2016 Silly Season

[faateris]

For Tanak this is step back and 1 year only for gaining experience...... Really bad news for fast driver. Dmack tyres, this is something XXXXXXX. Pirelli with punctures are bad, but dmack......
We all know how fast can be Ketomaa, but driving with these tyres he was so slow this year. I'm sure he is faster rally driver than Al-Attiah.
And next 2016' for Tanak result will be zero. This means, possible problems with finding seat in serious team for 2017'.
I hope, I'm wrong......

[prpr]

Will Autotek or CA1 Sport be involved?

[AL14]

For Tanak this is step back and 1 year only for gaining experience...... Really bad news for fast driver. Dmack tyres, this is something XXXXXXX. Pirelli with punctures are bad, but dmack......
We all know how fast can be Ketomaa, but driving with these tyres he was so slow this year. I'm sure he is faster rally driver than Al-Attiah.
And next 2016' for Tanak result will be zero. This means, possible problems with finding seat in serious team for 2017'.
I hope, I'm wrong......

You're right about DMACK tires but they have hired Brivio from Pirelli and now are investing huge amount of money in rally. Tanak will have a slower car than last year due to the new compounds tires, especially at the beginning of the year, but the goal is to improve together, and they can only go better from Monte to Australia.
As for the seat for 2017, first of all DMACK have a three years plan and Tanak is the best they could aim at the moment, and for sure on 2017, so at least he will remain there. Secondly I suppose that factory teams will take into account he will be driving with less performing tyres before taking the decision to judge him. Last but not least now Tanak has a full team backing him, encouraging him and helping him, instead of a boss, which I respect very much, but who had always sweet words for Ott's teammate who was clearly slower and with less hopes than Tanak.

[nafpaktos]

I dont think tannak's problem was wilson's behaviour.He is inconsistent driver like Meeke or Jarri and this will not change.At least i hope for him to gain some extra experience for the future with his new team.Since the tean wants to evolve it's tyres it is logical that he will do a lot of testing and that really good.

[Jack4688`]

No disrespect to Tanak or M-Sport but there's no chance they would have been challenging for regular wins next year and really putting up a fight to the VWs in 2017. When someone is as dominant and as competent as Ogier and the VW right now everybody else has to re-assess what they want from their career as a WRC driver. So with being dropped by M-Sport this is probably the best move out there for Tanak as I would imagine this is the start of a prolonged effort by DMACK at tackling the WRC.

Unless he fucks it up for himself I would expect him to be there for 3 seasons or if he turns into the second best driver in the WRC overnight at some point along that 3 year period and gains a factory drive. M-Sport doesn't want him anymore, Citroen will be at maybe 6 events next year, Hyundai is full and VW rightly have the best drivers under contract - this is easily the best option for him. He's doing a full season, in a car that is a known quantity to him and is driving for a 'factory' entry - if only in terms of tyres not the car.

[Simmi]

Yep I do not subscribe to the theory that Tanak has been hard done by at all. He was the lowest scoring factory driver this year by a decent amount. In the same 13 rallies Ogier scored literally 200 points more than Tanak did.

Okay Ogier smashed everyone this season, but it's difficult to turn around and demand a factory seat after that. He did nothing this year to prove the doubters wrong. So with that said this Dmack drive over 14 rounds is a gift from the rally gods. He's had all pressure removed from him.

Equally if Elfyn remains in a factory M-Sport Fiesta next year he will be a lucky boy - but he'll be under a lot of pressure and I doubt with more mediocre performances he'd be a lock for all 14 rounds. He'll be on a short leash.

[dodge33cymru]

Agree with Simmi, Elfyn will be lucky to keep his seat, but he is younger and less experienced than Tanak, yet still outscored him this year in the championship and even got a better 'best' result of the year.

I'm glad to see Tanak be handed another chance, but this really is his last one to do something more with his career. With only the two factory teams and M-Sport this year, but potentially up to 4 or 5 the following year, he has a chance to prove this year that he deserves a shot in one of those 10-12 coveted seats for 2017.

He's a lucky boy to get the chance, even after previous two attempts with M-Sport, whilst he's still relatively young still, but as I said before, he has earned that luck by showing strongly for DMack in the past and giving them enough confidence to throw their weight behind him, in a team that seems built around him no less, for 2016.

[AL14]

Guys of course Wilson is not the cause of Tanak bad results last year. I just wanted to say that this new team could help him because they have only him and will concentrate efforts helping him.

[EstWRC]

I wouldn't say that Evans is that less experienced than Tänak, both have had 2 seasons now on top level but Evans had the luxury to do 2 season in a row while Tänak had a 2 year pause basically and it really hurt him on tarmac.

[Rally Power]

The car is from m-sport and the same which Tänak drove this season but as i understand the mechanics and etc is up to Dmack.

The feeling from MSport/DMack PR is that MSport will run the car for DMack. They use words like partnership and combined platform, that doesn't make sense if MSport job was to be only a car/parts supplier.
http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-new...rophy-launches

Anyway, great news for WRC! Tanak, one of the finest drivers around, will continue and DMack strength their presence in rallying. Like many of you said, this might be a good move for Tanak, as DMack's showing they'll be in WRC for a long time.

This can be also a sort of confirmation of a full season entry for MSport, with Ostberg and Bertelli (Evans in WRC2 with the R5?). Not a competitive line up, but lots of funds for Mr. Wilson run the team in this interim season, before the 2017 WRC restart. Meanwhile, Wilson public uncertainty over the 2016 campaign is useful to pressure FIA on the 14 events calendar issue...