Quote Originally Posted by mknight View Post
But Mikkelsen lost two scores due to engine (and crashed in Greece). Lindholm went in the snowbank in Sweden. So if you want to compare on similar grounds it's the standing right now that is comparable.

Anyway guess we both agree that it is a bit pointless comparison.
Well, for sure, the comparison has no big interest when the gap are quite small considering how particular is this championship with guys not always competing against each other.
+ a lot of what if: would Mikkelsen have did it to the end without engine-related retirements in Sardinia and Portugal? Maybe he would have made a mistake and Suninen could have beaten him in Portugal. What Lindholm would have done in other rallies? And we can ask a lot of questions like this.

The only thing we can do is looking at the global picture and here, there are 3/4 main points:
- Mikkelsen is probably the more versatile driver of the season in Rally2 but as he has some Rally1 experience and was already in this serie last year, he does not give him a big upside to come back for an official manufacturer
- 3 youngsters in the range of 4-6 years of Rally2 experience are better than the rest of the crowd with one having been a bit more efficient so far: Rossel, Gryazin and Lindholm a bit better than the two others this season. They’re not no-brainer talents (so not sure they will ever reach Rally1) but for me, the only one credible to be promoted in Rally1, and in reality, it’s more Lindholm than the 2 others; maybe a question mark on Huttunen with the Fiesta being less efficient than the other cars.
- Other than that, no no-brainer early talent having shown something consistent to be promoted in Rally2 very soon even if Jan Solans or Pajari has made some interesting outings (but they have to confirm next year).
- Let’s recognize than with his results in Europe, Kajto still is a top 5 Rally2 driver at the international level (with Mikkelsen, Lindholm, Rossel, Gryazin). But clearly he is only the big contender because of his abroad rallies + Mikkelsen engine-related retirements.