Silly Season 2019

[dimviii]

Sebastien Ogier believes his 2019 employer Citroen is ready to do what is necessary to regain its World Rally Championship supremacy after a period of "doing things by half".

Reigning WRC champion Ogier is leaving M-Sport Ford to return to Citroen seven seasons after splitting with the team that had given him his top-level break.

Citroen took Sebastien Loeb to nine straight WRC titles from 2004 to 2012 but has only won seven rallies since then and is currently last in the manufacturers' championship.

Ogier said Citroen team principal Pierre Budar had convinced him that things were now changing.

"Citroen comes out of a difficult period in rallying and I felt this year, more than the previous years, a desire to really give myself the means to find the level which was that of Citroen a few years ago: to do things well or not to do them at all," Ogier told French newspaper L'Equipe.

"We had the impression in recent years that they were doing things by half.

"It's all about words and it takes a lot of confidence because I cannot guarantee that everything will be the way I want it to be, but Pierre managed to convince me and I feel that we are starting fa great adventure."



Ogier has already tested Citroen's C3 WRC, in secret but with permission from M-Sport, in France.

"Seeing the car at the forefront on some rallies had already given me a good idea of its potential," he said.

"But judging by myself is something important that I wanted to do before committing myself.

"We did it, I was able to realise certain elements and this contact reinforced me in my idea to want to try this adventure."

Ogier's previous split with Citroen at the end of 2011 came amid a troubled relationship with team-mate Loeb.

But with seven years having passed and Budar replacing Yves Matton as Citroen team boss, Ogier said previous events were no longer on his mind.

"I kept only the good memories of that time," he insisted. "It is useless to dwell on the rest, which somehow made me grow up.

"On the other hand, the problems I had at the time were with a general management that is no longer there today.

"With the technical team, it always went well and that's why it was difficult to separate [in 2011].

"I felt at Citroen a new momentum at the management level. The contact quickly went very well with Pierre.

"It was much easier to talk with him than with his predecessor and that's one of the things that convinced me to go in that direction."

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...things-by-half

[AL14]

Maybe they take Mikkelsen into rotation as well? However, all three are good on technical gravel rallies, only Sordo has pace on tarmac (and tends to crash)

Imho they have to take a definitive decision. Rotation is never good long term because drivers need stability to perform at their high. This year they made rotation because of contracts but now I think that they have to chose between a constant but limited supply of points with Sordo or giving Paddon another chance to go back to his high. With rotation they will not get neither the first nor the second.
They can also say bye bye to both and bring Huttunen among the big boys to make some experience.

[AL14]

[...]

"It was much easier to talk with him than with his predecessor and that's one of the things that convinced me to go in that direction."

Oups

[dimviii]

Imho they have to take a definitive decision. Rotation is never good long term because drivers need stability to perform at their high. This year they made rotation because of contracts but now I think that they have to chose between a constant but limited supply of points with Sordo or giving Paddon another chance to go back to his high. With rotation they will not get neither the first nor the second.
They can also say bye bye to both and bring Huttunen among the big boys to make some experience.

can somebody calculate how much points Hyundai gained from this drivers circulation?

[BigWorm]

can somebody calculate how much points Hyundai gained from this drivers circulation?

The #6 Hyundai has contributed with 84 manu points this season, 45 from Sordo, 39 from Paddon but the latter has one event less. Comparing with Neuville who has 140 manu points it's less, but more than Mikkelsen on 55.'

Hard to tell wheter they would have gained more points with starting Sordo or Paddon every event, only event when one was entered in a satellite entry was Portugal when Sordo drove the #16 Hyundai and finished 4th. Had he been in the main entry he would have contributed 12 manu points instead of Mikkelsen's 6, so it would have been a small gain.

[dimviii]

The #6 Hyundai has contributed with 84 manu points this season, 45 from Sordo, 39 from Paddon but the latter has one event less. Comparing with Neuville who has 140 manu points it's less, but more than Mikkelsen on 55.'

Hard to tell wheter they would have gained more points with starting Sordo or Paddon every event, only event when one was entered in a satellite entry was Portugal when Sordo drove the #16 Hyundai and finished 4th. Had he been in the main entry he would have contributed 12 manu points instead of Mikkelsen's 6, so it would have been a small gain.

thanks for te answer mate.
imho is a succesfull tactic for Hyundai when you consider that this entry gained 84 points when Neuville,the championship leader has 140.

how much points have gained Toyota from his second best placed driver? i dont ask about citroen/ford they are a lot behind at points.

[AnttiL]

45 from Sordo, 39 from Paddon but the latter has one event less.

But both have 5 manufacturer eligible starts. Remember that Paddon was nominated for points in Portugal so Sordo’s fourth place was wasted.

[denkimi]

If you look only at the results, the best strategy for hyundai would be to sack mikkelsen, and give both sordo and paddon a full championship.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Colin Clark's take on current situation for those who haven't heard it yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv_z...ature=youtu.be

- Praises Budar

I totally agree with that, compared to Matton so far he seems to have fixed most of C3 issues and got Ogier to join (Loeb's performance probably also helped with that). Compare that with Matton taking year off and coming back with both car and driver (Lefevbre for sure) issues while not picking any of the 3 VW drivers. Didn't look like kicking Meeke was his decision, but maybe he used it to argue that he needs funds for Ogier if they force him to kick Meeke.


- He thinks it's risky that Lappi will not be satisfied as 2nd driver at Citroen and says as Ogier he would prefer Breen over Lappi.

That's imo kinda surprising, even to the point when I would call that UK journalist bias.


- Clark sees Meeke as possible at Msport and says rumors say he is willing to drive for free. Mentions also the Toyota rumor but doesn't seem to believe it that much.

- Thinks Hyundai stays the same.

Pretty pointless KT by C.Clark... told us nothing new factually, just total speculation.

And he said the Ogier announcement timing was strange... and then expained why it wasnt ! (for Ogier).

Nothing about the effect on M-Sport or UK fans directly before their home rally. Also nothing about the real reason for the move ie. Ford not fully backing the team.

BTW, what is behind the Meeke/Wilson fall-out in the past ?

[AL14]

thanks for te answer mate.
imho is a succesfull tactic for Hyundai when you consider that this entry gained 84 points when Neuville,the championship leader has 140.

how much points have gained Toyota from his second best placed driver? i dont ask about citroen/ford they are a lot behind at points.

I don't think you can really compare that. It's quite hard to understand if a full-time driver would have gained more than that. I could reply to you asking you if in the last 10 years the winning manufacturers ever rotate their drivers. Unless maybe some exception none did. But that is not the point. The long term is. Paddon will not be a good driver again driving half year, Huttunen will not get a proper experience if the third car will be shared by 2 other drivers.