canada... the drivers is more important, plus Fords lineup is nothing for the manufacturers, they only have Mr kaiser the manufacturers one will be over soon.
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Yes Toyota could easily go 1-2-3 in Finland with the unlimited testing next to their HQ there. Almost did that least year with Lappi driving there first time in WRC and with Haninen.
Then again they can totally fail like Citroen did this year in Corsica.
For Suninen and Evans Finland was also probably their strongest rally last year (discounting DMACK).
Hyundai didn't had the pace, Paddon's comeback isn't really working well and Mikkelsen has usually been weak in Finland.
If Hyundai drops 30 points there it might be tough for manu title.
Germany depends on whether they sort tarmac car, Spain even more so. I don't expect miracles. GB and Australia were both strong from Hyundai last year. Turkey might end as an interesting joker.
If Paddon is not interested, they are unlikely to get any top line driver.
Ogier could go there, but could end up like Alonso in a McLaren.
At least when Meeke was there, they could say the car was was quick,
Its looking more like it was driver that was quick, and the car not.
What Nevilles current contract status with Hyundai?
Honestly feel Citroen will end up PAYG rally team.
He's only had 3 WRC rallies so far this year - 5th in Sweden (just pipped for 4th by Lappi in powerstage IIRC), 4th in Sardinia and was leading in Portugal when he crashed avoiding a rock on the line.
While its not quite the podiums/wins he's wanting, I don't think its bad at all considering the lack of time in the car? I don't think he even got to test before Sardinia.
It will be interesting to see how he goes in Finland, he is usually fast there but was pretty unlucky last year with rocks.
I also think Paddon is lacking the pace we would expect. In Sardegna he was taking it easy because of the Portugal injuries?
He was winning stages and leading the rally at times in Portugal so obviously not lacking pace there.
He did seem to be taking it gently on the jumps and rougher stuff in Sardegna which may be injury related, but also Friday conditions weren't good for his late road position with the mud, and then 3rd on the road when it was dry on Saturday probably wasn't likely to produce top times either - just the way it goes with conditions sometimes. A few different factors, small amounts of time that all add up.
German rally website suggests 14 events likely in 2019 #WRC calendar.
Test days for each team could be reduced from 55 days to 30 days per year https://www.rallye-magazin.de/wrc/ar...ttage-geplant/
Why are the regulations so anti-testing in the top end of the motorsport? The teams would spend that money anyway trying to find the extra advantage. Be it simulations or whatever ways they'll find