Page 72 of 141 FirstFirst ... 2262707172737482122 ... LastLast
Results 711 to 720 of 1401
  1. #711
    Senior Member Eli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    3,636
    Like
    3,465
    Liked 1,446 Times in 828 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by TypeR View Post
    Without Toyota and Hyundai, M-Sport would be leading the championship 1-2-3 :O
    Add Citroën in to the mix and it still wouldn't change that
    Only you know your true potential.
    This year we rally #ForCraig

  2. Likes: satnav (27th June 2022)
  3. #712
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    1,918
    Like
    1
    Liked 1,115 Times in 596 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by TypeR View Post
    Without Toyota and Hyundai, M-Sport would be leading the championship 1-2-3 :O
    And if they were riding bikes it would be cycling.

    But that is not the point. The point is that all kalle's teammates are horribly underperforming. We see evans and katsuta having less than half the points of kalle, but the ogier/lappi combination is actually even worse with only 51 points.

    They are lucky that hyundai is screwing it up even worse. Only kalle is keeping them afloat.

  4. #713
    Senior Member Eli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    3,636
    Like
    3,465
    Liked 1,446 Times in 828 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by denkimi View Post
    And if they were riding bikes it would be cycling.

    But that is not the point. The point is that all Kalle's teammates are horribly under-performing. We see Evans and Katsuta having less than half the points of Kalle, but the Ogier/Lappi combination is actually even worse with only 51 points.

    They are lucky that Hyundai is screwing it up even worse. Only Kalle is keeping them afloat.
    Well that's it isn't it? if Hyundai's car wouldn't keep breaking a part we might've actually got to see a championship fight on our hand, at least for the manufacturers if not for Thierry & Ott against Kalle, just think how many times have the car let them down when they were fighting at the front? Even in Monte, at least Thierry there could get a podium if not for all his troubles. Also, I honestly don't see how Hyundai are serious about getting that manufacturers title when for most of the year they have a 3rd driver in what you could say his rookie season, but all of that should be discussed in the Hyundai thread.
    Only you know your true potential.
    This year we rally #ForCraig

  5. #714
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    5,798
    Like
    337
    Liked 3,786 Times in 1,977 Posts
    Ogier likely has motivation for more starts. He has not won with Rally1 yet, unlike Loeb which certainly really pisses him off. Only Monte was a performace he can be satisfied with.

    Evans should improve reliability, Kinda looks like he felt this was his chance for title after Ogier and before Rovanpera improves and "stressed" too much.

    But imo biggest pressure at Toyota is on Lappi. Before this season he was known to bring results on fast loose surface rallies while being unreliable both in terms of speed and crashes elsewhere...and then he crashed on both "elsewhere" rallies (Croatia, Sardinia). If Ogier wants more starts, it might become harder for Lappi to even get these opportunities and he risks getting stuck in "Sordo like" position.

  6. #715
    Senior Member Eli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    3,636
    Like
    3,465
    Liked 1,446 Times in 828 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mknight View Post
    Ogier likely has motivation for more starts. He has not won with Rally1 yet, unlike Loeb which certainly really pisses him off. Only Monte was a performance he can be satisfied with.

    Evans should improve reliability, Kinda looks like he felt this was his chance for title after Ogier and before Rovanperä improves and "stressed" too much.

    But imo biggest pressure at Toyota is on Lappi. Before this season he was known to bring results on fast loose surface rallies while being unreliable both in terms of speed and crashes elsewhere...and then he crashed on both "elsewhere" rallies (Croatia, Sardinia). If Ogier wants more starts, it might become harder for Lappi to even get these opportunities and he risks getting stuck in "Sordo like" position.
    Yes, finishing 40ish on the last two occasions doesn't do any favours for Lappi, hopefully he can get back on top in Estonia & Finland, mind you they already have a fast Finn, so if Lappi gets the opportunity in Ypres, he really, really needs to perform there.
    Only you know your true potential.
    This year we rally #ForCraig

  7. #716
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    5,798
    Like
    337
    Liked 3,786 Times in 1,977 Posts
    That's the problem.
    If Ogier wants more rallies how many rallies that are not fast gravel will there be for Lappi? Ypres would be extremely difficult to do well on with very little experience (one start in 2014 with crash from 3rd).
    Greece is maybe most likely and again Lappi has little experience there.

    Catalunya is a rally Ogier likes (and Lappi has bad record on) and he will want to do Toyota home rally.

