Mikkelsen on the Hyundai Rally1 drive that never came...
https://www.autohebdo.fr/actualites/...ere-ligne.html
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Mikkelsen on the Hyundai Rally1 drive that never came...
https://www.autohebdo.fr/actualites/...ere-ligne.html
At the time when this interview appeared it gave us already a peek behind the scenes what was going on this winter with Mikkelsen. With the very unfortunate disappearance of Craig Breen this interview might get a whole other meaning ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
https://static.moniteurautomobile.be...raig_breen.jpg
It’s a decision for Hyundai to make if they will use Sordo for all the rallies or bring in another driver to take the rallies Breen would have competed in. I don’t really like discussing it so soon, but it is a reality that there will be 3 cars on the other events after Croatia I’m sure.
If Sordo does want to do all the rounds, he has been reluctant so far to do the full season (for years now).Quote:
Originally Posted by doubled1978
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For me it is a bit too early to start this discussion, both due to proximity of the accident and due to how the calendar looks.
Sordo will do Croatia and likely Portugal and Sardinia, can also do Kenya. Estonia is the first rally where he is a really bad choice.
would be really weird, if they put Sordo(or abybody else) as third car in Croatia..
I can’t imagine for 1 second there will be a 3rd car in Croatia. That really would be bad form from Hyundai and I can’t believe it will happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by TypeR
For sure two cars in Croatia and the someone for the rallys Sordo isn't competitive at.
As Hyundai will only run with 2 cars (I presume/hope), there will be discussions ongoing now with the teams and FIA for Toyota to maybe only nominate 2 drivers before the rally, as their manufacturer pt scorers. So it's fair for the championship - 2 of Ogier/Kalle/Evans.Quote:
Originally Posted by doubled1978
I don't think it would be right or fair of Hyundai to put Sordo in the car, or launch a Mikkelsen/Suninen etc in the 3rd car.
Suninen should be the option.
Toyota should pull out Ogier as a team scorer in Croatia.
I would say, let´s go on. Pay respect to Breen, in all the ways the organizer will put up. But let the competition go ahead as usual.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Asking Toyota to only register two cars is ridiculous. Take a look at the past.
Explain please ?Quote:
Originally Posted by becher
Because it's a sport and not reality TV. When F1 teams turned up with one car because of an accident (fatal/injury) the others still ran two/three cars, same in sportscars. Peugeot didn't pull there cars at 5je 85/86 TdC to be "fair" to Lancia. Next up a team retires a car in order to be "fair" when a competitor has technical problems or what?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Give over.Quote:
Originally Posted by becher
Nobody is asking Toyota to pull a car. Just select 2 of their 3 drivers to score manufacturer pts instead of all 3 - if Hyundai turn up with only two cars.
Exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
And this (exceptional) situation is already known before the event and can be discussed .... its not mid-rally.
Except ther is no issue to discuss fot Toyota.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
I don’t see it happening. I see the logic, in that even if Hyundai did decide to run their third car with a different crew, whoever it is wouldn’t have tested, so they would be at a disadvantage either way.
It would make for a heartwarming story.
But Toyota aren’t rallying to provide heartwarming stories.
The regs are clear. Nominations would have been made at the time of entry, and entries are now closed.
Well done Toyota.....
Surprised many of you didn't see it happening. It was a fairly easy thing to do with time before the rally? All teams with 2 manufacturer pts scorers this weekend.
Well done indeed...
"As a mark of solidarity, teams have agreed that only two crews will be nominated as eligible for manufacturers’ points on this rally.
Our nominated crews will be #17 and #69, with #33 and #18 eligible for drivers’ points as usual."
There are lots of fairly easy and obvious things that could be done before rallies that never happen. I wouldn't say it was something that could have easily been foreseen.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
I'm glad, but surprised, this is happening.
"It makes complete sense to make this decision. The team has decided to nominate two cars knowing that Hyundai will only have two. It's the minimum to do in such a context", said Sébastien Ogier.
I hope they keep this livery for the whole season. Looks so much better than their regular one and of course for Craig
same old story since 2014 https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/neuvi...-he-asked-for/
Hyundai looking long-term to complete WRC driver line-up...
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/h...-up-/10467974/
A disappointment for me I must say, from a selfish point of view I wanted Kris and James to get the seat for Finland so we can cheer them on in Craig's honour.
I think it would have been hugely fitting. Looks like not to be. C'est la vie
However I understand it has to be a long term thing for Hyundai and I wish whoever gets it the best of luck and hope they remember to try enjoy it as much as Craig did.
Do the upper management at Hyundai have a clue what they want. They binned long term prospect Solberg after 1 season, to focus on drivers who can deliver this season. And now they're back to thinking long term....
I understand nobody could have forseen the awful circumstances that have led to Hyundai needing a new driver, but half way through the season they are now changing their philosophy again?!
