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Mikkelsen said in an interview he had contract for 5 rallies, all tarmac rounds and one that was not decided.
I would expect Acropolis as the most likely candidate, based on his recent performance...

He was basically signing a contract with Hyundai some 9 months ago. Until "I'd rather be home than drive a Hyundai" ate his words. That's as close as it gets. Unlike pure dreams about Meeke.

As...

In Finland Mikkelsen would likely control the result somewhere around 5th(depending on the dropouts).
With Suninen you can get a crash in first stage (2x in last season at MSport) or a crash later...

The crowds were going wild when Suninen drove the i20 for the one-off in Monza at the end of 2021 ;)

Suninen is a good choice for these two rallies coming right now. Mikkelsen would be better if longer/bigger commitment was planned. Guess they will try Suninen and see how it goes. (And see what...

In the past 2 years of Rally2 starts the only rally where Suninen has been clearly fastest ( of those that were there) is Finland. Which is one of the two rallies that Hyundai definitely needs to...

At this point I don't expect big changes in Suninens performance, he has been around for quite long to show what his level is. So does not fit the "developing over experience" narrative that Hyundai...

The interesting part is that he says it's new management.
Sure there was change with Moncet and Abiteboul, but last year it Moncet claim that he did not decide what drivers are getting signed.
Does...

2018 Turkey was indeed a technical issue, caused by mechanic not doing his job properly in service. But then in Australia, still in the title fight, he made mistake and lost his chance already on SS6.

That's actually exactly how Malcolm thinks last few years. Only drivers at MSport are fresh developing drivers that can charge for title in the future (and can be sold to others) or are proven...

Which he subsequently clarified into saying that Hyundai does not plan to leave but that keeping current manus should be focus and not hypothetically bringing many in the future.

Abiteboul talked...

Well it will be hard for Hyundai to get any title in WRC this year.
Neuville+car are not reliable enough for driver title and with nobody winning rallies for them manu is also a problem.

In...

Realistically there is only 3 candidates (alphabetically): Mikkelsen, Solberg, Suninen

Mikkelsen is best mid-term, he is good on fast rallies but also on most rallies that Sordo does if Sordo...

For me it is a bit too early to start this discussion, both due to proximity of the accident and due to how the calendar looks.

Sordo will do Croatia and likely Portugal and Sardinia, can also do...

Well when they put the numbers up this way it is tempting to do a comparison:

Win/Podium
Hyundai:
Neuville 17/55
All 21/127 (Sordo is 3/54)
Support drivers 4/72 (1/18 without Sordo)
...

After a season with highest number of new/young drivers in ages they talk how there are not enough of them.

Even after almost all of them failed (Solberg, Fourmaux, Greensmith, Breen) only Loubet...

According to his latest interviews he did not have to leave, but choose to himself.

He wasn't guaranteed exact number of starts but he wasn't getting kicked.

MSport actually has most recent history of dropping drivers mid season:
2022 MSport Fourmaux NZ (and also Japan and Greece, but with excuses)
2021 MSport Suninen Greece+

Hyundai is 2020 Loeb...

RedGrey is a "customer" team owned by Tanak/Martin that was running Hyundai Rally2 cars for Suninen (and Solberg and Veiby before) for last two years.

EDIT: My understanding is that RedGrey is...

Question is who will run the car. Surely not Tanaks RedGrey?

Maybe KOWAX?

So in the end no real surprises...hopefully we will get those with MSport and Tanak.

Hyundai observations:
- nothing about how many events Sordo vs Breen get

- Neuville's wish list before...

What I would do if the case was between these 3 or 4 drivers would be to use 3 drivers with 4-5 rounds each.

As listed each has own risks. This would spread the risk and avoid them getting "stuck"...

Sure it may.
But when a driver "likes" some events but doesn't have results on them, there is no guarantee he will have results in a different car.

I am not saying they should drop Sordo completely, but I am questioning that they should offer him 8 starts.

With regard to Suninen pairing with Sordo. One big point against it is that Suninen...

Before Lappi the likely combination was Sordo 8, Mikkelsen 6+ and a combination of Suninen, Breen and maybe Meeke with 4+ starts each. Moncet basically even said as much in interviews.

Provided...