Silly Season 2020

[br21]

I didnt know its public info. I have heard it but only once or twice "confidentially", so i dismissed it as speculation.

It is true.

[dnb]

I find it funny that Tanak is supposedly crying about not being #1 in Toyota (he clearly is), and teammates taking pts in power stages from him etc etc, to then go and join Hyundai where for sure he will have equal status with Neuville - who is a near equal to him in current driver ability (certainly more so than Meeke and Latvala).

That tells me that surely this hasn't been a big factor at all in Tanak's reasoning for leaving Toyota.

Meeke pushed in Portugal under orders from Tommi, and in Finland Meeke and Latvala were pushing before both made mistakes, but next season Tanak will have Neuville breathing up his ass on most events (or ahead of him).

Money + car reliability + working/personal relationship with Tommi will by why he has left. Maybe throw in the R5 project with MM too.

What if. What if Tänak is actually in for the challenge? He did achieve what he desired in Toyota. What if he actually likes developing cars and facing major obstacles. Maybe he wants to see/show that he is the best in world not just because of the car (Toyota) like some people keep telling. Maybe he wants to work and compare himself with Loeb or so-called enemy, Neuville? Maybe he wants to push himself more, maybe it got boring in TGR?

Rarely there is only 1 reason, but keep these things in mind. Money is not everything that keeps us going.

[er88]

What if. What if Tänak is actually in for the challenge? He did achieve what he desired in Toyota. What if he actually likes developing cars and facing major obstacles. Maybe he wants to see/show that he is the best in world not just because of the car (Toyota) like some people keep telling. Maybe he wants to work and compare himself with Loeb or so-called enemy, Neuville? Maybe he wants to push himself more, maybe it got boring in TGR?

Rarely there is only 1 reason, but keep these things in mind. Money is not everything that keeps us going.

Exactly, and if that's the case it's not Tommi's fault for not being able to retain him. But it seems like the current narrative is Tanak is leaving because of Tommi and that's where all the Tommi bashing is coming from. Tommi has his own ways that are different, but he isn't a fool and has already had big success as team boss only 3yrs in.

We just don't know for sure until more is said by either of them. It could be Tanak that wants a new challenge/ wants to win a title with another manufacturer/ wants a lot more money on offer at Hyundai/ or genuinely can't work with Makinen anymore. Or a lot of smaller issues adding up.

[Rally Power]

Just saying that the stories about people leaving, bad atmosphere at the team, bad leadership and issues with the car reliability didn't come overnight with the news of Tänak's alledged deal with Hyundai, I've heard this stuff all along from 2017.

Honestly, the complaints may be old but the way they’re being revelead makes one wonder if they’re not exaggerated. The whole thing is sounding like a business dispute rather than a sport issue; that’s sad, having in mind what Makinen and Tanak managed to achieve together: taking Toyota and the Yaris to a top winning level. Hats off to both!

[doubled1978]

I think the reason there is so much searching for reasons Tanak is moving, is that it is very rare in Motorsport to find a top driver willingly leave behind what is considered to be the fastest car to move to a challenger. Whatever his reasons for jumping ship, it is a strange time to do it but clearly there is something that has made him go that way, and in all likelihood we will probably never know 100% the real reasons.
Also I would find it very surprising if he really has tested the Hyundai already as a company like Toyota just wouldn’t allow that under normal circumstances.

[spiderem]

I think you all are reading between lines and coming up with theories and conspiracy when the matter is a lot simpler.
I know what happened, Adamo invited Tanak for a dinner and cook pasta. It was the best pasta Tanak ever ate, then Adamo said "if you drive for Hyundai, I will cook for you".
The rest is history as they say.

[racerx1979]

Mia Mäkinen wife of Tommi, formerly working for BMW Finland. Finnish people will have details.

Not his wife, but girl friend....

[racerx1979]

Reading comments from different forums and media last couple of days, it looks quite clear that someone has machined shitstorm against TMR, Tommi, Kaj and others. Some doubts if it was really deserved? Maybe it is appealing to first machine shitstorm in media and then try to hijack WRC business from TMR. Probably most of the mentioned issues are quite natural in this area and no one has said that running WRC team successfully is like a walk in the park. With salary levels in Finland and Estonia, you can't meet WRC team salaries from central Europe/UK, costs needs to be kept low. Neither is the Finland/Estonia as a location or cultural environment appealing to keep foreign resources in a team for a longer period. Change in personnel is typical especially in new and remote organizations. It would be weird e.g. if Citroen would have more resource transition than TMR. What comes to Tommi and Kaj, they have been that sort of typical steady Finnish persons forever and probably even improved from HR and PR skills during the TMR period. We need to remember that Tommi's background is farmer from central Finland, not CEO of HR consultancy agency. His achievements in TMR are quite decent so far.

Part of the WRC's popularity in the past was that teammates were competing against each other. Now people are blaming Tommi keeping the team internal competition open unlike other teams. Is "only 1 driver per team" F1 type of competition what we really want to see in WRC? Tommi's philosophy might have been that drivers will sort their order by driving and after couple of rallies it is clear and from then on nro 1 driver gets more attention than others. Would be alarming to hear if TMR has not given Tanak attention he has wanted/deserved. What comes to team aspect, Tommi has said in media that Tanak is nro 1 but has he ever restricted Tanak's driving because of Latvala or Meeke crashing, probably not. Letting 2nd or 3rd driver to drive freely their own best speed does not meant that he would allow or encourage them to crash constantly. Tommi is maybe even too supportive for underperforming drivers, unlike Adamo. In this case Tommi is following more known HR theories than Adamo. Same comes to loyalty that Japanese and Toyota also respects.

What comes to lot spoken leaving of Lappi, probably no one restricted him to show that he could be nro 1 driver in Toyota. nro 3 does not naturally get as big attention and salary as nro 1. At the state of his career probably Lappi got better deal from Citroen and same time TMR/TGR noticed that Lappi will not instantly become new Ogier and TMR has therefore valued Meeke's driving/engineering/PR skills to be more needed asset for them atm.

Also very hard to see why TMR would not like to continue commitment and co-operation with MMM and Tanak. Furthermore if TMR would not have mutual respect towards Estonian personnel, half of the TMR would not be Estonian as currently. For sure TMR will be very disappointed in case if Tanak is leaving. Also what comes to Japanese culture, leaving from Japanese brand to Korean might be not looked well compared e.g. moving from Japanese team to other Japanese team.

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...

[mknight]

Yes they have achieved a lot, but Tänak leaving them now (if it happens) to a team that doesn't have clearly better car package is a huge fail.

Even more so if they will end up without any of the top 3 drivers.

[Katvala]

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.

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