To be fair, Cyril has inherited these decisions so perhaps this tragic set of circumstances will see him start to put his signature on their philosophy moving forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
Well, we don’t know yet. In the Autosport article it mentions Kris is being considered. It is also mentioned the difficulty adapting from rally2 to rally1 and we know Kris has been fast at the top level. If they want a driver for the next couple of years to share the third car, who’s to say Kris isn’t interested in doing more than a few rallies this year. He said himself this morning to Colin Clark that he was interested again and had been making calls but covid had made things difficult.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jewy46
With that in mind he may still be in contention.
Hopefully Cyril is given the chance & authority then. It wasn't a Moncet decision to scrap their long term plans with Solberg, and focus on immediate results. So that tells me the bosses in Korea have/had a big say (along with Thierry).Quote:
Originally Posted by doubled1978
I think this is great opportunity for Suninen. If he can win and show firm driving this weekend in Portugal, I bet he has chance to move up.
Plus he has some experience with top class machinery.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lead
I feel that whoever drives the Hyundai rest of the season will have big problems to find a good feeling in that car, won't set decent times regulary, and always someone here will write : " ooooh, he's a waste, they should have picked ......... ....... insted!"
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It’s one of the main issues of Hyundai: their new directors had always been chosen late so that the incumbent lineup was selected before:Quote:
Originally Posted by doubled1978
- when Adamo was hired, Nandan-Penasse already chose to waive Paddon and take Loeb which was not a good choice for a sport-wise view (Loeb was not a good fit for a shared-car with Sordo in terms of profile); honestly, Loeb has been extremely marginal in the back-to-back Hyundai titles and could have been won with Paddon. It’s the only positive point I give to Adamo in Hyundai: even if Loeb stints with Hyundai were really average, he uses it wisely by withdrawing Mikkelsen on some events to obtain Andreas better road position in some gravel events just after and where he achieved good results (Argentina, Sardinia)
- when Moncet steps in as a caretaker, it was already decided by Adamo to take Solberg instead of an experienced driver
- when Abiteboul was hired, the choice of waiving Solberg was already done.
Well, Solberg could have been a good choice considering what Abiteboul is saying... but would sound extremely unlikely that they reunites so early giving the context and what has been said between both parties (especially from Solberg).
As evoked before, except for Estonia and Finland, I’m extremely skeptical Hyundai could find a driver stepping in that could bring them more than Sordo. But putting a driver directly in Estonia is a bit short, they should give him at least a national rally or Safari or both (as Safari is a special rally, could be a good place to discover the car a bit quietly).
In the context, best choice for Estonia-Finland spot sounds to be Suninen right now: he has made some tests with the car last year, makes both Estonia and Finland last two years, back-to-back RC2 win in Finland, close from Mikkelsen in Estonia last year and among the experienced driver available (excluding the Solberg-Fourmaux-Greensmith bunch that I do not reference as experienced driver), he is the one with most recent RC1 experience. And in case his string would be a success, he also knows Chile and Japan.
Only real issue is about Rally2 where Suninen was the front leader of their program; but with his results so far, the WRC2 title shot sounds unlikely + they could bring on Paddon in Rally2 there (he will have a lot of fast gravel rallies in ERC to prepare and was both in Estonia and Finland last year).
Hyundai should bring in Mikkelsen after they suddenly stopped answering his texts on the verge of a deal and hired Breen. He deserves another shot after doing all he can to prove himself in Rally2 cars.
Realistically there is only 3 candidates (alphabetically): Mikkelsen, Solberg, Suninen
Mikkelsen is best mid-term, he is good on fast rallies but also on most rallies that Sordo does if Sordo decides to retire (but he just did his best rally in Rally1 car).
Solberg obviously has best long term potential, but he just got fired from there ( likely by Hyundai top leadership which is still same, Moncet didn't have driver authority). Skoda and Solberg himself might also not be interested in jumping mid-season and based on previous experience it might be better to wait. Given how bad Katsuta, Evans and Loubet are doing there are likely seats available next year.
Suninen is best short term fix for just Estonia and Finland, is already working for Hyundai and also has some funds. But everything else speaks against him, his speed in Rally2 has not been great except Finland (how much is it the car?), neither has his reliability.
I'm afraid a driver that needs good results to show his potential can loose more than gain when doing 1 or 2 rallies in the Hyundai.
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Really surprised if Andreas gets the call anymore. He is not really young and promising anymore and with the best car he has not really showed too much yet. Suninen also has had a rough year, but he hasn't had the car either in wrc2. Oliver has the car, but has the results aswell this year. Though he has the baggage of last years failure in the factory team aswell. Interesting to see what happens, I would go with Teemu.
For me the obvious thing to do would be hiring andreas and putting solberg in a 4th car to see how he compares. Even better would be to create a junior team with another driver like rossel or gryazin.