Can new parts be homologated if a team is not registered for the manufacturers championships?
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Meeke to Toyota... if true...it's even a win for him before he starts a single rally, and a big 2 fingers to Citroen management. Makinen obviously sees something in him. Look at all the options Tommi had, and Meeke came out on top... thats an endorsement and a vote of confidence if ever i saw it. Maybe Makinen sees a hint of his ex rival McRae in Meeke.. and is just intrigued. Im just willing Meeke to beat Citroens on a regular basis... and getting well paid doing it... revenge will be sweet. Then he can leave WRC on his terms.
If some falling-out is true then I guess he left on mutual agreement.
At that point Makinen had these options (random order):
-Paddon (no top speed on tarmac, not good results this year)
-Breen (still no win, seems inconsistent)
-Sordo (no speed on some rallies (Finland, GB), maybe doesn't want full season)
-Meeke
-Evans (not a real option)
-some young guy, but both Huttunen and Rovanpera are under contract
Not really surprising he picked Meeke. Would say that Breen was probably the only real competition.
Btw. lets recall what happened at Citroen:
Citroen kicked Meeke as number 1 and got Ogier instead. Anyone really thinks that's a bad switch?
Did they also not kick matton, 2nd in command, lead engineers ...and re-homologate fundamental things that should has been right from the start.
Smells of Citroens last throw of the dice... promises, promises promises to land Ogier. It could be the biggest mistake of his career... maybe not. but anything less than WRC driver titles will be a failure for Citroen and Ogier.
1x 3rd, 2x 4th, 1x 5th, 1x 7th and 1x crashed out while leading.
I'd say those results aren't bad at all for a guy who has only been given half the seat time considering how tight the competition has been.
Seemed like he had more speed to offer in Finland too if the team hadn't needed him to play it safe for points with Neuville and Mikkelsen out of contention.
To me Paddon looked like he was driving for a finish in WRGB, same as in Turkey. He never looked like he was pushing like the others anywhere I saw him, or like he has done in the past. I would assume that after the crash he had while leading the team may have told him he needs to be in a position to score point for the team should one of the other two have an issue.