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Yes, it is one of the reasons which may lead him to a year-off. He is 4x world champion and he may consider he has Nothing to prove anymore against this generation of drivers.Quote:
Originally Posted by macebig
However, if he decides to come in the field and to face Meeke or Neuville/Paddon on their ground of to face them with a private team (M-Sport) or a new team (Toyota), it could be a thrilling challenge like very few other drivers have succeeded.
It would be awesome if OT has the mental strength to deal with having the best for comparison. JML couldn't and Mikkelsen hasn't come near to being considered as a genuine rival.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
How is AL14 involved in this? He hasn't done a thing as far as I'm aware. NOT offered his usual cocky "expertise" literally the minute before the world motorsport media via various different sources said the exact opposite so he's a legit target but I fail to see how AL14 is involved in this...Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
You are becoming too trigger happy Eddie!
Tanak + Ogier + Ostberg would be the perfect team for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Ostberg to pay, to be consistent and bring some points.
Tanak as a fast driver to achieve his development (because Ogier could stay only one year). And Ogier for the championship.
Very good team, quite complete which would be very hard to beat in a manufacturers championship even with a Neuville-Paddon-Sordo or Meeke-Mikkelsen-Breen line-up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
where is the irony? what am i missing?
Tried to delete the post but didnt work... the caption read 'One stage from big trouble'... http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/octob...1--12-12-.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by car
With his usual cynicism he immediately said the info from Autosport was not worthy of discussion as it was not definitely confirmed.Quote:
Originally Posted by itix
If you get Ogier, you don´t need a slow driver like Ostberg to bring some few points.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny0405
Ogier to M-Sport would be absolutely fantastic. Fingers crossed it happens and it lures Ford back in, perhaps for '18.
I agree, Ogier is even more consistent than Östberg and the points he would bring is even higher than Östberg's.Quote:
Originally Posted by WUff1
Östberg is done, time for him to move on to RallyX or whatever opportunities there may be for him.
Thoughts to the young talented drivers who will lose a lot of opportunities... :(
It depends on the level of the new Fiesta.Quote:
Originally Posted by WUff1
Moreover, when you have Ogier, you do not need any driver in particular so, for M-Sport which is a little short on money, it is better to take Ostberg (who pay a part of his drive) than to be in a situation where you cannot afford a third car.
And more generally, with Ogier, you do not need a Meeke, Neuville or Latvala but on the contrary, a driver who "brings some few points", just enough to win the manufacturers championship.
He said (and was absolutely correct) that speculative articles are nothing to base your facts on. When we find a source with facts (which we have now) he would join the debate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
That's it. You are working yourself up for nothing.
And to Sven Smeets who thought he was going to run a WRC team...Quote:
Originally Posted by tommeke_B
I think if only ford motors enters he will join them,otherwise only Toyota could pay him........
Really disappointed in the decision from VW, this is like Peugeot quitting the WEC to save face despite having spent 90% of the costs.
I'm not an expert on the contracts but with the deals their drivers were on I'd be very surprised if they are
All this because they feel they need to keep their short-term profits high at the expense of their foundation because of some of their company's fraudulent actions elsewhere.
Why would M-Sport need a 3rd car (they will have plenty privateers also next year)? They don't care about the manufacturers' championship too much, they care about winning rallies or at least finishing on the podium. And Ogier on his worst day is more capable of delivering said results than Ostberg on his best I'm afraid... Not to mention getting sponsors would be easier for Malcolm if he could get Ogier, his performance and marketing value is much better than Ostberg's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny0405
I'm afraid Capito is a sneaky sob who knew or had a gut feeling on what's gonna happen next. Well played I must say!Quote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk
This isn't about short term profits though.Quote:
Originally Posted by dodge33cymru
It's a message to the outside world they are serious about the issue. As has been said before, to the outside it's hard to justify spending tens of millions on a motorsport programme when you're facing big problems like they are.
Didn't Ford pull out when they were in some shit as well? They had everything in place for the next years ready to go maybe even more like VW have now with the new car.
It's a big shame but unfortunately the way it works.
Not to mention, I'm feeling robbed that the 2017 Polo will be consigned to the bin with the Group S cars. Particularly disappointing as it was surely going to be the fastest car rally in has ever seen.
On the bright side,Codemasters may be able to pick up a license for the 2017 Polo prototype on the cheap for Dirt Rally 2...Quote:
Originally Posted by dodge33cymru
Sad news, I was hoping they would at least get one more year but I can't say I'm shocked. Withdrawing from WEC and WRC will barely make a dent on the whole but I guess they're cutting everything that's not essential and not fully electric. A big part of their strategy is to invest heavily on electric cars. So I guess it doesn't matter how much they spent on the new car any extra euro is just wasted if it's not going to development of electric cars. Oh and I wouldn't count on seeing any privateer VW cars, as they're not "finished" and they surely don't want them to be there and behind the competition.
