Silly Season 2022

[EstWRC]

Hyundai confirming Sordo and Solberg http://motorsport.hyundai.com/crews-confirmed/

[wwbroe]

Nice way to announce it with this video
I mean the start of Breen with M-sport

[Allez Andruet]

Hyundai confirming Sordo and Solberg http://motorsport.hyundai.com/crews-confirmed/

After his amazing 2021 season, there really was no other option than Solberg.

[wwbroe]

So Adamo is engaging Oliver after all, i still think it is too early in his career but time will tell.

[mknight]

Good news for MSport since they udoubtedly get one of the 3? best drivers still available.

A big risk for Breen since he is in a "make or break" position and it all rests on MSports ability to have a competetive car. But if Adamo was dead set on just a few rounds it was the only option.

Small nitpick is that Breen actually contested almost full 2017 season only missing one round in Mexico and doing Monte in 2016 car.

As to Wilson claiming Breen can fight for title, I'd say it depends on the calendar as well. Some rallies like Monte, Portugal or Sardinia he has close to no experience and we have seen it matters a lot. He could fight for wins om some rallies if the car is up to it.

Also a small note about Wilsons comment about fast rallies showing a driver can win anywhere... look at Østberg or Gryazin (as wellas Lappi so far).

-----

Hyundai announcing lineup in a tweet immediatelly seems like typical knee-jerk Adamo reaction. Especially since they now have Suninen to test in next rallies.
So I doubt that lineup is 100% confirmed.

[meh]

A big risk for Breen since he is in a "make or break" position and it all rests on MSports ability to have a competetive car. But if Adamo was dead set on just a few rounds it was the only option.

We don't know how new cars will perform. It's the same risk for every team and driver at the moment.

awesome news and cool first day at work video
Finally some team changes and a bit excitement to WRC!

As this one (additionally for Suninen) is probably the only team change for this silly season, most of the excitement relays on new cars.

[mknight]

We don't know how new cars will perform. It's the same risk for every team and driver at the moment.

It's never the same risk:

- Team budget (Toyota>Hyundai>MSport ?)
- Engineering skills (?)/ Recent car record (Toyota>Hyundai>MSport)
- Driver testing and feedback skills (Evans, Rovanpera, Hanninen, Ogier vs Tanak, Neuville, Sordo, Solberg vs Breen, Fourmaux, Greensmith, Matt Wilson)
- Timeline (seemingly MSport>Toyota>Hyundai)

[AnttiL]

Small nitpick is that Breen actually contested almost full 2017 season only missing one round in Mexico and doing Monte in 2016 car.

Skipped Spain as well. In 2018 he skipped also two rallies (Mexico, Corsica) because of Loeb.

[Allez Andruet]

No offence, but who's the last factory driver (excl. so-called pay drivers) with as weak CV as Oliver? Simon Jean-Joseph in 1999?

[ouvreur]

It's never the same risk:

- Team budget (Toyota>Hyundai>MSport ?)
- Engineering skills (?)/ Recent car record (Toyota>Hyundai>MSport)
- Driver testing and feedback skills (Evans, Rovanpera, Hanninen, Ogier vs Tanak, Neuville, Sordo, Solberg vs Breen, Fourmaux, Greensmith, Matt Wilson)
- Timeline (seemingly MSport>Toyota>Hyundai)

The biggest variable in this, is a team's ability to adapt to a major regulation change. It doesn't matter how much money you've got, or how much you've won before, or how clever your people are, if they're working in the wrong direction. C3 WRC, anyone?

In this regard, M-Sport were able to steal a march on everyone in 2017, despite enduring a 2016 season very nearly as bad (Ott Tanak's pace in the Dmack car aside) as it has been for them in 2021. That said, their lead development driver for the '17 car was Tanak - it seems unlikely that they have had a driver of equivalent pedigree involved in the Puma, unless it's the best-kept secret in motorsport history...

It can only be this possibility that Craig Breen is banking on.