Silly Season 2019

[EstWRC]

this Meeke testing Toyota secretly makes me laugh

the only driver to have such privileges in the series is Ogier and even he was denied by Hyundai at the end of 2016.

[pantealex]

There are testing roads which can easily be closed for a day and nobody but the team would have access so not too difficult. It could have happened in early/late July near Saukkolanek private testing area

Saukkolantie is not allowed by FIA, if they use it they lose 1 test day.

Jyväskylä is only place where it could have happened. I would say it hasn´t happened with Meeke. Maybe with some other driver(s)...

[pantealex]

this Meeke testing Toyota secretly makes me laugh

the only driver to have such privileges in the series is Ogier and even he was denied by Hyundai at the end of 2016.

Remember that M-Sport forgot to send information towards FIA about their testing in Greece. Teams must tell FIA (was it 2 days or week?) before testing, so secret tests don´t excist.

[T16]

Remember that M-Sport forgot to send information towards FIA about their testing in Greece. Teams must tell FIA (was it 2 days or week?) before testing, so secret tests don´t excist.

When is testing not testing? for example, in F1 they can do as many days / laps in a (two year - I think) older car and it doesn't count. I wonder if Toyota used a 2017 car (yeah, I know the 2017 / 2018 are pretty much the same cars), but would using a year old car mean they could pull it off?

[racerx1979]

There are many loop holes

[TypeR]

I have been wondering about testing with current cars. teams are allowed to sell their cars I think, right? If a team sells 17'-18' car to a driver, then I'm sure he can drive his own car in free time(read: test it outside given test days)?
Although it's not a great sportsmanship, but I'm just thinking if it could work that way.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

What if Citroen only runs two full-time cars, analogous to the 2018 season? Then (hypothetically) they sign Ogier and Lappi, Breen and Ostberg could be swimming for the M-Sport seats.

I would assume Citroen would have to run a 3-car team next year to convince Ogier that they were fully-committed.

Breen would surely stay and therefore it would be only Østberg looking to return to M-Sport.

[T16]

I would assume Citroen would have to run a 3-car team next year to convince Ogier that they were fully-committed.

Breen would surely stay and therefore it would be only Østberg looking to return to M-Sport.

Breen might just make the lead MSport driver.

[OHL]

Here is what the regulations say about testing. They are quite clear with no loop holes, only things you can do and things you can't do. In the case of an entered manufacturer, if they tried to do a secret test without informing anyone they would be subject to massive penalties. It's just not worth the risk.

66. TESTING
66.1 PERMITTED TESTING SITES FOR MANUFACTURERS REGISTERED IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
For Manufacturers registered in the Championship, testing (as defined in Art. 2.23) is permitted:
66.1.1 On a permanent testing site proposed by the Manufacturer before its first rally of the year and
notified to the FIA.
66.1.2 During a calendar year, a P1 driver may use only one permanent testing site.
66.1.3 In European countries.
66.2 PERMITTED TESTING SITES FOR P1 DRIVERS ENTERED WITH WRC CARS
For drivers entered with WRC cars complying with the 2018 Appendix J, Art. 255A, testing is permitted in
European countries only.
66.3 BANNED TESTING
For Manufacturers registered in the Championship, testing (as defined in Art. 2.23) is banned:
66.3.2 In the country of any World Rally Championship round from the start of reconnaissance until the
end of the rally.
66.3.3 On any road which is used as a special stage of any current Championship rally.
66.4 DURATION
66.4.1 In order to comply with the limitations on testing, Manufacturers are required to complete the
appropriate forms available from the FIA Rally Department at least 5 days before the first day of testing.
66.4.2 In the case of a Manufacturer, a maximum of 55 days in any calendar year. This clause does not
apply to testing as stated in Art. 66.1.1.
66.4.3 A single test day also covers the possibility for 2 or more drivers and/or more than one WRC car
to test on the same test road, only if these drivers are not testing at the same time.
66.4.4 For Manufacturers, 7 additional test days may be allocated to each team in addition to Art. 66.3.2.
These additional days will only be applicable to guest drivers who have not been nominated to score points
up to the requested testing date in the Manufacturers Championship in the previous or current year. Teams
should advise the FIA of any guest drivers’ test, by email, five days in advance, with copy to all other
registered teams (no test form required). The test must comply with articles 66.1 and 66.2.
66.5 TEST RESTRICTIONS FOR DRIVERS WITH WRC CARS WHO ARE NOT ENTERED BY A
MANUFACTURER, P2 AND P3 DRIVERS
Drivers with WRC cars who are not entered by a Manufacturer, P2 and P3 drivers are prohibited from testing
in a country of a Championship round during the three weeks preceding the rally except when a request is
made to the rally organiser concerned. This request must include:
- Exact location (incl. GPS point)
- Start and end date,
- Driver(s) name(s),
- Car(s) chassis number(s).
Any test session is limited to a maximum of 2 days.
The approval must be issued in writing by the rally organiser to the competitor with a copy to the FIA.
66.6 PRESS, MEDIA OR PR FUNCTIONS
Teams organising press, media or PR functions who believe they may be contravening Article 66 herein
must first advise the FIA and the FIA Media delegate.[/QUOTE]

[mknight]

How about another angle on the Meeke testing Toyota rumors.

Why should Toyota offer/let him test?

1. So that he can find out if Toyota is good => nope, clearly it's good when it has most rally and stage wins in the season.
2. So that he can find out if Toyota suits him => while you can find that out in short test you can never test all possible settings or use different diffs etc.

Common background for 1. and 2.: Meeke is in no position to demand a test before signing.

Turning it around, if Toyota wants to "test" Meeke:
3. To find out if Meeke is fast => He has been driving for so long that he has shown he can be fast multiple times. It's keeping it on the road that is a problem, can't test that.
4. To find out how good Meeke is setting up a car => Two things here, a) he has been around for so long that if he is very good or very bad they would know already trough gossip, b) Judging by C3 experience setting up the car for test and for rally is a different thing.

For these reasons I find it quite unlikely there was a test. Only remaining credible option is they would let him test (semi-secret) to put more pressure on Lappi or Latvala to sign.