Silly Season 2020

[ggg377]

Also the bashing of Mia is a little crazy to be honest. She is not the only one running the show. They've achieved a lot so far. Imagine if Toyota was still struggling to get a grip. It would be a boring season...

The arguments used in that post are nonsense. If employees are mass leaving a company in a short time, which explanation do you think is more likely, that all the employees collectively discovered that the salary level and cultural environment are not appealing in Estonia and Finland (the management explanation) or perhaps there is something toxic happening behind the scenes? As far as Mia, that is the problem that most insiders point to. You can't brush off Lappi's leaving like that either. His second half of 2018 was brilliant and yet he left it behind for an underperforming C3. I don't think Ogier will dive head first into that mess either. Lappi is his teammate and Tänak is his friend. He can ask TGR anything in the negotiations, because he has options and they don't. TGR had one job - keep Tänak and they bombed it.

[surdna]

Estonian media said that Ogier has 1+1 with Citroën but also the contract states that if he is not continuing with Citroën he is not allowed to go to any other team. Wondering is this true because theres a lot of rumours Ogier>Toyota, but it seems he cant go even if he would like to.

[Andre Oliveira]

Autosport.pt said the same. Clause anti-rivals.

[EstWRC]

The arguments used in that post are nonsense. If employees are mass leaving a company in a short time, which explanation do you think is more likely, that all the employees collectively discovered that the salary level and cultural environment are not appealing in Estonia and Finland (the management explanation) or perhaps there is something toxic happening behind the scenes? As far as Mia, that is the problem that most insiders point to. You can't brush off Lappi's leaving like that either. His second half of 2018 was brilliant and yet he left it behind for an underperforming C3. I don't think Ogier will dive head first into that mess either. Lappi is his teammate and Tänak is his friend. He can ask TGR anything in the negotiations, because he has options and they don't. TGR had one job - keep Tänak and they bombed it.

great post!

absolutely agreed, if two great drivers are willing to leave by their own in a year from a very good car, it must be something very wrong behind the scenes.

Im not saying its Mia, it can be someone else but something is definitely wrong there.

[er88]

As far as Mia, that is the problem that most insiders point to. You can't brush off Lappi's leaving like that either. His second half of 2018 was brilliant and yet he left it behind for an underperforming C3. I don't think Ogier will dive head first into that mess either. Lappi is his teammate and Tänak is his friend. He can ask TGR anything in the negotiations, because he has options and they don't. TGR had one job - keep Tänak and they bombed it.

Lappi is hardly a clear loss for Toyota and Makinen was never sold on him anyway, you could tell that by the dynamic between the two and the fact that Lappi didn't feel wanted/loved, so left for Citroen. Makinen speaks about how Kalle was ahead of Lappi and Suninen in 2016 when it came to testing the Yaris on a test stage in Finland, it's clear Kalle has been earmarked to be the chosen one at Toyota long term.

Lappi hasn't improved and you could also say gone backwards in some cases since his breakthrough season. The fact Toyota didnt keep him isn't a reflection on anything rotten at the team, it's just a consequence of the driver market and Tommi liking other drivers better (Meeke short term, Kalle long term, and Tanak being the main man in the team in 2018/19).

Drivers have been treated worse at other teams you could say, Meeke at Citroen, Paddon and Mikkelsen at Hyundai etc. The WRC is cut throat for everyone who is involved, whether its drivers or team personnel.

Lappi also agreed to go to Citroen a few months before Ogier did, he knew he couldn't establish himself at Toyota with Tanak dominating (and then Kalle coming in future), and at Citroen it looked like he could move to a team who wanted him more and where he could make it his own. Doubling/ tripling his money helped too.

[arx]

Either way it will be an interesting season. Then, Tänak can show whether his speed is due to the car as everyone claims, or if he can manage it in the i20 too.

And if Ogier goes to Toyota we have kind of comparison too, because we know Tänak's speed relative to his team mates. Not direct apples to apples but close enaugh.

[meh]

Why Neuville is happy to have Tänak in Hyundai - he may have hope, that Tänak can not get used to with car (fast enough) and he can be number one in the team and main competitor against Ogier for WDC.

[mknight]

Estonian media said that Ogier has 1+1 with Citroën but also the contract states that if he is not continuing with Citroën he is not allowed to go to any other team. Wondering is this true because theres a lot of rumours Ogier>Toyota, but it seems he cant go even if he would like to.

That sounds like a very very clever move by Citroen when signing him last year.

Lappi is hardly a clear loss for Toyota and Makinen was never sold on him anyway.

When he left in July 2018 he was way ahead of Latvala in standings and was clearly the hottest "young" name in the sport. That rest of his 2018 season was bad might be affected by him leaving.
Similarly his results in 2019 are imo not a confirmation, cause we simply don't know how he would have done in a Toyota and frankly it's hard to do worse than Latvala did in 2019. Until the engine failure in Spain Lappi was ahead of him too.

Anyway while there can be a discussion about Lappi, there can be absolutely no doubt that Tanak is (possibly) a huge loss.

[Allez Andruet]

Lappi is hardly a clear loss for Toyota and Makinen was never sold on him anyway, you could tell that by the dynamic between the two and the fact that Lappi didn't feel wanted/loved, so left for Citroen. Makinen speaks about how Kalle was ahead of Lappi and Suninen in 2016 when it came to testing the Yaris on a test stage in Finland, it's clear Kalle has been earmarked to be the chosen one at Toyota long term.

Lappi hasn't improved and you could also say gone backwards in some cases since his breakthrough season. The fact Toyota didnt keep him isn't a reflection on anything rotten at the team, it's just a consequence of the driver market and Tommi liking other drivers better (Meeke short term, Kalle long term, and Tanak being the main man in the team in 2018/19).

Tommi was the one who hired Lappi back in 2016 and wanted to keep him for 2019.

[racerx1979]

The arguments used in that post are nonsense. If employees are mass leaving a company in a short time, which explanation do you think is more likely, that all the employees collectively discovered that the salary level and cultural environment are not appealing in Estonia and Finland (the management explanation) or perhaps there is something toxic happening behind the scenes? As far as Mia, that is the problem that most insiders point to. You can't brush off Lappi's leaving like that either. His second half of 2018 was brilliant and yet he left it behind for an underperforming C3. I don't think Ogier will dive head first into that mess either. Lappi is his teammate and Tänak is his friend. He can ask TGR anything in the negotiations, because he has options and they don't. TGR had one job - keep Tänak and they bombed it.

Sounds like you know more than me!