Sounds a bit like Citroen who were vocal for quite long they would leave after 2020 due to no hybrid....then left a year earlier when Ogier left.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1988senna
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Sounds a bit like Citroen who were vocal for quite long they would leave after 2020 due to no hybrid....then left a year earlier when Ogier left.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1988senna
"Moreover, our customers can identify with the car as it is based on a production model and not some engineering fantasy.... Our competitors in the production cars market are similar to the ones we have in the WRC and that makes the challenge potentially rewarding."
"Entering the WRC is rather part of a broader development... Hyundai Motorsport is thought to become an engineering platform for commercialization of performance cars. By transferring emotive and performance learning from the WRC car to the production cars, and by that getting some ROI, it is the first step of making the Hyundai Motorsport somewhat similar to what AMG has been to Mercedes"
Director of Marketing & PR at Hyundai Motorsport, Stefan Ph. Henrich talking to Hans Erik Næss in 2013. (The promotional value of motorsport culture: a sociological investigation of the FIA World Rally Championship)
wow so maybe it will end in 2024.but the WRC didn't say there will be no hybrid after 2025Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
So today should be Hyundai's announcement.
Neuville
Lappi
Sordo/Suninen
Too obvious?
either that or then Sordo/Breen, can't really see other options.Quote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
Today? Before 24:00?Quote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/breen...yundai-return/Quote:
Originally Posted by 1988senna
Neuville, Sordo, Lappi, Breen, Suninen..
Neuville full season and other guys sharing two cars?
I doubt Suninen is okay with only rally2 again..
I think Neuville Lappi Breen fuel season and Sordo Suninen sharing 1 car.Quote:
Originally Posted by TypeR
I understood that they won't put out 4 cars next season..
But oh well, hopefully will see soon :D
That's one car too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by spyros
This has to be classed as a shock move!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
Thierry does struggle on the high speed gravel (Estonia, Finland), but you can't really see why Hyundai would want to go after a driver without a single world rally win for such a plum seat. He has been average at best all season, and am even being a touch kind. At this stage someone should just handover the manufacturers title for 2023 to the only real contender!!!!
why not? Average is what they need! Breen has shown his comfort zone is behind the top tier driver, not among them. and that's what is supposed to do. part-time 3rd driver. According to plans, he's just a backup when the other two pick up troubles. if not, he's supposed to be behind them...Quote:
Originally Posted by 240RS
Has anything official come from Hyundai or Sordo himself that he's staying on? Lots of assumptions going on when officially he was retiring.
Was it Dirtfish, but somewhere was talk about Sordo doing 8 rallies next year, i guess people took it from thereQuote:
Originally Posted by WRCStan
I think it was Marca or other Spanish magazine reporting about eight rallies. Also fits with what Mikkelsen said about being offered six rallies.
But that was before Lappi came in.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I quite doubt 8 rallies are on the table for Sordo now.
How would Lappi change Sordo's Options, Lappi takes Tänaks seat, It shouldnt alter Sordo, only thing altering it who will be sharing a car with him and what rallies is that guy strong onQuote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Before Lappi the likely combination was Sordo 8, Mikkelsen 6+ and a combination of Suninen, Breen and maybe Meeke with 4+ starts each. Moncet basically even said as much in interviews.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyest
Provided Lappi does full season, Sordo is definitely not the best candidate out of those 4 for all 8 rallies. His speed this season has been a huge drop from WRC cars and there does not seem to be any magic improvement (no matter what Colin Clark writes about one stage time in Spain).
On slippery tarmac (Monte, Japan) and slippery gravel I would rate basically all the 3 drivers above Sordo. Similarly on rough gravel all 3 have decent records.
But it can come down to what kind of risk you want. Sordo is now slow, but doesn't crash, so you know what you are getting.
All the others have their own specific unknowns (Breen terrible recent record, Suninen mixed recent record and no Rally1 experience, Mikkelsen no Rally1 experience and longer period outside top category).
Also depends what instructions is Lappi getting. Whether he is instructed to go for it or to keep it steady behind Neuville. Also Suninen bringing Joukhis money can be a factor.
