Originally Posted by
240RS
When alls said and done, two dominant ex-champions will come out as key players in the sport.
Seb Ogier electing to tackle a higher number of events must be a major reason Esapekka Lappi shifted allegiance. And must have also meant Toyota weren't too worried about him leaving. It also clearly gave Toyota confidence to promote Katsuta. They know they can ease the Japanese star gently in the main team.
The other Seb, Loeb, remaining active also has ripple effects in the driver market. M-Sport know they will have a benchmark on the events he does turn up, and crucially his presence devalued somewhat whatever bargaining power Craig Breen may have had. Of course you can't ignore the impact of what Ott Tanak doing a deal there would mean.
As it stands, you would have to say as long as those two start, Hyundai will be lucky to have two cars running competitively in the top 5. Toyota's two main championship chasers will have to fight it out with Neuville and the Sebs.