M-Sport Ford World Rally Teams

[EstWRC]

So how did M-Sport pull off the signing of the silly season?

“It is not easy to attract an ex-world champion to the team when we only won one event during the year,” Millener tells Autosport. “You have got to try hard to persuade him that we know what we are doing and this is the right car, package and team to win. And that takes a lot of time.

“I think there is a lot of trust in Malcolm and in us and what we have done. He [Ott] is experienced enough and sensible enough to know what the car is capable of. I think those were the points that allowed him to make the decision to come to us, but it took a long time.

“Often it takes a lot longer to do something like this than people think. There are a lot of complex issues in terms of contracts and various bits that need to be sorted.


“It was a bit like the deal with Loeb in 2022. You think 'is it actually physically possible to achieve this with someone like Ott?' 'Are we setting our sights too high?' I think those thoughts came and went a number of times.

“There was a concerted effort between a number of sponsors and M-Sport and Malcolm himself. We can’t do it without the support of Ford, and not necessarily in fully funding Ott, but in ensuring that we are going to have development and we are going to have a push towards keeping the car as competitive as possible.

“All of those things combined is what has allowed us to get there. It is a great team effort.”

Full article https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/h...ning/10410948/

[Fast Eddie WRC]

As a former world champion, I'm sure that Tanak will be as demanding as Ogier was when he joined M-Sport - ensuring everyone gives their best and most professional work - and in a way that Breen never could've done.

“But now we have a driver signed up for a full year who is capable, which gives us a huge opportunity. There are similarities to this year, but it does hark back to 2017 when we signed Ogier and we had an opportunity.

“At the same time, it brings its own challenges. We are going to have to up our game and we need to be the best we can be for Ott to have a chance of doing well next year.”

[Eli]

“But now we have a driver signed up for a full year who is capable, which gives us a huge opportunity. There are similarities to this year, but it does hark back to 2017 when we signed Ogier and we had an opportunity.

“At the same time, it brings its own challenges. We are going to have to up our game and we need to be the best we can be for Ott to have a chance of doing well next year.”

Yes but unlike 2017 they don't have Tänak to support Tänak or even a Evans for that matter, more like 2018 in that respect.

[seb_sh]

From MSport/Tanak perspective if you want to take points away from Rovanpera, Evans or Neuville you need Rovanpera, Evans, Neuville, Tanak, Ogier or Loeb. Of course Greensmith or Loubet can be useful if one of the aforementioned has an issue they can slot themselves in front but otherwise it's hard to argue any of them can take points away from those drivers. The best you can do is first maximise Tanak's points and then slot drivers in front of rivals who have problems because the other good ones are taken. So for me the essental question how many rallies does Loeb do for MSport.

[jparker]

Also, Toyota and Hyundai were nowhere near the high level they currently are. And also, Tanak is nowhere near the level of Ogier.

[jparker]

From MSport/Tanak perspective if you want to take points away from Rovanpera, Evans or Neuville you need Rovanpera, Evans, Neuville, Tanak, Ogier or Loeb. Of course Greensmith or Loubet can be useful if one of the aforementioned has an issue they can slot themselves in front but otherwise it's hard to argue any of them can take points away from those drivers. The best you can do is first maximise Tanak's points and then slot drivers in front of rivals who have problems because the other good ones are taken. So for me the essental question how many rallies does Loeb do for MSport.

It's not going to happen, sorry

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Yes but unlike 2017 they don't have Tänak to support Tänak or even a Evans for that matter, more like 2018 in that respect.

This is a different argument. I was just emphasising that Tanak will rightly be demanding and M-Sport will be enthused by him but also will have to deliver on their side.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

From MSport/Tanak perspective if you want to take points away from Rovanpera, Evans or Neuville you need Rovanpera, Evans, Neuville, Tanak, Ogier or Loeb. Of course Greensmith or Loubet can be useful if one of the aforementioned has an issue they can slot themselves in front but otherwise it's hard to argue any of them can take points away from those drivers. The best you can do is first maximise Tanak's points and then slot drivers in front of rivals who have problems because the other good ones are taken. So for me the essental question how many rallies does Loeb do for MSport.

Tanak knew the team situation when he signed and wasn't put off by the likely lack of 'supporting' team-mates. He probably thinks the other teams top drivers will mostly do the job in taking points off each other.

[seb_sh]

Tanak knew the team situation when he signed and wasn't put off by the likely lack of 'supporting' team-mates. He probably thinks the other teams top drivers will mostly do the job in taking points off each other.

Agree, the most important thing is to maximize Tanak's points.

[macebig]

What are you lot going on about? Tanak left Hyundai in order to be somewhere as the unquestionable team leader and main focus. Why would he agree to a potential repetition of his experience with Neuville?