For historic reasons, and to easier search back to this topic in a few years, it is better to comtinue 2022 seasons issues here.
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For historic reasons, and to easier search back to this topic in a few years, it is better to comtinue 2022 seasons issues here.
2022 prediciton from me
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
#69 Rovanperä Kalle - Halttunen Jonne
#33 Evans Elfyn - Martin Scott
#4 Lappi Esapekka - Ferm Janne/ #17 Ogier Sébastien - Ingrassia Julien
#18 Katsuta Takamoto - Barritt Daniel
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
#8 Tänak Ott - Järveoja Martin
#11 Neuville Thierry - Wydaeghe Martijn
#6 Dani Sordo/ #2 Solberg Oliver - Johnston Aaron
M-Sport Ford WRT
#42 Breen Craig - Nagle Paul
#16 Fourmaux Adrien - Jamoul Renaud
#44 Greensmith Gus - Patterson Chris
Gryazin? Loeb? Mikkelsen?
As I said before I doubt Adamo will go for that combination (Sordo+Solberg) in 3rd car. Not after both are having issues last few rallies. Some more starts for Solberg in 4th car for sure, but not as 3rd scoring car.
At MSport pretty much any crazy combination is possible.
Ideal sporting-wise would be 2 of Lappi/Mikkelsen/Breen and Fourmaux. But that's very likely not going to happen.
There will be one, and possibly two, different co-drivers in there.
For Toyota, the game seems over (Evans + Rovanpera + Lappi/Ogier + Katsuta), the only question remaining is how many rallies Ogier will do next year. I would have preferred Lappi in a full-time Puma seat but the relations with M-Sport seem complicated since last year. And for Toyota, Lappi is a no-brainer (best driver without contract with convincing Rally2 stints this year, he knows the team and he was in a WRC car in 2020).
For M-Sport, they need absolutely a consistent driver and, even if I’m not a fan, Breen is the best pick remaining today (still running in WRC cars, some podiums and his years with Citroen give an idea of his minimum level on a full-year basis and he may have improved) if we exclude Lappi. If Breen do not sign with M-Sport, it will be a very difficult season for them. For M-Sport, I do not think it makes sense to pay a second consistent experienced driver in addition to Breen, they should more focus on the quality of the car.
The issue is how much Hyundai is keen to retain Breen and what would Breen do if Hyundai offers him a full-time seat?
Personnally, if I was Adamo, I wouldn’t offer him a full-time job because I think that with the available drivers remaining, you can have better results with a shared 3rd car strategy than with a full-time Breen so I would let Breen go to M-Sport.
In spite of his age and his last results, Sordo is a no-brainer for me considering his profile (tarmac + some gravel events) whereas almost all the other drivers available are better on fast gravel and snow (Suninen, Mikkelsen, Ostberg, Solberg). Then, to do the rest of the season, the most logical would be Solberg (potential but still not consistent) or Mikkelsen (knows the team but 2 years out of a WRC car).
My personal wish considering the elements almost set:
Toyota:
Evans - Rovanpera - Ogier (3 rallies)/Lappi
4th car for Katsuta
Hyundai
Neuville - Tänak - Sordo/Mikkelsen
4th car for Solberg
M-Sport
Breen - Fourmaux
3rd car shared between Loeb (a couple of rallies) + 1 or 2 young paying drivers (Loubet, Greensmith, Gryazin, Suninen, Bulacia).
https://www.is.fi/ralli/art-2000008199890.html
Suninen likely out from M-Sport, says Jouhki
Peter Solberg to replace Adamo at Hyundai! Thats my weird bet for 2022
and Markko Märtin will take over M-sport
More on the rumours of Breen to Msport.
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/i-do-...breens-future/
If Breen is indeed ensured of a full season, it's the Puma. Adamo won't drop Sordo and Oliver and it's doubtful Hyundai will have 4 new i20 ready from Monte. There is also Loubet and Huttunen who may want a seat for a rally or 2. Math doesn't add up for Hyundai.
I think Adamo waits to see how Sordo does with yet another co-driver before offering Breen anything. (Maybe also how Solberg does in Greece)
None of Solberg/Huttunen/Loubet have a realistic chance of defeating Ogier/Evans/Rovanpera/(Lappi) on speed at almost any rally next season. So that would be a clear disadvantage. Adamo doesn't voluntarily go to rallies with a clear disadvantage.
The Dirtfish article is actually more of a pause of Breen to MSport rumors. Seemingly confirming nothing is signed.
Meaning Malcolm didn't rush to "snatch" Breen before Adamo makes his mind.
Obviously it's entirely possible he ends there after a while.
There is a lot of talk about a potential Seb Loeb comeback in 2022. Always thought highly of Seb - the man and the driver. At his peak, he made rallying look easy - won just about everything. However, like Manny Pacquaio in boxing this week, I feel he may be going on one bout too many. Wonder how many of us feel the same??
It's 2022, not 2002, or 2012; his time has been. It's time to move on; yes, he may offer something, in terms of testing & feedback - but there comes a time when you have to go with younger current drivers. Imagine how dispiriting it would be for a younger driver to be overlooked as Loeb got a seat, even for a part season? What next? A Petter, Mikko or Marcus comeback........
the only thing loeb should do now is support and coach young drivers. he has no more purpose in the wrc.
