Silly Season 2020

[steve.mandzij]

The R5 has been rumored about for a long time and Mäkinen confirmed it was coming at some point. One would think that anything Tommi does confirm must be almost ready to race but I'm not so sure about it in this case. One thing's for sure: Latvala is way too good to be competing in any of the R5's and I think he knows it himself as well.

Not only is he far too good for the lower tiers, his driving style wouldn't fit in with the cleaner R5s, and it would be a disgrace for his objectively monumental career to fizzle out in WRC2.

[deephouse]

Then I don't see any other option than sharing a drive with Rovanpera\Meeke or throw him out of the team and he is not their problem anymore.

[er88]

Sordo and Loeb 'sharing' again causes the same problems as has been mentioned. Neither will want to do Sweden, Finland and GB, and Loeb also wont want to do Germany if he hasn't wanted to do it the last two years when it's been run in august.

So instantly that means either Mikkelsen is brought into the rotation, and Andreas/Loeb/Sordo rotate between two seats. Or they give Breen a partial programme of Sweden, Finland, GB, Germany + maybe another event or two, and 4 drivers rotate between two seats.

Mikkelsen won't want to do a partial season but I don't think he has any other options for leverage. Throughout the season Adamo has never seemed too keen on him either, and doesnt have total trust. Rotating drivers works because Mikkelsen, Sordo, Loeb benefit from road position, but it would also be nice for the championship if Hyundai had two fulltime drivers who they actually could commit to.

[deephouse]

Well there is Paddon and Ostberg ho could jump in also. Why not having 7 man team...

[Kradovech]

What is the deal with Rovanperä joining Toyota, I though he was going to the army, no? Or will he be joining mid season? That would leave half a year for Latvala to prove himself. Or is Kalle only going to do the basic training in army? Maybe one of the finns here can shed a little light on this.

[deephouse]

What is the deal with Rovanperä joining Toyota, I though he was going to the army, no? Or will he be joining mid season? That would leave half a year for Latvala to prove himself. Or is Kalle only going to do the basic training in army? Maybe one of the finns here can shed a little light on this.

He thinks he is ready for WRC machinery and Makinen thinks that too. And Skoda leaving it's the perfect timing to snatch him before anyone else get him.

[Allez Andruet]

What is the deal with Rovanperä joining Toyota, I though he was going to the army, no? Or will he be joining mid season? That would leave half a year for Latvala to prove himself. Or is Kalle only going to do the basic training in army? Maybe one of the finns here can shed a little light on this.

The military service won't be an issue. He'll be out in six months and basically can participate in all the rallies he wants in the meantime. It's quite common for Finnish athletes to join the army and still compete in their respective sports.

[Allez Andruet]

https://www.is.fi/ralli/art-2000006267458.html

...aaaaaand here we go again with Tommi, part 572364. Now he says he wasn't actually talking about any driver selections in the Autosport story published earlier today and that JML and Meeke are actually "even" when it comes to staying at TGR for 2020. Mäkinen goes on to say that "there are also other drivers on the market" and "we will carefully think what we're going to do (regarding the drivers)".

[mknight]

Tommi is great at creating confusion that's for sure. Just like D. Evans is great at creating stores based on rumors.

[er88]

You just have to listen to Makinen's quotes, and forget about the text/ speculation/ rumours around them (whether that's D.Evans or a Finnish/ Estonian reporter giving us their view).

I think Makinen just rambles on and what he says initially is him speaking his mind, but then for the following week after that he's in damage control mode as he realises what he's said could impact his current drivers form/mentality for the rest of the season.

I know he struggles with English but he does speak too openly at times, and he has done repeatedly about Latvala and his deficiencies for a while. I like how he's open and honest, but from a teams POV I do think he should maybe have someone on hand who's more media savvy to at least help control his mouth a little or give him a few pointers. Whenever I see a Tommi interview or he's on WRC+ I'm waiting for a few telling quotes as he simply can't help himself

To say Tanak, Meeke and Kalle is the "dream" for next year - even if said in a jokey way - is potentially really detrimental to his own teams chances for the last two events. I mean how is Jari (who is already in a bad place) going to react to that?