Suddenly 3 of the best 5 drivers (in my opinion) are on the market. M-Sport and Toyota are in the best position to capitalise on this because their driver line-ups are still quite open. But I bet Citroen can open up 1 space and give partial programs to Breen and Lefebvre. Hyundai would need to spend some cash to drop one of their drivers and grab one of the VW boys, not sure if it's worth going for Latvala but Ogier and Mikkelsen could replace any of their drivers and be an improvement.
My prediction:
Citroen: Ogier, Meeke, Breen+Lefebvre sharing
Hyundai: Neuville, Sordo, Paddon
Ford: Mikkelsen, Tanak, Ostberg
Toyota: Latvala, Hanninen, Lappi
DMack: Camilli, Evans
My wish: swap Ogier and Mikkelsen
Another point that comes to mind is this is a big disadvantage to newer drivers like Tidemand or Suninen because there are once again much fewer top seats available than it seemed.
The issue you are addressing is not the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by TWRC
Is Ogier better than Ostberg and will he bring more point than Ostberg? Of course, I do not even see who could tell the contrary.
For Wilson, the question is: is he only interested by the driver title or by the manufacturers championship too?
I am pretty sure that he would want to win both titles if he has the money (and privateers do not count for the manufacturers championship).
This is the main think many people do not understand about Ostberg. The issue is not to chose between Ostberg and another driver, it is to chose between Ostberg and nothing as Ostberg is able to pay (at least a part of) his drive.
From Malcolm's perspective the issue is simple: you can have only 2 drivers on your team (Tanak and Ogier) which is effectively a great team and could win the manufacturers championship. However, other teams have 3 drivers and you are short in money for a 3rd driver.
And you have an available driver who can pay his drive and who will probably achieve his 5th season with 100+ points.
What do you do? If you are logical and without considering that you like of not Ostberg, you take Ostberg as a 3rd driver because it increases your chances in the championship for little money.
IMHO I think we have to wait until official announcement before getting in deep on speculating. Time will tell but, if true, obviously are bad news.
I'm also afraid that the 'Silly Season' (that for sure will start sooner than later) stops many drivers progressions...Lappi, Evans..
Mikkelsen had some beef with Wilson from the RamSport/Ford Norway years,didn't he?
Re: DMack, if your tyres are not at the same level as the opposition I think you really don't want Mads in the car from a performance or PR point of view.
Evans and Suninen please, if they run two cars.
I am not sure...Quote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
I actually think you have that the wrong way around.Quote:
Originally Posted by cali
If its true that VW pulls out, I am very confident that the whole 2016-season for Volkswagen was because Jost Capito fought for it.
Marc Martí Moreno @MarcMartiWRC ˇ 4h4 hours ago
@CarlosdelBarrio I believe that safe Latvala at the Finish/Toyota Team
Hmmm... On a second note you could be right as well :) but... Then again he knew something that Smeets did not know....Quote:
Originally Posted by Lundefaret
Sent from my ONE E1003 using Tapatalk
Ogier seems to get on really well with Tanak recently... good interaction and clear mutual respect. I think M-Sport is a real possibility with the other comment about him liking to have worked with MW.
His Citroen history, and Meeke's comments about him this season, does not look like a good fit at all.
Hyundai.. who knows, but they do seem settled and their current drivers in decent form.
It's close I admit but in my opinion he's as fast as Neuville and more consistent, faster than Sordo overall (maybe not on tarmac) and just as consistent and more complete than Paddon at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
I'm not sure those things matter so much. In the end Citroen and Ogier both want to win and I think together they have the best chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
I bet phonecalls have already been made ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
Speculative ? No, they had good sources. This was proven today.Quote:
Originally Posted by itix
And anyway when a story was this big we are supposed to ignore it until its 100% confirmed ?!
There is fair cynicism and then there is this 'I'm so cool I dont believe anything' attitude, which is just pathetic.
In fact Marc and Carlos were just guessing future possibilities.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
I'm convinced Ford/M-Sport wouldn't refuse some titles either.Quote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
I wouldn't say so. Ofcourse, Ogier will probably win the title with any of the teams (except for Toyota perhaps), but I don't think Latvala or especially Mikkelsen will be that kind of huge assets they're being marketed at the moment. I think a lot of WRC-caliber drivers would at least have done the same results as Mikkelsen, if they had been given FOUR FULL SEASONS in the best car of the series. The same almost goes for Latvala as well, but atleast he's shown remarkable speed few times (none this year however) during that four-year period.Quote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
Is this an opportunity for Skoda to enter WRC? Let's hope so!
Part time testing is different from full-time, so I wouldn't say he was at equal terms with Ogier/Latvala.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet