Silly Season 2022

[masa90]

AnttiL's point was that the margins at WRC are really small and everything can make that small difference, so a lack of testing (for Suninen) is a big disadvantage.

Yeah for sure. Every year with less investment into the team, Teemus results dropped. Last year and this year the feeling in the team has followed that m-sport spiral like 14-16.

Also no testing in a sport like this?

And wow how many technical problems the team has suffered this year.


This post is not to try and "forgive" him from all the bad results. He has made really many drivingerrors this year, but still he really lost before even the start of the season. Hopefully m-sport will really be a proper team next year. This year it has felt like there has only been two carmanufacturers really. And also for sake of Breen and Formaux aswell I hope the team is a proper outfit next year.

[AnttiL]

Anyway I agree one of the main problems was that in Estonia Greensmith was regularly as fast or faster than him.

He had to slow down or the water pump would break

[cali]

Yeah I agree that too many issues with cars and the lack of testing has really badly affected Suninen's performance. We probably have no clue about his true speed.

Hopefully he will get few more chances but too few teams and many drivers competing for these seats doesn't make this challenge any easier.

Hyundai ofc is a difficult machinery and to go to Finland first time in a new and totally different car will be a challenge for sure.

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[Danny0405]

For me the worrying part with Teemu is that he has been too close to Gus with speed and sometimes Gus has even had the upper edge on him.

Yes, this is the main issue of Suninen’s season so far. If we exclude Arctic Rally because we know Greensmith is quite awful on snow, if we take all the cases where both drivers have made the full day, he is no faster than Greensmith. I know this calculation is not necessarily fully perfect (Road position, technical issue) but it seems quite significant for me if we add that he was not reliable in addition to that (2 crashes in the first day) + he did not make huge individual stage times compared with Fourmaux or Greensmith.
If it was against good experienced drivers, I would say that the testing would have been a sufficient reason to explain the issue; but here, the comparison is a paying driver and a rookie (which does not have really way better results than Greensmith).
+ often, both drivers had technical issues (for example in Estonia)

Each time the two M-Sport drivers made the full day this season:

Arctic Day 1: Suninen -31.3s (Greensmith 2nd)
Arctic Day 2: Suninen -41.2s (Greensmith 2nd)
Arctic Day 3: Suninen -17.9s (Greensmith 2nd)

Croatia Day 1: Fourmaux -7.0s (Greensmith 2nd)
Croatia Day 2: Fourmaux -47.3s (Greensmith 2nd)
Croatia Day 3: Greensmith -5.2s (Fourmaux 2nd)

Portugal Day 1: Greensmith -31.2s (Fourmaux 2nd)
Portugal Day 2: Fourmaux -37.6s (Greensmith 2nd)
Portugal Day 3: Greensmith -17.1s (Fourmaux 2nd)

Sardegna Day 3: Greensmith -5.4s (Suninen 2nd)

Safari Day 1: Greensmith -23.0s (Fourmaux 2nd)
Safari Day 2: Fourmaux -11.0s (Greensmith 2nd)
Safari Day 3: Fourmaux -21.9s (Greensmith 2nd) without the 10s penalty

Estonia Day 2: Suninen -7.3s (Greensmith 2nd)
Estonia Day 3: Greensmith -5.2s (Suninen 2nd), I exclude the Greensmith penalty and the impact of the spin for Suninen

[tommeke_B]

Problem with the Fiesta WRC right now is that it should be seen as in class RC1,5 rather than in the same class as the Hyundai and the Toyota... Motorsport is also a development race and it seems like M-Sport isn't participating anymore. And in terms of pre-event testing they (especially Suninen) are getting less kilometers than many RC2-drivers... Fourmaux, Suninen and Lappi (last year) were driving on and beyond the limit, only to set a stage-time 10-15s slower than the quickest. It must be hard to stay motivated that way, even if they give their all best, their performance will not be appreciated enough. Hoping to see Suninen and/or Lappi in a competitive WRC in Finland.

[AnttiL]

Problem with the Fiesta WRC right now is that it should be seen as in class RC1,5 rather than in the same class as the Hyundai and the Toyota... Motorsport is also a development race and it seems like M-Sport isn't participating anymore. And in terms of pre-event testing they (especially Suninen) are getting less kilometers than many RC2-drivers... Fourmaux, Suninen and Lappi (last year) were driving on and beyond the limit, only to set a stage-time 10-15s slower than the quickest. It must be hard to stay motivated that way, even if they give their all best, their performance will not be appreciated enough. Hoping to see Suninen and/or Lappi in a competitive WRC in Finland.

Agree 100%

[AnttiL]

https://www.rallit.fi/viritteleeko-t...stuskelpoista/

Suninen is targeting a start in Finland, like expected. Machinery not yet publicable. Also Spain would be good but short time to gather budget.

[EstWRC]

i dont know, the locals are fast anyway in Finland, i mean the team principals know it too and nobody wouldnt be that surprised if he shows good times there.

if he wants to really impress then Spain definitely would be a better choice.

i hope he does well, i really like the guy, his first year in WRC2 machine was awesome back in the day against more experienced guys and also the first starts with main class in 17'

[TypeR]

Lol.. hard to stay motivated..

jump in Tänak's 2018 and 2020 season boots..

Fourmaux has driven nice this year, showing some good times and pace with his little experience..

But okay.. if Suninen with Hyundai, will he bring home first podium for them from Finland?

[Fast Eddie WRC]

It's easy to criticise the Fiesta and M-Sport but their finances were badly hit by the pandemic and lack of full factory support.

Suninen hasnt done himself any favours on occaisions this year and his many offs and some mechanicals have been through his own fault.

Plus both Fourmaux and Greensmith have received some praise this season for some of their times and improvements and done so with much less experience in the WRC car.

I wish Teemu well and we'll see if he can reach the top level elsewhere.