I still think there is something magical about Loeb. I’d love to see him at M-Sport.
I believe he helped Hyundai but the DNA of that i20 was intrinsically wrong. This new Puma with M-Sports knack of hitting the ground running with new regs might just be the final fling at top level competition we all desperately want to see.
Winning Catalunya 2018 was enough for me. I certainly don't "desperately" want to see Loeb drive again.
Sure if he can drive a few rounds as 4th car it's ok, but if he is taking the seat from someone like Breen, Mikkelsen or Suninen it feels wrong.
Breen - I suspect he is holding out for a full season with Hyundai, but if that doesn’t look likely could switch to MSport. Personally I think going up up against Neuville & Tanak for a full season in the same car could be difficult for him, but credit to him for backing himself.
Loeb - the man himself has always said he is only interested in a few events, so I would be amazed if anything else is being talked about, but a few events and some testing could be good for both parties. How all that will fit in with the driver roster I have no idea. It sort of feels like they would like Breen/Fourmaux/Greensmith with Loeb and maybe Suninen in a fourth car on some events, but who knows. It’ll all become clear soon enough I’m sure.
If Loeb have an itch to drive in WRC, he should do as the rest of those without a contract, compete in a Rally2 car.
The competition in RC2 is in many ways harder than RC1!
Suggestions of a sign Breen's not staying with Hyundai...
https://dirtfish.com/rally/erc/breen...could-be-over/
You mean C3?
Meeke won two rallies
Mikkelsen got 2nd place in only start on tarmac
Lappi got multiple podiums
Østberg got two podiums
Problem was that nobody could drive it consistently fast over multiple rallies. Not even Ogier ( Germany 2019 among others).
If you mean DS3 or C4 the list of drivers who drove it fast is even longer.
We talked about it when the news first came about Huttunen driving.
There are few (big?) holes if that was true:
- Surely Breen will drive for Hyundai in WRC in Finland? No way Adamo will let him go before that. So he would still be "Hyundai driver" until then.
- It would make sense if Hyundai doesn't want Breen to drive the new Rally2. But appart from the fact that Breen drove it in January/February, Huttunen drives Barum with the old car
So it's all kinds of weird.
If I were to bet maybe I'd say Breen asked for some/more? money after the podium in Liepaja and good WRC results. But it might be something completely different.
And going against Tanak & Neuville with a different car that as someone described, there's no guarantee that it'll be the fastest out of the block?
It's a risk either way you look at it, the upside to staying with Hyundai is to be in a more familiar surroundings when starting at scratch with these new Rally1 cars.
Either way is a gamble because nobody knows which car will perform best, and honestly it’s a toss of a coin I suspect, with the likelihood that the Toyota and Hyundai will pull away over time as before.
If I was him, I would be tempted with the Ford because it’s likely he would be the number 1 and stand to benefit if they have got a good car. At Hyundai, he will be number 3 if the full season is offered, so good car or not, he’s unlikely to win.
Breen is in the Hyundai for Finland anyway.
For sure Breen has a contract with M-Sport for at least next year...
The speculation can end.
Question is who other than Fourmaux also has a contract....
For M-Sport, a good deal would be for the third car:
- Mikkelsen 5 rallyes (+ 7 Rallyes in Rally2)
- Loeb 3 rallyes
- another one, either Gryazin, Suninen, Greensmith, Bulacia, ... => 5 rallyes (+ 7 rallyes in Rally2)
It Would give almost a complete season for Mikkelsen + M-Sport clearly need to hire an experienced driver to end their bad streak in Rally2 and Mikkelsen, even if it is not his best season, is currently title contender in both ERC and WRC-2. For example, Citroen was able to improve in WRC-2 with Ostberg because there were quite nowhere at the beginning with Lefebvre.
He does not give enough guarantees (especially because of his two years out of the game) to be the number 1 driver but a program like this would be good.
However, Mikkelsen should also be a strong contender for Hyundai shared 3rd car if Breen goes to M-Sport
Sunninen quit M-sport today.
https://www.facebook.com/12428900759...2155545479303/
Sent fra min SM-G950F via Tapatalk
Seems a bit weird that it's so "sudden". I was particularly looking forward to him driving vs Gryazin in same car.
Anyway this means he will likely start with some WRC this year, options:
- "paydrive" at Toyota because of Jouhki
- Adamos "trumph card" for Finland as a 4th car, if he does well he will drive instead of Loubet afterwards/next year
- (most crazy) Breen won't drive in Finland for Hyundai and Suninen replaces him immediatelly
Maybe there is 3rd Hyundai available, if Breen is going to M-Sport. Sordo is there, but no way that Adamo is sharing the 3rd car with Solberg and Huttunen. Not enough experience to drive Manufacturer´s points. Maybe Solberg in Sweden, but no other events. Suninen would be good with Sordo. A new WRC start for him...
My point was that since he left now while already entered for Greece he likely has some real plans already this year. (to try to convince someone like Hyundai to hire him for next year)
Good decision, he wasn’t going to show anything in the Fiesta this year. Better to pull off a Lappi style WRC2 showdown in Finland…or even in a hired Yaris!