team that don't pay their way into a team.
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by SubaruNorway
Agreed.
Managers, atleast the most successful ones, usually aren't the nicest guys around.Quote:
Originally Posted by SubaruNorway
Come on, isn't that a bit hypocrite? Like there would be a manager who turns down that kind of an offer for his client?Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Well the offer turned out to be a mess for Hirvonen, as 2004 was a nightmarish year for him. In hindsight he was not ready to be put in the Subaru.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
But then again Hirvonen's career turned out alright.
The way I understand it they paid his way in and with Burns unable to drive he got promoted to 2nd driver that he was not ready for.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWorm
Yes he came back in 2006 and did well. However, note that in 2005 M-Sport did a "low cost" year with untested cheap/paying drivers (Gardermeister, Kresta and Sola). None of them did well enough to secure a drive next year. But if any of them did it is possible that Hirvonen wouldn't be able to get back at all. Just shows the danger of the "get them in early with cash" strategy that Jouhki does.
Not a fan of Jouhki - he's had a unhealthy influence on the driver market over the years - but he's pretty successful; If Latvala was with another manager, I doubt he'd have had the career in WRC that he's had.
Unhealthy? How come?Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyRAC
He has definitely gained profit from Latvala's career. But gotta respect the man, he's the reason why there are more Finns than from any other nation.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
If if and if. We can easily rewrite the history that way. The truth is that they all failed their big chance (especially Gardemeister - another Jouhki client btw) while Hirvonen was 3rd in Catalunya and 5th in Acropolis with a Jari Viita-owned private Focus.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Hirvonen got very close to losing his rally career because of starting too early as factory driver and consequently failing mentaly (crashed). Both of which are Joukhis main "strengths".
No he didn't. He had a terrific 2005 in a private car which got him the Ford deal for 2006 onwards.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
In the wider context of rally careers Mikko was probably fast tracked a bit into that Subaru drive. He'd had a full season at WRC level the year before, albeit in year-old machinery - but really no experience of the WRC rounds before 2003. If the rules had still allowed for three manufacturer scorers in 2004 then I think that would have been much better for him. As with Tanak you've got to credit Malcolm Wilson for sticking with him and giving him that leg up. In another era he probably could have a world title on his mantlepiece.
Not just another era, even in the Loeb era he would have won at least one title if Ford had used team orders the same way Citroen did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
He has reputation to downplay those who are not in his management at least as much as he promote his own drivers. Grönholm, Hänninen and Lappi are rare examples who could push through without team Jouhki. More or less once in every 10 years. It's not like these are the only rally talents Finland had in those years. Some of them just couldn't shine. Although bitter talk about downplay doesn't end in the Finnish border. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
If a driver requires team orders to be champion they are not worthy.Quote:
Originally Posted by GravelBen
so you are not counting Loeb and Ogier as champs. Petter is/was your last champ? or did his team mates help him?Quote:
Originally Posted by sollitt
What?! What's that suppose to mean? Isn't that what every manager does (or atleast should be doing)?Quote:
Originally Posted by lnvs