Silly Season 2019

[mknight]

13 stage wins and a 2nd place. Wilson has not even come close to that in his entire career.

Ogier was prone to accidents and faults in his first full season, but he was not slow like wilson.

I am not saying Ogier was as slow as Wilson, but he was slowest of the "normal" factory cars and on points even lower than Wilson. And this was alright for Citroen in his first full season, next season he was faster...

My point was the contrast to today when drivers are expected to mix in on the top basically from the very start. Compared to Ogier's first season, Lappi s doing extremely well this year.


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1x 3rd, 2x 4th, 1x 5th, 1x 7th and 1x crashed out while leading.

I'd say those results aren't bad at all for a guy who has only been given half the seat time considering how tight the competition has been.
Seemed like he had more speed to offer in Finland too if the team hadn't needed him to play it safe for points with Neuville and Mikkelsen out of contention.

Paddon has been the slowest I20 in 4 rallies, fastest in 1. Portugal is hard to judge with only some road-cleaning stages.

Yes there could have been teamorders on some rallies. But I doubt they were "be slow", more like "make it to the finish". I also doubt they do teamorders before the rally, more likely after friday or after first section.

Anyway why would Toyota hire him?
- Certainly not for speed/ fighting for wins, cause he has not shown that for quite long
- With the reliability he has this year (compared with last) he could be a "points scorer", but can he be that on tarmac rallies?

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Is this just your mate's idea, or is your friend somehow connected to M-Sport?

No, he's just a very knowledgable rally fan.

On the subject, at the rally forum M.Wilson seemed to suggest he may personally retire. But that doesnt mean the team will pull out...

His son Matt was at the SP with Red Bull TV and very into what was going on at the M-Sport service area. Maybe he could take over ?

[EstWRC]

Already a title contender, lol

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...toyota-pay-off

[BigWorm]

Already a title contender, lol

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...toyota-pay-off

Brilliant. It only took one day for it to start.

[[RMC]Pip]

Where does it say that he is a title contender? I'm not native English speaker, so I might have got it wrong.
"Kris Meeke's return to the World Rally Championship in 2019 with Toyota could well be his best chance at winning a title." - it is hard to argue with this statement. Toyota is mighty fast with Ott, JML is doing fine as well.

"But is a refreshed Meeke a true rival for the likes of Sebastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak next year?" - or this one that raged you? Yeah, it is a bit of a stretch, but this type of questions that catch attention in the 21th century.

Instead of all this negativity, why not just be happy that Meeke has a final shot in WRC. On a side note, I also very much hate David Evans's hyperboles. But the video has some great points and seems to be quite balanced, enjoyed it.

[er88]

Well C3 is getting podiums this year with Østberg and Breen and fighting in top 3 with Loeb, in GB it was fighting for 3rd all the way to sunday, can't exactly be rubbish.

Might have as much to do with Ogier being perfectionist.

And Meeke....

Loeb was similar to Meeke, almost pushing too hard in Mexico and Corsica, and went off the road resulting in a puncture and a retirement respectively.

The car has improved a lot and Ogier wouldn't have moved if he didn't think it had the potential to help him challenge for another title. He'll probably talk the car down to try & downplay expectations and to keep Citroen pushing hard with the upgrades (like he did with the Fiesta), but if there were still big problems he wouldn't have signed for them. It's only taken 2 and half years but the c3 seems to be solid on all surfaces now and in most conditions.

[EstWRC]

Where does it say that he is a title contender? I'm not native English speaker, so I might have got it wrong.
"Kris Meeke's return to the World Rally Championship in 2019 with Toyota could well be his best chance at winning a title." - it is hard to argue with this statement. Toyota is mighty fast with Ott, JML is doing fine as well.

how is it really hard to argue? He hasnt even touched the car, we dont know how the car will suit him, he hasnt driven a rally car for over a 5 months now, hell we havent even heard the official announcement.

And already some journos are talking his WDC chances.

And i have nothing against Meeke, i have said here thousand times that it was so wrong what Citroen did to him.

[dimviii]

how is it really hard to argue? He hasnt even touched the car, we dont know how the car will suit him, he hasnt driven a rally car for over a 5 months now, hell we havent even heard the official announcement.

And already some journos are talking his WDC chances.

And i have nothing against Meeke, i have said here thousand times that it was so wrong what Citroen did to him.

Meekes 1st test with Toyota
https://twitter.com/RallyingUK/statu...18290823241728

[EstWRC]

that must have been quite early in the development or is he testing the 2021 car already?

[Rally Power]

Perhaps if you understood how any technical improvements suggested by Meeke (and Breen) were generally ignored or they were told there was no budget for what was being suggested you would understand. Up to you.

Can you guarantee that he really asked for specific improvements and the team refused them? Probably you base that acceptation on a few comments from ‘unidentified sources’ that the Brit press eagerly spread. The same press that forgot to mention that Alexis Avril, the C3 WRC chief of project, is a good friend of Meeke (since the C2 Junior days) and always supported him. The same press that failed to mention that Poland ‘suspension’ was settled by the team with Meeke agreement, as he felt a break was needed. The same press that only question Meeke driving approach after he was fired, ignoring his error prone attitude through the years.

Meeke is a top WRC driver, certainly one of the bravest and fastest around, but to ignore his limitations and blame the others for his faults won’t help him to improve, as it didn’t help so far. Hopefully, he’ll manage to get a more sensible approach while avoiding raise expectations too high; that’s probably the best way to enjoy next year(s) and provide Toyota and the fans a fantastic show. Fingers crossed!