For sure I would keep Sordo. Experience from the car and experience from rallies. For example Lappi hasn't been to Safari or Japan. You could put Breen and Suninen in the same car but they have the same favourable rallies (and similar crash risk). Meanwhile, either of them makes a perfect pair for Sordo.
I understood Mikkelsen is out of the game and Meeke seems like only British rumors, it cannot make any sense.
Also, I doubt Lappi would go to Hyundai for anything else than a full season.
I am not saying they should drop Sordo completely, but I am questioning that they should offer him 8 starts.
With regard to Suninen pairing with Sordo. One big point against it is that Suninen actually has pretty bad record from the fast rallies where Sordo is bad.
Best is 4th from Finland 2017 and only once since then has he been in any podium fight on them (Sweden 2019). Two WRC2 fastest rallies in Finland but that's against much less competition. His actually best results are from slow gravel.
And that has nothing to do with Fiesta WRC being especially bad on fast events from 2018 onwards?Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
You can't just blindly look at stats all the time without factoring in reasons for those results.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
2018 Fiesta so bad, that Ogier only got 4 wins(equal to Tänak) and a WDC..
Sure it may.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
But when a driver "likes" some events but doesn't have results on them, there is no guarantee he will have results in a different car.
On fast rallies.Quote:
Originally Posted by TypeR
What I would do if the case was between these 3 or 4 drivers would be to use 3 drivers with 4-5 rounds each.
As listed each has own risks. This would spread the risk and avoid them getting "stuck" with someone. But most rounds should be set for each driver from the start. Not the "Adamo" approach of kicking drivers Sunday evening after a rally (Loeb Monte 2020, Mikkelsen Chile 2019).
but then what about Neuville?
Last podium in Finland was 2013 with Fiesta.
9 years later and still no podium in Finland with Hyundai.
Tänak came to team, 2021 first ever podiums with Breen(for Hyundai) in Finland and 2022 victory.
Can't blame only the car I think..
Yes, it wasn't on the same performance level as Toyota, but the overal rather bad results weren't only because of that.
Quite same as with Loubet in Hyundai.. some weird/older aero /spec didn't drive the car offroad..
No longer applies.Quote:
Originally Posted by WRCStan
Hyundai's PR statement is revealing:
"Craig returns to the team fully motivated and secures an enviably talented line-up to support Thierry and Esapekka." - Is that all they think of Craig??? Surely his stock has fallen.
"With Thierry, we know his performance potential and his appetite to fight for the drivers’ title. With Esapekka joining the team on a full-time campaign, we have a driver line-up that can compete for the top positions at all events and on all surfaces." - We know officially who the number 1 driver is. And who is number 2.
“Experience has been the number one priority for our 2023 WRC line-up. With Thierry, Esapekka, Dani and Craig, we have a strong combination of drivers who can lead us into a new season." - No youngsters required here. Or novices at this level.
So in the end no real surprises...hopefully we will get those with MSport and Tanak.
Hyundai observations:
- nothing about how many events Sordo vs Breen get
- Neuville's wish list before Japan was Evans, Mikkelsen,Sordo. He got one of them. Which brings me to DF commenting this was the best they could get...nope, they should have tried hard to get Evans.
- 2/4 drivers were "kicked" by their other teams
Well, that is a certain change of priorities for Breen. Remember last year when he was always talking about that his goal was a full season.
Now the part-time season is acceptable.
https://sport.postimees.ee/7588154/l...mAkamBJWpkk8qU
Didnt find the english version, but this aged well for Lappi
Well... What will Suninen do now?
Continue with Hyundai Rally2 project and bide his time.Quote:
Originally Posted by bandit12
Question is who will run the car. Surely not Tanaks RedGrey?
Maybe KOWAX?
What kind of job did the RedGrey do. How can RedGreymake money. sorry for not very similar with thatQuote:
Originally Posted by mknight
RedGrey is a "customer" team owned by Tanak/Martin that was running Hyundai Rally2 cars for Suninen (and Solberg and Veiby before) for last two years.
EDIT: My understanding is that RedGrey is paid to run the cars by a combination of Hyundai money and money from the drivers.
Do you know the search engine called Google?Quote:
Originally Posted by 1988senna
https://redgreyteam.com