  8. #717
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    564
    Like
    0
    Liked 335 Times in 203 Posts
    Personally, I don’t think the market will move before Greece. There are the rumors about Hyundai, no no-brainer prospect in Rally2 and some disappointing drivers in Rally1 so far in the ones with no guaranteed future (Lappi, Fourmaux, Greensmith, Solberg) + what will do the old guys (Sordo, Loeb, Ogier).
    And the big 5 is under contract.
    So teams have interest to wait and see for the summer.

    At the moment, I would say that for Toyota the best move is the following one:
    - 1st car: Kalle for sure
    - 2nd car: Evans. When you have the next big thing and the best car in the hands, I don’t see the point to take Tanak or Neuville with the risk of impacting relation with Kalle. And, whatever we can say, Evans is the best of the rest at the moment in terms of speed.

    I don’t see Ogier coming back full-time but sounds like he could make a part-time job.
    Lappi is a bit disappointing so far and it will be complicated for Latvala to resist to Japanese pressure if Katsuta does a rather good second half ... but he is a bit slow on tarmac.

    So I would say Katsuta full-year between 3rd and 4th car (as Hyundai did with Paddon at the beginning of his career with 2nd/3rd car).
    With
    3rd car: shared between Ogier (5/6 rounds with 3 tarmac) and Katsuta (7/8 rounds)
    4th car: shared between Katsuta (5/6 rounds) and a young driver with no Rally1 experience (Rossel, Huttunen, Lindholm, Ingram) for 6/8 rounds.

    Sounds the best balance for me

  9. #718
    Senior Member Eli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    3,636
    Like
    3,465
    Liked 1,446 Times in 828 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mknight View Post
    That's the problem.
    If Ogier wants more rallies how many rallies that are not fast gravel will there be for Lappi? Ypres would be extremely difficult to do well on with very little experience (one start in 2014 with crash from 3rd).
    Greece is maybe most likely and again Lappi has little experience there.

    Catalunya is a rally Ogier likes (and Lappi has bad record on) and he will want to do Toyota home rally.
    Lappi has no experience of Greece, only Turkey & the only saving grace for Lappi is NZ (which we'll hopefully get to!!) & if Japan is yet again cancelled (which I hope it won't be), they'll get Monza again which I doubt Ogier would like to do.
    Only you know your true potential.
    This year we rally #ForCraig

  10. #719
    Senior Member Eli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Posts
    3,636
    Like
    3,465
    Liked 1,446 Times in 828 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Danny0405 View Post
    Personally, I don’t think the market will move before Greece. There are the rumors about Hyundai, no no-brainer prospect in Rally2 and some disappointing drivers in Rally1 so far in the ones with no guaranteed future (Lappi, Fourmaux, Greensmith, Solberg) + what will do the old guys (Sordo, Loeb, Ogier).
    And the big 5 is under contract.
    So teams have interest to wait and see for the summer.

    At the moment, I would say that for Toyota the best move is the following one:
    - 1st car: Kalle for sure
    - 2nd car: Evans. When you have the next big thing and the best car in the hands, I don’t see the point to take Tanak or Neuville with the risk of impacting relation with Kalle. And, whatever we can say, Evans is the best of the rest at the moment in terms of speed.

    I don’t see Ogier coming back full-time but sounds like he could make a part-time job.
    Lappi is a bit disappointing so far and it will be complicated for Latvala to resist to Japanese pressure if Katsuta does a rather good second half ... but he is a bit slow on tarmac.

    So I would say Katsuta full-year between 3rd and 4th car (as Hyundai did with Paddon at the beginning of his career with 2nd/3rd car).
    With
    3rd car: shared between Ogier (5/6 rounds with 3 tarmac) and Katsuta (7/8 rounds)
    4th car: shared between Katsuta (5/6 rounds) and a young driver with no Rally1 experience (Rossel, Huttunen, Lindholm, Ingram) for 6/8 rounds.

    Sounds the best balance for me
    We also have another piece of the puzzle, if Tänak isn't signed for next year at Hyundai, where does that leave him? Going back to M-Sport? Assuming Toyota stays with their line-up.
    Only you know your true potential.
    This year we rally #ForCraig

  11. #720
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    5,798
    Like
    337
    Liked 3,786 Times in 1,977 Posts
    I also think Toyota will stay the same. Ogier +Lappi sharing should actually work. The only problem is that it gets Lappi "stuck" at only the fast rallies (a bit like Breen in Hyundai).
    You'd be crazy to change Lappi for Huttunen or Ingram. Probably still a bit early for Lindholm or Rossel and Toyota does not need a new developing driver yet. Mikkelsen might be better allrounder, but not for fast gravel only. So there isn't really anyone to pick unless some massive disaster happens for Evans or Lappi.

    Toyota does not need Tanak at this point at all either. And I would guess Japan has some bad feelings towards him.
    It's MSport or Hyundai.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •